Encounter Youth

This is the message from the Carry the Love gathering at Encounter Youth where Zack talked about "Jerome," the crippled man who's friends wouldn't allow to stay far from Jesus. His friends didn't just send their thoughts and prayers to Jerome when Jesus was there. They took action. They let their faith show in the love they had for their friend. Zack challenges us to do the same, to declare war on...

This week Jake talks about how to be someone's dream girl/guy. There is a huge difference between what the world says is attractive and what God says is attractive. The world looks on the outside, but God says that true attractiveness and beauty is on the inside, in someone's heart. Confidence, Character, Joy, and Love. These are all things that make you super attractive, and they are all fruits o...

We kick off our dating series this week with Jake sharing on how we were all created to be loved, and that is what drives our desire to date someone. Jake also talks about intimacy, about giving yourself to someone else and how painful it can be if they leave. God's solution to this is called covenant, a commitment to each other for life in marriage. If you are wondering whether you are ready to s...

David Stoltzfus stirs us up to hunger and thirst for more of God. We want to be a Joshua generation who remains in God's presence no matter what, and refuses to be distracted by lesser things that the world offers us.

This week, for the first message of the year, Jake talks about how the most important thing you can do in 2020 is know God more. There are so many other things we set as our goals each year, but God is desiring and longing for us to make loving him and knowing him in the secret place our focus this year.

This week Jake talks about how the true meaning of Christmas is not just what happened in the Christmas story, its about the fact that God fulfilled his promise to bring light and hope to a dark world. In that little baby was the fulfillment of a promise from the very beginning of creation that God would make right what humanity had destroyed.

This week, Jake talks about when the lows sometimes come right after the highs. How do we respond when we pray for a miracle and it seems like God is silent? Where is God in the midst of our pain, and how does he feel when we experience loss? Jake dives into John 11 where Jesus weeps over the death of his friend Lazarus as we search for answers this week in response to a loss in our local communit...

This week Jake shares about what Jesus did when He died on the cross. He died so that the record of debt that you owed to God for your sin could be paid, that the death sentence over your life could be canceled, and you could be called innocent when you stand before God one day. Now, we can stand before a Holy God with confidence that he sees as clean, innocent, beloved, and accepted. That is the...

This week we begin a new series going back to the basics of what we believe, the Gospel, the good news about Jesus. Jake talks about the problem Jesus came to answer, the fact that we are sinners who deserve God's wrath. God is the creator and the judge of this world, and every person will give an account for the things they have done in their life. The good news is God is a merciful judge, and he...

This week we talk about what it looks like to live a life that is surrendered to God based on Romans 12:1-3. It means refusing to be conformed to the pressures people put on you and allowing yourself to be transformed by God's Word and His Spirit.

This was a special week of completely surrendering our lives to God again. Sometimes God is trying to move in our lives, but we won't allow Him to change us because we afraid to trust him. God doesn't do things half-way, and he calls us to make Him the only one on the throne of our hearts. Revival starts when we let go of all of our other loves and make the choice to lay down our lives for Jesus.

This week Jake talks about the power of Declaring the Truth over yourself. Sometimes our self-talk can be really negative, and we don't even realize that we are speaking insecurities and lies over ourselves. But, when we begin to declare the Truth over ourselves, our faith is activated, our thinking shifts, and things change in the spiritual atmosphere.

This week, Jake talks about how every person who has the Spirit of God inside of them has the power to be a world changer in their friend group, their school, and their family. We can't change the world by ourselves. We need help from Jesus, the greatest world changer who ever lived.

This week Jake talks about what to do when you are feeling stuck with God, and you are on the journey toward an encounter with Him. Encounters and feelings come when the truth of God's word goes from our head to our heart, and God uses times of waiting to teach us to cling to the truth in His word until his Spirit makes it real to our hearts!

Jake shares again this week about how to walk with God when the feelings aren't there. We sometimes want God to skip us to the top of the mountain rather than recognizing His presence with us on the journey. Journeying with Him means learning to live by the truth of his Word and seek his presence every day.

This week Jake talks about times when we can't feel God. Feelings are amazing, but your feelings don't always tell the truth. That's why its important not to put your faith in your feelings. Maturity in your faith means learning to stay connected to the truth even when your feelings aren't there, to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

This week, Luke shares that God is never out of reach and that he deeply desires relationship with you. Sometimes we feel like we are walking the road of our life alone, but God wants to walk with us.

This week, Jake starts a new series about relationship with God where we learn how to build a close, personal relationship with the Living God! This two-way connection with God where we share our thoughts and feelings with God and He reveals His back to us is what life is all about!

This week, Luke shares about radical love, love that gives everything for others because it sees them for who they truly are. This is the kind of love that Jesus lived, that God gives, and that we can show if we walk in His love.

Hayes shares his final message as a leader at Encounter Youth about finding God in the dry, desert season. Even when you feel abandoned by God, he is working the background in ways you can't always see. Hayes shows an amazing video in this massage that can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrOoJ_iEWoE

This week, Jake talks about how humility is confidence that comes from God and not ourselves. Jesus, is the ultimate example of humility and shows us how humility is about putting other people above yourself, giving to others instead of taking from them, and being willing to serve instead of be served. Its about being willing to go lower so other people can be lifted higher.

Guest speaker and financial advisor Matt Boulden teaches principles on what the Bible says about avoiding debt and investing your money well so that you can have financial peace in your life.

Jake Ragsdale opens up our National Day of Prayer with a message on what gives us confidence and passion for prayer, knowing God's heart for ourselves and our situation. God is calling us to ask him to pour out his love into every situation that we face.

Closing out our National Day of Prayer event, Tre Moore shares about what it looks like to share Jesus with the people you encounter everyday. All it takes is choosing to stop for the one.

Jake spills tea on how gossip is the number one thing that can destroy friendships and unity. Every time we gossip we partner with Satan by spreading the dirt on people. What if we chose to honor people instead and spread the gold about them?