For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." -Galatians 5:13-14

Each year on the Fourth of July, we celebrate the birth of our great nation: a nation founded upon freedom. Freedom to speak without fear, to express dissent from our rulers, and to peaceably assemble. And perhaps the most important right we have as Americans is that of the right to freely exercise our religion.

On the Saturday prior to Independence day, thousands gather in the heart of Ball Ground to celebrate not only these rights, but to celebrate the freedom we have gained through Jesus Christ-- the freedom from slavery to sin. It is through God we receive the power to overcome our own wrongdoings, and in Christ, who took our place on the cross, we find forgiveness to release us from the bonds of guilt.

This is why, on June 30th, 2012, former Ball Ground UMC pastor Jared Lathem launched the first Faith and Freedom Festival, and it is why we use our freedom as an opportunity to go out into our community and spread the love of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all who might hear it.