Serving the community and saving souls
Submitted by jcht2010 on
By Lisa Shapiro
Staff Writer
Those who turn to Jesus can always turn over a new leaf by replenishing their soul and asking for forgiveness. This is the philosophy Pastor Ryan Carpenter of the First Baptist Church in Ganado preaches to others.
“I think the primary things that we focus on are no matter what you’ve done and no matter where you’ve been you can start anew and that forgiveness is available,” Carpenter said. “It’s not impossible and that Jesus Christ is the way to forgiveness. What we teach at First Baptist is that true saving faith is trusting Jesus alone for that gift of life and forgiveness.”
A lady told him sometimes when you walk into church you feel like you will be judged, but going to First Baptist Church is kind of like being with family.
He said First Baptist is trying to teach people to love God and live significantly.
“We’re not here to just kind of tell people that they love them, but make a significant difference in people’s lives,” Carpenter said. “So if there is someone hurting we should not just tell them that we love them, they should go to them. If there is someone in need we shouldn’t just pray for them. We should pray for them and see what we can do to meet that need.”
He said by putting God first, we are saying that spiritual things are most important in our lives. Carpenter said by living significantly, we are saying that people are not just things that wander about our town, people matter. People matter to God and they matter to us, he said.
The church was established in 1894 and there are about 160 members. On most Sunday mornings there are usually around 70 people at services. Some of the social events the church holds are a Valentine’s Day banquet, Vacation Bible School and youth and children’s camps during the summer along with a fall festival.
More can be read in the Feb. 4 edition of the Jackson County Herald-Tribune.
Rate this article:
- Log in to post comments
