“..bread of heaven feed me till I want no more..”

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“Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
Hold me with thy powerful hand:
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven
Feed me till I want no more.
Feed me till I want no more.” – Peter Williams

Today, the 17th of November 2016; marks the start of Llandudno’s Christmas Fayre, The fantastic feast for the senses will be held over the next several days; ending on Sunday 20th.

This year is special, because it marks the inauguration of the ‘World Bara Brith Championships’.  This is being held by the organisers of the Llandudno Christmas Fayre in conjunction with Jones Crisps. The judging of the Bara Brith’s will take place today, with the winners being announced tomorrow (Friday 18th November).  The prize giving is being held at Holy Trinity Church on Mostyn Street.

One of the organisers of this event had this to say; “Not only will the winner get the coveted title of the Best Bara Brith maker in the world, which by the way is far more prestigious than winning the Great British Bake Off, he or she will also get the opportunity to see their very own Bara Brith being produced by artisan bakers to be sold to the public.”

There will also be a “Cake Trail” around Llandudno’s array of retail businesses for people to follow.

When I read about this, I couldn’t help but think of the above Hymn; originally penned in Welsh by William Williams Pantycelyn (1717 – 1791); and translated into English by Peter Williams (1722 – 1796).

With the whole Christmas feel of the event too, it made me think of Jesus, of course. “Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” – John 6:32 & “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” – John 6:36.

Jesus is our bread of heaven.

He is the only one who truly satisfies. It is He who will feed us till we want no-more; in the sense of not lacking anything.

When we have Jesus, we have all that we need.

“Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” – Jesus (John 6:49-51)

So as you walk around the Christmas Fayre and sample the tasty treats and the Bara Brith; think of the bread that came down from heaven.

Think of Jesus; God in the flesh; God with us; Emmanuel.

Born in Bethlehem; the ‘House of Bread‘ and wrapped in cloths, lying in an animals feeding trough.

Think of Jesus; God’s greatest gift to us.

Touching heaven, changing earth.

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The above blog title is the song title and indeed the album title for Hillsongs 1998 church worship CD.

The lyrics to the song go: “We will seek Your face, Almighty God;
turn and pray for You to heal our land. Father, let revival start in us
Then every heart will know Your Kingdom come. Lifting up the name of the Lord, in power and in unity; we will see the nations turn; touching Heaven, changing earth.”

The whole focus of the song is to prayer.

Prayer and how it changes things.

How in pray we touch heaven and change earth.

If you want to hear the whole song, click here.

I chose this song for the blog post as next week at YFC, both locally & nationally, we are having a week of prayer; running from Monday 14th through to Friday 18th of November.  The prayer is going to be 24hr prayer, with people taking 1hr time slots throughout the period to pray.

This is a mini pre-cursor to 2017’s ‘Year of Prayer’ focus at YFC UK. Check out this video for more information.

Prayer is powerful; it changes not only the circumstances that are being prayed for, but also the person praying.

When Paul & Silas were thrown into prison, this is what happened when they prayed.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” – Acts 16:25-26.

Let’s be bold in faith like Paul & Silas. Let’s pray earnestly to God and see the prison walls in people’s lives and in circumstances come crumbling down.

So, next week, please lift up the work we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ in prayer.

Thank you.

Let it Shine!

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“Light has dawned that ever shall blaze
Darkness flees away
Christ the light has shone in our hearts
Turning night to day
We proclaim Him King of kings
We lift high His name
Heaven and earth shall bow at His feet
When He comes to reign” – Graham Kendrick

Today is October 31st; and like in our previous blog post; I am well aware of the fact that tonight lots of children will be dressing up as ghouls & goblins etc.

Whilst doing some research for last week’s blog post, I came across the video that I have posted below.  It was created by Glen Scrivener and can be found via the Christian resource website: https://www.10ofthose.com

I really loved the message that it brought; one that really declares the truth of how great and powerful our God and Saviour Jesus is; and how darkness is no match at all for the Light. That is why I put the lyrics of Graham Kendrick’s song ‘Light has dawned that ever shall blaze’ from 1988 at the top of the post. As it says; ‘Darkness flees away’.

So tonight is not a time to hid our light under a bushel, or be fearful of this ‘spector-full spectacle’ that ‘All Hallows Eve’ (Halloweeen) has become. ‘Christ the Light has shone in our hearts, turning night to day’. So there is no-room for darkness and fear, where love and light have taken up residence.

Be a light in the darkness around you; not with the voice of judgment or the finger of condemnation; but with words of truth and love (See Isaiah 58:9-12).

Shine!

Love!

Be Fearless!

Enjoy the video.

Here is the transcript of the words used in the video:

“Vast armies undead do tread through the night and
In hordes march towards hapless victims to frighten.
They stumble in step with glass-eyes on the prizes;
Bunched hither, hunched over in monstrous disguises;
In sizes not lofty but numb’ring a throng;
To unleash on their prey the dreaded DING DONG.
Small faces with traces of mother’s eye-liner,
Peer up to the resident candy provider.

And there to intone ancient threats learnt verbatim;
They lisp “TRICK OR TREAT!” Tis their stark ultimatum.
Thus: region by region such legions take plunder.
Does this spector-full spectacle cause you to wonder?
Just how did our fair festive forebears conceive,
Of this primeval practice called All Hallows Eve?
The answer, if anyone cares to research,
Surprises, it rises from old mother church.

On the cusp of the customary All Saints Day
The Christ-i-an kinsfolk made mocking display.
These children of light both to tease and deride;
Don darkness, doll down as the sinister side.
In pre-post-er-ous pageants and dress diabolic,
They hand to the damned just one final frolick.
You see with the light of the dawn on the morrow,
The sunrise will swallow such darkness and sorrow.

The future is futile for forces of evil;
And so they did scorn them in times Medieval.
For this is the nature of shadow and gloom;
In the gleaming of glory there can be no room.
What force is resourced by the echoing black?
When the brightness ignites can the shadow push back?
These ‘powers’ of darkness, if such can be called,
Are banished by brilliance, by blazing enthralled.

So the bible begins with this fore-resolved fight;
For a moment the darkness…. then “Let there be Light!”
First grief in the gloom, then joy from the East.
First valley of shadow, then mountaintop feast.
First wait for Messiah, then long-promised Dawn.
First desolate Friday and then Easter Morn.
The armies of darkness when doing their worst,
Can never extinguish this Dazzling Sunburst.

So… ridicule rogues if you must play a role;
But beware getting lost in that bottomless hole.
The triumph is not with the forces of night.
It dawned with the One who said “I am the Light!” – Glen Scrivener.

“Fear-Less, Love-More”

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“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18

As we are coming up to the annual celebration of Halloween; a time where we now traditionally dress-up in costume as scary monsters such as vampires, zombies, ghosts, witches & werewolves. People decorate their houses with cobwebs, spiders, bats and other things to give it that ‘haunted house’ look, and hold ‘Halloween’ parties with food and drink to match the occasion.

On the TV and in the Cinemas there are a plethora of films and programmes all designed with one thing in mind, to give us a fright. To shock & to scare.

To make us afraid.

Fear.

Fear is the watchword of October 31st.

Fear; that feeling of dread that comes upon us when we perceive a danger of threat and gets us ready to fight or flight. However, unwarranted fear or irrational fear, which is called a phobia, can negatively impact our lives, and today, so many people are crippled by so many different phobias ranging from Ablutophobia- Fear of washing or bathing, through Logizomechanophobia- Fear of computers, to Zoophobia- Fear of animals.  There is even Phobophobia- Fear of phobias.

Thanks be to God who has given us the solution to our modern world with all of its fears and phobias.

In the Bible, God says to us ‘Fear Not’ on several occasions; although not the 365 as is sometimes erroneously quoted to state that there is a ‘fear not’ for every day of the year; but it is still a command God encourages us with, knowing that fear will come into our lives and that He has not called us to live in fear, but to be brave and courageous.

Listen to God’s encouragement to Joshua before he took the children of Israel into the promised land; “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.“

God calls His people to NOT fear, but be strong and courageous.

How do we do this?

The scripture at the top of this post is the key.

‘All you need is love.” or more accurately “All you need’s His love.”

God’s perfect love casts out ALL fear. There is not a single phobia that God’s love cannot overcome and cast out of our lives.

The more we allow the truth that God loves us to permeate our thinking, the more we are freed from Fear.

This Halloween, let’s not let Fear have the rule of the roost, but let’s boot Fear out with God’s anti-dote; ‘Love‘.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” – 1 John 4:10

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” – 1 John 4:16

“For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” – Psalm 100:5

“Selah vie!”

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“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

The title for this blog post is a little bit of a tongue in cheek one.  A little bit of word play; instead of ‘c’est la vie!’ (That’s life in French) it’s ‘Selah vie!’; with Selah being a Hebrew word that occurs in two books in the Bible; Habbakuk and more prominently in the book of Psalms.

In trying to understand what ‘Selah’ means, scholars have come up with a few possible translations; one being that it relates to the Hebrew word ‘calah‘, meaning to hang or measure/weigh in the balance; check out Job 28:19. Another way to look at ‘Selah’ is that it takes its meaning from two Hebrew root words; ‘s’lah’ meaning to praise; and ‘s’lal‘ meaning to lift up. Other scholars believe it comes from the Hebrew word ‘salah‘, meaning to pause.

It could actually encompass all three explanations.

‘Selah’ indicating that we pause and value the words that have just been declared in the Psalm; and in that place of contemplative reflection upon the truths of God, we naturally lift up our hands and voices in praise to God.

That’s why I chose the verse from Psalm 46 above.

In the busyness of life and all that we are doing, when things get tough and we don’t know where to turn; instead of shrugging our shoulders and saying ‘c’est la vie!’ That’s life and there is nothing we can do about it; instead lets ‘Selah’; pause and think about God’s truths, God’s promises, God’s faithfulness, God’s power, God’s love.  Let us take time-out to spend gazing in wonder at our great Creator and Saviour; our God and King Jesus Christ.

In that place of awe and wonder, we cannot help but lift up our heads, lift up our hearts and lift up our voices in praise and adoration of our amazing Lord.

“In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Psalm 16:10

So this half-term let us take time-out and pause, reflect upon the value of God, and also the value He places upon us, and lets us lift up our hearts to Him in praise.

Be blessed.

Heroes Day!

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On the 20th of October in Kenya, they celebrate ‘Heroes Day‘, or ‘Mashujaa Day’ –“mashujaa” is Swahili for “heroes”. This is a national holiday in Kenya, which is observed to collectively honour all those who contributed towards the struggle for Kenya’s independence or positively contributed in the post independence Kenya.

It is a day for all Kenyans to honour those who have worked and contributed towards the peace and prosperity of their nation.

It made me think of the list of Heroes of the faith that are described in Hebrew chapter 11. The write of Hebrews then goes on to encourage his readers that “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Hebrews 12:1

The example given by the heroes of the faith, who despite, opposition, setbacks and persecution that in some cases even led to their deaths, they stayed faithful to God and followed His call upon their lives right until the end, encourages us to do likewise.

Today we have even more heroes of the faith whose lives we can look at to give us encouragement and courage to stay strong and faithful in trials and temptations. People such as  Hudson Taylor, William Wilberforce, Gladys Aylward &  Mary Slessor. Heroes that blazed a trail of faith and devotion as they followed their Saviour.

But we also have heroes of the faith in our own personal lives, people whose faithful obedience has impacted our lives, such as the person who first told you about Jesus.

Today, on the 20th of October, spend some time thanking God for those people that He sent into our world and into our lives to make a difference.

Thank Him for those who selflessly serve and obey Him.

Thank Him for those He has placed in leadership over us, both spiritually and also nationally.

Pray for them too, that God’s will would be done in their lives.

Who are your heroes today?

How can you honour them and thank God for them?

Ultimately let us remember and thank the greatest hero of them all; Jesus.

“Asifiwe Mungu, Baba wa Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo! Kwa rehema yake kuu ametufanya tuzaliwe upya ili tupate tumaini lenye uzima kwa kufufuka kwa Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo kutoka kwa wafu” – 1 Peter 1:3 in Kiswahili (the national language of Kenya).

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”  – 1 Peter 1:3

“You can’t do life alone”

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“As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.“ – 1 Corinthians 12:20-27

We held the last of our ‘We Believe’ series nights at Redefine.

It was yet another great night, where we looked at the importance for Christians to be in fellowship and community with each other.  We looked at how God had made it so that we had to work together to see His Kingdom come and will be done, both in our lives and the lives of our local community.

As a Christian ‘You can’t do life alone.”

The above passage from the apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth uses the metaphor of a body with its many different parts to illustrate this point. We need every part of the body functioning properly in its right place for the whole body to work.  If one part is missing or not working correctly, then the body will not function correctly.

We are all important in God’s kingdom and in His church, and we all have a vital part to play. In the human body we have some parts that are hidden and not very well known, such as the spleen.  However, without it our body would be much more susceptible to infection, amongst other things.

So too in the church.  If one part is missing, there is a life and vitality that is missing, and we all need to play our part.

A great opportunity for playing your part in the body of Christ is in prayer.  Supporting one another in prayer.

This coming Sunday we will be holding our monthly prayer meeting for the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre and we would like to extend an invitation to you to come along and fellowship with us and as the write of the book of Hebrews says “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.“

The prayer meeting we be held on Sunday 23rd October from 7-8pm.

We hope to see you there.

“I will weorthscipe with all of my heart”

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Last Sunday night with our ‘Redefine’ youth Bible study evening we looked at the statement ‘Everyone is a worship leader‘, and this blog comes out of the teaching given during the evening.

The title of this blog comes from David Ruis’ song ‘I will worship‘, but I have inserted the Old English spelling of the word worship: ‘weorth-scipe‘ or ‘worth-ship’.  This is the state or quality of having value or worth.  Or to convey the worthiness of something.  So we can look at worship of God as being conveying or acknowledging the worthiness or value of God.

When we turn to the first time that the word worship is mentioned in the Bible, we see the Hebrew word שָׁחָה – ‘shachah’ used.  This is in Genesis 22 when Abraham has been asked by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac; a son that God had promised to Abraham. The hebrew word here means to ‘bow down’ or ‘prostrate oneself’ before a superior or God. Abraham’s worship was not singing songs, doing a dance or painting a picture.  His worship was a sacrifice. His worship was obedience in the face of adversity. His worship was doing what God had asked him to do.

Worship comes from a place where we know that God is God and we are not.

We naturally bow down before our amazing God in the awe and reverence for all He has done for us and because of how great He is.

This awe and worship leads to action and obedience, as in the case of Abraham.

In the book of Isaiah, we see God paint a picture of the kind of worship He looks for: “Set free those who are held by chains without any reason…. Break every evil chain. Share your food with hungry people. Provide homeless people with a place to stay. Give naked people clothes to wear. Provide for the needs of your own family… Stop pointing your finger at others as if they had done something wrong. Stop saying harmful things about them…Satisfy the needs of those who are crushed. Then my blessing will light up your darkness...You will be like a garden that has plenty of water... ” Isaiah 58 (excerpts)

God doesn’t want long ceremonies or religious parades; He wants us to love Him and love each other.

Simple.

It all boils down to relationship and focus.  What or who we spend time with and on not only shows what is important to us, but it also shapes us.  So, if we spend time focussing on God, talking with Him in prayer and worship, we will naturally want to spend more time with Him; to use a quote I recently discovered; “As you know Jesus more, you naturally love Him more. The less you know of Him, the less you love. To know Jesus is to love Him.” – Eric Samuel Timm.

Our worship will direct and lead us in the way we live and in turn this will impact upon the lives of those around us.

So it can be said that ‘Everyone is a worship leader’

Let’s lead more people to know and discover our great God, so that they too can give Him ‘weorthscipe’.

 

 

 

 

post about worship following on from Sunday eve’s Redefine.

“If you build it, He will come”

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The above quote is taken from the 1989 Kevin Costner film ‘Field of Dreams’ and it is often misquoted as “If you build it, they will come.”

In the film he hears a voice that gives him the task of building a baseball pitch on his land.  I won’t say much more, see the film if you want all of the details.  However, there was a fulfilment to his endeavours.  The building it, lead to miracles happening.

Another man who felt compelled to build something was Nehemiah.

Nehemiah; whose name means ‘God comforts’ was a Hebrew born in exile under the Persian empire. At the start of the book of Nehemiah, he is the cupbearer to Artaxerxes King of Persia; around 444/445 B.C. When one of his brothers returned with news from Jerusalem, this is what happened: “In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

They said to me,‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’

 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:1-4

Nehemiah learned about the great need of the people of God in Jerusalem and his response was to weep, fast & pray.  He immediately turned his focus and attention to God.

But he didn’t just pray.  Out of this time spent with God, he felt emboldened and compelled to action. He spoke to the King and with God giving him favour, he was able to go to Jerusalem and start the work of rebuilding the walls.

This work was not without its difficulties or opposition.

Whenever we are building something for God the enemy will always oppose the work. He will try to use circumstances and people to discourage, hinder, and threaten the work we are doing to build God’s kingdom.

It was the same for Nehemiah; he had to contend with the likes of ‘Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab’, but was resolute in his purpose, and most importantly, he did not try to do the work alone.

Nehemiah got everyone involved in the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

Even when they discovered a plot by their enemies to take them all by surprise whilst they built the wall; Nehemiah encouraged them and focussed them on who they were building the wall for; ‘Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.’ – Nehemiah 4:14.

They were building the wall together, some with a sword & shield in hand to protect each other.  Building it for God and for their neighbour; for their families, their children & their children’s children.

It’s the same today, when we work together in building something for God’s kingdom, we are also building something good for our neighbours, our families, our children and leaving a legacy for our children’s children.

At Llandudno Youth for Christ we are wanting to build the Kingdom of God, one soul at a time.  Letting young people know about Jesus, and giving them the opportunity to discover a relationship with Him.  As part of this work, we need fellow builders.  Those who will come alongside us and work with us; whether it be helping out at our Saturday Cafe Reverb@St John’s, at our Sunday evening Bible Study: ‘Redefine‘, our Thursday after-school drop-in ‘Reverb – Youth Space‘ or praying faithfully with us at our Monthly Sunday evening prayer meetings; we greatly need and appreciate you being part of building walls of faith, hope & love in Llandudno and beyond.

If you want to help us with this great work, please contact us via email: llandudnoyfc@gmail.com, by phone: 07517 429 763 or by post: Llandudno Youth for Christ, c/o Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA.

“If you build it he will come.“

“Saved People, Serve People!”

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“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord”, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” – Jesus (John 13:12-17)

Last night at our weekly Sunday evening Bible Study we looked at the whole issue of servanthood, servant-heartedness, serving one another.

The title for the evening was the same as the one for this Blog post.

Philippians 2:5-11 was the main text we referred to in looking at how God calls believers to serve not only one another, but the world around us.

As always we look to Jesus, the author and completer of our faith. Jesus who we follow and who, by the power of His Spirit at work in our lives, we are becoming more and more like as He transforms us into His image (see Hebrews 12 & 2 Corinthians 3).

This humility of Jesus that we see in Philippians, is also on full display in the act of washing His disciples feet. Walking on the roads in 1st Century Palestine was often a messy and dirty affair.  Your sandals were open to the elements. Your feet could get covered in dust and dirt and even animal droppings. Pooh indeed!

Maybe you cut yourself and the blood mingled in with all of that dust & pooh. There might even be blisters.

Pretty yucky.

Yet it is these feet that have been dirtied by walking through the world that our Lord and Saviour washes.

He is willing to kneel down and get his hands dirty to clean the feet of those He loves.

The Creator of the Universe.

The great ‘I am’ humbles Himself to serve those who have given up everything to follow Him, even one who will deny Him and one who will betray Him. Jesus’ love is unconditional and extravagant.

The hands that formed the first man out of dirt are now washing the dirt away and cleaning the feet that He created.

Our God wants to be involved in our lives.

He wants to clean us up and make our lives beautiful.

He also calls those of us who have had our feet washed by Him, to go and serve those around us in the same way. To humble ourselves and get involved in the dirt and dust and mess of life and bring His cleansing and life.

Saved people, serve people.

Let’s go out there and serve others and in doing so, serve Jesus.

PS: The next Study in our ‘We Believe‘ series will be ‘Everyone is a Worship Leader‘. If you are aged between 11 and 18 years old, or know someone who is, perhaps you or they want to come check it out on Sunday 2nd October @ ‘Redefine’, Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA.