Encounter,
I am so excited that we are starting a new series this Friday on the Holy Spirit. This is going to be one of the most impactful series we will ever do at Encounter.
Two by-products of the Holy Spirit working in your life are love and joy with Joy always following love. If you have love you have joy. If you know love you know real joy. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have love and therefore you have joy.
If you have the Holy Spirit working in you He will produce love, joy, patience, kindness, faithfulness and self-control in your life.
It is an inside job and that is why it is called the fruits of the spirit. Self-help does not work. Willpower does not work. It is God giving us the will and power that works through his Holy Spirit.
If you want joy you have to accept love before you are able to love because you are incapable of loving until the lover of your soul Jesus Christ floods your heart with his Holy Spirit to fill the void that only love can fill.
When that void gets flooded with his love then you have joy. And you will never know true love until you have been truly forgiven by Jesus.
Experience forgiveness and you experience love. Experience love and you will experience real joy. Those that have been forgiven much love much.
Love is not an emotion you experience…love is a person found in a relationship with the Son of God who loved you first and loves you more than you could ever love yourself or someone else.
When you allow that love to come and live inside of you through the Holy Spirit then you become a person of love.
That is just a short taste of what we are going to experience in this series. It is going to be the perfect time to invite someone and start bringing your friends, family and friends.
Let me give you a quick snapshot of the teaching plan for the next few months.
- 4 week series on the Holy Spirit
- All Worship Concert on March 10th
- Commitment and Baptism Night
- Identity Night
- Being a Purpose Driven Person
- 2 Week Forgiveness Event
- 4 week series on how to pray more effectively
- Testimonies in between those talks
I am so fired up about this lineup and I hope you are too. I could not be more excited about the direction of Encounter and how God is leading us. I could not be more excited about sharing this ministry with all of you, my forever family.
I could not be more excited about our needs and how God is using so many of you to meet those needs. Financial needs and they are plenty. Volunteer needs and they are plenty. Prayer needs and they are plenty. We have so many needs but God takes care of our needs through His glorious riches and his grace!
I thank God everyday for His faithfulness and your commitment to Encounter. I hope you know how grateful I am for each of you and that I am praying for you with much love and much faith!
I can’t wait to see you for the launch of our new series on the Holy Spirit this Friday night at Encounter!
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
Encounter Pastor
bill@thehopeencounter.org