Pastor Ben Rust | Email Pastor Ben
Hello and thank you for your interest in our church! My name is Ben Rust and I serve Grace Baptist Church as their Senior Pastor. My wife, Wendy, and I were married in 1999 and currently have 2 sons: Calvin and Benjamin, and a beautiful daughter Ellie. My wife and I first met at Bob Jones University where we both attended. After a year of marriage the Lord brought us to Northeastern Pa to serve in a local church. During that time the Lord blessed us with two sons, further education for me, and many wonderful friends. The Lord directed us to Grace Baptist church in the summer of 2006 and shortly thereafter I was privileged to begin serving as associate Pastor and then later as their senior pastor in 2008. We are most grateful to the Lord for the opportunities and blessings He has graciously given us as a couple to serve in the church. We love the church and earnestly desire that the time and resources we have been entrusted with will be used for furthering the ministry of the local church - locally and around the globe to the glory of Christ. There is much more to our story, but I will save that for when you come and visit. Again, thank you for looking and carefully considering where and how the Lord would have you serve Him with your remaining days.
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 2 Cor. 1:20-21
Pastor David Harris | Email Pastor Dave
Thanks for visiting the GBC website. I’m David Harris, the Worship Pastor at Grace Baptist Church. I’m married to Connie, my “Southern Belle” from North Alabama. We have three children, Jordan [22] who’s married to Angela, Allison [16], and Dylan [14], and our first grandchild is on the way. I’m a native South Carolinian, a graduate of the University of Alabama [Roll Tide!], and live in the misty Endless Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
I enjoy reading the Puritans and Neo-Puritans [let’s hear it for Jonathan Edwards and John Piper], biking on my recently purchased Red Specialized Allez, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs [The Trinity Hymnal, Sovereign Grace Music, Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, Red Mountain Music, and the RUF Hymnal are the “coolest”]. Since my son Jordan works at Starbucks, I’ve grown to love their caffeinated brew and [sorry Dave] just can’t get used to Duncan Donut coffee. I play a Martin D15 guitar and hope we can soon purchase a Baldwin 6 foot grand for our church.
We believe, as our statement of faith puts it, that the people of God will learn to love the glory of God as the ministers of God teach them to see and savor the Word of God. God's self-revelation is found in His Word. The self-love and relativism of our "ungodly" and "unrighteous" culture have negatively affected the church's corporate worship. A change of audience has occurred. Worship is often shaped more by what people desire than by the nature of God's self-disclosure found in the Bible. We will be changed only as we discover in the Word what God must be like for our joy in the face of Jesus Christ.
Hope to see you soon! We’d love to have you visit GBC.