ABOUT
EVENTS
CONTACT
Address
Living Hope Church Yucca Valley
6804 Mohawk Trl, Yucca Valley, CA 92284
Phone
(760) 228-1747
Office Coordinator - Russ Gentry
russ@livinghopeyv.org
Senior Pastor - Bill Wilcox
pastorbill@livinghopeyv.org
Prayer Requests
prayer@livinghopeyv.org
Design: HTML5 UP
STATEMENT OF FAITH
GOD
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.THE BIBLE
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 promisesTHE HUMAN CONDITION
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.JESUS CHRIST
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.THE WORK OF CHRIST
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.THE HOLY SPIRIT
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.THE CHURCH
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, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.CHRISTIAN LIVING
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, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.CHRIST'S RETURN
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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.RESPONSE & ETERNAL DESTINY
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. Amen.Pastor Bill & Tina Wilcox
Pastor Eric & Karli Armendariz
2023 BOARD OF ELDERS
Tony Salto
David Bratton
Glen Kippel
Cory Lotz
Gary Hudson
The church began as a Bible study in the home of Ralph and Millie Brownell; their first official meeting was October 11, 1959. They received their charter with the Evangelical Free Church of America on April 22, 1960. The first church "sanctuary" was Brownell Hall and it was completed in 1961.
The church grew quickly, and the need for Sunday school rooms became apparent. A wall was added to the west side of the hall and partitioned to make four Sunday school rooms. Today we use them for our library and storage. The church continued to grow and so in 1962 the education building was completed. The current worship center was built in 1965 and was remodeled in 2007. Our gymnasium was completed in 1997 and was built over the top of the education building.
In 2021 the church name changed from "Evangelical Free Church of Yucca Valley" to "Living Hope Church"
Desert Christ Park belongs to a local, nonprofit foundation. Some of its works are on our property. That goes back to a time leading up to October 11, 1959, when the current church property was then owned by a man named Eddie Garver, a bi-vocational pastor who came to Yucca Valley in 1946 to plant a church. According to Frank Garske (the contractor who built Brownell Hall) the sculptor, Antone Martin, asked Pastor Eddie if he could place one of his statues on the property, and then another, and then another. Not too long after that (according to Garske) Martin tried to acquire the title to the property from Pastor Eddie. But before the artist could execute his plan, Pastor Eddie sold the property to the newly chartered Evangelical Free Church of Yucca Valley for $1. Martin then purchased the property adjacent to the church and relocated many of the sculptures to the present site of Desert Christ Park. Today, the church and Desert Christ Park have a wonderful, synergistic relationship.
Above all the buildings and statues and historical landmarks were the many people in this church who faithfully shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with their neighbors and the community at large. Many individuals over the years came to Christ through Pastor Johnson or Will Gerrard or any number of others from this fellowship for whom sharing the love of Jesus was more than a passion. It was a way of life! Throughout our long history, God has richly blessed the faithful witness of His children at Living Hope Church Yucca Valley. Our witness for Christ is more important today than ever.
Avi Snyder currently serves as the European ambassador of Jews for Jesus. He was raised in a conservative Jewish home in New York City and came to faith in Jesus in 1977 with the help of a Jews for Jesus tract and the forthright witness of Christian friends. He served as their Los Angeles director before he and his wife, Ruth, moved to Ukraine, just as the USSR was falling apart. After pioneering the work in Ukraine and Russia, they launched the German and Hungarian works of Jews for Jesus ministry. Avi received his theological training from Fuller Theological Seminary, the School of World Mission, and he’s written two books: Jews Don’t Need Jesus— Other Misconceptions and Never Ashamed—Stories of Sharing Faith with Scoffers and Skeptics.
Avi is passionate about Jewish evangelism, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. You can feel that passion when he says, “For us Jews to proclaim God’s message of eternal life in the countries where so many of us died—that’s a redemption of history. That’s life from the dead” (Romans 11:15). He and Ruth have three grown children.