Last Easter Saturday we held a live event via our YouTube channel ‘RE:TV’. It was a Q & A session that we titled ‘Grill a Christian’.
Please see the whole event below:-
We hope you enjoyed this video. Please check out our YouTube channel for more content here.
Be blessed!
Happy Easter everyone!
I pray that despite the social distancing due to Covid-19 that you had a blessed Easter.
Here at Llandudno Youth for Christ we have, despite the restrictions in place, had a great Easter connecting with young people in Llandudno and beyond. One of the new and innovative ways we are connecting with young people is via our brand new YouTube channel ‘RE:TV’.
This is a great new resource and over Easter, our centre director, Mr Tim Gough asked other youth workers to send him their thoughts on what Easter meant to them. He compiled their responses into a great video that you can watch below:-
You can watch more of our ‘RE:TV’ content here.
Please do continue to support us in prayer and financially during this time in our nation, help us reach out to more and more young people with the life changing message of Jesus.
Hope you enjoyed the video and be blessed!
Today is Good Friday. It is the time of the year when Christians around the world remember the death of Jesus for the sins of the world. “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.” – 1 Peters 2:23-24
It is both a sad and a joyful time. We grieve over the thought of what Jesus endured on the cross as He took upon himself the sins of the entire cosmos, but we also rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus won the victory on the cross and brought righteousness and reconciliation for all of us. “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” – Colossians 2:13-15
Also, Jesus didn’t stay dead. Three days later he rose again, conquering death. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” – Hebrews 2:14-15
Jesus did it all for us. On the cross his last words were ‘it is finished’. He had done it. He took the sins of the world upon himself and triumphed over, sin, death and the devil. That is why Easter is such a great time of celebration. A time where righteousness defeated sin, where life conquered death and where our freedom and reconciliation was bought with the precious blood of Jesus. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Have a great Easter and please be praying for the young people in you area, that they will have a deeper and richer understanding of all that Jesus did for them on the cross.
Be blessed!
“The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!’
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’
‘Blessed is the king of Israel!’
Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written:
‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.’At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realise that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.” – John 12:12:16
The above Bible excerpt described Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on the week leading up to the Passover and His impending crucifixion. Nowadays we remember and celebrate this event as Palm Sunday. It’s where we remember the truth that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.
I wonder how you celebrated Palm Sunday during this time of social distancing and self isolation. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people celebrated via the internet, with online church services and social media gatherings.
We held another great online ‘Redefine‘ Sunday evening Bible Study group. We are currently working our way through the gospel of Mark and we looked together at Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and the beginning of His public ministry. It was a really great evening as we discussed what the short passage we looked at revealed to us about Jesus. There was a lot of good discussion and revelation.
We are so grateful that we can still meet up with the young people in some shape or form during this time. We are also holding live instagram meetings for the young people on Thursday and Friday evenings at 7pm.
Going back to the Palm Sunday passage, something really stood out to me. It says that Jesus’ disciples didn’t fully understand what was going on during the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem. It was unclear to them at the time everything that was going on. It was going to be even more devastating and confusing for them in a couple of days as Jesus was betrayed, put on trial and then crucified.
For us and the young people going through this global pandemic, it can feel at times confusing and anxious. We don’t know what is going on, but we need to trust in God through it all and believe that He was be bringing life and redemption in a world where there seems to be so much fear and death.
Perhaps like the disciples we will see, when this current global situation is resolved, the God’s hand at work in love bringing life and redemption to the world, just like Good Friday wasn’t the end of the story, but as we will be celebrating next Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin and death and bringing life, love and liberty.
Please do continue to pray for young people at this time of uncertainty. Pray that they would come to know Jesus and trust in Him.
Have a great holy week.
Be blessed!
Well we’re over a week into our self-isolation and I must say we have had really good weather here in North Wales. It’s stayed dry and sunny on most of the days. Which we are grateful to God for.
We are also very grateful for all of the wonderful technology that we have today. Technology that help us to stay connected with the young people that come to Llandudno Youth for Christ’s projects.
The title of the blog post is a nod to the software app that we use to keep connected. It’s called Zoom and it is a video conferencing software. It means that although we are self isolating at the moment, we can still hold ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening Bible Study, albeit joining each other via video conferencing from the comforts of our own homes.
This has really been a Godsend.
Last Sunday night we continued to study the book of Mark with the young people. It was really good, and because we were all connecting online, it meant that some former volunteers and young people that are now living in different parts of the world were able to connect with us.
This was simply great. It’s good to know that in this time of self isolation and social distancing that we are still able to share the gospel relevantly with the young people in Llandudno and well beyond.
We are also connecting with young people via Social Media such as Facebook and Instagram. Putting up content and live video feeds that help to encourage them at this time of potential anxiety and uncertainty.
It puts me in mind of the apostle Paul whilst he was under house arrest. He didn’t let it get in the way of him encouraging the churches he’d planted. He wrote to them some brilliant letters full of encouragement and instruction for walking out their faith in the world.
So at this time, let us continue to pray for the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ. Let’s pray that God would continue to guide and support us and that we’d be able via modern technology, to connect with young people in Llandudno and beyond and continue to share the good news of Jesus.
Be blessed!
“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!
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!
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 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!
“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!
