This Sunday, our youth pastor, Amanda Mackie was our speaker.
What is an encounter? How do we encounter Jesus? Does He
encounter us or do we encounter Him?
Often we tend to want to avoid the unexpected, unplanned moments in life because they are full of the unknown and are out of our control. But the very definition of “encounter” is: A meeting, especially one that is unplanned, unexpected, or brief. And we desire to have encounters which Jesus, but we expect them to happen within our expections and plans we have already established. But an encounter is supposed to be unplanned, unexpected, brief. We don’t catch Jesus by surprise, so He must encounter us, not the reverse. John 6:44 tells us “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me
draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” The experiences themselves will vary, but I believe there are two types of ways we are
encountered by Jesus. First, when we meet Him for the first time and second, the ways we continue to see Him as we grow in relationship and have our hearts shaped by Him. This morning I want us to spend a few minutes talking about these two ways and how we can learn to wait patiently for Christ because He has chosen to love us and encounter us.