Walter HillWalter HillWe desire to be the one church for which Christ died. To accomplish this, we follow the pattern found in the New Testament for our organization, work, and worship. We urge everyone to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and search their Bibles daily to make sure their beliefs are consistent with God’s Word.
We believe the Bible contains everything pertaining to life and faith; therefore, it is our sole source of authority in these matters
(Colossians 3:17; 2 Peter 1:3).
Our goal is to be the church Christ established as described in the New Testament. That is why we work together as a family and why we worship as we do.
This is certainly the most important question anyone can ask in this life. Sadly, man is willing to offer a wide variety of answers to this vital question. We maintain, however, that there is only one answer to this question and it is applicable to every human being on this earth. That answer must be found in the New Testament and we will try to briefly lay it out and challenge you to open your Bibles and read these scriptures for yourself.
Secondly, we must repent of our sins. To repent is to turn away from sin and wrong-doing and determine to live for Christ. It is a change of mind which results in a changed life. While some have equated repentance with sorrow, it is much more than that as we read in 2 Corinthians 7:10 — “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). The apostle Paul addressed the Areopagus in Athens with these words in Acts 17:30 — “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,” The next verse gives the reason why repentance is necessary: “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Since there will be a judgment and the earth will be destroyed, we need to heed the words of 2 Peter 3:9 — “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
The third thing we must all do is confess our faith in Christ. Jesus said, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). We read in Romans 10:10 — “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The Ethiopian eunuch made this confession to Philip on the road to Gaza in Acts 8:37 — “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” This is the same confession Peter made that Jesus said was the basis upon which His church would be built (Matthew 16:16-19).
The fourth thing we must all do to be saved is to be immersed in water for the remission of our sins. This occurred on the Day of Pentecost after those men had heard the good news of Jesus and believed He was “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Realizing they had crucified the Son of God, these men asked Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37-38). After Philip had “preached Jesus” to the Ethiopian eunuch and “they came to some water”, the eunuch asked, “What hinders me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:35-36) While there are other passages pointing to the purpose of baptism (Romans 6:3-6; Galatians 3:26-28; Colossians 2:11-12; and 1 Corinthians 12:13), Jesus left no doubt about the necessity of baptism in salvation when He said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). (See also 1 Peter 3:21.)
Finally, we must “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Peter described some of this growth earlier in this same epistle — 2 Peter 1:5-11. As a disciple of Christ — a Christian, we must faithfully serve our Lord and Master Jesus Christ in order to receive the crown of life (Revelation 2:10). As the apostle Paul neared the end of his life, he summed his life and his expected reward with these words in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 — “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) but, thankfully, God loves us and “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We are saved by grace through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7-8) but we must be obedient to the gospel — the good news of Jesus Christ — and come in contact with the blood of Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8; Revelation 1:5).
We are delighted you have stopped by our web site and invite you to learn more about our congregation online. We also would be honored to have you visit us and give us an opportunity to answer any questions and become great friends. It is our goal to serve God, serve our fellowman and grow together along the way! Come see for yourself what is like to become a light on the hill.
