Gratitude is a Great Attitude.

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What are you thankful for? Why are you thankful? To whom are you thankful?

This coming Thursday 21st September is ‘World Gratitude Day‘.

Gratitude is defined as the state of being grateful. Which itself is defined as ‘feeling or showing an appreciation for something done or received‘. It is from the Latin word ‘Gratus‘ which means to ‘welcome, greet or praise‘ and has the same root as the word ‘gratia‘ from which we get the word ‘grace‘.

All of this to me, links together to show that true gratitude comes from a place where we feel and show appreciation to God for the life He has given us and for all that He has done for us. Everything that we have from God is a gift of His grace towards us.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:15-17

This last Sunday 17th September, continuing with our ‘We believe’ series at ‘Redefine‘, we looked at ‘Everyone is a worship leader‘.

Too often we think of a worship leader as the person who stands at the front of a Church service and leads the singing. They’re skilled and gifted at what they do, but God has called all of us to worship. Indeed, as we realise all that God has done for us and all that we have received from Him as a result of Jesus’ death & resurrection, we will naturally be filled with gratitude that overflows into worship & praise (2 Corinthians 4 & 1 Peter 1).

This is not just making music or singing songs to God to thank Him, but also in the way we live our lives. How we treat others. How generous we are with our finances, our time, our lives.

When we realise how much God has given us and how everything we have comes from Him, then it really puts everything else into its proper perspective. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” – Colossians 3:1-4 (Indeed read the whole of Colossians 3)

So in light of all of this, what are you thankful for? Why are you thankful? Who are you thankful to? and also How can you demonstrate your thankfulness?

One way you could demonstrate your gratitude to God is share with others the difference Jesus has made in your life.

You could also think about volunteering with us here at Llandudno Youth for Christ?

However you express your gratitude to God, have a great week full of a great attitude of gratitude and be blessed!

All in the serve

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Last night we had another excellent ‘Redefine‘ meeting. We continued to look at our ‘We Believe‘ series and spoke about how as Christians we are called to serve God and serve others.

‘Saved people, serve people‘ was the title.

Now when I say serve, I don’t necessarily mean playing tennis, unless of course by ‘serving’ someone in a game of tennis you are indeed ‘serving’ them….Like they need some help practicing their game for an upcoming tournament.

The title of this blog post is taken from a Michael W Smith song ‘All in the serve‘. I chose it as it links nicely into the Bible passage we looked at to see what God says about serving. We read from Mark 10:35-45. Here we see James & John being very presumptuous and audacious in asking Jesus for places of honour, power & privilege in the Kingdom of God. It is as if they were not listening earlier on when Jesus spoke about the children that they had tried to stop from coming to see Him: “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Children did not have much status, rights or power in 1st Century Palestine. They were dependant on others for food, protection, shelter, etc. They were humble and in a place to receive, not demand.

It is as if James & John had completely missed the point that Jesus was trying to make. So He makes it a lot more emphatic for them: “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’“- Mark 10:42-45.

Jesus had and has every right to demand service. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and yet he takes the lowest place to serve us all. We, the underserving ones are served by the one who deserves all glory, honour & praise. Jesus so lovingly demonstrated this by washing His disciples feet at the last supper; even His betrayer ‘Judas’ has his feet washed by Jesus.

Then Jesus demonstrates His love for all of us on the cross. He dies and gives His life as a ransom for many. Serving us to the end.

So, we, His followers cannot think that we can follow Jesus and be called His disciples if we do not serve. There is no exemption for us. We are to walk in our Master’s footsteps and serve others. Not out of a mentality where we do it to earn brownie points with God, but out of a heart of love. A heart full of Jesus’ love for us, which will spur us on to love Him in return and also love those around us.

One way for us to demonstrate that love is by serving others. “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2. Jesus’ law was to love one another – “‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” – John 13:34.

In what ways can you serve those around you this week?

How can you show Jesus’ love?

Helping put the bin out? Washing the dishes? Giving some food to the local food-bank? Giving up your seat to someone else on the bus or train?

Have a great week and look out for ‘Acts of everyday kindness‘ where you can show Jesus’ love to those who so desperately need it.

Be blessed!

International Bestseller?…Might be worth a read!

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According to the Guinness World Records, “the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book. A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion.”

Thursday 7th September was ‘Buy a New Book Day‘, and today (as I write this post) is ‘International Literacy Day‘, so I thought it would be good to extol the benefits of reading the world’s best-selling book – The Bible.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon famously said “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” The Bible is one of the most debated about, most praised and attacked, most read and neglected book in all of recorded history.

It is in-fact an anthology of books that span hundreds of years between the writing of the first book and the last. It records the history of God’s relationship with man.

Thousands of books have been written about the Bible and it seems that the more you learn and know about it, the less you realise you know about it; as St Augustine of Hippos states – “The Bible was composed in such a way that as beginners mature, its meaning grows with them.”

However, “The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.” – Dwight L. Moody.

That is why God gave us the Bible; it was not to be debated over, studied, dissected and read just to fill our minds with more and more information. The Bible is God revealing His truth to our hearts, to bring change, life & transformation. President of the U.S.A. Abraham Lincoln said “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from The Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this Book.”

It is Jesus’ word to us.

“The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.” – Charles Dickens. Jesus himself said “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”- Matthew 4:4

So we see that The Bible is mean to be nourishment/sustenance for our souls. It is something that is as necessary for life as bread. Like the saying it is our ‘bread and butter’: what we need.

The Bible, also called the ‘Word of God‘ is something firm and unshakeable that we can turn to in times of trouble. “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” – Psalm 119:89.”The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures for ever” – Isaiah 40:8. It also gives us wisdom and revelation, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” – Psalm 119:130

In fact, the Apostle Paul, when writing to his young friend Timothy tells him the following, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:14-17

God has given us His Word, the Bible to help us, to train us, to encourage us, to equip us, to transform us, challenge us, and above all else, to reveal Jesus to us.

Dr R. C. Sproul says the following in regards to the Bible; “I think the greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes that God invests His power in the Bible. Everyone is looking for power in a program, in a methodology, in a technique, in anything and everything but that in which God has placed it—His Word. He alone has the power to change lives for eternity, and that power is focused on the Scriptures.”

At Llandudno Youth for Christ we are passionate about the Bible and about giving the young people that come to the events that we hold, not only access to the Bible, but also tools for themselves to read and study the Bible, and in doing so, get to know the author.

Please continue to pray for the work that we do sharing the gospel relevantly with young people in Llandudno and beyond, and also, I encourage you to open your Bible and get to know its author, God, for yourself.

Be blessed!

 

 

 

 

 

Back with a vengance!

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Not that we are back to strike with a vengance against all evil doers, as Superman & Batman would, but ‘Redefine‘ is back!!!!

We had our first Sunday night Bible study of the new term last Monday night! Whoop!

It was fantastic to say the least, with a great turnout of familiar faces and a lot of new young people turned up too.

We’ve spent a lot of time during the summer praying, preparing and thinking about this new term, and are really expectant of what God is going to do this term through the work of LLYFC.

We have worked hard at creating a great space for the young people to meet in. We now have a great ‘cafe‘ feel for the room we meet in with Parasols, string lights, an illuminated stage area, notice board, welcome area with a hot chocolate bar.

We love the new decor, and the young people did too.

We had a fun game to start of the evening with a modern variation of British bulldog, only this time I was playing a zombie pirate with 2 foam cutlasses that if they touched you, you became one of my zombie pirate crew, until there was only 1 survivor who won the game. It was a great laugh and burned off more calories for me than expected.

Our teaching theme was ‘Found People Find People‘ – this is part of the “We Believe” teaching series we ran last year at this time. At the start of a new term it’s good to go back to the foundations and look at what we as Christians believe. To get back to basics. It’s also important given that we have so many new young people coming to ‘Redefine‘, that we layout for everyone the essentials of the Christian faith in a relevant way.

Our director Mr Tim Gough spoke excellently and really laid out the importance for us as Christians to share our faith with others.

We also had a great time of worship together, very ably led by Simon Platt. This was Simon’s last night with us before he heads down to London to study at the London School of Theology. We have been so blessed to see Simon grow and develop from a teenager who started to come to Redefine many years ago when we were still based in Madoc Street to become a invaluable volunteer leader with us. We are so grateful to God for all of the support and faithfulness Simon has shown and know that he will be such a blessing in London. We will miss him.

This coming Sunday we will be looking at ‘Saved People Serve People‘ and tackling the who area of servanthood and what that means. “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’” – Mark 10:42-45

Speaking of serving and helping out, if there is anyone reading this blog post who feels that they want to help us out at Llandudno Youth for Christ, whether that be serving on our team for our youth work events or volunteering at our Saturday Cafe on Saturdays at St John’s Church in Llandudno, then please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Be blessed!@