Minister's Blog

A 75 Year Legacy of Faithfulness
Anniversaries are important, not just because of the event they commemorate, but also because of the perseverance we celebrate. Generally, the date of the establishment of things which fail, die, or are no longer needed are not celebrated. The 75th anniversary of the establishment of Emmanuel Baptist Church should be precious to all of us, because we are all blessed to be part of a Gospel centered, Bible believing church. I love reading back through our church history and reflecting on Emmanuel’s humble beginnings. In May of 1950 a conversation at a deacon’s meeting of First Baptist Ruston led to a meeting in a home in Carroll Heights Subdivision, which led to the brotherhood of First Baptist sponsoring a tent revival on the site of our church in early September, which led to a meeting on September 17 of Baptist pastors from the area for the organization of Second Baptist Church of Ruston. I am thankful the church chose “Emmanuel Baptist Church” as our official name in February of 1951.
During September, I have been blessed to read through our church history and to interview several longtime and former members. I was able to interview Sam Wheat, Michael Hawley, Jeff and Pam Pruden, Chad and Bobbi Conner, and Roy Bryan Moore on their time at Emmanuel. These interviews can be accessed through our church YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@ebcruston . There was a theme that resurfaced in each interview. Emmanuel has been a church characterized by friendly, encouraging people who share a genuine love for the Lord and one another. I believe I could interview any of those who have joined the church in the past seven years, and they would say the same. I was reminded of how blessed I am to be an elder/pastor here and how thankful I am for the love my family has experienced through/in the church.
Please make every effort to be in attendance on October 5th. It is going to be a blessed time! We will have copies of our newly updated church history available. I am thankful for Nancy Collie, editor of the history of the first 50 years and Marsha Armond who was so gracious to give her time in perusing minutes and records of past business meetings to put together our update for the 75th anniversary. We will also have a lunch fellowship after the service. Please make plans to bring a covered dish. Hope to see you there!
Finishing Strong in the Fourth Quarter
2025 is moving along! The final quarter of the year is filled with activity and celebrations. One of those activities that has been on our annual calendar for some time is our Fall Festival. It has become one of our largest community outreach efforts. It is a church wide effort to minister to families through games, food, and our Gospel witness. This year it will held on the afternoon of October 19th. It has been our goal each year to share the Gospel with each person in attendance through tracts and the verbal proclamation of the Gospel on our hayride. WE NEED YOUR HELP for this effort to accomplish this goal! Please help us by PRAYING for this effort and those who will attend, by signing up to prepare and host a game booth, and/or donating candy to give away. Please prayerfully consider how you might take part.