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We are the church on the hilltop on Ward Road in Arvada, Colorado.
Although we meet in the large Denver metro area, our
church has a 'family' feeling to it. We worship each Sunday with a mix
of contemporary and traditional music. During our Sunday worship service,
we have a time when we pray for one another and one another's needs.
Following the prayertime, our pastor's stories encourage us and help
us apply God's Word to daily life. We would enjoy having you visit us
and we'll make you feel welcome!
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American Baptists
While we join countless other individuals and groups in
comprising the great worldwide fellowship of Christians, we remain
a distinctive communion of believers. There are about
2 million American Baptists in the U.S. and another 3.2 million worldwide.
We are the denomination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and of the
missionary family whose plane was shot down in South America a few months
ago. American Baptist Christians have been leaders in the struggle
for social reform, women´s rights, and the civil rights
movement. Because Jesus modeled a life free of prejudice,
and because all people have an equal need
for His love, American Baptist congregations include members from
all racial and cultural backgrounds. Although Baptists have
produced numerous confessions to express our common understandings
of Christian faith, we hold the Scriptures, the Old and New
Testaments, as our final authority -- and we accept no humanly
devised creed as binding.
For more information, visit the:
American Baptist Website
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Our History
Like many churches, ours began with meetings in people's
homes. Church construction began in 1965. About 80 people met for
the first worship service held in 1966 in the finished building.
The first pastor was Harry Thompson. Todd Olson is only the seventh pastor
at Hillcrest during its 36-year history. Four of our present members
were part of the church when it started: Robert and Donna
Hamilton and Robert and Shirley Spencer.
contributed by Shirley Spencer
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What We Believe
American Baptists are a voluntary association of independent
local churches organized for the mutual encouragement and support
of common missions and ministries. This means that there are
interdependent American Baptist churches but no
"American Baptist Church." Each church group is unique
in its beliefs, and that individuality arises from the writings of
the apostle Paul to the Galatian church in the first century B.C.
which stressed the concept of the "priesthood of the believer."
This means we each have the freedom and obligation to interpret
Scripture as individuals within the community of faith under the
guidance of God's Holy Spirit.
The agreed purpose of OUR church is the advancement of the
Kingdom of Jesus Christ. We do this by sharing Christ through
public worship, Christian education, preaching the gospel,
living out what Jesus taught, personal witness, and
missionary endeavor. We also hold the following essential beliefs:
- We believe that we all have 'missed the mark,' or 'sinned,' or
'rebelled' against God and what is right. This sin has shattered
the relationship we each could have with a just God. If God were
not just, we could not depend on Him to correct injustice.
- This same God also loves each of us. He loves us so much, that
that God sent Jesus Christ, divine Himself, to earth as a human being.
to restore our relationship with God, because we each matter so much
to Him.
- We believe that Jesus' deliberate death on the cross was
payment for our sin, and that our reliance on this
sacrifice is needed to be assured that God will forgive us
and not judge us after death.
- We believe that Jesus rose from the dead, that
His resurrection was proof of His identity as the promised
Jewish Messiah and the only Son of God, and that it gives us
the hope of eternal life.
- We believe that the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments,
is the divinely inspired Word of God,
and is the final written authority for faith and practice.
- We affirm the priesthood of all believers -- that all who
seek God are competent to approach God directly through Christ
without any other intermediary, such as a priest.
- We have two ordinances for believers: communion and
baptism by immersion.
- We believe that the "Great Commission" of Jesus Christ sends
us forth to tell the world about the guarranteed restoration
from sin that only Jesus offers.
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