Bay Camp Encounter: July 2011

To rally, equip and deploy Bay Area Youth to serve in the Kingdom of God as a Biblically-sharpened and spirit-filled positive influences to win souls for Jesus Christ through transformed lives.

Encounter Bay Camp is a Christian Summer Youth Camp with the purpose of preparing young people for the adversity they will face in their formative years to adulthood. The camp provides an environment to equip the youth with foundational teachings toward a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and to provide them wit a memorable and life-changing experience.

Encounter Bay Camp is a collaborative partnership of local Bay Area Christian churches that seeks to unite Bay Area youth in fellowship with Jesus Christ. The youth between the ages of 12-21 gather for a time of Biblical teachings, powerful praise and worship, and fellowship between like-minded believers in Christ Jesus.

Encounter Bay Camp is a time for young people to experience passionate praise and worship, form lasting friendships through fellowship with others, and learn how to deal with life challenges from a Biblical perspective, and gain spiritual refreshment, renewal and transformation through the Love of the Lord.

Encounter Bay Camp's purpose is to ground the youth in God's Word while inspiring them to live for Jesus Christ. The camp will feature powerful, relevant and entertaining messages that lead the youth to have a meaningful understanding of God in their lives, their relationships with family and friends, and to live lives rooted in faith in Jesus Christ. The camp will also include small group sessions to provide a more interactive setting to discuss what was learned and minister to each other in an atmosphere of prayer and meditation. In addition, workshops dealing with topics such as sexual purity, prayer, worship, family, and the power and influence of the media, will be presented to address specific needs of youth believers.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Pinoy Sportsfest 2011

Monday, July 25, 2011

God Wants You Free From Worries

Matthew 6:25"

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what will you put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?"

Is you heart full of worries about your health, finances, family or future? Even when all is well, some people still worry because they have heard others say, "You should worry when everything is peaceful because something is wrong when the devil leaves you alone." So they worry even when there is nothing to worry about!

But Jesus does not want you to worry about what you will eat or drink, or about your body and what you will put on your back. He tells you not to worry about your daily provisions because God, who is your heavenly Father, knows that you need all these things and He wants to add these thing to you. (Matthew 6:32-33)

God is the same God who took care of the children of Israel in the wilderness, feeding them with manna every day for 40 years! (Exodus 16) Under His care, His people had no lack. When the people wanted meat for dinner, He simply rained quails on them (Numbers 11:31-32) The children of Israel only had to pick them up. If they had gone to look for meat themselves, they probably would not have found any in the desert.

The problem with us today is that we think that we must do something to help ourselves. Some of us may even think that it is easy for Jesus to say, "Don't worry. Take no thought for your life," because He does not understand the problems we face in life.

But the truth is that Jesus understands the problems we face in life. In fact, He faced what I would call the "final problem" - death. Death is the "final problem" because it puts an end to all our other problems. Jesus faced death at the cross, conquered it and rose from the dead. And because He conquered the problems of problems, we can trust him when He tells us not to worry!

You don't even have to worry about your salvation...Jesus took care of that...JUST BELIEVE!!!

God Loves You and I Love You! Pastor Erwin

Bay Camp Encounter 2011: Kingdom Come Pics pt.3

Bay Camp Encounter 2011: Kingdom Come Pics pt.2

Bay Camp Encounter 2011: Kingdom Come Pics pt.1

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Down But Not Out

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

"We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed..."

Before you were a Christian, when something sad or bad happened to you, you cried until you had no more tears left. Your heart simply broke into pieces, and you felt trapped, depressed and totally defeated.

But after having become a Christian, when something bad happens to you, you may still cry, but you feel comforted inside. You are sad outwardly, but your heart isn't heavy. You don't understand why, but deep down inside you, there is something lifting you up. That something buoyant, which is rising from the inside of you, is the life Christ in you!

You cannot be completely distressed because Christ in you is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) who says to you, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)

Yes, it may be a bad situation and you are in a tight spot, but Christ in you is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), and He says to you, "it will all be all right. I will provide a way out for you."

You know you are not defeated because Christ in you is your victory (1 Corinthians 15:57) and He says to you, "You are not fighting for victory, but fighting from victory because you already have the victory in Me."

Before you knew Christ, when you were down, you were out. But now, when you are down, you are not out because Christ in you is the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) "Hope" in the Bible means a definite, positive expectation of good.

So Christ in you is the definite, positive expectation of a glorious marriage! Christ in you is the definite postive expectation of glorious health! Christ in you is the definite positive expcetiation of a glorious life!

Beloved, Christ in you is the definite, positive expectation of all the glories of God revealed to you. No bad circumstance that you are in can or will ever cause you to be destroyed or forsaken by God! So, look forward to being DOWN, because you're never OUT...You are in Christ! Hallelujah!

God Loves You and I Love You! Pastor Erwin

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Rest and Find the Grace of God

Luke 2:40

And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

The verse says that the grace of God was upon Jesus. The Bible also says that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. (Romans 5:20) And when you put the two together, you may find yourself asking, "If the grace of God was upon Jesus, does it mean that He sinned?"

No, Jesus did not sin. (2 Corinthians 5:21) So there must be another explanation as to why God's grace was upon Jesus. There must be another explanation as to why someone can abound in God's grace even when he has not sinned.

Let's look at the word "grace" when it is first mentioned in the Bible. Genesis 6:8 says that "Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." Noah's name means "rest". So the verse is telling us that rest found grace. In other words, when you rest, you find grace!

So grace was upon Jesus because His life was the life of rest and trust in His Father. He said, "The Son can do nothing of Himself. he can do only what He sees His Father doing." (John 5:19)

Likewise, grace comes upon you when you rest and trust God. If you have a wayward child, stop nagging at him/her and trust God to handle the problem. Say, "Jesus, I commit this boy/girl into Your hands. I cannot control him/her. You can." If you have a persistent pain in your body, bring it to the Lord. Say, "Jesus, I hand all my worries about this pain to You. You work on the pain."

What if nothing happens?

Honestly, if after you have given the matter to Jesus and nothing happens, what can you do? If Jesus Himself can't do anything about it, do you think you can? But praise God, once the problem is handed over to Jesus, He can and will do a perfect work of taking care of it for you!

So live a life of rest. Have this attitude and tell the Lord, "I can do nothing of myself. I just rest in You Lord and I trust You." Beloved, what you will see is the grace of God upon you in every situation of your life! Remember that we are no longer under the law...but we have the covering of grace...divine grace from God the Father!

God Loves You and I Love You! Pastor Erwin