Stronger Together: Responding to Jared Mellinger's Message from the Pastors Conference

Our family of Sovereign Grace Churches started with a conviction: churches are stronger together. 

I’ve had the privilege of growing up in our family of churches and from an early age saw this partnership demonstrated. My parents hosted small groups in their homes and never missed a Sunday they couldn’t avoid at church. Why? Because as they said and demonstrated, Christians are stronger together. God’s design is for Christians to express their gospel partnership through local church life. I saw it before I understood it, but as I grew in my faith I saw this not only in my church but in the pages of Scripture.

But I saw something else: that churches need one another. Through the long years of our partnership with other churches, we’ve walked through joys and sorrows together. In a time of great need another local church sent a pastor to serve our church. In joy our church said goodbye to leaders who went to plant or support other churches. I grew up traveling every summer to meet Christians from all over our region who sang out the same gospel truths we did and prayed the same kinds of prayers we did. And when I began to read my Bible, I saw this reflected in the partnerships of New Testament churches.

It’s written across our family of churches and our Bibles: churches are stronger together. 

 That’s why I’m so grateful for Jared’s recent message on partnership. I’m so grateful for what I’ve experienced in our family of churches, but I’m jealous that we not lose it. What we fail to articulate is often what we fail to pass on. As Jared walked us through Scripture’s clear teaching on partnership, I felt two things: this is our history as well as may this also be our future.

It’s no exaggeration to say I’ve been hoping for this message for years -- a single, clear, winsome articulation of why we love partnership in Sovereign Grace and what we mean. It’s a message I can’t wait to get into the ears of the group of men exploring eldership at our church. It’s a message I can’t wait to point new members to when they say the way we talk about partnership seems different. It’s a message I think I’ll borrow from as we articulate our partnership in our new members class. It’s a message I hope to revisit regularly as a pastoral team. 

Brothers, I am jealous that our kids and our members experience what I experienced as a kid growing up in Sovereign Grace: I want them to see us living out church partnership among other churches. That’s something all of us must seek to live out in the specifics of our church context. But I also want them to see us pointing to this kind of partnership in Scripture. That’s something that must come out in our messages, conversations, and membership classes.

So even if you heard the message at the conference can I encourage you to do something? Listen and then take out a blank sheet of paper. Then pray and dream a little bit. What would it look like for your church to live this out? What kind of church will the kids in your kids ministry grow up in? Will they see partnership lived out? Will they hear it taught? 

May the generation after us grow to love and cherish the simple truth our family of churches started with: churches are stronger together.

Ricky Alcantar is the lead pastor of Cross of Grace Church in El Paso, Texas. He also serves on the Sovereign Grace Church Planting Team.

California Celebration 2021: Three Churches. Two Days. One Mission.

Q. Why would 200 people from 3 different California Sovereign Grace Churches pack their bags, load up their cars, and travel 2 hours into the mountains of the San Bernardino National Forest to spend the weekend together?

A. To attend our California Celebration! The purpose of this gathering was to worship and seek the Lord together, to build unity, and to be renewed in our vision, purpose, and calling as churches living in Southern California.

Three Churches.

Sovereign Grace Church of Orange (Eric Turbedsky), Cross of Grace Santa Ana (Kyle Houlton), and Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena (Ron Boomsma) held a weekend church retreat in October at the Tahquitz Pines Conference Center in Idyllwild, CA. Our churches are located in three disparate cities in Southern California. We have many differences between us in terms of age, style, demographics, and church culture, but we have this in common: we each possess a commitment to God’s Word, to Sovereign Grace Churches’ shared values, a desire to see the gospel preached and more churches planted in California!

Two Days.

We spent two days together cheering teammates on as we competed for the California Churches trophy; talking as we strolled from our cabins to the sessions; lingering over meals with new friends; and taking lots of pictures of this soul-reviving and spirit-renewing experience of fellowship with like-minded brothers and sisters from other churches. And, most importantly, we were refreshed in worship and in God’s word together and because we know that we were meant to relate like this: in person, face to face, authentically, and biblically with others.

One Mission: Spreading the Joy of Jesus to every Californian.

Our California pastors (plus a guest speaker, Derek Overstreet from Tucson) taught from the book of Jonah to challenge, inspire and equip us in this mission.

Session Audios:

• Great Mercy - Jonah 1 (Eric)

• Deep Work - Jonah 2 (Ron)

• The Church in the City - Jonah 3 (Kyle)

• God’s Heart - Jonah 4 (Derek)

The teachings were rich, challenging, and convicting and we left the retreat with these highlights:

• Understanding and marveling in God’s great mercy to us and to others

• Remembering our purpose in living here - in Southern California

• Recognizing our mission and calling while living in our own “Nineveh”

• Being challenged and convicted in our attitudes toward the people in our neighborhoods, cities, and state. Are they enemies to hate and flee from or are they unbelievers to love and share God’s mercy with?

• Is our heart toward people like Jonah’s or Jesus’?

• “There’s always a boat in the dock at Tarshish for those who are looking to flee” (but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s God’s will).

• Re-orienting our hearts and minds to reflect biblical priorities and God’s heart

• Praying to grow in our love for California and the mission God has given us to reach people in our cities with the gospel.

• Returning to our cities and neighborhoods with renewed faith

So, was it worth it to set aside this weekend and spend it in Idyllwild with the 3 Californian churches? The answer is a resounding yes!  This was time well spent in the beautiful San Jacinto mountains, in the middle of a pine forest retreat setting - away from our normal, pressure-packed lives- in order to hear what God is saying to us.

We didn’t just spend time together this weekend, we invested it as we built new friendships, reconnected with old friends, forged alliances between churches, grew in love and unity with one another, and created shared memories. We left the retreat renewed by God’s Spirit and the Word and infused with faith for our mission: to share the joy of Jesus with every Californian.

Tami Boomsma is the wife of Ron Boomsma. Together, they have been at Sovereign Grace Church of Pasadena for more than 30 years.