Pastor Steve Smith kicks off a new series called "Encounters" by diving

into one of the most personal and powerful stories in all of Scripture —

the restoration of Peter in John 21. Peter, who had a front-row seat to the

miracles of Jesus, who walked on water, and who declared in John 6:68,

"Lord, to whom should we go? For you have the words of eternal life," still

fell into denial, driven by pride, fear of man, doubt, and insecurity.

Pastor Steve reminds us that in some way or another, we've all been there —

because every time we sin, we are, in a sense, choosing our own

understanding over the Word of God.

But the heart of the message isn't Peter's failure — it's Jesus' relentless

pursuit of restoration. Just as Psalms 23:6 tells us that God's goodness

and mercy are pursuing us all the days of our lives, Jesus went out of His

way to meet Peter on the beach, cook him breakfast over a charcoal fire,

and gently ask him three times, "Do you love me?" Pastor Steve points out

the remarkable detail that the charcoal fire in John 21 mirrors the

charcoal fire in John 18 — the very place where Peter denied Christ. Jesus

wasn't just feeding Peter a meal; He was replacing a painful memory with

one of healing and restoration, because as Romans 2:4 tells us, it is His

kindness that leads us to repentance.

Through this encounter, Jesus reminded Peter of his calling, reaffirmed his

commitment, and restored him with purpose — sending him out to feed His

sheep. Pastor Steve challenges each of us to do the same: to open the door

when Jesus knocks (Rev. 3:20), to repent and turn back to Him, to be filled

with the Holy Spirit, and to pursue the calling God has placed on our lives

right where we are. Whether you're a student, a worker, or someone who has

simply drifted away, Jesus is standing at the shore today, calling you back

home.

Pastor Johnathan opens his message on Psalm 46 by reminding the congregation that every person in the room is a leader — leading families, coworkers, and communities — and that great leadership begins with submission under God. Drawing from the Psalms, he highlights that even the greatest leaders in Scripture, from David to Moses to the sons of Korah, poured themselves out honestly before the Lord. He emphasizes that true leadership is built on relationship — first with the Father, and then with the people we serve — and that without Christ, there is no true freedom or lasting strength.

The heart of the sermon centers on the concept of resilience. Using the vivid image of weeds slowly cracking through a solid asphalt surface, Pastor Johnathan illustrates how unchecked sin — anger, unforgiveness, jealousy, and pride — will find the cracks in our souls and widen them over time. He draws on Jeremiah 17:7-8, which compares those who trust in the Lord to trees planted by a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water, never withered by drought or heat. He challenges the congregation to ask not just what their resilience is planted in, but who — pointing them back to Jesus, the living water, as the only true source of strength.

Pastor Johnathan closes by calling the church to seal up those cracks through forgiveness, community, and a renewed commitment to being planted where God is. He reminds the congregation that every person is currently walking through a trial, a test, or an open door, and that the way forward is always the same — return to the One who is our refuge and strength. Rooted in Him, the problems we face will never seem bigger than the God we serve.

Pastor Johnathan opens this message by returning to the ongoing series through the Book of Psalms, landing on Psalm 27 — a psalm written by David during a season of real and pressing danger. Enemies surrounded him, false witnesses spoke against him, and violent men came against him. Yet rather than collapsing under the weight of it all, David opens with a declaration of confidence: "The Lord is my light and my salvation — so why should I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1). Pastor Johnathan sets this ancient text against a very modern and urgent backdrop — a recent visit with dear friends from Nicaragua who are living under increasing government persecution for their Christian faith.

The stories from Nicaragua are striking. Friends Pastor Johnathan has known since 2009 — bold, field-tested believers — collected every phone in the room before they would speak about their government, terrified of being listened to. What was once a vibrant ministry of open-air worship, street prayer, and Bible distribution has been criminalized. Praying for someone on the street means automatic arrest and two months in jail. Playing worship music publicly carries the same penalty. Bibles are confiscated. In the years that Pastor Johnathan's team was active in the region, they distributed over 5,000 Bibles to 5,000 families — not knowing how precious those Bibles would become. The lesson he draws is direct: we need to be obedient now, because we don't know what liberties we could lose later.

From this, Pastor Johnathan pivots to a broader declaration about identity and freedom. As America celebrates 250 years of independence, he reminds the congregation that the greater freedom — the one worth celebrating every single day — began just over 2,000 years ago when Jesus rose from the grave. "Yes, I'm an American. Yes, I am a Texan," he says, "but before all that, I am a Christian." Quoting Saint Ignatius, he echoes the sentiment: "I wish not merely to be called Christian, but also to be Christian." And quoting Romans 1:16, he anchors the church in Paul's declaration: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." The church cannot afford to be a fear-driven people. The only fear that belongs to the believer is the fear of God — and as Oswald Chambers reminds us, when you fear God, you fear nothing else.

The heart of the sermon is built around three powerful realities from Psalm 27. First, Pastor Johnathan unpacks the significance of confidence as a spiritual weapon. He draws from Hebrews 10:35 — "Do not throw away your confidence, for it will be richly rewarded" — and makes the case that a wavering, uncertain believer gives the enemy an open door. Confidence in Jesus is what allows us to walk on the water with Him; losing that confidence is what sinks us. He also connects confidence directly to faith, citing Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Confidence and faith are inseparable — when one weakens, so does the other.

Second, Pastor Johnathan addresses the nature of light and darkness. Jesus is the light — and light always wins. Darkness, he explains, is anything that refuses to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of His Word. Darkness torments, keeps people restless, floods the mind with destructive thoughts, and leads ultimately toward rebellion. He references 1 Samuel 15:23, which says "rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols." Darkness cannot understand the light, and it cannot overpower the light — the only way darkness gains ground is when we choose not to turn the light switch on. Drawing from his own testimony, Pastor Johnathan describes years of flipping an internal switch on and off — choosing numbness over vulnerability — and how the longer he kept it off, the harder it became to turn back on. The answer, he says, is staying connected to the source: "Because I am the