Waymaker

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“Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. That is who you are.” So goes the chorus to the worship song ‘Waymaker’. It is a fabulous declaration of our amazing God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In this time of so much uncertainty and doubt it is great to be certain of the goodness of God and have faith in the faithfulness of our great God.

Wow!

At this time where we are uncertain of how long the nations of the world will be in lock-down due to the Corona pandemic, where we are uncertain of what the long-term effects of this unprecedented time in history will be upon our society. How will things change. What will be the political and economic fallout?

All this uncertainty reminds me of the children of Israel as the entered their long sojourn in the desert. Following God’s direction as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. (Read about this in the book of Exodus) This was all new territory to them. Despite the harsh conditions and slavery, their lives in Egypt was all that they had know. It was familiar. They knew where they stood, even if it was at the bottom of the societal ladder. So to step out into the unknown and follow God’s leading was something new to them.

They were journeying into the unknown following God.

At this time it may seem like we are journeying into the unknown, but we are not alone in this. Jesus has promised to be with us always. “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” – Deuteronomy 31:7

We have the example of Israel in the wilderness to encourage us. God provided manna for them and water from a rock. God has provided Jesus. He is the bread from heaven, the manna. He is the refreshing water from the rock that was struck. So at this time of change, look to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Follow His leading and direction, trusting Him to lead us through this time.

He is our waymaker.

Be blessed!

Grace amidst lamentations

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We are living in unprecedented times, with the outbreak of the Corona virus affecting all nations around the world. In the UK we have seen all large & small social gatherings being cancelled, and now places like hotels, cafes, bars & sports centres are also closed.

We are now practicing social isolation and distancing to try and slow down the infection rate of Covid-19.

This has had an effect on the work we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ in the way that we share the good news of Jesus with young people, but it has in no ways stopped us from continuing with our mandate to reach out to young people with God’s love.

For example, last night, where we would normally have our Sunday evening Bible Study for young people in the Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, we instead held and online meeting using a multi-user video conferencing software called Zoom. The meeting went really well and there were no major technical teething problems.

We are going to continue to find more and more creative ways to meet up with and input into the lives of young people in an online format, and of course we will continue to pray for the young people and for our nation during this time of so much social change.

Thinking of the ways in which the outbreak has forced people to stay at home, makes me think of the book of Lamentations, where the writer, Jeremiah laments the dire situation the nation of Israel has fallen into.

“How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave.” – Lamentations 1:1.

The streets are quite deserted now, with people in self-isolation, but in this time of upheaval and change, just like Jeremiah, let us not forget that God is the God of redemption, restoration, mercy & love.

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” – Lamentations 3:19-23

So like the write of Lamentations, we will continue to pray and wait for the Lord, for our hope is in Him. Our young people’s hope is in Him too. Let’s continue to trust in the goodness of God at this time. Let’s continue to be salt & light in our communities.

Thank you and be blessed!

God is great

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Here at Llandudno Youth for Christ we are currently stopping running our regular projects due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This is not to say that we will stop sharing the good news of Jesus relevantly with young people in Llandudno and beyond.

Thank God for the internet and online presence. We are going to be working hard a producing good online content to connect with the young people that normally come to our projects.

Please be praying for us and the young people at this time.

Please pray that the young people would be strengthened in faith at a time when it seems many people are living in a lot of fear and uncertainty. Pray that the young people turn to God at this time. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” – Philippians 4:6 & “I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” – Psalm 121.

Pray for us as we navigate this unprecedented time in the history of our nation and indeed the world. Pray that we would be guided by God’s wisdom and that we would continue to relevantly and effectively communicate the gospel in word and deed.

God is great and we look forward to seeing the amazing ways that he is going to be meeting people’s needs at this time.

“Lord God of our ancestor Jacob, may you be praised forever and ever! You are great and powerful, glorious, splendid, and majestic. Everything in heaven and earth is yours, and you are king, supreme ruler over all. All riches and wealth come from you; you rule everything by your strength and power; and you are able to make anyone great and strong.” – 1 Chron 29:10-12

Be blessed and remember that it is in the dark times that the light shines brighter!

The beginning of knowledge is…?

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“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” – Proverbs 1:7.

This was the text that we looked at last Sunday at Redefine. We were continuing working our way through the book of proverbs with the young people.

We asked them what words came to mind when they thought about the word ‘fear’ and they said words such as ‘terrifying’, ‘the unknown’, ‘frightened’ and ‘afraid’.

Now is the writer of the book of proverbs wanting us to be scared of God?

No, emphatically no. If we feared him in the negative sense of the word fear, then we wouldn’t want to spend time with Him. After talking about this with the young people, we asked them in what other ways does God reveal himself to us. One of the young people said as ‘Father’. We then went round the group asking for words they would associate with a perfect father. They came up with words such as ‘caring’, ‘kind’, ‘loving’.

If God is all of the above, how are we meant to fear Him? The answer was given that we are meant to be in awe of God. Not frightened of Him, but wowed and awestruck by His magnificence.

This awe and wonder at God is the beginning of knowledge because as we enter into relationship with God, we are on a journey of discovery, learning more and more about God’s majesty and love. After all God wants us to have relationship with Him and grow in our understanding of Him.

Please do continue to pray fro the young people that come to Redefine and all of the other projects that we run. May they be in awe and wonder that the God of the Universe loves them dearly. And may they grow in a relationship with Him.

Be blessed!

 

Created & chosen

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“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” – 1 Peter 2:9

Last Thursday at ‘Reverb’ our after school drop in youth club we had our usual mix of fun, fellowship & food for thought. It was another great evening and the young people really enjoyed themselves.

We started off the evening with a time playing games around the board game tables, or playing pool/billiards, or playing the fun game ‘4 square’ which is always enjoyed. Then we all moved into what we have dubbed the quiet room which has a large L-shaped sofa, in to hear a brilliant talk given by our director Mr Tim Gough.

Tim spoke about how God has created each and every one of us, the young people included. The He did this in love and threw away the mould when He created each young person, because He created them as a unique expression of His love. They are each made to do unique tasks and be unique expressions of God’s love in action.

Tim encouraged the young people that the best way to discover what the unique tasks or calling the young people had on their lives was to get to know Jesus through reading the Bible and talking to Him in prayer. The young people were very thoughtful as they listened to Tim words of encouragement.

We then went through to the big hall where we play 4 square and everyone took part in some groups games before we all helped pitch in with the tidying up of youth club.

All in all it was another brilliant night at Reverb and the young people really enjoyed themselves.

This is the sort of meetings we have with the young people, building friendships with them and encouraging them in the Christian faith.

Please do keep praying for the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ. Praying that the seeds of God’s word sown into hearts and lives week in week out, would bear much fruit and we’d see many young people respond positively to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Be blessed!

The way of wisdom

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Last Sunday night at ‘Redefine‘ we started a new theme that we will be looking at over the next several weeks. We started looking at the book of Proverbs. We are doing this because we want to input wisdom into the hearts & minds of the young people that attend our Sunday evening Bible Study.

We started at the beginning and looked at Proverbs chapter one verses one to seven. “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
for receiving instruction in prudent behaviour,
doing what is right and just and fair;
for giving prudence to those who are simple,
knowledge and discretion to the young –
let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance –
for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” – Proverbs 1:1-7

We discussed what the difference was between knowledge and wisdom. How nowledge was just the accumulation of information, but wisdom was the right use and aplication of the knoweldge. The following example was cited ‘Knowledge’ is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, ‘wisdom’ is not putting it into a fruit salad.

We looked at how the Bible, the Word of God gives us wisdom and how important it is to daily spend time reading God’s word. For it gives us knowledge and discretion , discernment, and guidance. Ultimately it points us to wisdom incarnate; Jesus. He is the wisdom of God in the flesh.

It was a really good evening and we look forward to the next couple of weeks as we dive into the book of proverbs.

Please be praying for us as we study the book of Proverbs. Pray that the young people would receive wisdom from God that will support and grow them throughout their lives.

Be blessed!

Word Alive!

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Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been going through the follow up material from the Higher tour. In these past few weeks we’ve looked at Jesus and prayer. This last Sunday night we looked at the Bible.

Did you know that the Bible is historically the best selling book of all time! Its sales figures are in the billions!! It’s been translated into more languages than any other book, and the first ever printed book was the Gutenberg Bible!

These are some amazing statements, but what does the Bible say about itself?

“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 3:16-17

The Bible is inspired by God, it’s God breathed. Wow!

It’s useful for teaching us, directing us, correcting us when we get things wrong. It empowers us and equips us for the work God has for us. Double wow!

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12

The Bible is not some dry & dusty tome of ancient literature, but it is alive. Vibrant and active, cutting to the heart of the matter and showing us the truth. It is at work in the lives of believers, bringing life and transformation.

It is God’s word to us, His love letter to humanity.

If it is so wonderful, powerful & life transforming, why do we sometimes struggle to read it? What gets in the way?

We discussed this with the young people at ‘Redefine’ and they said that sometimes it seemed boring, or difficult to understand. They also found it difficult to get into a regular reading habit.

We spoke of this with the young people and gave them some practical advice on how to get into their Bibles and make it a habit that is part and parcel of their relationship with God. It was a really good discussion time and the young people went away with plenty to think about.

Please do be praying for the young people that attend our projects, that they would see the worth and value found in the Bible, for as one young person said last Sunday, the Bible is all about Jesus.

Pray that they would be able to develop a lifelong habit of spending time in God’s word and that in doing so their lives would be transformed. Thank you and be blessed!