In the Fall of 2006, a small group met on Thursday nights at Mike and Sarah Mize’s home to study Henry Blackaby's "Experiencing God". The Thursday night group grew. On Sunday, November 5, 2006, the group met in the Ben Lomond Methodist Church at 11:00 following their services. God brought things together in His own unique, out-of-the-ordinary way and the group grew in number and knowledge of the Lord. On February 11, 2007, the name “Hilltop Bible Fellowship” was selected.
In January 2008, God began to lead the group to start Sunday school and a youth program, but there was no place to meet. On March 20, 2008, Jim Mounts, a realtor, called and said that Presbyterians asked him to express their wishes that our group purchase their property. Initially, the idea was rejected, On Easter Sunday (March 23), the church members visited the property and prayed for God’s direction. On Monday morning, March 24, 2008, both parties came to an agreement and on Wednesday, terms were reached on acquiring the adjacent property. On Sunday March 30, 2008, our last service was held at the Ben Lomond Methodist Church. It was a sad, but glorious day. Sunday April 6, 2008, marked the first worship service at 435 N Park Avenue, Ashdown, Arkansas.
May God bless and lead in all that Hilltop undertakes for His glory.
"Fellowship" means "fellows" in the same "ship". Most of us at HTBF were all in the same boat – sensing that we were not where God intended us to be. Somehow, we had drifted away from an intimate, personal relationship with God. Then, God became our Provider. Beginning Sunday, November 5, 2006, He drew each of us, a few at a time, to a little country church on a "Hilltop". As the Holy Spirit taught us through Henry Blackaby’s "Experiencing God", it was God working, because God brought things together in His own unique, out-of-the-ordinary way:
• On Sundays, we are a bunch of semi-Baptist meeting in a Methodist Church after their services;
• For our mid-week fellowship, study, and discussion groups, we traded a church building for home meetings;
• Our emphasis shifted from doing and going more to our personal relationship with God;
• One year ago, we could not have imagined we would be where we are; God truly brought us to this place.
"Hilltop" is an applicable name because:
• Our salvation was purchased on a Hilltop;
• It is God’s desires for His Children to live on the Hilltop instead of down in the valley, He wants the best for His;
• The Bible says we are to be “like a city set on Hill” to be a testimony of Him that attracts others to know Him;
• Some of Jesus’ greatest teachings were on a Hilltop (i.e. the Sermon on the Mount);
• There is no better place to begin than on a Hilltop in the nature with Our Lord;
• God provided a place on a Hilltop when there was no other place;
• God drew us together on a Hilltop.
The "t" in Hilltop is a Cross because:
• To remind us of the sacrifice and love God showed for us on the Cross;
• Without the Cross, we have no relationship to God and we would be lost;
• The red reminds us of the blood that Jesus shed for our sins; He took our sins; we took on His right standing with God.
The "Bible" is in the center of our name because:
• "The Bible" is the center of everything we do as a individuals and a church, it is our guide and final authority;
• Every line, verse, and story in "the Bible" is a revelation of God;
• "The Bible" is our doctrine;
• "The Bible" is the Word and Jesus is the Word and Jesus is the center of our lives individually and our church.
On February 11, 2007, we selected the name "Hilltop Bible Fellowship". : It signifies what we are about as a group and tells how God puts us together as a church. God will build His church and it is clear that it was a God-thing.
The Bible is the infallible, inspired Word of God;
There is one God, who exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was virgin born; He was all God and all man; He lived a perfect life; His death on the Cross paid the penalty for our sins; He was buried and bodily arose from the grave; He sits at the right hand of the Father; He is literally coming again to earth very soon;
All Mankind is born into sin and are naturally separated from God, and without repentance for our sins and acceptance of Christ’s gift of eternal life, we will remain separated from God for eternity;
The Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers and indwells born again believers to give power, direction, guidance, and instruction;
The church, a local body of born-again baptized believers with Christ as the head, is here to reach the lost, train and educate believers, and minister to people’s physical and spiritual needs; each member has a place, a function in the body and a responsibility to use their God-given gift;
There is an eternity and all who die, with their sins forgiven through Christ, will live eternally with God and Christ; those who die, in their sins, will spend eternity in everlasting punishment for rejecting God’s son; Heaven and Hell are real places.
Salvation comes only by Jesus Christ’s death on Calvary’s cross, where paid the penalty for our sins by the shedding of His blood, which took away our sins, salvation is by grace, not works, and comes through faith in Christ.
