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!

Passing the baton…

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Quick interview with Ben Nuss – our outgoing chair person, and Paul Hadley, our returning chair.

We will miss Ben massively, but are so grateful to have Paul back.

Take it to the Lord in prayer

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Last Sunday night at ‘Redefine‘ we looked at the topic of prayer. This was as part of the follow up course we are doing from the brilliant Higher tour North Wales. It was an excellent night.

We’d set the room we were using up like an indoor campfire; with fairy lights in the place of an actual fire; and had comfy pillows and bean bags set in a circle around the fairy lights ‘campfire‘.

After a fun start playing some group games, we watched the Higher tour video about prayer and had a great teaching time looking at prayer.

It was really great seeing the young people discuss and think about prayer; how they can talk with God whenever and wherever knowing that He listens to them. “You will answer me, God; I know you always will,
like you always do as you listen with love to my every prayer.” – Psalm 17:6

It was also great that at the same time the young people were learning about prayer, we were holding our monthly ‘Prayer Gathering‘ in another room. This was well attended and we shared about the Higher Tour and some of the needs that we are facing at Llandudno Youth for Christ. We also sang some songs of worship to God and prayed for the young people in our area.

We are so grateful for the amazing group of people that regularly come to our prayer gatherings and support us in prayer. Thank you for lifting us and our needs up to God in prayer.

Talking of needs, one of the areas where we have a need is that of volunteers at some of our projects and also at our Saturday Cafe that runs on the second and fourth Saturday of each month. We need people to help out in the kitchen with the cooking and also with other areas of the Reverb Saturday Cafe, such as waiting on and making drinks. We also are looking for more volunteers for ‘Recess‘ our Thursday Christian Union meetings in Ysgol John Bright and Ysgol Aberconwy and our new project, ‘Shuffle & Shake‘ on Friday nights in Colwyn Bay.

If you feel that you want to help us in one of these areas, then please do not hesitate to email us on llandudnoyfc@gmail.com or telephone the office on 07517 429 763 (office opening hours are 9am to 5pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and 9am to 12pm on Fridays)

Thank you and keep on praying.

 

Call on me!

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At Llandudno Youth for Christ, we are always on the look out for more people to join us in this amazing work of sharing the gospel relevantly to young people in Llandudno and beyond.

It is a fantastic privilege to be able to be part of something wonderful that God is doing through LLYFC in North Wales. And we have so many different ways in which people can help.

We have our ‘Reverb Saturday Cafe‘ that runs on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. This is a brilliant social endeavour that not only provides a wonderful haven for people in Llandudno to rest and have a delicious meal and refreshing drink, but also raises much needed funds for the work that we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ. We are always on the look-out for people to work with us here, whether it is waiting-on, serving at the till, cooking in the kitchen or helping with the washing up, more people to help are always welcomed and sought after.

Then we have the various different youth-work projects that we run. ‘Reverb‘ our Thursday after school youth drop in that runs from 3:15-5:15pm, ‘Redefine‘ our Sunday night Bible Study group that is held from 6-8pm, ‘Recess‘ our two Lunch-time Christian Unions in Ysgol Aberconwy and Ysgol John Bright and our latest project ‘Shuffle & Shake‘ held on Friday evenings in Colwyn Bay. In all of these projects we’d love to have more volunteers to work with the young people and be living, breathing examples of God’s love.

If you feel that you’d like to help and volunteer in any of the projects mentioned above, then please don’t hesitate to contact us on 07517 429 763 or via email – llandudnoyfc@gmail.com

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2

Tim’s Big Trek

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Hey – Tim here – can you spread the word?

This autumn 2020, I’m doing the craziest thing I’ve ever done (other than marry an American) – I’m climbing 17,600ft up to Everest Base Camp in Nepal to raise money, not only for Llandudno Youth for Christ, but for a brand – new – centre in Wales!

Below is the video announcement I made in December 2019 about this exciting fund-raiser.

If you want to donate to support ‘Tim’s Big Trek’ click here.

Praying for more fruit

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Last Friday night in Llandudno’s Venue Cymru a fantastic Christian outreach event for young people was held. The Higher tour, an evangelistic event run by the Message Trust.

The Higher tour had been holding assemblies and R.E. lessons in schools throughout North Wales, from Holyhead to Prestatyn to Mold. It was brilliant. There was also a group that visited schools in the Llandudno area.

To cap off the week of outreach a large evangelistic music concert was held at Venue Cymru, here the bands that had been going into the schools performed their music much to the delight to the young people that attended.

The night was a great success with over 1,000 young people in attendance.

At the end of the event an appeal was made to the young people and over 400 responded indicating that they wanted to ask Jesus into their lives.

It was simply brilliant and amazing.

The tour had born much fruit and we pray that as Llandudno Youth for Christ, and other youth groups and churches in the area do follow-up work with the young people that there would be even more fruit and fruit that will last and have an impact upon the whole of North Wales.

Please do be praying with us for this and also thanking God for the great harvest we saw on Friday night.

Be blessed!

For Yours is the Kingdom…

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We have just 1 week left at Redefine of our series focussing on the Lord’s Prayer. Last Sunday night we looked at ‘Give us our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’.

This coming Sunday we will be looking at ‘For Yours is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, for ever and ever, Amen.’ I love how the prayer starts and finishes with us focussing on God.

We are trusting in Him, our Father, to answer our prayers; so it’s great knowing that the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are His. All that we do is in Him, through Him and for Him.

Please be praying for the young people as we finish off looking at the Lord’s Prayer, that they would see how truly amazing God is and that their faith in Him would grow and become more firmly established.

Also this week all over the North Wales coast, from Holyhead to Prestatyn, the Higher Tour is taking place. This is a great outreach event that we are praying will produce much fruit as young people hear the gospel presented to them in relevant and meaningful ways.

We’re really excited and expectant over what God is going to do in the lives of young people in North Wales this week. This is a great opportunity. Please be praying for the week’s events.

Thank you and Be blessed!

 

Give us this day…

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This is the 3rd Blog post in our ‘Lord’s Prayer’ series.

This coming Sunday we will be looking at the part of the prayer that goes ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ – Matthew 6:11

I love how it is put in the Passion Translation – “We acknowledge you as our Provider of all we need each day”

This is such a great truth to learn. To know that God is our provider, that the one who clothes the lilies of the field and who provides food for the birds is the loving Father who provides all we need each day.

As a charity, we at Llandudno Youth for Christ know this to be so true. Many times we have seen the provision of God come through for the work we do in reaching out to the young people in this area and beyond with the good news of Jesus.

So feel encouraged that God knows your situation and He loves you and wants to meet all your needs with the provision of heaven.

Also, please be praying for the work that we do, that we would see more of the provision of God in 2020 as we aim to reach further and higher, to see more young people come to know Jesus. Also please be praying for Tim’s Big Trek, that we would raise a phenomenal amount of money for this sponsored event, and that our director Tim Gough would be upheld and protected by God as he trains for and then takes on the challenge of climbing from Snowdon to Everest.

Have a great week and be blessed!

Your Kingdom come…

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The last couple of blog posts have been focussed around the themes of prayer and connecting with God in heaven. This post is going to follow on with that theme.

This coming Sunday at Redefine we are going to be continuing our study of the Lord’s Prayer, looking at “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” – Matt 6:10.

Last Sunday’s study of the first part of the Lord’s Prayer went really well and the young people really engaged with the Bible and the whole aspect of God being Our Father. It was so great to hear them talking animatedly about the themes of prayer and God’s Fatherhood. We are looking forward to more of the same as we look at God’s Kingdom and Will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

This is an important aspect of prayer, how as we engage with the things of heaven, heaven and earth meet and there is transformation, both of us as the prayer, but also the world around us as prayer changes things.

Just like in our previous blog post about Jacob and the stairway to heaven, there was change from having a vision of heaven. Jacob’s life was transformed as he encountered God in a dream. As we encounter God in prayer, our lives are transformed.

In this part of the Lord’s prayer we are calling for the earth to be transformed, for God’s will to be enacted and His kingdom reign to be established in the earth.

Please be praying for the young people, that they would be transformed by engaging with heaven and seeking God, for His Kingdom to be established in their lives and the lives of those around them.

Be blessed!