What does it mean when HSLDA says we’re a Christian organization?
It means that everyone employed by HSLDA is a Christian. As we go about our daily tasks, we want to do our very best—as if we are working directly for our Lord. Everything we do is motivated by our gratitude to and love for God, love for those we serve, and passion for making homeschooling possible. Our fruit is our service, and we want all of our staff to share the character traits of Jesus: serving our neighbors with honesty, integrity, excellence, empathy, grace, humility, generosity, good stewardship, and care.
Our Christian values inform our belief that the freedom to homeschool is for everyone and that we’re called to serve everyone. We do not require members of HSLDA to be Christian or religious. We serve each one of our members with care, dignity, and respect regardless of religious beliefs or positions. (We don’t even know what your perspective on God is unless you tell us.)
What does it mean to be a Christian?
The word Christian was given to the early followers of Jesus, and the name has ‘stuck’ to this day.
Being a Christian is not based on keeping rules and regulations, performing rituals, or even going to church. It's about a friendship—a relationship—with Jesus Christ. And Jesus said that knowing Him is the doorway to a special relationship with God.
Jesus says that we can begin such a special relationship with God by committing ourselves to follow Him.
This explanation of what it means to be a Christian is adapted from material supplied by Agapé UK and used with permission.
What Do Christians Believe?
A Christian realizes that they are separated from God by sin—the word Christians use to describe attitudes and actions that block us from having a loving and trusting relationship with God.
A Christian believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He came to earth to offer every person a way to be made right with our loving God. Reconciling with God isn’t about earning His love or favor. We can’t “balance the books” by keeping rules or paying it forward.
Jesus makes a relationship with God possible because He took the consequences for our sin and died on the cross in our place. And when He rose again, he broke the power of sin over us to give us a new life. Our new life begins immediately, and it is for eternity—Jesus promises that we’ll experience the joy of knowing God and being fully known and fully loved forever! When we accept this gift, we are forgiven and accepted—we become part of God’s family.
Do you have questions?
Or maybe you’re ready to reconcile with God right now?
If so, you could tell God yourself—saying something like this as a prayer:
“Lord Jesus, please make me the kind of person you want me to be. I am sorry I have been going my own way. Thank you for dying on the cross to deal with every barrier I have put up between you and me. Please come and take first place in my life. Amen.”
Whenever anyone expresses that kind of attitude to God—asking Jesus to come into their life—they can be sure He will. Because Jesus promised to do just that and, as God, he would never break a promise.
Following Jesus makes a person a Christian—a member of the worldwide family of Jesus Christ; a family committed to helping each other make a real difference in the world.
For anyone taking this step to follow Jesus, it is just the beginning. They'll soon find themselves talking to Him—like any friend. That’s prayer. They'll want to find out more about Him from reading the Bible. They’ll look forward to getting together with others in His family—that’s going to a church.
And they will want to live the way He wants them to.
This explanation of how to reconcile with God—about becoming a Christian—is adapted from material supplied by Agapé UK and used with permission.
What does HSLDA as an organization believe?
Our leaders, directors, and employees all live by the foundational teachings of Christianity. Although we come from a variety of Christian denominations and traditions, we share the following beliefs:
There is one God, who exists eternally in three Persons (the Trinity): Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because human beings are sinful by nature and inherently in need of salvation, God became a flesh-and-blood human to save us—Jesus Christ, the Son, who was conceived by God in a virgin woman, Mary. In His death, Jesus received the consequences for sin that we deserved. He then rose bodily from the dead and will literally come again to earth in the Second Advent.
The salvation that Jesus Christ made possible for us is exclusively found by faith alone in Him and His shed blood. We find all these truths in the Holy Bible, which is the inspired and infallible Word of God.
Because of our thankfulness to God for saving us, we try to imitate Christ in all we do.
What does all this have to do with homeschooling?
We believe that God has given all parents—no matter their religious beliefs or form of spirituality—the right and the responsibility to direct the upbringing and education of their children.
In imitation of Christ, we seek to reflect God’s love to the world by making it possible for all parents to homeschool their own kids! We welcome everyone, and we protect and promote the freedom for all parents to homeschool their children regardless of their religious beliefs (or whether they have any at all).