Encounter Worship Service - April 26, 2026

If you washed up on a lonesome shore, so

crushed and tired.

If you curled up on the kitchen floor,

and your house is on

fire.

If you couldn't feel farther from

redemption,

you're the closest you've ever been.

Rock bottom is a firm foundation.

You'll see, my friend,

this is not a breakdown,

it's a breakthrough.

This is not a midnight,

it's a brand new morning when it dawns

on the

>> [singing]

>> dark.

No, this is not the moment

when it all falls

apart,

it's a beautiful place to start.

When you find yourself waking in a

storm, the floodgates [singing] have

opened.

And you let go of

spinning on the edge, when you know he's

holding.

Hear your prayers turn from begging God

to praising him,

as you're finding he's always been

much closer than the air you're

breathing.

So, breathe in,

my friend,

this is not a

breakdown,

it's a breakthrough.

This is not a midnight,

it's a brand new morning

when it dawns

on the

dark.

No, this is not the moment

when it all falls apart,

it's a beautiful place to start.

Hardest part is the letting

go.

Sometimes it felt impossible.

There's still love in your arsenal.

If there's still blood in your heart.

The hardest part [music]

is [singing] the letting go.

Sometimes it felt impossible.

There's still love in your arsenal.

[singing and music]

If there's still blood in your heart.

The hardest part is the letting go.

Sometimes it felt impossible.

There's still love in your arsenal.

If there's still blood in your heart.

You'll

see, my friend,

this is not a

breakdown.

This is not a breakdown.

It's a breakthrough.

This is not a

midnight,

it's a brand new morning

when it dawns

>> [music]

>> on the dark.

No, no, no, no,

this is not the moment

when it all

falls apart.

It's a beautiful place to start.

A beautiful

place to start.

We got dust on our Bibles,

brand new iPhones, no wonder why we feel

this way.

Hey,

how you been?

It's been a while.

I'm checking in.

This the way things used to be back in

2017.

And I

just miss my friends.

Hey,

I've been fine.

I've been struggling to find some peace

of mind.

It's the problem of our nation

and in our generation, we're too busy.

Can't find the time.

Are we busy,

or is it all

a lie?

We got dust

on our Bibles,

brand new iPhones, no wonder

[singing and music]

why we feel this way.

We walk

with our eyes closed,

blind leading blind fools.

I'm done with [singing] those idols

and dusty Bibles.

You only get

this one life.

I don't want to sit and watch you pass

me by.

I'm so done being complacent.

There ain't no replacement for a life in

the light [singing] of your way.

Oh, I've done

had enough of my

way.

We got

dust on our Bibles,

brand new iPhones,

no wonder why we feel this way.

We walk

with our eyes closed, [singing]

blind [music] leading blind fools.

I'm done with those idols

and dusty Bibles.

This the way

things used to be

back in 2017.

And I

just miss my friends.

Oh, I

just miss my friends.

We got dust

on our Bibles,

brand new iPhones,

no wonder why we feel this way.

We walk

with our eyes closed,

blind [singing] leading blind fools.

I'm done with those [music] idols

and

dusty Bibles.

Before I bring my need, [singing] I will

bring my heart.

Before I lift my cares, I will lift my

arms.

I want [singing] to know you. I want to

find you in every season and every

moment. Before I bring my need,

[singing] I will bring my heart

and

seek you.

I want [singing] to seek you.

I want to seek you.

I want [singing] to keep you.

>> [music]

>> I want to keep you.

More than anything, I

want I want

Before I speak [singing] a word, let me

hear your voice.

And in the midst of pain, let me feel

your

joy.

I want to know [singing] you. I want to

find you in every season and every

moment. Before I speak a word, [singing]

I will bring my heart

and seek you.

I want to seek you.

I want to seek [singing] you.

I want to keep you.

>> [singing]

>> I want to keep you.

More than [singing and music] anything,

I

want

I want you.

You are my [singing] treasure

and my

reward.

Let nothing ever

come

>> [singing]

[singing]

>> So, Jonas said Matt should speak.

And then Matt was like, "Oh, no,

actually, Harley, you should do it." And

I was like,

I don't know about that. So, I went back

there and I frantically wrote down what

I was going to say.

And if it's bad, that's not my fault.

Anyway.

>> [laughter]

>> Um I don't have enough time, ever. I

would never have enough time to tell you

how much Encounter has meant to me.

Um and in the next song we're going to

sing, it says I'd be lost if it was not

for you. And I know that the song is

referring to God, but I feel like it

means that I'd be lost without my group,

and the people I sing with, and the

band, and the people that come out and

support me every time, without fail.

And I'd literally be lost if it weren't

for them.

And God brought me to Encounter, or

brought Encounter to me, because he knew

that I would be lost without them.

I look forward to our weekly Monday

practices, and nothing gives me more joy

than getting to share what I love with

all of these insanely talented people.

And

all of this is to say that I am so

grateful for all that God has done for

me in the form of Encounter, and I

really believe that I'd be lost without

all of you.

And thank you for everything.

>> [singing]

[singing and music]

[singing]

>> All right, are we good? I'm not too

loud? Miracle. That never happens.

So, I find it really funny that he opens

me up like that, cuz my original plan

when I walked up was about to be like,

they sing so good, I've got a lot of

pressure on me.

And then he went and gave me another

speech to put more pressure on me.

So, I hope I bring it, but I think I've

got something for you guys here. So,

I, when he texted me, was told that his

kind of theme was like, we want to focus

on graduation, it's kind of a graduation

thing, with an extra theme of fresh

start. And so, I'm like, there's a

couple things I could think of, and I'm

sitting there, and I'm like, graduation.

What What makes it so special

that like I come up and talk about this

with this time, and what have I learned

from this specific thing?

And so, anyone who's currently in high

school will know that how they've

implemented technology into preparing

you for graduation is they give you a

bunch of personality tests. And they're

like, "Hey,

do you like to fix cabinets?

Maybe

you could be a carpenter.

Maybe.

And it's all about like, what do you

like to do?

And what can you do with what you like

to do? So, I'm sitting here, I'm like,

okay, maybe I could talk about gifts,

right? I mean, we all know we all have

gifts from God, and so, my very first

starting point was, okay, let's go to

Google and ask Google about some Bible

verses about gifts. Get me somewhere to

start. And it led me to Romans chapter

Romans 12 · chapter mention

12. And I was like, okay, let me Let me

read through that. And I realized that

there's a verse that's been following me

around for a really long time. And

that's Romans chapter 12 verse two. Do

Romans 12 · chapter mention

not conform to the pattern of this

world, but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind.

And I found it very interesting because

I've done two Sunday school studies on

this verse, and it was the entire theme

verse for one of my mission trips. And

that's been following me through my

whole high school experience. So,

finding that was like, okay, I really

got to look into chapter 12 here. And

then I found everything I was looking

for for tonight in that chapter.

Every single thing.

Thank you, God. Made it real easy for

me.

So,

gifts, right? We want to talk about

gifts. What is a gift from God?

Well,

how I've tried to define that

is something that you are blessed with

that you can bless others with.

So,

when I think of examples of gifts, I

think of talents. I think of something

that makes you stand out, right? So, for

me, it's me talking.

I started talking, and I never stopped.

I can talk about talking like I'm doing

right now.

So, like that's a gift, right? And I'm

I'm like, that's too obvious. Like that

that makes it too easy. So, let me think

harder, right? What's an example of a

gift?

And I kind of found it

when I was going through um

the verses of Whoop, got to find it.

Ah, chapter 12 verse six.

We have different gifts according to the

grace given to each of us. If your gift

is prophesying or prophesying, then

prophesy in accordance with your faith.

If it is serving, then serve. If your

gift is teaching, then teach. If it is

to encourage, then give encouragement.

If it is giving, then give generously.

If it is to lead, do it diligently. If

it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.

And there's a lot of things listed on

that list that kind of go with like my

talking gift. Like teaching, leading,

those are like skills we see very

physically. But I really liked when it

talked about giving and encouragement.

Those are gifts that we don't think of

as much. And it it brought to mind a

friend of mine who's incredibly quiet.

And I I mean like I knew her for like

two years and never heard her talk once.

But every time I spoke to her,

she

listened so well, and she smiled, and

she received everything I said, and

always could remember it.

And I thought to myself, that's her

gift.

She can take something in and

internalize that and make my day with

it. And so, I kind of wanted to reframe

what we think about with gifts, and this

brought me down to something you are

blessed with that you can bless others

with.

Something you can do

that makes someone's day. So, I kind of

wanted to do a little bit of involvement

with you guys.

Does anyone have something that kind of

comes to mind like we're thinking of a

gift, right? Just like an example,

something you've encountered that's made

your day that someone else is capable

of.

That.

Yeah.

Absolutely, yes. I love that. That's I

mean, that's like what you think, right?

A gift, you can do something for someone

else. And that that I think is a great

example. And so, I want you to kind of

stew on that when you're interacting

with people that you know. Like, I want

you to think about it. What what gift am

I experiencing right now? So, that's a

gift, right?

But why is it important we use that?

Like, okay, yes, sure. I can talk.

Why should I?

So, I kind of wanted to dive into that.

And spoiler alert, that's also in Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

So,

we are called as Christians to share

God's love, right? Like, we are supposed

to share his word. We are supposed to

share that. Well, if we think of it as a

blessing given to us, we were given that

blessing from him.

He loved us enough to give us our gifts.

That's why we need to share that love,

right? So, I kind of when I'm looking

through where I I kind of pulled that

from was chapter 12 again, verse three.

For the grace given by me, I say to

every one of you, do not think of

yourself more highly than you ought, but

think of yourself with sober judgment in

accordance with the faith God has

distributed to each of you.

We aren't using our gifts for us.

We're using our gifts for him. They

aren't to feed your ego. They aren't to

make you popular.

They're to serve

So,

we absolutely need to use that.

If you have something

that you are blessed with,

you can't just keep it in.

I know it's so easy to,

but we're called to go out and use it.

So, that's really where I started like

I'm going further now, right? We're Now

we're we're not just simple, what's your

talent?

We're like actually tying this in now.

Like, this is what the Bible's calling

us for.

And so,

that felt pretty obvious to me. We we

got the why,

but

how?

It's daunting.

It's difficult.

And so, I kept reading further.

And it was all right there. So, um I'm

going to have to give you some homework

because I can't go through all of it,

but verses nine through 21 is just a

list. And I'm going to highlight my

favorite points from it. Um

so, for um

Whoop.

My sticky note fell. In case you're

curious,

all my notes are sticky notes.

All of my notes are on sticky notes.

But for verse two, it highlights this is

the one that drew me in, do not conform

to the pattern of this world.

And if that's what's drawing me in, I

mean, I had to think on it further.

We can't use our gifts

if we're focused on what Nelly next door

is going to say.

Right?

We aren't going to be able to use our

gifts if we want to look like the person

we saw on social media.

Your gift doesn't stand out if you don't

stand out. So, I think that's something

that really helps bring some security

there. Like, okay, but I I don't want to

look weird.

You do. That's the point. That's the

whole point.

So, that's kind of one thing. Like,

okay, how do we use our gifts?

Let yourself stand out.

What else is there? We've got

to love, right? I mean, that's a perfect

example that Jesus showed us is love.

The verse that kind of stood out for me

on that one was

10. Sorry. My pencil went off on that

one.

It says, be devoted to one another in

love. Honor one another above

yourselves.

If you

love someone first, it opens the door

for you. Right?

You see someone,

and you care for them. You want to make

them smile. You want to bless them. Oh,

use your gift, right? A blessing you can

use to bless others. You love someone,

you can use your gift on them. So,

that's a great starting point. And then,

we have

really the one that

hit me a little hard, which was the be

optimistic.

It's so hard

to see

the joy, but it says right here on

Whoop.

12

verse 12, it says,

share with the Oh, that's 13. Never

mind, it doesn't say that.

Be joyful in hope, patient in

affliction, faithful in prayer. And so,

you have to be joyful. You have to have

hope. There's There's that element of

it, right? It's really hard to use your

gift if you immediately assume you're

going to fail.

And that's

a really big daunting hurdle. Like my

first two, I mean, you love others, you

know, you you want to stand out, but

you have to be optimistic. And that one

I think is where a lot of us fall short.

I think we doubt ourselves. And so, I I

really wanted to dive into that further

because that's where I found my

strongest connection here. And really,

if you flip the page from my Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, you find in chapter 15:13,

may the God of hope fill you with all

joy and peace as you trust in him, so

that you may overflow with hope by the

power of the Holy Spirit.

Answers right there on the other page.

The Holy Spirit's how you stay

optimistic.

And so, I think

if my whole goal is to graduate, go on

with my life, and do something

with my gifts,

I need him.

And every one of us,

I think has felt ourselves in a place

where we want to do something,

but we need him.

And so, I think

that that's where your fresh start is.

Is when you start putting your faith in

him,

he will bless you with your gifts.

He will give you opportunities to use

it.

He will call you to use it.

And he will give you the hope to use it.

So, I really wanted to take this moment.

If you've never

felt that hope, if you've never had a

connection with him where he fills you

with hope,

we can do that. We can start that

absolutely tonight. And all you have to

do is bow your head

and say,

"God,

I am a sinner. I fall short.

I am not perfect. I have so many

elements of me that I am not using.

But,

I know I need you. You are my savior.

You are the one who can start my journey

with my gift.

And I want to go on that journey. I want

to use the gifts that you've given me. I

want to use them for you.

And if that's the first time you've ever

said that,

that's an incredible thing that you just

did.

That's an incredible opportunity. That

is an open door.

And every single person on this stage,

and many other people out here, can walk

through that door with you.

If that's an opening point for you,

reach out. You are home.

We can do so much through God, right? We

can use our gifts, and we can do it

together. So, if you want to start

today, if today is your fresh start,

reach out.

So,

unlike the 30 million hours that Jonah

predicted I'd be talking, I am done.

So, before I leave the stage, I just

want to do one more prayer with you

guys.

God,

thank you

so much for everything you've blessed us

with.

Thank you for giving us opportunities to

share those blessings.

Thank you for giving us instructions on

how and why we should be sharing those

blessings. Thank you for bringing these

people in this room who get an

opportunity to be surrounded by people

who encourage them to use their gifts.

Thank you for everything you've done

with us. This is a two-way partnership.

We can only be successful through what

you do for us. And I thank you for being

there to be my business partner.

Amen.

I told Madison if she ever wants to go

into ministry, she has my full support.

Uh

to hear to hear a kid speak that

passionately about Jesus, and speak that

passionately about

everybody here, and how

we can

reach out to to help other people, just

amazing thing.

So, if y'all would, uh stand together

and let's worship.

Wandering into the night,

wanting a place to hide

this weary soul.

This bag of bones.

I tried with all my might.

I just can't win the fight.

I'm slowly drifting.

A bag of bones.

Just when I ran out of road,

I met a man

I didn't know.

And he told me that I

was not alone.

He picked me

He turned me around.

He placed my feet on solid ground.

I thank the master.

I thank the savior.

Because he healed my heart.

He changed my name.

Forever free,

I am not the same. I thank the master.

I thank the savior.

I thank God.

I cannot deny what I've seen.

Got no choice but to believe. My doubts

are burning.

The ashes in the wind.

So long, my old friend. Bye-bye-bye.

Burning in the bitterness. You can just

keep them

You ain't welcome here.

Not till I walk the streets of gold.

I'll sing of how

you saved my soul.

Wayward soul

has found

its way back home.

He picked me up.

He turned me around.

And placed my feet on solid ground. I

thank the master.

I thank the savior.

Because he healed my heart.

He changed my name.

Forever free,

I am not the same.

I thank the master.

I thank the savior.

I thank God.

Hell lost another one. I am free.

I am free.

Hell lost another one.

I am free.

Hell lost another one.

I am free.

Hell lost another one.

I am free.

He picked me up.

He turned me around.

And placed my feet on solid ground.

I thank the master.

I thank the savior.

Because he healed my heart.

He changed my name.

Forever free,

I am not the same.

I thank the master.

I thank the savior.

I thank God. Get up out of that

grave.

Get up. Get up. Get up.

Get up out of that grave.

Get up. Get up.

Get up out of that grave.

Get up. Get up. Get up.

Get up out of that grave.

For I spoke a word,

you were singing over me.

You have been [singing] so, so good

to me.

Before I took a breath,

you breathed your

life in me.

You have been so, so kind to me.

Oh, the

overwhelming, never-ending,

reckless love of God.

Oh, it chases me down, fights

[singing and music]

till I die,

leaves the 99.

I couldn't earn it.

I don't [singing] deserve it. Still, you

give yourself away.

Oh, the overwhelming,

never-ending,

reckless love

of God.

>> When I was [singing] your foe,

still you loved

for me.

You have been so, so [singing] good

to me.

When I felt no worth,

you paid it all for me.

You have been [singing] so, [music] so

kind

to me.

Oh, [singing] the overwhelming,

never

ending, reckless love of God.

Oh,

it chases

me down,

>> [singing]

>> fights till I'm

found, leaves the 99. [singing]

I couldn't earn it,

I don't [music] deserve it,

still you give yourself

[music and singing] away.

Oh, the overwhelming,

[singing] never

ending, reckless love

of God.

Yeah.

No shadow you won't light up,

mountain you won't climb up,

coming after me.

No wall you won't [singing] kick down,

lie you won't tear down, coming after

me.

No shadow you won't [singing] light up,

mountain you won't climb up,

coming after me.

No wall you won't kick down,

lie you won't tear down,

coming after me.

Oh, the

overwhelming,

never [singing]

ending, reckless love

of God.

Oh, it chases me down, fights till I'm

>> [singing]

>> found, leaves the 99.

I couldn't earn

it,

I don't deserve it, still you give

yourself away.

Oh, the overwhelming,

[singing] never

ending, reckless

love of God.

Oh, the

overwhelming,

never

ending, reckless love of God.

Oh, it chases me down, fights till I'm

found, leaves the 99.

I couldn't earn

it, I don't deserve it, still you give

yourself away.

Oh, the overwhelming,

never

ending, reckless love

of God.

>> [singing]

[singing]

[music]

[singing]

>> Here we go. She was so nervous to do

that.

And uh

another round of applause for Ziana.

I know it's coming way out of your

comfort zone. If y'all don't know, Z

normally is in the back doing AV stuff,

so

we kind of poked and prodded her until

she was like, "Fine, I'll sing."

So,

um

Lynn,

come on up here.

You've been influential in uh their

development, too, so

if y'all don't know, Lynn is our uh

worship director, and she is the one who

has helped mold

these people into the musicians and the

vocalists that they are today.

Um

so I would like to say thank you to the

seniors, to Z, and to Madison, and

Harley for uh

what y'all have done and what you've

meant for me. It's amazing. I came here

in 2018 and everybody was like this that

big, you know, and just uh to watch them

grow spiritually to people that they are

now, it's incredible. And uh just to

just to be a part of that journey has

been awesome for me, especially.

Um

we have a lot of seniors that are around

uh

be graduating this year and I know that

this is a scary time. Uh I remember when

I was a senior back in like 2003.

Um so

>> [laughter]

>> All right, you're going. Go.

Yeah.

>> [laughter]

>> But I want to thank y'all and if you

would, where are you going to school?

East Carolina.

And

Florida State.

Here we go.

Leanne, you got you want to say

anything? I'm not I'm putting her on the

spot. I did not tell her that she was

coming up here, so.

Yes.

Thank you.

All right, Leanne, we're getting ready

to sing one of the songs that we we have

tried to do forever.

You you want

You Would you like to help us?

>> [laughter]

>> All right, y'all. You want to do one

more?

All right, you got it in you?

Yeah, y'all, this is just for you uh

just for you a bit and now I can't talk.

Tongue tied. That works.

That means y'all sing. All right.

We've been trying to do this song

forever

and it kind of fell together this time

and I think it's only fitting

their last encounter

we get to do it.

Y'all sing with us.

God of Jacob

great I am

king of angels

son of man

voice of many waters

song of heaven's throne

louder than the thunder

make your glory known

Hail, hail, lion of Judah

let the

lion roar

Hail, hail, lion of [singing] Judah

let the

lion roar

Hail, hail, lion of

Judah

let the

lion roar

Hail, hail, lion of Judah

let the

lion roar

>> [singing]

>> roar

roar

Light of Zion

prophets spoke

our Messiah [singing and music]

flesh and bone

You alone [singing] are worthy

to open up the scroll

Like a lamb you suffered

but the

lion rose

>> [screaming]

>> Hail, hail, lion of Judah

[music and singing]

let the

lion roar

Hail, hail, lion [music and singing] of

Judah

let the

lion roar

>> [screaming]

>> Hail, hail, lion of Judah

>> [music and singing]

>> let the

lion roar

Hail, hail, lion [music and singing] of

Judah

let the

lion roar

>> [screaming]

>> roar

roar

>> [screaming]

>> roar

Prepare the way

prepare the way of the

Lord, prepare the way

prepare the way of the Lord, prepare the

way

prepare the way of the

Lord, prepare the way

prepare the way of the

Lord, every valley

be raised up, every

mountain

be made low,

every valley be raised up, every

mountain

be made low, every

valley be raised up, every

mountain

be made low, every

valley be raised up, every

mountain

be made low,

roar

>> [screaming]

>> roar

roar

>> [screaming]

[singing]

>> Hail, hail, lion of Judah

let the

lion roar

Hail, hail, lion of Judah

let the

lion roar

Hail, hail, lion [music] of Judah

let the

lion roar

Hail, hail, lion of Judah

[music and singing]

let the

lion roar

Awesome. Well, y'all

again, thank y'all for coming out

tonight. That was a fun song.

We're going to do that again at some

point. Um

y'all, before we we leave tonight, let's

uh bow our heads and just have a word of

prayer, thanking God for what he's done

tonight.

Uh Father

what an awesome time.

God what an awesome family that we have

here

and God, what an awesome opportunity we

have had

and we still have

to guide

these young folks

on their journey

and and to show them

how to live, God, not just to tell them

how to live, but to show them how to

live. God, thank you for the

responsibility

that you have given this village

to be who we're supposed to be with you.

Cuz God, when we have the relationship

with you, it spills over into our

everyday life.

And when that spills over into our

everyday life

then these kids get to see that, God.

They get to to pattern their life after

what you have done for us.

And what we

we can do through you.

God, again, I thank you for this place.

I thank you for these people. God, I

thank you for this service. It has meant

so much to me. I know it means so much

to so many people. And I thank you that

you have given us this opportunity and

this responsibility

to be

who we are through you.

Father, we love you and we thank you. In

Christ's name I pray. Amen.