OUR MISSION
Equipping Followers of Jesus To Share His Love and Good News With Their Neighbors.
We believe at Immanuel Church that the very nature of the Christian life is one of dying to self, and embodying the Good News of King Jesus by the Help and power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:10). Our salvation in Christ begins by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) for the purpose of walking in faithful, Christ-centered living to those around us (Ephesians 2:10). It is a Kingdom centered, outward-focused life, always seeking the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit to embody the cross-shaped way of living Jesus lived on our behalf (Galatians 2:20).
None of this is possible without the internal and external, visible and invisible work of the Holy Spirit in and through us as he supernaturally and generously gives us gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11, empowering us for the work of the ministry (John 14:12; Acts 2:4, 4:31, 13:9). This ministry can be summed up simply: To Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength – and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:34-40). In this way, the Kingdom of Jesus is continually in-breaking into this world through the local church.
Below, we break down each phrase in our mission statement:
Scripture calls us to grow into the likeness of Christ (2 Peter 3:18) as we exercise the gifts given to us to live our Christian life (1 Corinthians 12:1-11). Pastors and church leaders are tasked with the discipleship of their congregation (Titus 2:1-10). We understand this as a fundamental call for the local church: to equip their congregation for this Kingdom work. Making disciples is crucial for the health and obedience of a church, and Immanuel strives to fulfill this mandate from Jesus (Matthew 28:16-20).
If you are a Christian, you are a “little Christ” (Acts 11:26) or a follower of Christ (Matthew 10:38). To follow Jesus means you have ceased from following your own self, your own desires or inclinations (Galatians 5:17). We receive help in this from the Spirit who is given to us at the moment of salvation in order that we may indeed receive more of Jesus, and less of us in our Christian life (John 3:30) as we pick up our crosses to follow him (Matthew 16:24-25).
From Peter’s first sermon at Pentecost, we see that evangelism was a priority for the Church (Acts 2:14-41). Indeed, Jesus commnanded us to make disciples of himself in all nations (Mattherw 28:18-20). We are to do so in both word (Romans 10:14) while we embody the salvation we have received in deed (Philippians 2:12). Our deeds are to embody the love of God, since he himself is Love (1 John 4:16).
In our global society, and in a society easily focused on national issues, it can be easy to know more of what is happening in national events than we know of our own neighborhoods, towns and cities. Knowing that all of those who are in Christ around the globe are part of the global Church, each congregation is a local presence of Jesus wherever they may be found. A question we oftne ask ourselves at Immanuel is this: “If our church disappeared overnight, would the city of Wilmington feel our loss?” We pray that one day they will! We desire to be a church focused on our neighbors first, seeking to be a light to the city of Wilmington through our sharing of Jesus’ love and Good News (Matthew 5:15-16).
OUR VALUES
At Immanuel, we desire to see the following values shape who we are as a Church:
Immanuel Church is all about Jesus and the Good News of his life, death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). In fact, the whole Old Testament looked forward to his coming (Luke 24:27). The New Testament is full of stories about Jesus (the Gospels) and how his church began (Acts). It is also full of letters written by early church leaders to the first Christian churches as they worked out how to follow Jesus in the world they lived in. Today, we read the Bible with the same Christ-centered lens, and explore the same thing today as a church: how to follow Jesus in the world we live in.
When Jesus walked this earth, he preached a clear message: the Kingdom of God was near! (Matthew 4:17). Jesus brought God’s Kingdom from heaven into this world with great authority and power. He healed the sick (Luke 4:40), cast out demons (Luke 11:14-23), and taught with great authority (Matthew 7:28-29). This was all by the power of the Holy Spirit after his baptism (Matthew 3:13-17). We see the early Christians in the book of Acts doing the same things Jesus did through the same power of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost (Acts 3:1-11, 16:16-18, 19:11-12, etc.). We believe that the present Church continues this supernatural ministry today through his Holy Spirit in the church today.
From the beginning, the church was a local presence. Each of the early churches were known not by fancy names, but by the place they were located in (The church in Corinth, Galatian, Ephesus, etc.). This meant that as each church lived out the Good News of Jesus, they did so with so in their own cities and neighborhoods. As Jesus sent us to go to all nations and make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20), we also embrace the same job but locally. And in a way, in modern day America God has sent the nations to us. Therefore as Immanuel Church, we are focused on reaching our own community with the Gospel through both word and deed as we love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. In 2024 we seek to launch our new Lightouse Ministry for this purpose.
OUR HISTORY
"A sister of the Second Baptist Church, from no other motives than to advance the cause of Christ... and knowing the need of another church in the growing part of the city... form a new interest remote from the Second Church, under the name of the Delaware Avenue Baptist Church."
- May, 1865
This History of Immanuel Church
Immanuel has a 155 year history of Gospel-centered ministry in the city of Wilmington. Beginning as a church plant from Second Baptist Church, the first services were held in the summer of 1865 under the name of "Delaware Avenue Baptist Church." Throughout the years, as every church has, Immanuel has been blessed with fruitful times of ministry, as well as times of struggle.
We proudly desire to continue our legacy in Wilmington as we enter a new phase of revitalization and rebuilding at Immanuel Church. Come and be a part of this historic, yet new work at Immanuel!
A timeline of events, as well as pictures, can be found below:
Delaware Avenue Baptist Church is planted; meetings begin in the Scientific Lecture Room at the Wilmington Institute.
A Church building was built and dedicated on the corner of Delaware Avenue and West Street. This building was used by the church for 100 years.
Bethany Baptist Church, a former church plant of Delaware Avenue Baptist Church some decades before, merges together with its mother church, creating Immanuel (Baptist) Church
A new facility is built on the corner of Pennsylvania Ave and Greenhill Ave, where we still worship today.