Earlier this month, Grace Church of Frisco, TX hosted a small group leaders conference geared toward equipping and encouraging those who lead small groups, teams, and ministries in their local church. The theme of the conference was "Leading by Faith."

For your benefit, we've posted the audio of these 12 messages below:  

Pre-Conference Session 1, Billy Raies
Pre-Conference Session 2, Bob Odom
Pre-Conference Session 3, Pete Payne
Leading By Faith - Main Session 1, Craig Cabaniss
Group Panel
Leading with Patience - Main Session 2, Jon Payne
Leading with Joy - Main Session 3, Ricky Alcantar
Leading Others with God's Providence in View - Breakout 1, Grady Van Wright
Helping People in Conflict - Breakout 2, Josh Jordan
Disciples through Small Groups - Breakout 3, Rob Tombrella
Principle vs. Practice - Breakout 4, Allen Dicharry
Reading by Faith - Breakout 5, Darrel Schiel

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The Sovereign Grace Store has added free mp3 sets for Next 2012 and our Pastors Conference 2012. General sessions, break-out sessions, and "conversations between friends" are listed below with relevant detail. Download today and enjoy.

Next 2012

General Session Messages:

1. Jeff Purswell, "The Church and the Purpose of God"
2. Jared Mellinger, "The Church and Membership"
3. Ian McConnell, "The Church and Sunday"
4. Kevin DeYoung, "The Church and Friendship"
5. Kevin DeYoung, "The Church and Holiness"
6. Matt Chandler, "The Church and Culture"
7. C.J. Mahaney, "The Church and Disappointment"

Conversations Between Friends:

1. C.J. Mahaney with Kevin DeYoung
2. C.J. Mahaney with Matt Chandler
3. Bob Kauflin with Devon Kauflin

Pastors Conference 2012

General Session Messages:

1. Dave Harvey, "Forgiveness: Debtor No More" (Mt 18:21-35)
2. Jeff Purswell, "A Call to Arms" (Eph 6:10-20)
3. Ligon Duncan, "God and Your Ministerial Discouragement" (Dt 34, 1 Kings 19, 2 Tim 4)
4. Ian McConnell, "Gospel Men on Gospel Mission" (Mt 6:13-21)

Break-Out Sessions:

1. Matthew Wassink, "What Polity Can, Can't and Shouldn't Do For Us"
2. Paul Buckley,"Godly Speech - The Power of the Words We Speak, Write and Read"
3. Phil Sasser, "Effective Elderships: Fostering Clear Roles, Healthy Function, and Strong Leadership"
4. Jon Payne, "Union with Christ and Everyday Pastoring: Reinforcing an Important Doctrine"
5. Craig Cabaniss, "Leading through Change: How to Address Sin, Mistakes and Growth in the Church"
6. John Loftness, "Evaluating Pastors: Common Mistakes, What We've Learned, and What Scripture Calls Us To"
7. Mark Prater, "Loving and Leading Those Who Criticize"
8. Dave Harvey, "What’s Our Role? Elders and the Global Mission"
9. Mickey Connolly, "Discerning Holiness: Legalism, License and the Principle/Practice Distinction"
10. Bob Kauflin, "Parenting and the Grace of God: Has Our Understanding Changed?"
11. Nancy Guthrie, "Pain that Can't be Prayed Away"
12. Nancy Guthrie, "Learning to Walk with Each Other Through Loss"

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This week the Pastors College welcomes Mike Bullmore as our guest lecturer on the theology and practice of the spiritual disciplines in the Christian life. Dr. Bullmore is a frequent teacher in the Pastors College, is a former professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and since 1998 has led CrossWay Community Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

In this course Dr. Bullmore provides a clear definition of the sometimes fuzzy concept of spirituality: “Christian spirituality is the pursuit of godliness.” And after reading “the key text for this course” (1 Timothy 4:6–16), he continues,

There’s a lot at stake in your godliness. There’s heavy, weighty things attached to your personal pursuit of godliness. This week is all about attentiveness to your spiritual life—the pursuit of godliness. The most important factor in your pastoring is not your gifting; it’s your godliness. And that’s the most important factor in your parenting, and your being a husband. Your people are going to appreciate your gifting and your wisdom, but what they will look to, and long for, is your personal godliness.

Proverbs 14:26 is directed towards fathers: “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge.” I think the same thing is true in pastoring. It’s a leadership issue. A man who fears the Lord has a fortress. And for your people that will be a refuge.

Dr. Bullmore also shares Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s famous adage: “My people's greatest need is my personal holiness,” a sentence where, Kevin DeYoung once wrote, “almost my whole philosophy of ministry is summed up” (Don't Call it a Comeback, 26).

We anticipate another rich week of pastoral training. For more on the topic you can listen to Bullmore’s 105-minute message “Spiritual Disciplines” recorded at CrossWay Community Church.

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He said, “Yes.”

We are very excited to announce the addition of pastor, author, and seminary professor, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson to the lineup of speakers for the Transfer Conference. There are few preachers today that speak of the glory of God and the gospel with the captivating clarity and passion that he does. He is a unique gift to the church of Jesus Christ and we are grateful that he has accepted our invitation to join us as we seek to transfer the clarity and passion of the gospel to the coming generations. 

Dr. Ferguson preached at our 2009 NEXT conference [The Return of Jesus] and our 2011 Pastors Conference [Consider Jesus]. These messages can be found below. Enjoy the gospel feast!

"The Return of Jesus" Right-click to download, or listen here:

"Consider Jesus" Right-click to download or listen here:

More on Dr. Ferguson

For more information on Dr. Ferguson you can read or listen to C.J. Mahaney’s interview with him. 

Join Us For Transfer 

Join Dr. Furguson and hundreds of others May 25-28 in Orlando, FL for Transfer, a four-day gathering hosted by the churches of Sovereign Grace Ministries to celebrate and proclaim those biblical truths that are most important to pass on from one generation to the next. 

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The general-session messages from our 2012 Pastors Conference are now online:

• Dave Harvey, “Forgiveness: Debtor No More” (Mt 18:21-35)
• Jeff Purswell, “A Call to Arms” (Eph 6:10-20)
• Ligon Duncan, “God and You Ministerial Discouragement” (Dt 34, 1Ki 19, 2Ti 4)
• Ian McConnell, “Gospel Men on Gospel Mission” (Mt 16:13-21)

The breakout-session messages are also now available: 

• Nancy Guthrie, "Pain that Can't be Prayed Away"
• Nancy Guthrie, "Learning to Walk with Each Other Through Loss"
• Jon Payne, "Union with Christ and Everyday Pastoring: Reinforcing an Important Doctrine" 
• Paul Buckley, "Godly Speech - The Power of the Words We Speak, Write and Read"
• Matthew Wassink, "What Polity Can, Can't and Shouldn't Do For Us"
• John Loftness, "Evaluating Pastors: Common Mistakes, What We've Learned, and What Scripture Calls Us To" 
• Craig Cabaniss, "Leading through Change: How to Address Sin, Mistakes and Growth in the Church"
• Phil Sasser, "Effective Elderships: Fostering Clear Roles, Healthy Function, and Strong Leadership"
• Dave Harvey, "What’s Our Role? Elders and the Global Mission"
• Mickey Connolly, "Discerning Holiness: Legalism, License and the Principle/Practice Distinction"
• Mark Prater, "Loving and Leading Those Who Criticize"
• Bob Kauflin, "Parenting and the Grace of God: Has Our Understanding Changed?

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Who do we expect to "be there" for us when life gets hard? Our families. And those of us in the church have the same expectation of our church family. So how do we pray for those facing terminal illness? How can we overcome the awkwardness of interacting with those going through a divorce or grieving the death of a spouse or child? How do we keep from being that person who said the wrong thing to someone who's lost a loved one? How do we help those who have gone through a very public trial get back to normal in the life of our church? These are the kinds of questions Nancy Guthrie addresses in her breakout session taught at this years Pastors Conference: Learning to Walk with Each Other Through Loss

Right-click to download, or listen here:

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God is our father and he has invited us to come to him with our needs and requests. But often times we pray for reconciliation and the marriage ends in divorce. We pray for resources and the house goes into foreclosure. We pray for healing and have to learn to live with the disability. What do we do when we do not get what we ask for earnestly in prayer? When we sense that God has said "no" to our prayers, we are in good company. Jesus knows what it feels like to hear God say "no" and so does "Paul." Observing what Jesus said when God said “no” to his pleading prayer and how Paul responded when he heard "no" shows us what to do when God tells us “no.”

Nancy Guthrie addresses this content in her breakout session taught at this years Pastors Conference: Pain that Can’t be Prayed Away

Right-click to download, or listen here:

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It’s one thing to believe in plurality of elders. It’s quite a different thing to actually have a healthy functioning plurality in the local church. Is it now government by committee? Is there a place for a Senior Pastor in a plurality? Are all elders equal? If not, how are they different and how do those differences impact a local eldership?

Many Sovereign Grace churches have made significant progress in establishing a plurality of elders in past few years. And yet, many unforeseen challenges lie ahead for these churches, especially as we stand on the verge of entering into a new polity structure for Sovereign Grace churches. Phil Sasser addresses many of these questions in his breakout session taught at this years Pastors Conference: Effective Elderships: Fostering Clear Roles, Healthy Function, and Strong Leadership

Right-click to download, or listen here:

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The intent of James chapter 3 is to convince us that our words hold great power. Multiple metaphors are used to reveal the disproportionate strength the tongue holds: like a bit in the mouth of a horse, a rudder of a large ship, and a spark setting a forest ablaze. We must be aware of this power the tongue holds to either bless or curse, to forgive or condemn, to honor or slander.

In Paul Buckely’s breakout session from our 2012 Pastors Conference, he addresses The Power of the Words we Speak, Write, and Read. Paul humbly shares the effects his sinful speech has had on others and how ungodly speech directed at him has injured. James chapter 3 and Paul’s stories point to the reality that we have all failed to tame the tongue. We are all in need of forgiveness, both from each other and from God. And all of us can find forgiveness in the person and work of Jesus!

Right-click to download, or listen here:

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All pastors need evaluation, whether it is to ordain them to ministry or to help them improve or to handle charges of wrongdoing. This much the Bible makes clear. But our history in Sovereign Grace--at least for some of our churches--has been lacking in clearly defined processes and in approaching evaluation in an ad hoc manner.

In this breakout session from our 2012 Pastors Conference, John Loftness points to directions for improving in this vital area of ministry--by first distinguishing between different types of evaluation and then establishing pre-determined processes that lead toward accurate and helpful conclusions.

Evaluating Pastors: Common Mistakes, What We've Learned, and What Scripture Calls Us To

Right-click to download, or listen here:

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