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.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Born To Die...So That We Might Live!!!

Luke 2:12
12And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

You are probably familiar with the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.  The Bible says that when the time had come, Mary “brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger.” (Luke 2:6-7)  But have you ever wondered why the angel told the shepherds that the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger was a “sign”?

A manger is actually a feeding trough for livestock.  Do you  know what a feeding trough in those days looks like?  There is a similar one at Solomon’s stables in Meggido, Israel.  It is basically a big rectangular block of stone with the trough hewn out of it.  So baby Jesus, who was wrapped in swaddling cloths was placed in such a stone trough.

But why was that a sign?  Because if you have seen the empty tomb of Jesus at a place called The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, you would have noticed that the place where His body was laid, inside a tomb hewn out of rock, resembles a stone trough.  The Bible says that after Jesus’ crucifixion and death, Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb hewn out of rock. (Mark 15:43-46)

Can you see the similarities?  Wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger, baby Jesus would one day be wrapped in linen and laid in a tomb.  That was the sign the angel was referring to.  it pointed to Jesus’ death.

Jesus was the only child in all of humanity born to die.  Once you realize that, you will realize how much God loves you.  you will realize that He gave up His Son for that one purpose, and that His Son willingly came for that one purpose - to die for your sins and mine.

Beloved, can you imagine living your life knowing that you are just qualifying yourself to die on the cross to save the world?  That was the life that Jesus lived.  He lived to die, so that we might live and enjoy life abundantly today!  This Christmas, pledge to LIVE for Jesus Christ!!!

God Loves You and I Love You!  Pastor Erwin