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Vision


Below is God’s vision given by Pastor David Towner at Davidsen Middle School on Sunday, October 5, 2003.  It was a vision brought to the church before Openwater had the 14 acres that this church now possesses.  It came before any design or construction was even a thought.  It was at the lowest point of this church’s existence in numbers and finances.  Isn’t it interesting that many times a vision will be given to you at your lowest point?  Read what God inspired Pastor Dave to write down in a number of dreams as the future of Openwater Church. It is the dream of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the tens of thousands of residents of the West Tampa Area.


 
It is the dream of a place where the discouraged, hurting, depressed, and confused can find love, hope, forgiveness, encouragement, acceptance, and help.

 
It is the dream (membership-CLASS 101) of welcoming thousands of members into the fellowship of our church family all learning to love God and love each other better everyday.

 
It is the dream (maturity-CLASS 201) of developing people to spiritual maturity through web teaching, retreats, Bible studies, and “Christian Life And Service Seminars” C.L.A.S.S.) that develops our members to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

 
It is the dream of hundreds of small groups meeting in homes in every community in the Tampa area fulfilling their purposes, leading people to Jesus, developing leaders, and challenging the believer to always to their next step with Christ.

 
It is the dream (ministry-CLASS 301) of equipping every believer for significant ministries by helping them discover the spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences (S.H.A.P.E.) that God gave them.

 
It is the dream (mission-CLASS 401) of giving thousands of dollars to overseas and home missions and sending out hundreds of missionaries and church workers all around the world.  It is the dream of sending our Openwater members by the thousands on short-term mission projects to every continent of the world.

 
It is the dream of starting new daughter churches in and around the Tampa region to help people to learn to love God and love others better everyday.

 
It is the dream of land on which will be built a regional church for West Tampa with beautiful yet simple facilities, including a worship center that seats thousands with state of the art lighting, audio, computer, and video equipment to bring the message of Jesus Christ in a relevant way to our visual world.

 
It is the dream of state of the art communications equipment that will bring the relevant message of Jesus Christ onto the world wide web, radio, and television to produce a worldwide message.

 
It is the dream of large, exciting, and creative ministry spaces for children and youth including indoor and outdoor recreation areas.
It is the dream of sports fields and indoor sports facilities that will meet the physical and spiritual needs of adults and children in our church body and reach out to the community.

 
It is the dream of a counseling center with full professional staff that can take care of the emotional and relational needs of our church body and the community.

 
It is the dream of making Openwater Church a prayer center for the area with a prayer and meditation walk around the property and prayer chapel that can be used for weddings and to pray for the needs of the church body, the community, and the world on a 24/7 basis.

 
These are God-sized dreams and can only be accomplished by a group of people fully committed and dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  We can’t wait to see what our Lord accomplishes through all of us.