Worth more than many sparrows

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Last Sunday night at Redefine, we had a brilliant night of Bible Study. The young people really engaged with the text that we were looking at and the questions that it posed.

The passage we looked at was from the gospel of Matthew. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” – Matt 10:29-31. Here Jesus is encouraging His disciples and instructing them before sending them out to minister and share the good news in the towns in Israel. He warns them of the persecution they will face because they are followers of Jesus. They will even face death, but they are not to fear those who can deliver them over to death, but rather they are to revere God. It is within this context of persecution and of sharing the message of the kingdom that He tells them they are of more worth than sparrows.

Looking at this short passage we discussed at length the issue of identity. Who do we think we are, what is our identity, and where does it come from? There were lots of good questions asked and discussion points made.

‘Do we have a different identity depending upon our surroundings and circumstances?’ ‘Do we change our identity to conform with those around us?’ ‘Is our identity what we think about ourselves or is it what God thinks about us?’ These were the types of questions that were being posed.

This was an absolutely fantastic session and the young people really owned the discussion. When returning to what the Bible says, we closed the session with the point that God knows who we truly are and His opinion of us doesn’t change. He loves us and values us more than sparrows. Because of this our identity needs to be in what God thinks about us.

We closed out the evening with an excellent prayer led by one of the young people and a time of worshipping the God who thinks so highly about us and loves us so much.

It is such a privilege to see God at work in the hearts and minds of the young people that come to the different events that Llandudno Youth for Christ runs. It is brilliant to see them growing in their understanding of and relationship with God.

Please do continue to pray for the young people and the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ. Pray that the young people would truly find their identity and worth in Christ.

Be blessed!

Here comes the Summer!…

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Despite the fact that the weather hasn’t been consistently Summery, Summer is here and at Llandudno Youth for Christ we are looking forward eagerly to a whole host of fun events that we will be putting on for young people in Llandudno and beyond.

We’ll be starting off the Summer with our annual trip to Soul Survivor in Stafford. This is a brilliant, fun, faith filled event where the young people get to learn more about God and meet other Christians from around the UK. Sadly this is the last year that Soul Survivor is going to be held, so we’re looking forward to making the most out of it.

Then after Soul Survivor we are going to be running on every Sunday in August our fantastic ‘God, Goats & Games‘ night. This is a sort of amalgamation of the best bits of Redefine (our Sunday evening Bible Study group) & Reverb (our after school youth club). It full of games, opportunities to learn more about God and our Goat mascot ‘Noa’.

Finally we will be closing off the Summer with our fantastic and amazing ‘Refresh‘ 1 day mini-conference held at St David’s College in Llandudno. Again this will be chocka-block full of games,  good food, and opportunities to learn more about and engage with God (though there will be no goats).

Phew!

We have a load of amazing things ahead of us. Please do continue to support us in prayer for all of these events. Please pray that the young people will meet with God in real and relevant ways through the events we are holding. Please do consider supporting us financially. It does cost money for us to hold these great events for the young people. Finally please consider supporting us in person by volunteering your time to help out at one of the many events that we hold.

Thank you for all your support. Let’s have a great summer and see young people’s loves changed by Jesus.

Be blessed!

 

The reckless love of a good, good Father.

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Wow, it’s only a week ago that Llandudno Youth for Christ was celebrating its annual Showcase at Gloddaeth church. This was a special Showcase, as this year 2019 is our 10th anniversary year.

It was a great evening and we want to say a massive thank you to everyone who came and supported us and also to everyone who took part. We heard from some of the young people that come to the events that we run, we heard from volunteers at our projects and we heard from past and present chairs of our trustee board. There were scrumptious cupcakes and cookies to be eaten and lots of time to chat with everyone who came.

It was a really successful night and we want to once again say thank you to everyone who attended. We also want to thank God for His faithfulness to us and all the young people that have attended any of our projects over the past 10 years. It has been amazing seeing so many lives transformed by Jesus. And we look forward to another 10 years of seeing God touch and change the lives of young people in Llandudno and beyond.

We love being part of what God is doing amongst the young people of North Wales, and last Sunday night at our evening Bible Study group, Redefine, we had the privilege to share on Father’s Day and Trinity Sunday about how God is a good Father, and that despite at times us getting a wrong view of Fatherhood due to having poor examples from broken people, we can trust and rely on God to be a good Father.

We learned that His love for us is powerful, passionate and limitless.

We learned that He defends and protects the weak.

We learned that He loves to bless young people.

It was a great night and we finished off the evening by singing ‘reckless love‘ and ‘good, good Father‘.

It so great seeing the young people growing and developing in their relationship with God, and we thank you, our supporters, for all of your commitment to pray for the work that we are doing.

Indeed, this Sunday 23rd June we will be holding our monthly Prayer Gathering at 7pm at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, please do come along and join us as we pray for the young people.

Be Blessed!

This I believe…

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We had another great night on Sunday at Redefine. We are continuing to look at Jesus and who He is. What we know and believe about Him is so important. So it’s great to be able to get to grips with what we believe about Jesus. To be passing on the faith to future generations.

This is something we are passionate about at Llandudno Youth for Christ.

We do not simply want to introduce young people to Jesus, but we want to help them grow and become established in their faith. To be discipled well and see them walk with God. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”– Matthew 28:19-20

This is something we have been passionate about for the past 10 years at Llandudno Youth for Christ, and it is something we will be passionate about for the next 10 years and beyond.

2019 is the year of our 10th Anniversary, and throughout the year we will be having different celebrations to mark the occasion. We’ve already had a brilliantly attended Prayer Gathering last month, and this week, on Wednesday 12th June we will be holding our 10th Anniversary Showcase at Gloddaeth Church, from 7-9pm.

This will be a great night to hear about all that God is doing in and through the ministry of Llandudno Youth for Christ. We’d love to see you there.

Be blessed!

Happy 10th Anniversary!

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Hello everybody, I hope you are having a fantastic week. I’ve got some important news that I’m bursting to tell you…

Llandudno Youth for Christ is 10 years old!

We’ve been sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ relevantly with young people in Llandudno and beyond for 10 years!

10 years of seeing young people’s lives changed by Jesus!

That’s absolutely brilliant!!!!

To celebrate this we are having a special Showcase on Wednesday 12th June 7-9pm at Gloddaeth Church in Llandudno. We’re so excited to share with you all that God has been doing in and through the ministry of Llandudno Youth for Christ over the last 10 years.

You are all invited and we’d love to see you there on the night.

Good things happen when God’s people gather together. So let’s gather together on Wednesday 12th June and thank God for all His goodness.

We hope you can make it.

Be Blessed!

Why I like Volunteering for Llandudno Youth for Christ

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The following blog post is written by one of our amazing volunteers, telling us what she loves about volunteering at Llandudno Youth for Christ.

“I am that most idiosyncratic of things: a Youth for Christ volunteer! No two sessions are the same, but after each one there are so many reasons to praise God. I volunteer with Llandudno Youth for Christ as part of my student placement: I’m training to become a youth and children’s chaplain. My placement has been at the Redefine community, Llandudno Youth for Christ’s Sunday night discipleship group for young Christians.

Each week is as fresh as the last. I could be doing quirky taskmaster style challenges, setting up a prayer station using M&Ms, donning a Darth Vader mask for a ‘traditional’ nativity or catapulting ammunition in a live action ‘Angry Birds’ setup. I could be giving my testimony to a room full of teenagers or using Harry Potter as an illustration in a Bible study. One night could be spent hiding from the insistent nerf bullets of a horde of hyper teenagers, or in eating unicorn ice cream whilst watching The Greatest Showman. Yep…. each week is as insane (I mean fresh) as the last.

And isn’t that true of our lives with Jesus? If we sell our lives out for Him, He will guarantee that we are always challenged: always moving forward; always nudged gently (or not so gently) outside of our comfort zones. Llandudno Youth for Christ provides an opportunity for me to get alongside young people as we encourage them in this crazy life of discipleship.

An especially beautiful experience for me at Youth for Christ has been the chance to do creative prayer stations as part of Redefine. To watch as young people – deeply stressed about exams – get to push their exam timetables and prayer requests into our chicken wired prayer wall, knowing that we WILL be praying for them, is a special experience. A huge privilege about this, and my future role as a chaplain, is knowing that we get to be an outlet for young people to share their deepest fears in a way that society all too often can’t, or won’t, allow.

Even Redefine planning meetings are fun! They are also designed to make you several stone heavier. At a recent breakfast meeting, after eggy crumpets and crispy bacon, I wondered how I managed to get so lucky – this is considered ‘work’ for me!

Above all, I like volunteering with Llandudno Youth for Christ because its love for young people shines out of every activity, programme and leader. I’m inspired each Sunday to be a little bit quirkier, a little bit braver and a lot more faithful to God’s calling.”-Esther Joanne Andrews

Feeling encouraged and inspired by Esther’s words? Perhaps you’d like to volunteer at Llandudno Youth for Christ, we’d love to hear from you.

Be blessed!

Night of Prayer

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Last Sunday evening we held an amazing ‘Night of Prayer’ for all of the work that we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ. It was really well attended and we are so very grateful for all of those who came and supported us.

Throughout the evening we had testimonies from young people about the difference that Youth for Christ has made in their lives by introducing them to Jesus.

We also heard from the new Chair of Trustees Mr Ben Nuss about why he so values the work we do. We also heard from one of the team at Llandudno Youth for Christ about the one to one mentoring work that we do as a charity.

Interspersed throughout the night were different opportunities to pray together about topics that affect young people, from mental health issues to the pressure of social media to exams.

Prayer is so important.

Prayer changes things.

Prayer makes a difference.

So once again a massive thank you to all of our supporters.

Here below is a short video with some of the talks from the night.

Also, this is a perfect opportunity to remind you that we have our regular monthly Prayer Gathering this Sunday 26th May, 7-8pm at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre. We hope you can make it.

Be blessed!

I wonder do you know Him?…

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Just this last Sunday night we started a new series at our Redefine Bible Study group for young people. We are looking at the person of Jesus as revealed in the Bible and as the spring board for the talks we give, we have been playing the famous ‘My King’ monologue by Dr S.M. Lockridge.

It really is an amazing and inspiring talk about just how amazing Jesus is. Throughout Dr S.M. Lockridge’s monologue he intersperses the descriptions of Jesus with the question ‘I wonder do you know Him?’

It’s a good and valid question that should inspire us not to berate ourselves for not knowing Jesus well enough, but instead to get to know Him better, after all as Jesus tells us in the gospel of John, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3

It’s all about relationship. It’s about knowing God.

Everything we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ is to declare the truth about Jesus, demonstrate His love for the young people in the way we act towards them, encourage them to make a decision to enter into a relationship with Jesus for themselves and help disciple them in their Christian walk with God.

That’s why I am so excited about this new teaching series that we have just started: Jesus is the central focus of it all and helping the young people develop and discover a relationship with Him is key to all of it.

Now we wouldn’t be able to run great Bible study nights if it weren’t for the faithfulness of our amazing supporters. We really appreciate all the time people give to volunteering at LLYFC. If you want to volunteer in any capacity, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 07517 429 763 (Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays 9am to 12pm) or via email at llandudnyfc@gmail.com.

We are grateful for every financial gift donated to the work that we are doing, especially for those that give regularly on a monthly basis. Thank you.

And finally we are grateful for those who uphold us in prayer.

Speaking of prayer, this coming Sunday 19th May we will be holding the first of a series of special Prayer Gatherings to celebrate out 10th anniversary as a charity in Llandudno. It will be a great night of spending time with other supporters and young people at LLYFC. There will be prayer, worship, testimonies and real coffee. It runs from 6-8pm.

Please do come along and support us.

Be blessed!

It’s time for a knees down!

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You haven’t mis-read the title of this blog post. It’s not time for a knees up to use the well known phrase, but rather a knees down.

This coming Sunday 19th May we will be have a night of prayer for and with the young people that come to the events that we hold.

We are asking that all of our supporters come along and join us this night as we pray for the work that God is doing in the lives of young people in Llandudno and beyond.

We will be meeting at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre at 6pm and the event will run till 8pm.

“Every believer was faithfully devoted to following the teachings of the apostles. Their hearts were mutually linked to one another, sharing communion and coming together regularly for prayer.” – Acts 2:42

Prayer makes a difference.

“That’s why I plead with you, because of our union with our Lord Jesus Christ, to be partners with me in your prayers to God. My dear brothers and sisters in the faith, with the love we share in the Holy Spirit, fight alongside me in prayer.” – Romans 15:30

Please come and make a difference to the lives of young people in our communities.

Be blessed!

 

Resurrection Party!

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Last Sunday night (14th April) we had our last Redefine meeting before the Easter holidays. It was a fun night with a party theme as we looked at and celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus.

We have been working our way through the gospel of Mark this term and at the last Redefine we looked at the death of Jesus on the cross. At our last Reverb we looked at the Triumphal entry and now at our last Redefine we finished off the gospel of Mark by looking at Jesus’ victory over death.

We wanted to create a celebratory and party feel for the night, so we had balloons, party poppers, party food (iced rings, popcorn, mini muffins, crisps & fruit) and some party games; including an extreme version of an Easter Egg Hunt involving Nerf Guns.

Everyone had a great night.

We also had a time of worship celebrating the good news of Jesus’ triumph over sin and death.

We are now on a break over the Easter holidays and will not be meeting back together until Thursday 2nd May for both Recess & Reverb and Sunday 5th May for Redefine.

But we will still be holding our monthly Prayer Gathering on Sunday 28th April @ 7pm in the Ty Llywelyn Community Centre. Please do join us for this and pray for the all the young people that have heard the gospel in the last couple of weeks.

Also please be praying for the young people as Easter is celebrated, that they would think about why we celebrate Easter and realise the importance of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.

Have a great Easter and be blessed!