We Believe....   Our Core Beliefs As a non-denominational church, Hill-n-Dale believes that… The Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant. (2 Timothy 3:16,17) Jesus Christ was virgin-born, sinless, died on the cross for man’s sin, was raised from the dead on the third day, and is coming again. (Matthew 1:18, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Corinthians 15:3,4, John 14:3) Salvation is a free gift, bestowed by God’s grace and received by faith. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Immersion in water of a professed believer is the biblical form of baptism… (Acts 8:36-39) …and such baptism is symbolic of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. (Romans 6:1-4) The church is the bride of Christ… (Ephesians 5:25-33) …and the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12) The local church is led by godly men known as elders. (Titus 1:5ff) The purpose of the church on earth is to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:18-20) The Holy Spirit, whom every believer receives, leads and guides us. (Ephesians 1:13,14) Christians are endowed with spiritual gifts which enable them to minister in the church. (Ephesians 4:12ff) Mission Statement  Hill-n-Dale Christian Church exists to glorify God in all our relationships as we draw people to Jesus. Vision Statement We seek to accomplish our mission through three objectives: Equip…through scriptural teaching Shepherd…by meeting spiritual, emotional and physical needs Engage…through involvement in meaningful ministry

 Would you like to KNOW GOD.........Personally?

 
God's Purpose:  Why God Created People

The Father in Heaven has great plans for us. 
He said in Jeremiah 29:11:  "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to  give you hope and a future."

God made us for 3 reasons:
 
1) To Praise God.  God, being all-good, all-loving, all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-perfect deserves our respect and worship.  The apostle Peter wrote: "You are a chosen people...a people belonging to God so that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."
 
2) To Know God.  God wants a relationship with each one of us.  He asks that we call Him, "Father," not "Life Force" or "First Cause."  Jesus said:  "I have come to make you, Father, known to them so that the love You have for Me might be in them and that I Myself might be in them."

3) To Have A Satisfying Life.  Without God, life is shallow, disjointed and purposeless.  But God has planned for us to experience the joy, love, adventure and fruitfulness that He Himself has.  Jesus assured us:  "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!"
 
Our Problem:  Why Man is Cut Off from God

     God is perfect, holy, faultless.  Scripture tells us God's "eyes are too pure to look on evil"(Hab. 1:13) and that He lives in "unapproachable light" (1Tim. 6:16), and "in Him is no darkness at all" (1John 1:5).  Light and darkness, good and evil, like oil and water, cannot mix.  That is where our troubles begin.
     Every person who ever lived has rebelled against God.  The wanted to make their own decisions, live life their own way.  That is what sin is:  mutiny against God's plan for our lives.  It's thinking we know better than God.  Even when we have tried to do things God's way, we can't measure up.  Paul wrote:  "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.....Romans 3:23"
     Sin means being cut off from God.  A branch severed from the tree slowly withers.  Being cut off from God by sin, we gradually deteriorate.  Age, illness, broken relationships, hollow hearts are all symptoms of the root cause of separation from God.  Romans 3:23 states:  "The wages of sin is death."
So man's greatest question is:  How can we be reconciled with God?  How can we cross the chasm and regain our relationship with God?
     Every religion except Christianity maintains (and even many Christians wrongly think) that we must straighten ourselves out.  We must stop cussing and drinking or lusting.  We must pray more, attend church and give money.  We must climb the good deed stairs to God, make ourselves good enough.  But there is one big problem with that plan.  It simply doesn't work.  The better you become, the more you realize how far you have to go.  The closer you get to God's light, the darker your own shadow.  That's because being good is more than just not being bad.  Being good means fulfilling the two great commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." " Love your neighbor as you love yourself." No one has ever done that for one day, let alone for their entire lives.  Self improvement is a dead end street.  So, how can we ever be saved?
 
God's Remedy: Pay for Our Sins With His Son

God continues to love us.  Like a loving Father with a disobedient child, God longs for reconciliation.  And God makes the first move.  John wrote:
 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever      believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Jesus came to earth to put things right.  Because Jesus was human, He could relate to our sinful nature, though He was sinless Himself.  Because He was God, He was "big" enough to pay the price of our sin.  Paul soberly stated:
 "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that through Him we might    become the righteousness of God."
God placed His stamp of approval on Jesus by resurrecting Him from the dead.  Jesus is now in heaven at the Father's side.  His work is done.  He has bridged the gap between God and man by suffering our punishment and clearing us of all charges.  Our debts are canceled; our conviction is overturned.  The Judge, after passing the verdict that we are guilty, comes down from His chair and serves our sentence as well!
 
Our Response: Give Our Lives to God's Son

     God's forgiveness is not automatic or mechanical.  We must personally take steps to accept it.  A gift is not yours until you open the package.  To receive Jesus' death as our own, we must do the following: Accept Jesus and His forgiveness as a free gift.  You don't pay half, with God paying the other half.  There is no matching funds program with God.  You can't start the cross/bridge at your good deed stairway.  We don't have to become "pretty good" before we can be saved.  Isaiah sets this straight.  "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (64:6).  It's all Jesus, from "A to Z", beginning to end.  Ephesians 2:8-9 states: "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith--and this is not from   yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."
     Most religions spell the path to God with two letters: "D O".  Christianity spells it with four letters, the first two letters the same: "D O N E".  Jesus has DONE it for you. The apostle Peter responded this way to the question, "What must we do to be saved?"  "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the   forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  Repent means to change our minds about how to live this life.  We must decide to live God's way.  Confess means to admit openly our past sin and our only hope in Jesus.  Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
     In baptism we are buried to our old way of selfish living, washed clean of sin, and raised up to a new life with God.  We believe baptism should take place when a person has fulfilled all the above steps, and so must be of an accountable age.  We also hold that baptism should be complete by immersion.  The Greek word literally means "to dip under water."
 
The Final Results: God's Purpose For Us Restored

     If we have sincerely followed the steps, we can be sure we are saved.  God no longer holds our sins against us.  He has prepared a place for us in heaven.  We will live with Him for eternity.  Because of this certainty, we can praise God as He designed us to do.
     God's Spirit, His invisible power and influence, now lives in us.  Though God is in heaven, He now resides in our hearts as well.  We don't have to go through someone else to talk with Him.  He is always with us.  We can know God personally.  As quoted above, Peter said,   "You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
     Some people think, "Now that I am a Christian, I have just got to be good!"  But just as we could not please God by our own efforts before we became a believer, we cannot do so now.  Paul made clear,  "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works   which He prepared in advance for us to do."  He also said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
     God gives us the strength to do what we could never do on our own.  He makes us more loving, generous, joyful and faithful.  In this way we have a truly fulfilling, peaceful, satisfying life.  God will begin to do amazing things in and through us.  The adventure is just beginning!
 

Please, if you have any questions, contact us or your nearest Christian church.  We would love to have the opportunity to tell you more about Jesus and making Him a part of your life.