Why You Should Be Excited for the Pastors Conference
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
BENJAMIN KREPS:
Hey everyone, and welcome to the Mark Prater Podcast — where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our executive director.
Mark, as we record this, we are a week and a half out from the Pastors Conference. And when this episode drops into our listeners' inbox, it will be the week before the Pastors Conference.
So we're getting excited, looking forward to meeting with God and with one another here in just a few days.
Mark, talk to us about the Pastoral Conference. I know you've been in your role as executive director and leading the leadership team; you guys have been working on this conference for a very long time. And there's a lot of planning and prayer that has gone into all of this. Talk to us about who will be there and what you are looking forward to as we gather in just a matter of days.
MARK PRATER:
I'm very excited about this Pastors Conference. In fact, we've been working on this for a year. When one conference ends, we start planning the next year, and I’m grateful to Erin Radano and all of her team who work so hard, not only at the conference, but before and then after.
So if you see Erin and her team at the conference, please thank them for all that they are doing.
I'm really excited for a number of different reasons. First of all, I get the registration reports, I send those to the leadership team, and we pray for each person by name, which is a joy.
But going through that list is a faith-building thing. First of all, we've got, right now, I think, 825 people registered. We may have some more registered. We have walk-in registration, so I don't know where that will put us —somewhere between 825 and 850, if I’d guess —which is just exciting to gather together.
And then you read through the names and people are traveling from a number of different nations. It's so unique this year. At least 20 nations are represented at this conference. I won't take the time to read through all of them, but we're talking, you know, Australia —making the longest trip—and then Belarus, of all places. Thank God that they are going to be represented there in a wonderful pastor and his wife, a pastoral couple. South Korea, Kenya, England, Brazil, Thailand, Lebanon, so many more countries.
So it just strikes me that as we gather as a family of churches, we gather as a global family of churches, and we can say that legitimately because of the different countries that are represented there.
But one thing that has struck me this year as I went through the registration report are the number of people coming from outside of Sovereign Grace. They're not part of Sovereign Grace at present. If I did my count right, at least 53 are not a part of a Sovereign Grace church, and we're just so glad they're with us.
And I say that, and I want to dedicate a podcast to this to our Sovereign Grace pastors and wives that will be there: please greet those that are new‚ introduce yourself to someone you don't know, and greet them. If they're not a part of a Sovereign Grace church, just thank them for coming and warmly welcome them.
The other thing that's stood out to me is the number of first-time conference attendees, whether they're in Sovereign Grace or outside it. I didn't do the numbers on that, but it's a pretty good number of folks that are coming for the very first time. So, again, please welcome folks and ask them, "Is this your first conference?" And if so, you know, just be excited that they're there and welcome them if you would.
So that's just a little bit about who will be there and the makeup of the room we will all be sitting in as we sing truth, as we benefit from the preaching of the Word, and as we hear updates. There are different things I'm excited about.
First and foremost, to hear John Piper preach and open our main session on Tuesday evening is a rare treat, and I'm just so glad he agreed to open our conference. And to remind our pastors, this is for pastors‚ our pre-conference session with him that will be from 3:30 to 5 on Tuesday afternoon, November 18th.
That's just going to be a great Ask Pastor John Q&A format regarding pastoral ministry. So just the way he's serving us—John Piper—is really wonderful, and we're all going to benefit.
But there are other main sessions. Jeff is preaching on Wednesday morning. I'm going to give you his working title; it might change. It's called The Pastor's Superpower. So that's intriguing, right? I like it because it's intriguing. He's still thinking about it, and that will come from 2 Timothy 1.
Wednesday evening: CJ's preaching on “A Pastor's Eternal Reward” from 2 Timothy 4. That's going to be wonderful.
Thursday morning, Josh Blunt is preaching on "The Pastor and Biblical Counseling"-it might be "Counseling with God's Word." He's going to pull from the first four chapters of Hebrews. And then Jon Payne is going to close Thursday afternoon or Thursday evening with the title "The Glory of Our Gathering" from Hebrews chapter 12, and just talk about the importance of our Sunday gathering.
So that's just a little bit of a lineup for the main sessions, which I'm very, very excited about.
We've got a number of updates as well, and you're going to be hearing from countries you've never heard from before. I'm really excited about that. I'll leave it at that to spark a little interest and intrigue.
And then, of course, the breakout sessions. One thing I noticed in the registration report this year is that we have more pastors' wives coming than I can remember—at least in quite a while. I was like, why is that? Probably John Piper, of course, but when I see that Jeff and Julie Purswell are doing a women's breakout session, I think that probably upped the numbers from my perspective.
So I can't wait to be together, and the highlight's always getting the chance to just sing together to Jesus, to fellowship together, to see people we haven't seen in a year, and to get caught up. It's just, as we've said before, a wonderful family reunion. So please be praying.
BENJAMIN KREPS:
Yes, it is a wonderful family reunion. I mean, there's just nothing quite like that first song, when, you know, on Tuesday evening as the conference begins, as we're all anticipating what lies ahead, and then we begin to sing and the place just explodes in worship‚ not to be missed. Looking forward to all of it.
But in reality, fundamentally, everything that you guys want to have happen at the conference that is of lasting significance is completely dependent on God. We need God to bless this gathering and to move among us.
So, what are some things we can pray for in the days ahead of the Pastors Conference?
MARK PRATER:
Thanks for asking, Ben. You know, as you're planning a conference, it's a reminder of what we all do as pastors each and every day. We are called to do things we can't do on our own. We need God's help and God's power. And may they, as you said, may they have eternal, lasting impact and effect‚ that's our desire. And mostly, may they glorify God.
Pray that throughout this conference, God alone would be glorified. That brings us the most joy. That's our desire in planning this conference and pulling this conference off‚ that He alone would be glorified, in all ways, through our singing, through the preaching, through our fellowship, through everything, through the serving‚ He would be glorified.
The other thing I would pray for is to pray for safe travel. And for our listeners here in the States, please pray that the government shutdown ends before the conference, because, as most listeners know, there's an imposed flight reduction at 40 of the largest airports here in the States, including Orlando, that could put a wrinkle in things.
So please pray that the shutdown ends and there are no travel restrictions or hiccups that could affect the conference. Pray that our folks from outside of Sovereign Grace and first-time guests would encounter the Lord Himself and, in doing so, partly encounter His love through our warm reception and welcome. Pray for the work and the power of the Spirit again throughout the conference. And again, one more time‚ pray that God is glorified in all that we do.
BENJAMIN KREPS:
Amen. We will be praying, and we are grateful, Mark, for the way you lead when it comes to organizing this conference with the leadership team. Thanks to all of you guys on the leadership team. Thanks to everyone who's serving us in the breakouts and so forth. We're going to be together in just a few days. Cannot wait. And may God be glorified in this gathering. So thank you, Mark, for your thoughts. Thank you for checking out the podcast. And we'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.