Encounter

Encounter Where Hope Can Be Found Encounter is a grace-filled community of people experiencing freedom through the power of the Holy Spirit. Who is Encounter for?

Encounter exists to help broken and hurting people overcome life’s adversities so they can discover freedom and healing from their brokenness. Encounter is a spiritual growth discipleship program designed to help people live a free life devoted to Jesus Christ. Encounter is for anyone who wants to discover true freedom and experience genuine joy and purpose in life. It truly is a program that anyo

ne and everyone should attend. Here are some core values that this ministry is built on:

God’s Word is our truth. We don’t dwell on past hurts, as much as we look toward the future and rely on what God can do in and through us. We stress taking personal responsibility to recover in life. We know that spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ is essential to any lasting recovery and growth. We believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is our source of strength and healing. We combine recovery and spiritual growth as the pathway for lasting change and recovery. We know community with others is key. We do get better together and we need to build healthy relationships that will help and not hinder our growth and recovery. We recognize that all of us need to recover in life. We all have different kinds of hurts, habits, and hang-ups of varying degrees. We focus on allowing God to heal the “root” issues of our life instead of wasting time dealing with the symptoms of our root issues. Talk to any pastor who has true experience in walking with people in recovery and ask them how someone can recover from life’s hurts, habits, and hang-ups, and you will typically get two answers. Answer #1 - They need a good Christ Centered recovery program. Answer #2 - They need a good spiritual growth discipleship program. There are good recovery programs and there are good discipleship programs. I’m not sure that any other ministry or program combines recovery and discipleship like Encounter does. Encounter instills hope that can break the chain of addictions and strongholds. Applying what is learned at Encounter can produce lasting change in a person’s behavior that can restore lives, families and communities. These positive and lasting results can only happen through an Encounter with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. People who need hope. People who have lost hope. People who want to get well. People who want to experience change and healing. People who are serious about their recovery and spiritual growth. People who want to have an Encounter with God! People who want to have an Encounter with “Me Too” People! People who want to have an Encounter with Freedom! People who want to have an Encounter at the Cross! People who want to have an Encounter in His presence! People who want to have an Encounter with Grace! People who want to have an Encounter with the Holy Spirit! People who want to have an Encounter with Truth! People who want to have an Encounter in The Father’s House at the Sanctuary!

Walk By the Spirit There is something about walking. When you grow up in NYC you do a ton of walking. I walked to school...
10/18/2024

Walk By the Spirit

There is something about walking. When you grow up in NYC you do a ton of walking. I walked to school. I walked everywhere. When I was young, people knew me because of my walk. I had a distinct bop to my walk. Charles Stanley had a distinct bop when he preached.
There is something special about walking with someone. Every day I enjoy walking my dog Derby in Versailles. I love walking with Carolynn.
One of the most overlooked commands from the scripture comes from the Apostle Paul, when he tells us to, “Walk by the Spirit.” The thing about walking is you are moving and moving forward at that. You can’t be still when you walk. You can’t be idle when you walk. And when you walk with the right person you are going to be extremely successful.
If you don’t walk with the right person, you could still be walking but walking in the wrong direction. The bible is real clear. Either you are walking by the Spirit, or you are walking in darkness.
When we walk by the Spirit, we walk in freedom, we walk in righteousness, we walk in holiness, we walk in miracles, we walk in grace and mercy, we walk in wisdom, we walk in truth, and we walk with God!
I hope to see you at Encounter tonight as we kick off our new series, Walk By the Spirit. Dinner starts at 5:30pm and the service will start at 6:30pm. We have a wonderful night planned for you.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
Encounter Pastor

https://www.youtube.com/live/U1F1xyKehq4?si=tu8WBqdvHKDN6nUWIn case you missed today’s Sunday service at COS here it is....
10/13/2024

https://www.youtube.com/live/U1F1xyKehq4?si=tu8WBqdvHKDN6nUW

In case you missed today’s Sunday service at COS here it is. I had the opportunity to share about the mission trip to Peru and present the ministry of Encounter to everyone. For those of you who supported the trip I am so grateful. Please watch this service and see a portion of what God did during that mission trip. Be blessed and encouraged Bill Rieser

10/11/2024

Standing in the gap is when the brave stand where the wall used to be and now fight in a place that has lost it's protection.
Tim Delina Pastor Times Square Church

Take a Step Psalm 136:13-14 To him which divided the Red Sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: And made Israe...
10/11/2024

Take a Step

Psalm 136:13-14 To him which divided the Red Sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: KJV

CH Mackintosh who was a preacher and bible scholar in the 1800’s believes that God did not part the Red Sea in two for the Israelites escaping from the Egyptians. According to scripture in the KJV, notice what it says. “To him which divided the Red Sea into parts.”
His theory is this. As each person from Israel took a step forward by faith, God parted the sea whenever they stepped forward. Whenever and wherever they took a step, the waters would part next.
The Apostle Paul tells us to walk by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit. That is what the Christian life is all about. We take a step of faith then God moves mountains, seas, and storms to get out of the way so we can walk in victory.
I hope to see tonight at Encounter. I am back from Peru and fired up about preaching and testifying to how God parted the sea, and we got to see miracles!
Tell your friends and family to come to Encounter tonight. I will be a can’t miss event.
Dinner at 5:30pm
Service at 6:30pm

Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
Encounter Pastor

10/04/2024

Good afternoon, Encounter family!

Encounter will be combined with the Culture of Prayer Conference this Friday night, and we wanted to make you aware of a slight schedule change.

Dinner will be at 5:30pm and the conference starts at 6:00pm in the Student Center.

I hope you join us as we learn from Brad Stroup, the Director of The Prayer Room, in Dallas, TX, as he shares about the Church coming back to her foundation of being a house of prayer in partnership with God's purposes.

Please continue to pray for me and the team as we minister in Peru. We are experiencing miracles, signs, and wonders! I will be back at Encounter next week.
Be blessed and encouraged
Bill

09/27/2024

Due to the weather, Encounter is cancelled tonight. Be safe and blessed.

The Lord Has Been Good to MeLet all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.Let all ...
09/20/2024

The Lord Has Been Good to Me

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:1-12

The testimony for every child of God is the Lord is Good. The Lord has always been good to me, and the Lord will always be good to me.

When we get the, “What have you done for me lately?” mindset and attitude, we need to remind ourselves of the great and precious promises of God found in scriptures like Psalm 103.

The Psalm stresses three important practices.
1. Praise Him and His Holy Name with all your heart and all that you are.
2. Never forget the good things He has done for you.
3. Fear him.

And in just these 12 verses it reminds us of how good God is and how much good He has done for us.
For example,
• He forgives all our sins.
• He heals all our diseases.
• He redeems us from death.
• He crowns us with love and tender mercies.
• He fills our lives with good things.
• He revives us like eagles.
• His righteousness and justice are given to us when we are treated unfairly.
• He has revealed his character to us.
• He has been compassionate, merciful, slow to anger, and filled with unfailing love to me.
• He does not accuse us, remain angry, punish and deal harshly with us for our sins as we deserve.
• His unfailing love towards me is as great as anything because we fear him.
• He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west.

I can testify to all these promises and biblical truths with joy and certainty because the Lord has been good to me! And when reality sits in and you have a moment of clarity, you too can testify that the Lord has been good to you! This is just a small example of how you apply Anchor 9, “Allow God’s Word to become the authority over my life.”

I hope you can make it to Encounter tonight to hear a message of biblical truth that will encourage you. Dinner starts at 5:30pm with the service starting at 6:30pm.

Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
Encounter Pastor

Seek His FaceWhen life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questi...
09/06/2024

Seek His Face

When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear. Lamentations 3:28-29 MSG

Several weeks ago, I went on a prayer retreat in NYC. I had one purpose. I wanted to seek the face of God and worship Him. I had no agenda, no prayer list, no pending need I wanted to present before Him. I just wanted Him. I was starving for His presence as I pursued His face.
Guess what happened? I had an “Encounter” with Him! It was sweet, and it lasted for almost two days. It started when I walked in Times Square Church, and once again, I was overwhelmed by the presence of God. The Lord ministered to me in such a sweet way that tears were flowing for almost an hour. The following day while I was walking the streets of Brooklyn I would stop and sit on a few stoops in front of a few brownstone buildings. Every time I sat down the presence of the Lord overwhelmed me and reminded of how He delivered me from the fear and pain of the stoop in front of the building I grew up in.
While I did not hear Him say this, I sensed that He was reminding me that He has brought me this far and He has no intention of ever letting me down.
And this was the lesson I learned, seeking God’s face means desiring to know His character and wanting Him—His presence—more than any other thing He can give us.

Many times, in Scripture, God’s people are encouraged to seek the face of God. A familiar verse declares, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” 2 Chronicles 7:14.

If we can’t see God’s face, how do we seek God’s face? The Hebrew word for “face” in the Old Testament is often translated “presence.” When we seek the face of God, we are seeking His presence. The call to seek God’s face was issued to His people because they had abandoned Him and needed to return to Him.
While I felt like I did not abandon God, I was not passionately pursuing His face and as a result my prayer life was not where it should have been.

Before and during the trip, I was set up by the Holy Spirit. I felt led to read Daniel Henderson’s book, “Transforming Prayer…How Everything Changes When You seek God’s Face.
I read this excerpt before my “Encounter with Him at Times Square Church,

All true prayer…Exists for the glory of God
And is:
Based in the worship of God
Focused on the face of God
Shaped by the Word of God
Inspired by the Spirit of God
Offered through the Son of God
Aimed for the will of God
Experienced by true children of God

As you can tell I am so ready for Encounter to resume tomorrow night. Dinner will be served at 5:30pm and the service will start
at 6:30 pm. I can’t wait to see you all there and kick off our series, “Encounter Him.”

Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser Encounter Pastor

Encounter HimWhen we launched this ministry, we called it Encounter because I wanted people to Encounter Him. One Encoun...
09/03/2024

Encounter Him
When we launched this ministry, we called it Encounter because I wanted people to Encounter Him. One Encounter with Him can change a person for the rest of their life. One Encounter with Him, praying the Word, hearing from Him, getting in His presence, and being transformed by His power can set any captive free, give hope to the hopeless, raise dead things back to life and restore what the enemy has stolen.
Encounter resumes this Friday, and I can’t wait to see you all again! I am jacked up on Jesus and ready for a powerful Encounter evening!
While I was on break, I felt led to take a 5-day prayer retreat in NYC. Guess what? I had a fresh “Encounter with Him!” Amazing things happen when you get in His presence and hear from the Lord. That is why we are starting a new series this Friday called “Encounter Him.”
In addition to that, we are taking sign-ups for the Encounter Bible study that meets on Tuesday evening. So far 10 women and 8 men have registered for the study. We will launch the study when we have 25 for each group. I am also leading the men’s study. Please take the opportunity to sign up today at https://churchofthesavior.net/group-finder/
I’ll be sending updates on the study to those who have signed up and another devotional before Friday. Until then,
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
Encounter Pastor

Several months ago, I was presented with an opportunity to get the Encounter Bible Study translated, published and print...
08/29/2024

Several months ago, I was presented with an opportunity to get the Encounter Bible Study translated, published and printed in Spanish. If I did, I would have the opportunity to go to Peru and present them to Pastors and churches in that country. I had to raise $10,000 which included $6k for translation, publishing, printing, and set up for sale on Amazon. $2600 for the mission trip itself. And $1400 for the ordering of books.
Thanks to generous people who have donated, the ministry of Encounter has paid for most of the initiative with only $1,100 left to cover the mission trip. That balance is due this Sunday. This project has depleted the ministry funds to dangerously low levels. Would you please pray about helping Encounter reach its year end goals and help this project get to the finish line. You can give to Encounter by clicking on this link;

https://pushpay.com/g/thehopeencounter?src=hpp&r=monthly

We have additional projects that would bless so many communities in need, but we can’t do it without the financial resources that would make that possible. Many organizations have major fundraisers this time of year. We have always relied on the faithful generosity of friends like you to bless the ministry of Encounter. Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity.

Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
Encounter Pastor
www.thehopeencounter.org

Victory Testimony I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me,And heard my cry.He also brought me up out of a...
08/21/2024

Victory Testimony

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.
Psalm 40:1-3 NKJV

When I finished writing my book, Vertical Leap I ended the book with this verse, and said, “This was the miracle Jesus began in me.” God is still writing His story in me because my story is now His story. This happened when I started living out the Anchors of Hope found in the Encounter Bible study. I not only believe strongly in the anchors, but I also depend on them, and rely on them to keep me growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
I know of no other discipleship study that puts you in a position to pray the Word of God, hear the voice of God, experience the presence of God, and be transformed by the power of God. It is only a book club if you do a study and there is no change, healing, and transformation once the study is done.
The Lord keeps blessing me with His grace, presence, and leading. I was so blessed to go on a prayer retreat and seek the face of God. The Lord met me, and I had another “Encounter” that changed me again!
I can’t wait until Encounter resumes on Friday September 6th. I can’t wait for this new season of Encounter that will be our most powerful season yet!
I can’t wait until the next Encounter Bible study starts. In case you missed the announcement, I am personally going to lead the men’s study.
I am asking and looking for 25 courageous men and 25 courageous women who will sign up for the next round of Encounter studies. You can join the group by clicking on this link: https://churchofthesavior.net/group-finder/

So far only 3 men and 3 women have signed up. We will start each group when 25 people are signed up. If you are reading this, please take this opportunity to sign up today for the next Encounter Bible study so you too can have a “Victory Testimony” like David in Psalm 40!

Stay tuned for more information coming about the Encounter fall schedule and Bible studies.

Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
Encounter Pastor

08/18/2024

The child of pride is presumption
And pride's grandchild is prayerlessness.
Tim Delina Pastor Times Square Church

Address

1301 Brannon Road
Nicholasville, KY
40356

Opening Hours

9am - 9:30pm

Telephone

+16612790111

Website

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