Encounter Youth Podcast

Why did God create the world? Why did he create humans? In our series on the Gospel, we're looking at five "chapters" through which the Scripture teach us the incredible good news of Jesus. This is Chapter 1, in which the perfect God creates a good world and put good humans in charge.

We're kicking off a series focusing on what the gospel or "good news" is according to Jesus and his earliest followers as well as how we can share it with the world around us. In this message, Tim talks about how the gospel is centered on what Jesus did for humanity, is doing in our lives, and will do for anyone who believes it.

David has been an incredible youth leader for many years at Encounter Youth. As he is stepping down from the youth leader team to other areas of serving the church, he shares his heart for students to walk in freedom from sin and shame. If you feel stuck on the sidelines, this message will encourage to take action and let go of shame.

As we kick off the new school year, Tim invites us to consider what is ultimate success. All of us are moving towards certain goals whether we take time to think about them or not. Is your ultimate goal truly going to satisfy you?

In this message, Tim shares from Acts 2 and tells the story of a prayer gathering he started with several friends that eventually became a house church. Our heart at Encounter Youth is to allow the Holy Spirit to create an authentic community for young people. That said, we also believe our students can create communities wherever they go, whether that be in school or work or recreation!

So... what does it actually look like to build a life around prayer? What are some of the challenges and what are the most amazing parts? We asked several Youth Pastors to share as honestly as possible and were deeply inspired by their wisdom and stories! Shout out to Dustin Metzler from New Providence Church, Nate Lacy from Wesley Church, Josh Rotz from Solid Rock, Josiah Reimold from Calvary Mon...

What does Jesus have to say about prayer? In Luke 18, He gives one of His most famous stories on prayer "so that they would pray and never give up." This call to radical persistence is in almost every New Testament teaching on prayer. Luke, the youth pastor at ACTS Covenant, shared a powerful word on this topic to kick of our day! We hope you are encouraged!

Have you ever wondered about the last chapter of Mark's Gospel? We decided to finish our series where Mark did: right in the middle of a resurrection story! Through this lens, Tim shared about faith through the lens of being willing to trust God and obey His word even before we're certain or have seen all of the proof. Hope you are encouraged!

"Pick up your cross." "Deny yourself." "Whoever saves their life will lose it." <-- That's what Jesus begins to tell his disciples that being a part of His Kingdom demands. But what does that actual mean for us, on a daily level? Not long after Jesus talks about denying ourselves, he starts to reframe what greatness is and teaches his disciples to seek the path...

In Mark 6, we find three fascinating stories that give us a glimpse of why Jesus' authority is such good news. We can see how Jesus relieves anxiety by showing his disciples His confidence in their purpose, ability to miraculously provide, and how even a physical storm has to be be still in His presence. If you've wrestled with anxious thoughts, we pray that God would bring you a deep sens...

Over the first 8 chapters of Mark, one word starts to stick out to careful readers: authority or in Greek, "exousia". Through Jesus teaching, power of evil spirits, ability to forgive sins, and more, Mark proves that He is the Ultimate Authority. Tim ends by asking, "What does this mean for me?"

This message kicks off our study through the book of Mark. Tim shares the significance of Mark's opening line and all the interesting plot twists the fill the first chapter of this book. We encourage you to take time to start reading through Mark for yourselves.

We wouldn't be telling the whole story or fully embracing Jesus' teachings if we didn't talk about singleness! Did you know that Christians were some of the first people to ever consider singleness as an honorable way to live? In this message, Tim talks about building foundations that are not built on just trying to get what we want out of life. Hope you're encouraged!

What is the most honoring way to build a relationship? Nat and Tim have a candid conversation about being direct, building boundaries, centering everything around Jesus, and more. We hope each of you are encouraged to pursue God's best!

Seth and Melissa have been serving as youth leaders for several years now. Both are such deep wells of love for the Lord and those around them. In this interview, Tim asks Seth for a little of his backstory and how he discovered Jesus and then they dive into to one of the most fascinating topics: union with God. Towards the end, they shared some practical tips on starting the journey. We hope you...

It's our hope that we can begin to ask the right questions when it comes to friendships and romantic relationships. Instead of asking, how much is too much or what is okay for a Christian, etc., we want to be asking, "What is the most honoring way to ____?" If we choose the path of honor, we will see our relationship do the most important thing in our lives: helps us become the peopl...

It was such an honor to have Zach back in the house to share his story at Youth Night! We recognize how easy it is to seek for meaning and happiness in the world instead of God. As Zach shared, true satisfaction is found in experiencing a genuine relationship with Jesus. Our vision is to see Jesus, listen to His word, and live like Him together! See you on Wednesday!

Nat shares her journey in discovering the beauty of reading the Bible. Our vison for Encounter Youth is to see Jesus, listen to His Word, and live like Him together. See you on Wednesday!

What's the point of praying? For that matter, of following Jesus? What does God actually want or desire for our lives? In this message, Tim looks at several Bible passages and share two stories from his own life that show a simple, but powerful answer. According to the writers of the New Testament, prayer is supposed to become love.

We've been talking about prayer from various angles throughout the Fall. Last week, Tim shared about how God really answers prayer and invites us to participate with Him through intercession. This week, we chat about the experience that can stop us in our tracks: when prayer doesn't seem to work. For any of you who have gone though difficult losses or are living with unanswered prayers, we hope th...

Does God really answer prayer? Why does He invite us to partner with Him? Do miracles still happen? We can't finish our series on prayer without talking about intercession-- the kind of prayer where we stand in the gap between God and others, heaven and earth, and invite God's kingdom to come. We encourage each of you to ask God for a heart for intercession. If there is an area of injustice that i...

It was an honor to have Ms Annamarie share some her story and walk us through the story of the fiery furnace. We were challenged to be willing to follow Jesus no matter what.

Does prayer often feel like a one way phone call? It's hard to stay in a conversation if you feel like the other person isn't listening because they aren't responding. Though many of us might feel this way in prayer, the Scriptures tell us over and over that God DOES respond to our prayers and loves to speak directly to us. In the message, we look at some ways God might be speaking and how we can...

Throughout the Gospels, there is only one thing that the disciple directly asked Jesus to teach them. In Luke 11, after witnessing the way Jesus prayed to his Father, they say, "Lord, teach us to pray." As a youth community, we believe God is inviting us to build on prayer.

We all have had disappointing or awkward experiences of prayer. But as we talked about in this message, prayer is really the foundation of any community that seek to follow Jesus. Not only was it primary in Jesus' life, but He prayed himself that we would discover the life of God through prayer. We hope you are encouraged to take a step forward wherever you are at in your journey with prayer!