Being faithful is hard. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t make for good sound bites or Facebook status updates. Being faithful isn’t sensational, doesn’t attract big crowds, and almost never makes the headlines. And when it does, the focus is usually on success and statistics, not faithfulness.

But being faithful is something God highly values.

Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find? (Prov. 20:6)

A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. (Prov. 28:20)

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Mt. 25:21)

Why the emphasis on being faithful? Because God wants to make us like himself:

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor. 1:9)

But what does faithfulness look like? As a leader? As a musician? As a sound engineer? As a songwriter? How do we make sure we’re keeping the main things the main things? How do we resist the world’s definitions of success and pursue what matters to God?

We’ll be discussing these questions and more at WorshipGod 2013. In the main sessions you’ll hear from Kevin DeYoung, Craig Cabaniss, Kevin Twit, Dr. Russ Moore, and Don Whitney on how God calls us to be faithful to receive his grace, proclaim the gospel, serve others, grow in our knowledge and skills, and prepare people for eternal realities.  

You’ll also be able to attend 4 of 28 seminars, with topics including planning your meeting, the leader’s relationships, working with other generations, songwriting, making room for the Spirit’s leading, prayer, sound applications, as well as vocal and instrumental classes.

At WorshipGod East you’ll have the opportunity to attend pre-conference intensives in the areas of basic sound, contemporary piano, choir, and essential guitar skills. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up early.

As in previous years, WorshipGod 2013 will include plenty of giveaways, free on-site lunches, a selective bookstore, lots of laughter, and opportunities to meet hundreds of like-minded believers devoted to worshiping God in spirit and truth.

Most of all, it will be an opportunity to encounter God, and be trained, refreshed, and revitalized for the role you play in serving your local church.

As you look around the WorshipGod site we hope you get inspired thinking about all the ways you could benefit from joining us. If you have any questions, please email WorshipGod@sovgracemin.org.

We’d love to see you there!

*Registration will open later this week. 

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Tony Merida, Daniel Akin, George Robinson, Bruce Ashford, and C.J. Mahaney discussed practical issues concerning the gospel and mission at the recent 20/20 Collegiate Conference hosted by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

This discussion is divided into two sections:

1) Get the gospel
2) Get on with the mission

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The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted the 20/20 Collegiate Conference this past weekend. Hundreds of college students gathered to consider this year’s theme, “Gospel and Mission.”

Along with Danny Akin, Darrin Patrick, and Bruce Ashford, C.J. Mahaney had the opportunity to address these college students from God’s Word on two occasions. The audio and video have been made available.

The Profile of a Church Planter
1 Thessalonians 2

Called and Kept for Christ’s Purposes
Jude

For a fuller description of 20/20 2013, watch this introduction by Tony Merida.

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The past few weeks I’ve been at work preparing for WorshipGod East and WorshipGod West. I’m excited for the way things are coming together and wanted to let you know what’s going on, since we don’t expect to have the website up until Feb. 1 and people have been asking for details.

WorshipGod West will be held June 27-29 at Calvary Church, Santa Ana, CA. The folks at Calvary have enthusiastically welcomed us and we can’t wait to hold the conference there. WorshipGod East is going to be Aug. 1-3 at Highview Baptist Church East, Louisville, KY. They have also been extremely gracious and kind. For the East conference I’m working on offering some pre-conference intensives (piano, choir, vocal, and guitar) on July 31.

This year’s conference theme is Called to be Faithful. In light of the massive number of options we have available to us today in corporate worship (lighting, video, instruments, arrangements, etc.), it’s easy to get distracted and off track. So this year we’re going to highlight some of the things God has called us specifically to be faithful in when we lead the church at our gatherings. Here’s the line up of messages and speakers: 

Faithful to Receive –  Conversations about worship typically begin and end with what WE do. But worship is a gift, received by grace, not something that originates with us. The Father not only seeks worshipers, he creates worshipers  (John 4:1-26; ;1 Tim. 1:12-17). This message will remind us that our worship of God is rooted in and sustained by grace alone. Craig Cabaniss, senior pastor of Grace Chruch in Frisco and a well-loved speaker at WorshipGod conferences, will be giving this message at both events.

Faithful to Proclaim - While we often view “worship” as passionately expressing our feelings toward God, worship always involves proclaiming truths about God that fuel our emotional fire. What we are specifically called to proclaim is the Word of God and the gospel. God has told us that his word is living and active and will not return void, and that the gospel is the power of God  (Heb. 4:12; Is. 55:10-11; Rom. 1:16). Jeff Purswell is scheduled to give this message at WorshipGod west and Dr. Russ Moore will be serving us at East.

Faithful to Serve - Anyone involved in music ministry can be tempted to exalt themselves. But Jesus said, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all (Mk. 10:42-44). How do we develop a servant mindset while leading people in corporate worship? What does it look like? Two younger Sovereign Grace pastors will seek to answer this question. In the West it will be Jon Payne, associate pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Gilbert, AZ. Jared Mellinger, pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church near Philadelphia, will address this topic in the East.

Faithful to Grow - Being faithful doesn’t mean doing the same things you’ve always done. Every musician and leader has the opportunity and responsibility to grow in their character, theology, and skills. I’ll have the joy of speaking to this topic at both events.

Faithful to Prepare - This doesn’t refer to preparing for a meeting, but preparing our people for suffering, death, and heaven. Congregational worship is meant to open people’s eyes to the weighty, eternal realities that we’re dealing with each time we meet. I’m thrilled that Kevin DeYoung will speak on this at WorshipGod West, and that Kevin Twit of Indelible Grace Music will be addressing it in the East.

Musical guests will include John Martin and Enfield at WorshipGod West and Mike Cosper and Sojourn Music at WorshipGod East. I’m working on some other guests as well.

Seminars at both conferences are going to be designed for pastors, worship leaders, musicians, vocalists, song writers, and tech personnel. We’re bringing back some familiar seminar speakers (Donald Whitney, Sheri Gould, Doug Gould, Matt Mason, Ken Boer, Patrick Anderson, Mike Cosper, etc.) and adding some new ones (Kevin DeYoung, Darius Fong, Malcolm DuPlessis, etc.).

Rates will be similar to last year with early bird registration starting at $90/student, $115/group of 5+, $140/individual, all of which include lunch both days. We’re also working up a special discount for any senior pastor who comes with his worship leader.

I’d appreciate prayers as we hash out the final details of the schedule.

And since I’m still working on seminar topics, if you have any ideas for something you’d like to see, leave a comment at Worship Matters.

* This post originally appeared on Bob Kauflin's website, Worship Matters. 

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Bob Kauflin is the Director of Sovereign Grace Music. His responsibilities include equipping pastors and musicians in the theology and practice of congregational worship, and contributing to Sovereign Grace CDs. He is a pastor and one of the worship leaders at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, KY. He is the author of, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness. Bob blogs at Worship Matters and hosts the bi-annual WorshipGod conference.

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What began as a conversation over breakfast quickly became a moment we wanted to capture by video as Ian McConnell and Bob Kauflin elaborated further on our upcoming Transfer Conference.

In this video they discuss the following questions: 

• Why this conference?
• Who should come?
• What are we transferring?
• And, how this Transfer is linked to what God has been doing in our family of churches for the last 30 years.

We hope this conversation inspires you, as it did us, for how we hope God will use this conference as an entension of the work taking place in the local church.

Register today for $99

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From generation to generation... What we treasure, we must transfer!

Why this conference?

That the next generation might set their hope in God… Psalm 78:4, 7 says: “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done… so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” We want to transfer what matters. We want those after us to see how glorious a relationship with Jesus is. We want them to hope in God – not in our methodologies, our practices, our structures, or even our example, but in God himself. Drawing on our history as a family of churches and the amazing truths we celebrate, the Transfer Conference will create a context for us to intentionally transfer the things we treasure to the next generation. If we assume these things, we will lose them, so we must be intentional to transfer them. In a focused way, Transfer will allow us to do this by devoting each session to a particular truth we collectively treasure: God’s glory, God’s gospel, God’s word, God’s presence, God’s people, God’s design, and God’s mission.

Join us 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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Thank you for praying for your Latin American brothers and sisters as we hosted a Pasión Por Dios Conference in New York City earlier this month. We had the privilege of hosting Pasión Por Dios 2012 in Argentina, Puerto Rico, and now New York City. Each time, we've been encouraged by how God uses our feeble efforts to proclaim the gospel and see lives transformed for His glory. 

When we arrived in Manhattan, we spent the first couple of days rehearsing and preparing for those who would join us for the conference. Friday night kicked off with a time of worship and a message. On Saturday we continued with three more messages and a few more times of singing. On Sunday we concluded with a concert. The place was packed. 

I am so grateful to God for pastor Freddy Noble, Freddy Noble Jr., and for our brothers from PIBHM for all the hard work they are doing to serve the Latin American community of New York City. 
And I want to thank God for Sovereign Grace, especially Sovereign Grace Music, for all you are doing to serve us as we proclaim and sing the good news of the gospel at events like Pasión Por Dios. Mauricio Velarde led our times of singing and gave an exemplary conference message. Mauricio’s participation blessed us richly as we sang songs he wrote with Sovereign Grace Music. Thank you!



A Latin American philosopher once said: "In New York you can find the worse and best of the word." In 1930, when Diectrich Bonhoeffer arrived to New York City, he said the following about the believers he found there, "... In New York, they preach about virtually everything; only one thing is not addressed, or is addressed so rarely that I have as yet been unable to hear it, namely, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross, sin and forgiveness, death and life." The German theologian martyr shared his impressions when he came to study at Union Theological Seminary. Eighty years later the situation has not changed. On the contrary, it has grown worse. Despite this, many from this city clearly heard the gospel and were affected by the message of salvation through Jesus Christ at Pasión Por Dios. And, thanks to technology, additional Spanish speaking brothers and sisters from around the world watched the conference online.



I'd like to thank Bob Kauflin and Mauricio Velarde for supporting us through Sovereign Grace Music. Sovereign Grace, thank you for producing worship albums that serve your Spanish speaking brothers and sisters. It is my hope that God will allow us to continue doing things together in the future for His glory.



"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
" Psalm 115:1

Blessings,

Otto Sánchez

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Gracias por orar por sus hermanos Latinoamericanos durante nuestra conferencia Pasión Por Dios en Nueva York este mes. En el pasado hemos tenido el privilegio de llevar nuestra conferencia a Argentina, Puerto Rico, y ahora a Nueva York. Cada vez somos animados al ver como Dios usa nuestros débiles esfuerzos para proclamar su evangelio y ver vidas transformadas para Su gloria. 

Cuando llegamos a Manhattan los primeros dos días, los pasamos ensayando y planificando para servir a las personas que nos acompañarían esa noche. El viernes empezamos con un tiempo de adoración y el primer mensaje. El sábado continuamos con tres mensajes y más tiempos de alabanza. El domingo concluimos la conferencia con un concierto a casa llena.

Doy gracias al Señor por el pastor Freddy Noble, Freddy Noble Jr. y por los hermanos de la PIBHM por el trabajo que están haciendo con la inmensa comunidad hispana de la ciudad de New York. Quiero agradecer al Señor por Sovereign Grace y en especial por Sovereign Grace Music por lo que están haciendo para servirnos mientras cantamos las buenas nuevas del evangelio en eventos como Pasión Por Dios. Mauricio nos lideró en los tiempos de alabanza y dio un magistral mensaje en la conferencia. La participación de Mauricio nos edificó en gran manera mientras cantamos canciones de Sovereign Grace Music. ¡Gracias!

Un filósofo latinoamericano dijo: “En New York se puede encontrar lo peor y lo mejor del mundo”. En 1930, cuando Diectrich Bonhoeffer llegó a la ciudad de New York dijo acerca de los creyentes que encontró allí lo siguiente: “…predican prácticamente sobre todo, tan sólo hay un tema que no tratan o que, de hacerlo, es tan rara la vez que hasta el momento no he podido escucharlo, y es el evangelio de Jesucristo, la cruz, el pecado y el perdón, la muerte y la vida." El mártir y teólogo alemán dejó ver sus impresiones cuando vino a estudiar al Union Theological Seminary. Ochenta años después la situación no ha cambiado. Por el contrario, está peor. Sin embargo, la sana doctrina de Cristo, sanó muchas almas tanto en los que asistieron al evento como a todos los que en más de 10 países nos siguieron por la web.

Gracias Bob Kauflin y Mauricio Velarde por su apoyo a través de Sovereign Grace Music. Sovereign Graace, gracias por producir música en español que nos permiten servir mejor a nuestros hermanos de habla hispana. Espero que Dios nos permita trabajar juntos en el futuro para Su gloria.

"No a nosotros, oh Jehová, no a nosotros, Sino a tu nombre da gloria, Por tu misericordia, por tu verdad." Salmo 115:1

Bendiciones,
Otto Sánchez

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With registration for our Transfer Conference now open, we want to make you aware of some of the resources you can benefit from over at TheTransfer.org:

• Messages from past Celebration, New Attitude, and NEXT conferences are all available for free download.
• Pastors of Sovereign Grace churches are contributing to the Transfer Blog Monday through Friday. Their posts highlight relevant messages, books, and articles that further inspire us to transfer what we treasure to future generations. Read the latest post from Jon Payne about transferring the gospel to future generations.
• A promotional video and a filmed conversation between Ian McConnell and Bob Kauflin discussing Transfer are available to view and share with others.
• Check us out on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.

We hope you'll join us Memorial Day Weekend 2013 in Orlando, Florida for Transfer!

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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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Polity is important. Too little organization and our family of churches will flounder, too much and we can fossilize. And while the Bible gives us instructions and guidelines about our ecclesiology, we must also remember that even the best polity isn’t designed to do everything. It performs a specific structural purpose in service to the greater tasks of gospel mission and ministry.

As we enter into a 90-day examination of the new SGM polity proposal it’s important for our pastors and churches to realize both the limitations and benefits of what is before us. To that end, Matthew Wassink—Sr. Pastor at Providence Community Church and a member of the Polity Committee—taught a breakout at the Pastors Conference: What Polity Can, Can’t, and Shouldn’t Do.

Right-click to download, or listen here:

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