NEW FOCUS Sovereign Grace Conference 2010

God willing, Don Fortner is again hoping to pay a visit to the UK in 2010, but instead of preaching in multiple locations, it is hoped to have one combined conference at Eggleston Baptist Church, Egglesburn, near Barnard Castle in County Durham.

This means that we will have no Sovereign Grace Conference in Sidmouth, as we have done in past years, but we will be joining the brethren at Eggleston at the 'New Focus' conference.

The conference is expected to be held between Friday 9th April and Sunday 11th April, following a similar format to the previous 'New Focus' Magazine Conferences held in 2008 and 2009, but this time it is expected that there will be several preachers scheduled throughout the weekend.

Further details to follow - but in the meantime please add the dates to your diary!

Monday Meetings (Dec/Jan)

The latest times and dates for the Monday night meetings are as follows (again, please note the slightly later starting time of 8:15pm):

MONDAY December 7th 8:15pm
"When Christ Appears" Titus 3:1-7 (audio)
Darvin Pruitt (Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Taylor, Arkansas.)

Monday January 11th 8:15pm
"I Loved Jacob" Malachi 1:2-5 (audio)
Don Fortner (Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Danville, Kentucky.)

Monday Meetings

The latest times and dates for the Monday night meetings are as follows (please note the slightly later starting time of 8:15pm):

MONDAY October 19th 8:15pm
"The Burden of the Word of the LORD" Malachi 1:1 (audio)
Don Fortner (Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Danville, Kentucky.)

MONDAY November 9th 8:15pm
"When Christ Appears" Titus 3:1-7 (audio)
Darvin Pruitt (Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Taylor, Arkansas.)

Awliscombe Sunday Morning Meetings

As friends, and regular visitors to our websites, will know we have held meetings in Honiton in our home since 1999, and since September 2008 have also held meetings in the village hall in the nearby village of Awliscombe on Sunday mornings at 10:45am.

With the Monday night meetings having gradually built up in number over the years to a regular group of between 8 and 12 usually being gathered, it was hoped at the commencement of Sunday mornings that a similar size group might, in due course, be gathered. However, despite occasional visitors, the Sunday mornings have continued to be very few in number in terms of who gather, and as such I do not feel that it can reasonably be described as a 'church' for the time being! So for now, I've revised the description on the Honiton SGC page and renamed the meetings as 'Honiton Sovereign Grace Meetings'.

Though our Sunday meetings are tiny in number (and now fewer than when we began) we still thank the Lord for His goodness towards us over the past year as we have looked to Him to bless the preaching of His word, to His glory alone. Whilst we cannot tell what the future holds, we nevertheless know that it is Christ alone who builds His church, that He uses His gospel to build it, and that wherever He sends forth His word it never returns unto Him void.

...And if you have a love for that gospel, or perhaps a desire to hear it for the first time, then we do of course extend a warm welcome to you to the meetings at Awliscome.

Sunday 27th September

There will be no meeting as usual in Awliscombe at 10:45am this coming Sunday (27th September) with the meeting being held at another time that day. Would any vistors who wish to attend please contact us by email at ianpotts@graceandtruthonline.com for further details.

Honiton Meetings

With September upon us it is now almost a year since we began to meet in the village of Awliscombe on Sunday mornings.

Are you looking for a place to hear the gospel? The truth? Then why not pay a visit. Details can be found here: Honiton Sovereign Grace Church

Or why not just have a listen to some of the messages from past meetings here: Honiton Meetings on FreeGraceRadio.com

July 19th and 26th

Please note - for any who may wish to visit the meetings at Awliscombe, there will be no meetings held on Sunday 19th or Sunday 26th July. Back on the 2nd August!

A Tribute to Jim Gough

At our conference in April we again had opportunity to share fellowship with our brother Jim Gough and his wife Eileen, whom we had first met in Honiton when Don Fortner came to preach for us back in 2007. Jim had appreciated Don’s ministry for some time and was involved that year, as with this, in arranging meetings for Don in the Wolverhampton/Dudley area. The Gough’s appreciation for the faithful preaching of the gospel was further demonstrated by the fact that this year they first travelled north to the New Focus conference in Egglesburn, before driving the Fortners back to Wolverhampton, and then following those meetings, driving them all the way down to Sidmouth for our own conference.

Following the meetings in Sidmouth, however, Jim had to undergo heart surgery, following a period of poor health. Two days after the surgery the Lord was pleased to call Jim home. We heard of this with heavy hearts, being full of sorrow for Jim’s family and friends, whilst rejoicing with Jim himself who is now with the Lord he loves. We will miss his fellowship.

When he heard about Jim, our brother Don Fortner wrote the following tribute:

A Tribute to Jim Gough
(1942 – 2009)

Shelby and I met Jim and Eileen Gough two years ago in Wolverhampton, England. Our hearts were immediately welded together in the sweet fellowship of the gospel. The Lord took our friend home to Glory Friday night. Very few who read our bulletin will even know the name of this man; and you may be wondering why you are reading about him now. The reason is this: Our God teaches us to give “honour to whom honour” is due. Jim Gough is a cherished friend and was (while he lived on this earth) a faithful servant of God.

Jim was an elder at West Park Evangelical Church in Wolverhampton; but that hardly tells the story of his service to Christ and his people. The West Park Church was formed when Jim, Eileen and a few others saw the need to establish a gospel witness in Wolverhampton. He was devoted to the cause of Christ, frequently preaching the gospel at West Park and in other area chapels. Just last week, he and I spent some time discussing one of his new projects: translating and publishing good books in various Indian dialects.

Though my time with him was very limited, I never spent an hour in the company of Jim Gough that was not edifying and profitable to my soul. What higher compliment could one man give to another? Our mutual friend, Bro. Syd Buggins, wrote to me this morning, saying…

“His whole conversation, especially during the last few years, was all of Christ. He could not pray or preach, but it was full of his Saviour. May we be able to say truly, ‘the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.’ ………… but O the loss!”


Jim and Eileen opened their home, their hearts and their lives to two strangers from America two years ago. They followed us all over England, insatiably absorbing every word preached. When we arrived in Egglesburn this year, we were delightfully surprised to learn that they had (along with Syd and Joan Buggins) rented a van to drive us from meeting to meeting, making it possible for the six of us to spend many hours together discussing the things of God.

One of the last things we spoke of was the fact that so few who preach, preach Christ. Jim was a soft spoken man who hated conflict and went out of his way to avoid confrontation; but his heart was heavy as he spoke. Yet, he spoke with animated excitement as he encouraged me in the blessed work of the gospel. The very last thing he said to me, as we parted company one week ago was, “Bro. Don, be sure to thank your beloved congregation at home for sending you to preach Christ to us.” — Bless God, soon, we shall meet to part no more!

Don Fortner

Grace Hymns

I've begun to produce a new website which may be of interest to those who wish to find hymn tunes suitable for use with various hymns.

Grace Hymns collects together a number of hymn tunes (as MIDI files) which we have used at Honiton Sovereign Grace Church, and also provides a 'map' matching hymns from 'Gadsby's' Hymnal to the various tunes provided.

I hope to expand on the list (of both hymns and tunes) as time allows, but this is a beginning.

Sunday 12th April

Please note that there will be no meeting at Awliscombe on Sunday 12th April. We expect meetings to resume as normal from the 19th.

Monday Meetings - March 2009

The dates of our current Monday meetings are listed below.

For details of the Sunday morning meetings click here.

MONDAY March 9th 8pm
"The Lord Has Put Away Your Sin" 2 Samuel 11:26-27 (audio)
Don Fortner (Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Danville, Kentucky.)

MONDAY March 30th 8pm
"Alone in the Darkness" James 1:17-18 (audio)
Darvin Pruitt (Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Taylor, Arkansas.)

Monday Meetings - February 2009

The dates of our current Monday meetings are listed below.For details of the Sunday morning meetings click here.

MONDAY February 9th 8pm (postponed until February 23rd owing to bad weather)
"With God, It’s Personal" John 10:11-29 (audio)
Peter L. Meney (Pastor of Egglesburn Baptist Church, Eggleston, Co. Durham.)
(Followed by the Lord's Supper)

The 2009 South West Sovereign Grace Conference

On Wednesday April 22nd and Thursday April 23rd 2009 we hope, in the will of the Lord, to host GraceAndTruthOnline.com’s 2009 Sovereign Grace Conference at the Sidholme Hotel in Sidmouth, Devon.

Following his visit to this area last year we are delighted to welcome back Pastor Don Fortner as our speaker and would like to invite all those who are able to come along and hear him on this special occasion.

Don Fortner’s ministry has been a great blessing to us over the years, a ministry in which the Lord Jesus Christ is always exalted. We trust that others too will find encouragement in hearing this ministry in Devon. May Christ be glorified in the preaching of His Gospel.

For the second year running our venue for the conference is the excellent Sidholme Hotel in Sidmouth Devon. This is situated about 30 minutes south of Honiton on the beautiful East Devon coastline. Not only will visitors be able to attend the meetings at the Conference, but for those who are travelling from afar and wish to make a break of it rooms are available at excellent rates at the hotel – this will also provide opportunity for fellowship with others staying at the hotel. Bookings can be made through the hotel website (http://www.sidholme.co.uk/) or by telephone - 01395 515104 (Mention the Sovereign Grace Conference when booking). Alternatively there are of course a number of other good hotels and B+Bs throughout the East Devon area (a quick search on the internet should find some).

Please pencil the dates in your diaries! (April 22nd and 23rd, 2009)

FreeGraceRadio.com

As noted last week, our messages are now hosted on FreeGraceRadio.com. With this being provided as part of the Sermon Audio website, this gives a number of advantages, including the ability to easily search for messages by title or scripture passage, sort them by date etc.

In future we may not post links to each message, as they are preached, on here. To find the latest messages simply visit our page on FreeGraceRadio.com.

…

The following message was preached in Honiton Sovereign Grace Church on Sunday 18th January 2009.

“Grounded and Settled” Colossians 1:23 18-1-09 (Ian Potts)

"Listen" Isaiah 49:1 - Awliscombe, Sunday 11th January

The following message was preached in Honiton Sovereign Grace Church on Sunday 11th January 2009.

“Listen” Isaiah 49:1 11-1-09 (Ian Potts)

(N.B. Our messages are now hosted on FreeGraceRadio.com. As such, the link above takes you to the page for this message on SermonAudio.com)

Monday Meetings - January 2009

The dates of our current Monday meetings are listed below.

For details of the Sunday morning meetings click here.

MONDAY January 12th 8pm
"God’s Firebrands" Zechariah 3:2 (video)
on Fortner (Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Danville, Kentucky.)

MONDAY January 26th 8pm
"The Old and the New" Matthew 9:16-17 (audio)
Darvin Pruitt (Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Taylor, Arizona.)


(On Monday December 15th we heard the following message:
"Grace, Grace" Zechariah 4:6-7 (video) Don Fortner )