Who Are We?
When we turn to the New Testament, we read of the church that Jesus established, purchasing it with His own blood (Acts 20:28). We, at the Mars Hill
We seek simply to be the living stones (1 Peter 2:5) of the church that Jesus built (Matthew 16:18) – described in your Bible as the
How Do I Become a Member of the
First, we must hear the word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
Second, we must have faith. Saving faith is more than mental assent to the facts (John 12:42). Saving faith requires fully committing our lives to Christ and being obedient to all of His commandments. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Third, we must repent. Jesus said that unless a man repents, he will perish (Luke 13:3). Repentance may be defined as a change of mind, followed by a change of action (Luke 15:18-20). When we repent, we make up our minds to no longer sin against God, and we strive daily to eliminate sin from our lives (1 Corinthians 15:31).
Fourth, we must confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10). Like the Ethiopian nobleman, we must be willing to admit before witnesses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Acts 8:37).
Finally, we must be baptized (immersed in water) for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). It is in this act of submission that we are placed into Christ (Galatians 3:27) and where God removes the old body of sins (Colossians 2:11-12).
When we have demonstrated our obedience through faith, repentance, confession and baptism, the Lord adds us to His church (Acts 2:47).
About Our Worship
We seek to worship the Lord as He has commanded – in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). This means that we offer our worship with all of our being (spirit) and according to His word (truth). Our worship consists of:
Preaching / Teaching. We seek to speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11). This means that our preaching and teaching is based solely on the word of God and not upon human wisdom or reasoning. We preach to save the lost (Romans 10:14) and to edify the saints (1 Corinthians 14:26).
Singing. Our singing is congregational (there are no choirs, solos, etc.). We speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19). We teach and admonish in song, singing with thankfulness in our hearts (Colossians 3:16). We do not use instrumental music in our singing as there is no authority for such in the New Testament (Matthew 28:18).
Partaking of the Lord’s Supper. On each first day of the week, we partake of the Lord’s Supper as we are directed in scripture (Acts 20:7). We do this in remembrance of the suffering of Jesus on our behalf, and we thereby proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes again (1 Corinthians 11:26).
Giving. We also give financially each first day of the week as the Lord has prospered us (1 Corinthians 16:2). We do this so that the work of the church may be carried out, knowing that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). We don’t want our visitors to feel obligated to give.
Praying. We go to the Father in prayer, through His only begotten Son, Jesus (Colossians 3:17). We acknowledge that we should pray always (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and we are thankful for the privilege of prayer. Because of Jesus, we know that we may boldly approach the Father in prayer, seeking His mercy and grace (Hebrews 4:16).
In our worship we seek to praise our mighty God and to build one another up. We hope that you will join us soon in worship and study!