Our Beliefs

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, to become one body in Christ.

We commit ourselves to one another in dependency, acknowledging that through this body and its members the Lord will meet our needs for nurture and growth, and will provide opportunity for service and worship; in responsibility, devoting our gifts and abilities to the building up of this body and its members; in accountability, submitting ourselves with this body and its members to the authority of Christ as head of this church, of the Scriptures as our sole guide for faith and practice and of the biblically constituted leaders of this body.

The Scriptures: We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired of God (II Tim. 3:16-17), and inerrant in the original writings (II Peter 1:19-21), and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life (Matt. 5:18).

God: We believe that there is one living and true God (Isa. 45:5-7), who is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. We further believe that God is one in essence (Deut. 6:4), but eternally existent in three persons (Matt. 28:19; Gen. 1:26), Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections, and each worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence and obedience (Ps. 139:8; Mark 10:18; John 4:24; Acts 17:24-29; II Cor. 13:14; Eph. 4:6).

Jesus Christ: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God and the second Person of the Godhead, became man without ceasing to be God (John 1:1-2, 14; Phil. 2:5-11), having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Matt. 1:20-21; Luke 1:35), in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (John 1:12, 18).

We believe in His sinless life (II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 7:18), in His miracles (Acts 2:22), in His vicarious (in our place) and atoning death through His shed blood (Heb. 2:9; I Peter 3:18), in His bodily resurrection (Acts 2:23-24, 4:33; I Cor. 15:4), in His ascension to the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19; Eph. 1:20), and in His personal, bodily return in power and glory (Acts 1:11; John 14:3).

We believe that Christ is the only mediator between God and man (I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25); the Head of His body, the Church (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18), into which He baptizes every believer in (with or by) the Holy Spirit at conversion (Acts 1:5; I Cor. 12:13); the coming universal King who shall reign on the throne of David (Luke 1:31-33); and the final judge of all who fail to place their trust in Him as their Savior from sin (John 5:27-29; Rev. 20:11-15).

Holy Spirit: We believe that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the trinity, to execute the divine will with relation to the world of men. We affirm His sovereign activity in creation (Gen. 1:2), the incarnation (Matt. 1:18), the written revelation (II Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7). His work in this age includes that of convicting the world (John 16:7-11), restraining the forces of evil (II Thess. 2:6-7), glorifying the Lord Jesus (John 15:26, 16:13-14), and transforming believers into the likeness of Christ (II Cor. 3:18).

We believe that this work in believers involves regenerating (John 3:5-7), indwelling (I Cor. 6:19), sanctifying (II Thess. 2:13), instructing (John 16:13-15), empowering for service (Acts 1:8), and preserving to the day of Christ (Eph. 1:13-14).

We believe that the Holy Spirit alone administers spiritual gifts to the Church according to His sovereign will (I Cor. 12:11). These gifts…are given to bring glory to the Head of the Church (John 16:13-14; I Peter 4:10) through the edifying (building up) of the body (I Cor. 12:7, 14:12; I Peter 4:10). Every believer is equipped with at least one spiritual gift (I Cor. 12:7, 11; I Peter 4:10), regardless of his spiritual maturity (compare I Cor. 1:7 and 3:1-3).

Angels: We believe that the angels were all created simultaneously by God as a great host of spirit-beings (Ps. 148:2-5; Matt. 22:30; Col. 1:16), most of whom kept their first estate of holiness and presently worship God and serve His purpose (Heb. 1:14; Rev. 7:11-12). We believe that one of the angels, Lucifer, fell because of the sin of pride, thereby becoming Satan (Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:12-16), and that he influenced a large company of angels to follow him, who thus became demons (II Peter 2:4; Rev. 12:7-9).

Man: We believe that man was directly and immediately created, male and female, in the image of God, free from sin (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:15-25). He was originally created with the divine intention that he should glorify God (Isa. 43:7; Rom. 9:22-24; Eph. 1:3-14; Rev. 4:11), enjoy His fellowship (Gen. 3:8-9; John 14:3), and fulfill His will and purpose in the earth (Gen. 1:26-30; Col. 1:16).

We believe that by voluntary transgression man fell into sin, thus plunging the whole race into condemnation and death, so that now all mankind is born with a sin nature (Rom. 5:9-21), every man becomes a sinner in deed, thought, and motive (Rom. 3:23), and so are without excuse before God.

We believe man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Eph. 2:1-3, 12).

Salvation: We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-8; Eph. 2:8-9) and thereby become the children of God (John 1:12); that they are thereafter indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9) who makes possible a life of personal holiness and a walk of obedience to the will of God (Gal. 5:16); that all who are truly born again are “kept by the power of God” (John 10:27-30) and are, therefore incapable of losing their salvation.

Church: We believe that the local church is a body of believers organized for worship, work, and fellowship (Acts 2:41-47); that the two ordinances of the church are baptism (immersion), and the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 6:3-5; I Cor. 11:23-31); that the local church is an independent and self-governing body responsible alone to Christ who is its Savior and Lord (Eph. 1:22-23).

Last Things: We believe in the return of Christ for His Bride (Eph. 5:26-27; I Thess. 4:13-18), and to establish His reign upon the throne of David (Rev. 19:1-20:6).

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to life eternal, and the unsaved, after the Millennium, to judgment at the Great White Throne and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; I Cor. 15:51-58; Rev. 20:4-6, 11-15).

Our Purpose: Hill Country Fellowship of Fredericksburg exists to glorify God by seeking to embrace Him and proclaim Him in every element of life.

Core Values

Faith: We believe that life’s most important relationship for every person is a relationship with God Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. As we surrender our lives to the authority of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we find not only salvation from sin and its bondage, but ultimate fulfillment in life on this earth. In seeking to worship the Lord and strengthen our relationship with Him, we fulfill the greatest commandment we’ve been given: to love God with all that are and all that we have. (Mk. 12:28-30)

Fellowship: We believe in sacrificially serving one another beyond our immediate families. In extending this love to fellow believers in Christ, and yet to be believers in Christ, in our community and world, we fulfill Christ’s commandment and commission to go and to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Mk. 12:31; Acts 4:32-35)

Family: We believe in strengthening and upholding the family as God’s primary provision for human relationships. Under attack in so many forms in today’s culture, we believe that the Bible provides a road map for strengthening marriages, improving parenting skills and providing children with a framework to thrive in their role in the family. But most importantly, the family serves as framework for reconciling lost people to God. (Mal. 4:5-6)

Leadership Development: We believe it is imperative to the work of the Gospel that individual Christians be encouraged and allowed to develop and use their spiritual gifts in ministry. (Rom 12:6-8) To this end they must be willing to be trained in the proper use of their gifts so that they can develop as leaders that are then capable of training others also. (2 Tim. 2:2) It is the responsibility of the church members to carry out the ministry of the church and it is the responsibility of church leadership to equip the membership to effectively do so. (Eph. 4:11-12)

Our Activities

Worship: We gather once a week to offer praise to God and provide instruction in His Word to people of all ages.

Fellowship: We seek to extend our worship to every other hour of the week in offering ourselves as living testimonies to God’s grace as we serve others. (Rom. 12:1-4) We offer our time and resources in meeting the needs of others in our church and community. In addition, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and baptize believers as symbol of their relationship with Christ and His body.

Discipleship: We gather during the week in various smaller groups for worship, prayer and teaching from God’s Word.

Outreach: We seek to proclaim Christ in our daily relationships with family and friends as well as engaging in outreach to people outside of our country. We engage in short term missions, support full time missionaries and send teachers abroad to share God’s truth.