Vision – The Ripple Effect
The vision of Delta Church is all about the future that God has called us to. It’s about meditating on a lot of scripture and spending a lot of time in prayer to find out what God wants His church to be. Before the vision of Delta Church is unpacked, a word needs to be said about the name “Delta”.
Delta is the Greek word for “change”, symbolized by a triangle that you may have seen in math. As fallen, sinful people, we are in desperate need of change…change of heart, attitude, and action toward the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. As we journey in faith in Jesus, it is our desire as a church to help people change – to help them look more like Jesus today than they did yesterday. And in this process of helping people change one person at a time, we find the key in transforming a home, a neighborhood, a city, a culture, and ultimately the world. “And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This verse, Acts 1:8, is one of the most visionary verses in all of scripture, and shows us that God has a God-sized vision for His Gospel, which is the transformation of the planet. We at Delta Church refer to this verse as “The Ripple Effect” and key our vision from it. God’s plan for the world begins with us and our city. So, our three-fold vision includes how we can impact and transform individual lives, the city we’re in, and the world we’re stewards of.
The vision for Delta Church is this: Becoming a diverse community seeking to be agents of change in the world by caring for the whole person, loving our city, and planting other churches. Let’s talk about each of these elements.
Delta Church is all about being agents of change in the lives of people and the culture that we’re in. There is no higher calling than bringing the Gospel to people. This calling begins right here, right now with every intention of seeing “The Ripple Effect” become nothing less than a tidal wave in our world.
Delta is the Greek word for “change”, symbolized by a triangle that you may have seen in math. As fallen, sinful people, we are in desperate need of change…change of heart, attitude, and action toward the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. As we journey in faith in Jesus, it is our desire as a church to help people change – to help them look more like Jesus today than they did yesterday. And in this process of helping people change one person at a time, we find the key in transforming a home, a neighborhood, a city, a culture, and ultimately the world. “And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This verse, Acts 1:8, is one of the most visionary verses in all of scripture, and shows us that God has a God-sized vision for His Gospel, which is the transformation of the planet. We at Delta Church refer to this verse as “The Ripple Effect” and key our vision from it. God’s plan for the world begins with us and our city. So, our three-fold vision includes how we can impact and transform individual lives, the city we’re in, and the world we’re stewards of.
The vision for Delta Church is this: Becoming a diverse community seeking to be agents of change in the world by caring for the whole person, loving our city, and planting other churches. Let’s talk about each of these elements.
A diverse community
God’s kingdom includes people of all ages, races, and stations of life. It is our desire to model that kingdom at Delta and actively seek out diversity. We believe that true community is not found in affinity, but rather in diversity.Caring for the whole person
Mark 12:29-31 tells us that we are to love God with our whole being: heart, mind, soul, and strength. Delta Church envisions being a church that loves, equips, and ministers to the whole person: their hearts, their minds, their work, their relationships, their physical well-being, their finances, and their work – all of who they are and all they hope to be.Loving our city
God loves the city. Revelation tells us that He lives in a city. Throughout scripture, God has sent his prophets and apostles to the cities with His message of redemption. One good example of this is found in Acts 16:9-12 where Paul felt God’s call to the region of Macedonia and focused his church planting efforts on its leading city of Philippi. We want to love our city, Springfield, like God does. We desire to develop into a church that gives back to the city that God has called us to by being influencers with its people, its schools and businesses, its government, and its overall culture by meeting the real needs that our city has and practicing generosity, kindness, and hospitality.Planting other churches
As Christ-followers, we are all called to be missionaries. In John 20:21, Jesus tells us, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” We are all sent ones to bring the Gospel to people who need it. We believe that God has called us to identify, train, raise up, and send out other church planters and to birth new churches so the Gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to spread throughout Illinois, the United States, and all the Earth.Delta Church is all about being agents of change in the lives of people and the culture that we’re in. There is no higher calling than bringing the Gospel to people. This calling begins right here, right now with every intention of seeing “The Ripple Effect” become nothing less than a tidal wave in our world.
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