About Us

Evangelism. Discipleship. Service.

❊ Mission

We live to worship God together with our whole heart, to nurture and equip believers as they grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, and to share the hope of the Gospel with all people, being led in everything by the Holy Spirit.

❊ Vision

By God’s grace we will become a church of disciples who actively make disciples, a church that helps plant new churches around our community, and a church that supports the Great Commission all over the world.

❊ Values

  • Honoring Jesus First

    Honoring Jesus First

    We are committed first and foremost to lifting up Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of All. He is our love, our Redeemer, and our only hope.

  • Keeping the Gospel Pure

    We want to teach the right Gospel – our right standing before God is not based on our performance or moral resume; it is based on Christ’s actions alone, his death and resurrection on our behalf. We have nothing to boast in except the grace of God given generously to us.

  • Remaining True to the Bible

    The Bible is central to what we believe and teach. We believe it is God’s word – holy, inspired, and inerrant. We strive to teach it completely and unapologetically. By God’s grace, we will never compromise what it says. Our goal through sermons, group studies, and individual devotion is to enable each person to interpret and apply it as it was originally intended.

  • Being Led by the Holy Spirit

    We want to be led by the Holy Spirit. Our goal is not to just learn about God but to interact with God. We are big on correct theology AND we want a relationship with God. We are constantly seeking to hear and be led by His Spirit.

  • Staying Focused on the Mission

    We believe church is defined as a body of believers on a mission from God to take the saving message of Jesus Christ to the whole world. We are on mission together as a group and as a family. We all have God-given roles and gifts that we employ together as a body toward one end – to lift up Jesus and his gift of redemption to all people. In the process, we grow to love each other dearly. We welcome you to come and join us!

❊ History

Founded in 2021, Living Hope Fellowship is a growing body of believers with a heart for Mills River, North Carolina. We desire to be a church body that boldly proclaims the gospel, Jesus is our Lord and Saviour. Our church is focused on evangelism, community outreach, and discipleship as we seek to grow together through the study of scripture and living life together. We hope you will join us for a worship service, Bible Study, or community events.

Living Hope Fellowship is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America, an association of autonomous churches.

❊ Beliefs

Statement of Faith

[This statement is primarily an adaptation of the Evangelical Free Church of America Statement of Faith 2019]

  • We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises. (2 Tim 3:16-17; Heb 4:12; 2 Pet 1:19-21; 1 Pet 1:25; Rom 16:25-26; Matt 5:17-18; 1 Cor 2:13; Ps 119)

  • We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory. (Gen 1-2; Deut 6:4-5; Ps 19:1-3; Matt 23:9; Matt 28:19-20; 1 Cor 8:6; Heb 11:6)

    We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one person in two natures. Jesus—Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate. (Luke 1:35; John 1:1-18, 29; Matt 27:24-26; Phil 2:6-11; Heb 1:1-4; Col 1:15-20; Heb 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1-2)

    We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service. (Matt 3:16; Matt 28:19-20; Luke 11:13; Luke 12:12; John 14:16-17; John 15:26; Rom 8:9-11, 14-16, 26-27; Eph 4:30; Gal 5:16-23)

  • We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed. (Gen 1:26-27; Gen 3; Rom 3:10-18; 3:23; 5:12-21; 6:23; Eph 2:12; Col 3:10; Heb 2:7-9)

  • We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation. We believe that people can only be justified before God, saved from his judgment, and adopted as his sons and daughters by faith alone in Jesus alone. (John 14:6; John 3:16; 1 John 2:1-2; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph 2:8-9; Rom 3:21-26; Rom 5:1-21; Rom 6:23; Rom 8:15-17; Gal 2:16; 1 John 5:11-12)

  • We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. (Matt 24:27; 25:31-26; Mark 9:43-48; John 14:1-3; Acts 17:31; 1 Cor 15:24-28; 1 Thess 4:14-18; 1 John 5:11-12; Rev 20:1-22:13)

  • We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, [but] when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer. (Matt 16:15-19; Acts 2:42-47; Acts 20:28; 1 Cor 1:2; 3:16; Eph 1:22-23; Rev 21:2-3; Matt 3:13-17; Matt 26:26-30; Matt 28:19-20; Acts 20:7; Rom 6:3-5; 1 Cor 11:23-29; Luke ll:22-34; 22:15-20)

  • We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will redeem the faithful completely, defeat evil once and for all, and restore all things to their rightful place. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission. (Rev. 20:1-6; 19:11-20; 21; 22:20; 1 Thess. 4:13-18)

  • We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, bearing witness to the saving message of Jesus Christ both in word and deed. (Matt 22:34-40; Matt 5:1-14; Luke 11:9-13; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Thess 5:12-24; Phil 2:1-4; James 2:17; Matt 28:18-20)