About us

The following are the core beliefs of Encounter Church Sacramento based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

There is one eternally existing God who has three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the creator of all that exists, both visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy of all glory and praise.  God is perfect in love, power, holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom,  justice, and mercy. He is unchangeable and therefore is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

God has revealed Himself to us through His son, Jesus Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God, the holy scriptures, and through all of creation itself.

Humans, both male and female, were created in God's image for His glory. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were created without sin and appointed as caretakers of the rest of God's creations.

When Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, they ceased to be what they were made to be and became distorted images of God. This caused them to fall out of fellowship with God, and fractured all of creation ever since that time.

Jesus Christ came to reconcile us with God. He lived a life without sin and willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for our transgressions. God raised him from the dead and now, by grace, offers as a free gift eternal life to all who follow Christ, by faith, as their Lord and Savior. That is why salvation can be found in Christ alone.

The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is returning one day to judge both the living and the dead and to usher in the fullness of God's kingdom on earth.

In the Spring of 2014, two streams came together to form a river of “living water." This living water, as described by Jesus to a woman in Samaria (Jn. 4:13-14), has been realized in the lives of many who now call Encounter Church their home.  

 The origin of the first stream finds its roots in the North American Baptist Conference.  In 1972 there were four NAB churches in Northern California.  These four churches took loans against their properties, made pledges, and raised funds to help plant more churches in the region.  In just over forty years, forty more churches have been planted and sprung to life.  Crosspointe Church of Natomas was one of those churches. The origin of the second stream finds its roots in a family that crossed the Mekong River that separated Laos and Thailand in 1980.  This family encountered the one true living God in a refugee camp in Thailand.  Thirty-four years later, they had become a family of faith, forming a predominately Laotian church here in Sacramento, loving, praying, worshipping, and serving as God directed.

In the Fall of 2013, these two churches began to ask a profoundly important question: “Can we do more together than we are currently doing alone?”  The conclusion was a resounding “Yes!”  For the next several months, through both prayer and diligent study of the scriptures, these two groups formed a new church together called Encounter Church.  The name, mission, and vision for this church were birthed from a careful reading of Isaiah 6:1-8.  The words Encounter, Surrender, and Live captured what we came to understand as our new calling and vision for doing ministry together.  In April of 2014, the dreams God was placing in our hearts birthed Encounter Church of Natomas.  

Today, we see God writing new chapters of his divine grace in our midst as people encounter the one true living God, joyfully surrendering their lives to Him, and daily discovering how to live according to His divine purposes in a way that is collectively advancing His kingdom reign here on earth through the lives of his children.  

In these ways, we are realizing what this “living water” is that Jesus talked about in his conversation with the woman in Samaria.
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