Encounter Youth: Recent Episodes
Encounter Church
Follow along with Encounter Youth at Encounter Church in Quarryville, PA! Youth Pastor Jake Ragsdale shares week to week and brings in guests and other students.
Why does Jesus call his followers into a life of prayer? How are we supposed to enter into it when we have been crushed, disappointed, or filled with doubt because life has turned out the way we expected or prayed it would? Tim shares through the story of Thomas that prayer starts in the place of helplessness. When we stay in the conversation no matter what we are feeling or experiencing, Jesus shows up.
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast praising Jesus, and are serious about following the Way, come on out!
National Day of Prayer was an incredible day! Over 230 students from all over the southern end joined us for a dedicated time of seeking God's Presence and praying for our generation. We hope you are stirred by Connor's word from session 1!
Jake brought the fire on session 2 from this years National Day of Prayer! Over 230 students came to worship Jesus and pray for our generation. We hope you are encouraged listening to this message!
One incredibly important aspect of worship is our understanding of the fear of the Lord. It may seem strange that, according to the Bible, one of the ways we draw closer to God is through a healthy reverence and respect. Jake dove into the significance of truly acknowledging how powerful and infinite God is while at the same time trusting His revealed character of love and mercy. If you have wondered about this topic, we hope you get a chance to listen in!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast praising Jesus, and are committed to seeking God's kingdom, come on out!
The English word "praise" basically means to assess someone or some thing's value and tell others about it. Tons of verses through the Bible, and specifically the Psalms, mention praise as something the followers of God are expected to do. However, the Hebrew words translated as praise in English often have more specific and practical actions are a significant part of them. Tim shared about seven words that have impacted him and led us through a series of activations and an extended praise break!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast praising Jesus, and are serious about learning the Way, come on out!
We're continuing to dive into understanding what the Bible teaches regarding worship and prayer, two of our core values at Encounter Youth! In this message, Tim talked about how praise is a specific action we do in order to express our hearts for God. If you've ever wondered why we spend so much time in musical worship and encourage each to sing and dance, this message is for you!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, know how to have fun, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
Have you ever wondered what worship really is? Is it just about singing songs? What's up with all the sacrifices in the Old Testament and why don't we do that anymore? One of our values at Encounter Youth is being a community centered on loving God through our worship. In this message, Jake unpacks the story of how God's people have been led to worship Him over the centuries and what that means for us today! We hope you're encouraged.
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
We're kicking off a new series to explore the true meaning of worship and prayer! This forms the most significant part of our lives because it's where we experience what we were made for: relationship with God.
In this message, Jake lays the groundwork of God's heart for humanity and exposes two lies we often believe and that hold us back from truly knowing God.
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
We loved hearing for several of our leaders! Our panel was a blast and there was a lot of wisdom shared. If you have questions about dating, how to stick to boundaries, singleness, and more, we hope you tune in to our lively conversation!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
If we want God to guide our lives, why wouldn't we want him to lead us in finding and pursuing a spouse? In this part of the dating series, Tim shares part of his story and heart for asking God the right questions. He said that while it's not wrong to ask God if someone is "the one", there's better questions to be asking.
If you are in a relationship or are excited about one day being in one, we hope this message will help you center on the purpose behind it and the best way to invite God's guidance. Following God's instructions will always lead to life and be a blessing to us and the world around us.
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
Ready for more wisdom sauce regarding romantic relationships? In this message, Jake shares why boundaries are important while dating. The bottom line is that intimacy without commitment leads to pain. He also gave really practical advice on what kind of boundaries are needed. If you are considering dating someone or are already dating, this message is for you!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
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How do we build healthy friendships with the opposite sex? Do we just try our best to ignore them? Or do we have no boundaries and just try to treat everyone the same? These are good questions and as followers of Jesus, we are held to a higher standard. We need to take His example seriously and do our best to follow His instructions.
Tim Ornelas shared about the two "ditches" on either side of the path God calls us to walk on. He emphasized caring for each other as brothers and sisters. We hope you get a chance to listen in and take a good look at where you are at in your friendships with the opposite sex!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
Jake dived deeper into masculinity and femininity at Youth last night! There's a lot of pressure right to be the right kind of man or right kind of women. Many areas of western culture are struggling to define what these really significant parts of our identity are all about. We hope you listen in and get a chance to learn the beauty that God made and why he did so!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
We recognize that our generation has more access, more social pressure, and more addiction to p*rnographic material than any other. Because of this, we think it is important to address the seriousness of this temptation with grace and straight talk. Jake preached an amazing message on what lust really is all about, how to defeat the lie of fantasy, and practical ways to get free!
If you have struggled with this before or just want to be prepared for when temptation might come, please listen to this message and pray about the things that were shared. How can you make steps toward protecting yourself and those you love from the damage of watching p*rn?
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
In this message, Jake builds off of the biblical understanding of our bodies. Knowing that they matter and that God created them deliberately and good intent makes all the difference when we begin thinking gender and s*xuality. This is a really important message to listen to if you've had questions or know someone who is wrestling with their gender/Christian values.
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
Are you ready for another dating series? This week, Jake shared the foundation for everything we're about to talk about. Contrary to what secular philosophy says, the Bible teaches that your body matters. It isn't just something you can use just your own pleasure but a gift from God to steward! This impacts how we view gender, modesty, romantic relationships, and more.
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
Tim Ornelas has a passion for discipleship to Jesus that will last for the long haul. He shared his vision for us to grow old and continue to be more and more in love with God. How do we do that? One thing that is crucial is building resilience by allowing God to shape our values, expectations, and community.
When life gets rocky... are you prepared to stay in it to the last round? We hope you are encouraged and are praying for our generation to grow in resilience!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, enjoy talking about God, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
Aiden shared his story and was honest about what it was like growing up in a broken family, taking drugs and alcohol at a young age, and questioning the teachings he heard in church. Through it all, he longed to truly know the love of God but felt like he had to earn it somehow. That began to change when he experienced the love of God through a friend and started to understand the heart of Jesus.
We hope you are encouraged and reminded of the unconditional kind of love God has for you! And let's keep praying for dreams in the night!
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
As Encounter Church engages in a corporate 21 day fast, Jake shares about the heart behind fasting. He dives into the teaching of Jesus behind the importance of being hungry for God. What happens when we aren't hungry, though? What can we do to stir that up when we do feel like it? The Christian answer for hundreds of years has been straight forward: we fast.
If you've ever wondered why Christians fast food occasionally, you aren't alone! Hopefully this message will bring clarity and encourage you to consider fasting.
Encounter Youth meets at Encounter Church (300 Hideaway Dr, Quarryville, PA) on Wednesday nights at 6:45pm. If you would like to join a community of youth who are welcoming, have a blast, and are serious about following Jesus, come on out!
This week, Jake shares about how the moment when Jesus washes His disciples' feet actually reveals the true meaning of Christmas! It shows us why Jesus had to become a man and die to wash us clean. It also shows off Jesus' incredible humility in the way he led.
This week Jake shares out of a passage of Scripture that changed his life and revealed God's love for him in a whole new way, Ephesians 2! We talk about the state that we were in before God saved us and about how God saved us when we were still His enemies and how this shows us His amazing love.
This week Seth Momcilovich shares about the destiny that each of us has as his child through the lease of his own testimony.
This week Jake shares the full story of Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus. This is an example of how God reveals Himself and pursues us before we ever pursue Him. Our ability to respond to God is a gift that he gives us, even when we are dead in our trespasses and sins.
Why does God love me? This week Tim Ornelas goes after this deep question and opens the Word to show us how God created us to know Him. He created us for the purpose of relationship with Him, and to share Himself with us. He invites us to take the step beyond the shore of knowing about God, to swimming in the ocean of His love.
This was a marking message for our youth group. Jake shares this week on the God's acceptance of us and how to receive it. On how God redeems us and adopts us BEFORE we get our lives together, get free of our sins, and walk in the life that He intends for us. This is part of what makes the Gospel good news, but so often we still try to earn God's love. If you're a church kid, or even if you're not, you need to hear this one.
This week Jake shares the straight up good news about Jesus, God's love for the world, and how you can be reconciled to God because of what Jesus did on the cross.
No one influences you more than your friends. No one. And that's why its so important that we choose good friends. Do your friends encourage you? Build you up? Push you to be the person you want to be? Trying to live differently than your friends can be like swimming against the current.
This week Jake talks about the power of the words we say, how words can wound. Almost every person has a wound from something someone has said to them. Actually, the wounds left by our words are usually longer lasting even than physical wounds. This is why its so important that we speak life the way that God does.
This week Jake talks about Gossip, which is a major struggle for a lot of people in middle and high school. He talks about what Gossip is, why its wrong, and how to test if you are Gossiping. If you wouldn't say it when they are there, why would you say it when they're not?
Did you know that Jesus gave us a literal step by step guide for what to do when someone hurts us, annoys us, or offends us? Its in Matthew 18, and we're talking about it this week. Usually we gossip, get revenge, or just shut down, but Jesus teaches us how to seek reconciliation.
This week Jake continues talking about how obedience to Jesus leads to freedom, this time specifically about Jesus' teachings on surrender, giving control of everything in our lives over to God. The only way to be fully free is to be fully surrendered.
This week Jake talks about how Jesus gives us his commands to lead us into freedom. He gives us his teachings to show us the way to deeper intimacy with God. Keeping His commands is NOT about earning God's love; God loved us when we were yet sinners. But your measure of freedom and intimacy will God will always be proportional to your obedience.
This week we have two of our beloved leaders share their testimonies, Will Herschberger and Melissa Momcilovich! Both share testimonies about coming out of legalism and embracing the Gospel.
This week Weston and Madison share their senior testimonies and advice with underclassmen.
This week Caroline Hostetter, Acacia Kreider, and Eamon Kreider share their senior testimonies and advice for younger students!
This week Jake goes in again on how to Encounter God this summer! He talks us through exactly what he does in His quiet time to Encounter God in His Word. How to pick what to read. How to look for the meaning in the text. How to listen to the Holy Spirit while you read. This is a practical guide about how to read your Bible.
This was a message that set the tone for the summer. Jake received a prophetic word about this being a summer of hunger for a lot of people, of desiring more of God. Tonight Jake shares about HOW to direct your hunger this Summer. How to seek God in three main places - The People of God, The Word of God, and the Presence of God. He also shares about God's promises that he will be found by those who seek Him.
This week Cody Zook walks us through what the Bible says FAITH really is. Sometimes we can think that faith is just "believing harder," but biblical faith is always placed in something God has spoken or promised. Cody takes us into the book of Hebrews and shows us how to look at the Greek words.
This week Noah shares about the love of God. Sometimes we can overlook a verse as simple as John 3:16 and what it means about how God gave a part of himself to be able to reconcile with us.
God has done SO many amazing things in our lives over the past month, from YWAM Lancaster visiting, to the Holy Spirit moving, to National Day of prayer, check out these testimonies of how God moved supernaturally in different people this month.
This week Caroline Hostetter shares about how the Christian worldview of our nation is in decline and how to share the truth about Jesus in a hostile context. She also shares how we as Christians can be involved in reviving values and legislation in our nation that is based on biblical principles through blessing and sharing with others.
In the afternoon of National Day of Prayer, Cody Stoneback of Unrestricted shared how we can be carriers of the kingdom of God and the message of hope in Jesus to our friends. He shares his personal story of how person after person he knew never shared the truth of the Gospel with him, and asked us the question: Are they worth it? Are the people in our lives worth the challenge of a simple conversation where we share the truth?
Benji Martin shared an INCREDIBLE message on the good news ("Gospel") of Jesus' kingdom and how it encourages us to leave our own kingdoms behind. Then he shares the prayer that Jesus gave us to come into alignment with His Kingdom, the Lord's Prayer.
This is the HIGHLIGHT of National Day of Prayer, where students pray their own prayers for God to move in their generation. Some incredible prayers, prophetic words, and testimonies were shared during this time.
This week Seth Momcilovich shares the word as we prepare our hearts for National Day of Prayer.
This is one of the most fun messages of the year where we talk about how to set good physical and emotional boundaries in your dating relationship. Jake talks about intimacy and why it is important to keep our dating relationships from going too deep too fast.
How do you know if you're ready to date in middle/high school? What is the difference between a good and bad relationship? What are some of the qualities I should watch out for when I am looking to date someone? Here's some dating advice on all of that stuff!
This week Jake talks about surrendering your heart to Jesus. There are so many other things that fight to take the throne and focus of our lives, but the only way to walk in Jesus' resurrection life is if you surrender to fully to Him!
This week Jake talks about beauty, modesty, and how what you do with your body and who you have intimacy with matters! Because you are God's image on the earth. Your body is sacred because it is made in the image of God. This is a great message especially for girls to check out since it runs against what our culture tells us!
This week we wrap our series on 1 John! We share about the importance of our words lining up with our actions, silly middle school relationships, and how we need to be aware how God changes our hearts to love to do the things he wants us to do.
This week Jake shares on discerning God's voice and not believing everything you hear on the internet or from a "Christian" teacher. He also shares about what it means for God to be love and about how knowing God's love sets us free from fear, worry, and anxiety! You might need to share this one with a friend!
This week Jake shares about the power of the love of God when we really receive it by REVELATION instead of just information. He shares about how the revelation of Jesus is the beginning of revival and entices us to go after revelation in God's Word.
This week Jake shares out of 1 John 2. We talk about how Jesus is our advocate before the Father and how he paid for our sins. We also talk about how to be free from loving the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (and what all of those things mean).
This week we start a series on the book of 1 John! Jake shares about the power of really knowing Jesus as the one who is the creator and the source of all things, the source of all spirual power and meaning, the one who is the same as God the Father.
This week Jake shares about Jesus' amazing parable to the Good Samaritan. Jesus challenges us in this story to realize what really matters to God in a person who loves others. You can look perfect on the outside, but often is the broken people we least expect who are willing to stop and give themselves away for others like Jesus did for us.
Jonathan shares his testimony about coming out of agnosticism through an Encounter with God and Gavin shares about how he overcame depression and challenging years in middle school through the hope he has in Jesus.
Did you know that Jesus gives us really clear instructions on how to handle it if someone hurts us, and its nothing like the advice we usually hear. This week we dive straight into the Word and what it says about how to love our enemies and how not to retaliate when we want to. This one hit hard!
This week Sarah shares her own powerful story of how she learned forgiveness from Jesus. She also shares some powerful thoughts on what forgiveness really looks like.
This week Noah talks about belonging through the story of David. David was an outcast in his family and on the battlefield, and no one suspected him to be a hero. But he walked in victory because he knews that he belongs wherever God is. And God is everywhere. And the same thing is true of you! You don't have to walk in fear because God is always with you.
This week Jake share about unforgiveness in the church and how it can be one of the main things that keeps it from being a place to belong. We also talk through how to forgive and what forgiveness really means and at the end have a time of inviting the Holy Spirit to show you how you need to forgive. This one is intense but good!
This week Jake shares about making the church and our youth group a place where everyone is welcome and everyone can belong. He shares about how guys and girls both struggle with being selfish and excluding others through gossip, competition, and excluding people, and how Jesus was the exact opposite. Jesus was always welcoming the people that no one else would welcome.
Check out this great message from Sarah Stoltzfus where she shares her journey of learning to fully understand the Gospel. She shares about different times in her life where God took her into a deeper understanding of the Gospel, and shares some powerful and helpful insights on what Jesus' death and resurrection really means for us.
This message by Bradley from YWAM Lancaster has some fire and passion on it! God is doing something in the youth of our region and he has so much available to us. Sometimes we just go for the little crumbs of what God has for us when we leave Jesus on the fringes of our lives. But when we fully surrender to Jesus we receive the whole loaf of what He has for us! Catch a little bonus testimony from Kephas Beal at the end!
This week Jake shares a sobering message about returning to our first love again. About how intensely Jesus desires us and wants us to desire Him back. he's not looking for us to live the Christian life just out of duty. He's looking for people who are in love with Him, and we talk about what brings us back to that place is remembering and experiencing how deep God's love for us really is.
This is a recording of the powerful prayer time that we had where students declared LIFE over Gen Z and prayed for revival in their generation during National Day of Prayer 2022. If you need your heart for intercession stirred up, listen to this!
This is the second message delivered at National Day of Prayer 2022 where Joel Bomberger, our guest speaker, delivered a powerful message full of stories about revival in Lancaster and ending with a call to surrender everything to Jesus and be filled with His Holy Spirit.
This is the first message from National Day of Prayer 2022 where Jake shared about how God is looking for partners to stand in the gap for Gen Z. He shares about how Gen Z is like the Rich Young Ruler, and their biggest struggle is surrendering everything to God. Then he shares about how God has moved in the past to bring generations back to him through the power of the Spirit.
Many of you know him as Mr. Brown, but this week, Todd Brown shares on our identity as chosen and adopted sons and daughters of God. He shares out of his own experience of adopting and the power of the moment when we stop pretending and truly identify as sons and daughters of God.
This week Jake shares out of Revelation 3 where Jesus tells us that he never wants our passion for him to be lukewarm, just ok, satisfied with how things are. This can be a really dangerous place to be where we don't actually want any more of Jesus! Just going to church doesn't make you a believer in Jesus any more than going to a firehall makes you a firefighter.
This week Jake talks about the power of hope, how hope is like light in the dark times of life. How when you loose hope for your future or your self you often give up and give in to evil. But Jesus gives us hope through His resurrection and His promises to us that He has a good plan for our lives and a bright future in this life and after He returns to make the whole world right again.
This week Jake shares about our new series on identity and who God says we are in His Word. This Wednesday we go after anxiety, believing that when we believe the truth that God is our Father and he cares for the little details of our lives, we are set free from worry, fear, and an orphan heart. At the end, we take some time to soak in some verses that speak to us about God's care for us.
This week Jake talked about Homosexuality, one of the most intense subjects being talked about in our culture right now. We talk about the tough questions: Are people born Gay? Do people choose to be gay? And Jake talks about how these aren't necessarily the right questions to be asking. We talk about how everyone has been de-formed and corrupted in their sexual desires (gay and straight alike) and how we are all called to walk in sexual abstinence in different ways to fulfill God's plan for sexuality in marriage. We close by talking about what the Bible actually says about homosexuality. Don't miss this one!
This week Jake dives into the different instructions the Bible gives to men and women on how to live their lives and what their roles are in the family and in the church. We read some of these Scriptures, then we dive into Proverbs 31 (the awesome wife passage) and Job 29 (Job when he used to be an awesome man passage). Jake shares on how both of these passages share the same qualities men and women should have, but just in different ways.
This week Jake talks about how modesty (in what you wear) and purity (in what you do) isn't just about rules and shame. Its about knowing what you are worth! its about knowing that you are treasure, and you won't give yourself away cheaply. We also talk about how guys and girls can be immodest and lead people on in different ways, and how God's desire is for us to live for him rather than living to satisfy our own desires.
This is one of the best weeks of our dating series! Where we talk about why boundaries are so important in a dating relationship! And not just physical boundaries either. Even if you've heard this message before, you should check this one out, since we talk about everything from why keeping our desires in check, not getting too intimate, and even boundaries about sexual intimacy at the end (Parental advisory for that part).
Its time for our dating series again! This week Jake shares dating advice on why you should take dating seriously and on who you should be looking for (and who you should be looking to be) in a person to date! Are they showing red flags?? Or are they showing that they are someone worth pursuing?
This week we talk about a controversial topic in American culture today, the fact that there are only two genders. Jake talks about how our culture encourages people to look to their own hearts to tell them who they are, but that the Bible tells us that our hearts are wicked and deceive us about who we should be and what we should do all the time. Then he talks about some facts to help us understand why gender is not a spectrum, but there are two human genders of male and female. Finally we talk about how we can love people who are struggling with gender issues.
This week Jake talks about God made our bodies with value and with purpose. And part of that purpose is our gender, the fact that God made humans both male and female as part of his plan for them to become one with each other in relationship through the covenant of marriage. And marriage is the foundation of God's idea of family.
This week David Stoltzfus tells the story of how relationship with God was broken through humanity's sin, but also about how God made a way through Jesus for us to have relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. At the end we practice spending time with Holy Spirit and practicing relationship with God.
This week Jake talks about how true freedom in God only truly comes when you fully surrender your life to Him. the Bible says friendship with the world is enmity with God, but Jesus calls us to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.
This was a special week where we prayed for God to baptize us in His Spirit. Being filled, or having an encounter with God's Spirit where he takes up residence in power inside of you is a normal part of the Christian life. Jake shares about where we find this in Scripture to build our faith for being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.
This week Jake talks about the power of gratitude, about how it shifts your perspective, takes your eyes off of yourself, relieves anxiety and depression, and invites the presence of God.
This week Jake talks about how the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of breakthrough. There is a real spiritual enemy who wants to keep us bound in chains of lies, temptation, sin, self-hatred, anxiety, fear, and lust. When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives he brings real power to change the things we believe about ourselves, break off spiritual strongholds, and take back territory for God in our lives and the lives of our friends.
This week Jake talks about how the Holy Spirit allows us to have a personal, living relationship with God. He is like a radio receiver who gives us a living connection to God. He also shares about how he discovered how a relationship with the Holy Spirit takes your relationship with God from just being in your head, to actively changing your heart.
This week Jake talks about how you can be an influencer. And the way Jesus influenced people was by loving them one-at-a-time.
This week Jake talks about how your friends influence you. He talks about three kinds of friends: fake friends, good friends, and godly friends. The best kind of friends are those who are intentional and who can encourage you in your relationship with God.
This week the amazing David Stoltzfus shares his testimony of when he first surrendered his life to God and what it looks like to surrender your life to Him as well.
This week shares a powerful message on how our imagination is the key to so many of the struggles that we have. Some of the greatest issues we face all start with the way we use our imaginations. And, one of the enemy's greatest plans is to try to capture control of your imagination through addiction to all sorts of media.
This week Sophia shares one of the easiest ways ever to learn how to share the full message of the Gospel with someone you know. Sometimes sharing the Gospel can be intimidating if you feel like you don't know what to say, but Sophia shares her passion and an easy way to remember the best news ever!
One of the hardest things in life is when we go through a painful season and we wonder whether God is really good? This week, Jake shares about how God can have a purpose in the midst of our pain, how he can turn our pain around for good in our lives. Why is this world so broken if God is really good? We try to navigate that question as well.
This week Jake share some thoughts on dealing the pain in our lives and Olivia shares her testimony of overcoming depression and walking in the fullness of who she is in the Lord. She shares some vulnerable stories and gives some powerful advice on how to deal with depression. Whether its for you or for a friend, this one is worth a listen.
This week we wrap up our series on Romans with Jake sharing on how Paul talks about our battle with our sinful nature in Romans 7. There can sometimes be such an intense battle between what we know we should do, what we want to do, and what we actually do because of sin. It can be so frustrating when the power of sin seems stronger than the power of our will! And the only thing that can break that power is the Spirit of God who sets us free from the power of sin.
This week Kendell and Becky share their testimonies of coming know Jesus and of God's faithfulness to them in their lives.
Oliver shares his heart about having a faith filled perspective on what God can do in our generation and commissions us to carry that faith into our lives in
This week Jake talks about a subject that applies SO much to our world today. It is so easy to point the finger and point out the flaws in other people, but when we do that we fail to recognize the grace that God has given us even though we don't deserve it. We talk about how to avoid judging others, but also how to speak the truth in love.
This week our special guest Matt Boulden comes and shares some biblical values related to how we think about and manage our money as Christians
This week Coby King shares his testimony about his growth in the Lord and the value of growing in wisdom and obedience to God when you are in high school. He shares great stories about how developing integrity and honesty when you are young sets you up for blessing when you are older.
This week Jake talks about how to have purity in your online life. No one really gives you instructions on how to live with social media, the internet, messaging, and your whole online life where there are so many pressures and temptations you have to face. This week Jake gives advice on how to navigate your online relationships and talks about how purity isn't just about what you do with your body, its what you let in to your heart.
This week Jake talks about purity, and how sometimes we think of purity in the wrong way. Purity isn't just about what we have or haven't done, its about your heart. Purity is a commitment to live a holy life before God, and a value for yourself that won't compromise and give yourself away cheaply in a relationship. Purity is something that is totally redeemable, just like any other area of our lives where we have compromised, because of God's mercy, and tonight we make a commitment to walk in purity. Skip through the blank part to the end to hear a vision and testimony from Krista Beiler.
This week Jake talks about what boundaries are good to have in your dating relationship. We talk about what's fun and cute vs what's deep/intimate and how to protect your heart and your purity in your relationship with a buuunch of different tips. This message is funny and super helpful.
This week Jake talks about about all the false ideas the world give us about what is really attractive. The worlds definition of what the perfect guy/girl looks like is so superficial, but what really matters is the heart. What does biblical masculinity and femininity really look like?
In this message Jake answers two of the biggest questions about dating! 1) Why would God give us all these desires so strongly if he didn't want us to act on them?! Why are is marriage and Covenant important? And 2) Am I ready to date in Middle/High School. It involves a flamethrower and a lot of fun. You'll have to listen to find out more.
In this last message on the power of knowing God's Word, we actually have an encounter with God's word for ourselves. This message on how to meditate on God's word and let the truth go from your head to your heart culminates in a meditation time where we meditate on Isaiah 43:1-3 and Romans 8. The Holy Spirit showed up so strongly and some people felt God's love for the first time! This is a good one for a 2nd listen.
This week Jake talks about 4 ways to describe how powerful the Bible is in our lives. It's like a lamp that guides us, like bread that sustains us, like a mirror that helps us see ourselves clearly, and like a sword that we can fight with. And he gives some tips about what to do if you don't understand something when you're reading.
This week Jake shares about the basics of what the Bible is, how it was written, and awesome some tips for how to read it.
This week Katie King shares her testimony about trusting God with her future, the challenges of obeying God when you can't see the bigger picture, and God's faithfulness when we are obedient.
This was an important message. This week Jake shares about how knowing God goes beyond having an emotional encounter in a worship service. God wants to know you as a friend. He wants you to have a relationship with him when you are all alone in your room. That's the place where we tune our hearts and our minds in to hear his voice and recognize how he's leading us. Its the place where we get connected to God the same way a branch is connected to the vine that gives it its life.
This week Jake shares about how following Jesus means living a whole different lifestyle from the rest of the world; how the world tells us that there is something in the world that can fill us up - more popularity, more attention, more love, more money, more achievement - but Jesus calls us to a totally different way of living where the only thing that can fill the whole inside of us is the love of God.
This week Katie shared her testimony about being saved from lying and rebellion as a kid, and how her life changed. She also shares about struggling with sickness and loss later in life and learning how to trust God in the midst of seasons where His goodness is hard to see.
This was a message that is going to shift things for our group. All of our confiedence in prayer, in fighting the enemy in our lives, in believing God can really change our lives comes from really knowing who Jesus is. So many times we think faith is something we have to do, like we have to work it up inside of ourselves. But really faith is when we get a revelation of how amazing Jesus is and how much he wants to step in and change our lives. This is where everything starts.
This week Jake talks about Jesus' mission in coming to earth. Jesus had a mission to destroy all of the power of sin and death that have made a hostile takeover of God's world, kind of like a spy on a mission to overthrow an evil government. Check out the attached pdf to see the beautiful drawings that we used this week.
This week Jake shares on revelation. Revelation is when God opens the eyes of your heart to truly understand the power of what Jesus did on the cross. Revelation is where revival starts.
This week Jake shares what it means to be justified before God. Using an apple that gets all cut, and bruised and broken apart, Jake shares about how our hearts get broken and messed up by sin. But justification is when Jesus takes the old apple of our heart and replaces it with a new one. Now when God looks at us, he sees us as having that pure, perfect, and clean heart that Jesus had.
This week Mikey shares his testimony and Jake shares his tips with the seniors on how to stay faithful to Jesus moving into young adulthood.
Students from the Love the Hill trip share the testimonies of all the stuff God did and everything we learned! We share how the distinctions we usually make between "good people" and "bad people" are false. There are just sinful people who need the Gospel of Jesus.
This week Kephas shares about learning to hear from God in the twists and turns of his life, Zach talks about being proud of his story, and Willem shares about how God encountered him even through viewing a dead body.
This week we hear from two of our seniors about their testimonies, and from Emily Hastings on receiving God's righteousness as a gift. All three of them talked about laying down our striving, trust in ourselves, and performance to receive what God has for us. His love and his righteousness can't be earned. They are a free gift when we put our faith in Jesus.
This week our senior testimonies continue with Evan Saunders, who shares about his experience of coming home to God after a time of running, and Sarah Stoltzfus, who shares about overcoming legalism and perfectionism.
This summer we are having our amazing seniors share their testimonies of growing in their faith and how knowing Jesus has changed their life. This week Luke Slabach and Evan Hastings share about overcoming difficulties and loving Jesus even in when you are constantly in the pressure that can come with a Christian environment.
In this message Jake talks about one of our most complicated emotions - anger. Anger is a natural thing to feel but it can often make us want to hurt others. Jake talks about how anger works, and about the nature of God's love and anger. God does feel anger, but his hearts desire is always to show mercy and forgiveness, and that is what he wants us to show as well. Then he finishes with some tips about how to show mercy instead of acting out of anger.
This week Jake talks about the Gospel - the good news of Jesus. He talks about how God's love doesn't just overlook sin - the sickness of selfishness and pain that every person has. God loves us so much that He deals with sin by giving us a new heart and paying for our guilt. Jesus says that receiving this new life in Him is like being born all over again.
Tonight, Jake wraps up the dating series by talking about how set boundaries with the person you are dating, and how to make sure you keep them. He also talks about the myth of "the one" and "love at first sight" and how to find the person you want to marry.
There's so much temptation in our world use the online world to gratify ourselves. From Snapchat to Tik Tok, to Instagram, to messaging, to pornography. This week Jake shares about how purity is about more than just what you do with your body, its also about what you allow into your heart through what you look at. We talk about how to check your heart in everything you do when you are online.
This week Jake shares about how to set good boundaries in dating relationships and how to walk in purity. There is a SHALLOW END in a relationship where things are just cute, and there is a DEEP END, where you start to know deep things about each other emotionally and physically. God tells us to learn how to guard our hearts, and control our bodies, and he tells us these things for a reason, because intimacy outside of commitment sets us up to get hurt.
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 inaction in our lives.
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 of the Holy Spirit in your life! Check out the PDF of the slides on our Encounter Church PA app!
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 start dating, the real question is, are you ready for covenant?
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 community.
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 good news of the cross!
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 sent his Son to take away our guilt and bring us back into relationship with a loving God.
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 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?
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 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.
No one influences you more than your friends. Jake talks about how important it is to have friends who are flowing in the same direction you are. Do you friends fill you up? At the end, Jake talks about to take good friendships to the next level by making them godly friendships.
In this message Jake talks about something that is needed in every relationship, forgiveness. He talks about how unforgiveness only really hurts you and not the person you won't choose to forgive, and how forgiving means canceling the debt that you feel someone owes you.
In this message, Jake talks about how love is the most important thing in being unified, and actually in life! He also talks about love as finding the gold in others and laying your life down for them. The message ends with us recognizing how God acts toward us because he is love.
In this second message on why we need each other, Jake describes how God empowers us to love each other and build each other up through what the Bible calls spiritual gifts. He describes each of the gifts named in the Bible and tells stories of supernatural things God does when we love each other with the Spirit's power.
This message starts a new series on why we can't do life alone and we need each other. God made us to need each other and we all represent a piece of his heart and who he is in our own unique way. (There is a long illustration at the end of this message that you may want to skip through).
This week we talk about how to have good boundaries in a relationship. We cover everything from purity, to physical boundaries, to guarding your heart, and get practical about what to do and what not to do in order to keep your boundaries.
PARENTAL WARNING: At the end of this message we talk about sexual boundaries in an appropriate way.
Have you ever asked what you should be looking for in a girl or guy to date? What does God say about how to be datable and how is it different from all of the external, skin deep stuff everyone seems to care about so much? Confidence, Character, Joy, and Love are good places to start.
This first message of our dating series talks about what dating is all leading up to, the beautiful covenant of marriage. Knowing what marriage I all about lays the foundation for understanding what dating is all about.