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.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Jesus is Your Qualification for God's Blessings

Deuteronomy 28:2
2And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you... 

God loves to bless you.  He has even declared that “blessings shall come upon you and overtake you.”  This means that you can’t run fast enough to escape them!  When you turn one corner, there is a blessing waiting for you.  When you turn another corner, you run smack into another blessing!

Now, you may think that you don’t qualify for God’s blessings because of the preceding verse which says that these blessings will come to pass only if you diligently obey God’s voice and keep all of His commandments.  You know that no matter how hard you try, you just cannot keep all of God’s commandments.  In fact, the Bible says that if you fail to keep just one commandment, you fail to keep all.  (James 2:10)

Friends, I have good news for you: Jesus is the one who qualifies us for every single blessing because He is the One who kept all of God’s commandments.  When He died for us on the cross, He not only fulfilled all of God’s commandments, He also redeemed us from the curse of the law.  (Galatians 3:13)  Note that He did not redeem us from the blessings of the law, so the blessings are still ours today!

As you read the list of blessings in Deuteronomy 28, starting with “Blessed shall you be in the city...in the country...the fruit of your body...your basket...when you come in...when you go out...”  (Deuteronomy 28:3-13), I believe that Jesus is saying to you, “Like the blessings?  Then take them by faith!”

You may say, “But I don’t deserve them.”  Yes, you don’t deserve them, but you still get them because of Jesus.  That is God’s grace!  The law says, “You must deserve the blessings.”  But the law is no longer here.  Grace is here.  So take the blessings by grace through faith.  Believe God for the blessings.

Today, it is no longer a question of how much or how well you have kept God’s commandments.  It is a question of how much you can believe God for His blessings.  All the promises of God in Christ are “Yes”, and because you are in Christ, you can say “Amen!” to His blessings!  (2 Corinthians 1:20)  No ands, ifs or buts...JUST BELIEVE and you’ll RECEIVE!  Amen!

God Loves You and I Love You! Pastor Erwin

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Jesus Christ Is Able and Always Willing!

Matthew 8:3
3Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
 
When you see someone receiving a miraculous healing or financial breakthrough, do you ask, “What about me, Lord?”  I believe that the leper who came to Jesus must have asked the same question.

He must have heard or seen from a distance, since he was not permitted to be in public places by the law, how Jesus had healed the sick.  So he had no doubt that Jesus could heal him, but he was not sure if Jesus would.  He said to Jesus, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”  (Matthew 8:2)  He was confident of the power of God, but not the love of God for him.

Like the leper, maybe you don’t have a problem believing that God can give you your miracle, since He is Almighty God.  but you are wondering if He will do it for you.  Friends, let Jesus’ actions and answer to the leper settle this question once and for all.  He stretched forth His hand, touched the leper and said, “I am willing; be cleansed.”  And immediately, the leper was healed.

I want you to notice that Jesus touched the leper.  He could have healed him from a distance with just a spoken word.  He had healed others this was as in the case of the centurion’s servant and the Syro-Phoenician woman’s daughter.  So why did He touch the leper?

Jesus knew that for so many years, the leper had been cut off from his family and society, so he must have been feeling dehumanized.  I believe that Jesus touched him to make him feel human again, to make him feel loved and accepted again.  His touch was His love language to the leper.  

Can you see God’s heart of love here?  Can you see how much He loved the leper?  That is how much He loves you!  The day that you come to know God’s heart of love and believe that He wants you blessed more than you want to be blessed is the day that you receive your miracle!

Beloved, take a hold of God’s love, and you will believe that He is not only able, but also willing to make you whole!  So, don’t give up on yourself...Remember that God does not see you in judgement, because He sees you through His Holy Son, Jesus Christ...Hallelujah!

God Loves You and I Love You! Pastor Erwin

Monday, October 3, 2011

Our Only Help In Time of Need!

Hebrews 4:16  
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace in time of need”

If you are facing a challenge right now, I want you to know that you have a standing invittion from your heavenly Father to come boldly to the throne of grace to “obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The phrase “help in the time of need” means that you get healing when you are sick, provisions when you are in lack, restoration when your relationship with a loved one breaks down, and favor when news of job cuts or bad prospects are rife.

Pastor, how can I come boldly when I have been a lousy Christian?

Answer...Jesus Christ...and not by how you have lived your life.  So whenever you come into God’s presence, you don’t have to be afraid that your sins will be exposed because the blood of Jesus has removed every one of them.  God does not see even one speck of sin in you because He sees only the blood of His Son, which has been shed for your total forgiveness and acceptance.

You can come boldly because you come to God by the blood of Jesus!

Friends, when you have failed and need mercy, God’s Word assures you that you will find mercy when you come boldly to God.  Mercy means that you don’t get the bad things you deserve, such as condemnation, poverty, failure, loss and even death.

And mercy is not the only thing that you will obtain when you come boldly to God.  You will also find grace.  Grace means that you get the good things that you don’t deserve, such as health, protection, anointing, favor, good success and life more abundant and prosperous.

So come boldly to the One who loves you passionately, unconditionally and with an undying love.  Come boldly to Him who knows everything about your situation and has the solution.  He has wisdom far beyond that doctor you highly respect, that lawyer you greatly honor and the best experts you can consult.  Beloved, come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace to help in your time of need!  So defy worldly logic and do the opposite of what your brain tells you...Go to God and be pleasantly surprised!!!

God Loves You and I Love You! Pastor Erwin