Say it with ‘Roses’

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Thank_You!In the 1980s ‘Cadbury’s’ ran an advertising campaign to promote their chocolate selection boxes ‘Roses’, with a song thanking different people for different ways that they helped someone out, such as feeding a neighbour’s pet bird whilst they were away on holiday.

At Llandudno Youth for Christ, we too want to say a big ‘THANK YOU’ to all of our amazing volunteers.  For everyone who gives their time, energy and money to help make all that we do in and through LLYFC possible.

Without YOU we wouldn’t be able to reach out to so many young people with the hope and life that Jesus brings. We wouldn’t be able to share the good news with so many young people in a relevant and engaging way.

So once again THANK YOU!

Today we saw just how much we rely upon some amazing people from so many different churches and from so many different life stages and backgrounds.

We held one of our annual RE:Conference days, and as I’m sure the teachers and pupils involved in the day will positively attest, our wonderful volunteers did an amazing job or facilitating discussion and creating a safe and friendly atmosphere for all involved to wrestle with the important questions of life and existence. There was even a constant supply of tea, coffee & biscuits. Yum!

The conference was title ‘Is God dead in the 21st Century?‘

Through the usage of short videos, discussions, games, quizzes, creative exercise and short talks we looked at what people thought about ‘God’.

We asked questions such as ‘Is God real?’, ‘Is God dead?’, ‘Do we need God?’

It was great to see so many young people having open and honest talks about such an important issue, and from the feedback we received they all really enjoyed the day and it certainly gave them a lot to think about.

As I said above, we would not have been able to hold this without so many willing volunteers.

Echoing the words of St Paul, we at LLYFC would like to say “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3  Seeing followers of Jesus from so many places working together with the aim of being salt and light was fantastic. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” Psalm 133.

This unity and peace really impacted the young people; especially when there has been so much division and hate reported upon in the media of late.

So ‘THANK YOU’ for letting your “light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.

H2O becomes C2H6O!?

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“Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind. There’s no-one like You. None like You.” So starts Chris Tomlin’s worship song ‘Our God‘.

As we move into the last half of the school year, the summer term, at Redefine we are going to be looking at the 7 miraculous signs of Jesus’ ministry in the gospel of John.

Water-into-WineLast night we looked at Jesus turning water into wine, hence the title of this blog post; H2O being the chemical formula for water and C2H6O being one of the chemical formulas for wine.

The key part of the excerpt from John’s gospel that was studied last night, I believe, is “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” John 2:11.

This miraculous act of turning water into wine was the first ‘sign’ that Jesus performed.

Why?

To reveal His glory.

The word that John uses in his gospel for ‘sign’ is σημεῖον – sémeion. It means a sign, miracle or indication, given especially to confirm, corroborate or authenticate something. In this case the sign and indeed all of the signs are to reveal to His disciples, and to all who would believe, who Jesus truly is.

Signs point the way to something.

The signs in John point to Jesus, and to Him being the promised Messiah; the Saviour we have all been searching and waiting for. As John says at the end of his gospel; “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30.

But how does turning the water into wine reveal His glory and point to Jesus as the Messiah?

The pots that were filled with water in John’s recounting of the miracle were intended for ceremonial purification. They were used to make people clean, travel on the roads in 1st Century Israel was often a dirty and dusty process and at the end of their travels people would need to get clean.

It is this water that is used for cleansing that Jesus turned into wine. Wine that the master of ceremonies (a bit like the best-man in today’s weddings) declared to be the best wine. Wine that was drunk at a wedding celebration that filled people with joy.

I love this image of Jesus being part of a celebration. Jesus having fun and getting involved in a wonderful part of life; a wedding.

When reading through this passage it became clear that Jesus in His first sign, was pointing towards the cross.

Upon the cross, Jesus’ blood would bring cleansing to all of mankind’s uncleanness. All of mankind’s sin would be dealt with on the cross by Jesus’ sacrifice. Those that receive forgiveness by believing in Jesus and His atoning work on the cross for them find great joy and celebration in this.

Just like the celebrants at the wedding feast.

Jesus was also pointing towards the great wedding feast that is being prepared for believers, a feast where He will have saved the best till last.

This was Him revealing His glory.

In what other way do you see Jesus reveal His glory through this passage?

 

Resilience (bounce back like a rubber duck)

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The dictionary gives the following definitions for the word ‘resilience’:

  1. the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.
  2. the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Last night at our Redefine Bible Study night, we held a resilience training night hosted by the organisation ‘Pogim‘. The young people really enjoyed it and felt like the night had given them great tools to be able to weather the storms of life and bounce back from opposition, hardship & suffering. A lot of the exercises involved little yellow rubber ducks.

These were used because of how resilient a rubber duck is. It might seem small an insignificant, but if you crush a rubber duck it will eventually reform and become whole again. If you push it under the water it will bob back up to the surface, where it will sit calmly on top of the water, riding whatever waves come its way.

I also love the image of the ducks, because they are small and yellow like little ducklings; ducklings that will follow their parent, trusting them to lead them to safety.

They are a great image of resilience and trust.

Speaking of resilience, I love how the apostle Paul speaks about the resilience that his relationship with Jesus gave him; “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9.

David in the psalms echoes this sentiment “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24.

The key to both Paul’s and David’s resilience was God’s presence in their lives. This was not to say that they walked through life with no problems, troubles or suffering.  If you read through the lives of both men, you will see that they weathered many storms of difficulty, oppression and hardship. Paul even weathered physical storms that threatened to take His life. However, despite these numerous troubles, they never gave up or gave in.  They pressed on, faithfully serving and following the God who had saved and called them into His service.

They trusted that God was bigger than the tough stuff they were going through.

They trusted that their great God and Saviour would fulfil the promises He had given them, for the knew Him to be faithful.

Listen to Paul as he wrote to Christians in Philippi, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:7-14.

Both men were resilient because they had resolved to follow God whatever the cost.  They were resilient because they were reliant on God’s strength and not their own. They were resilient because they kept on getting up whenever they fell or were knocked down.

Let’s be like Paul, David and so many other followers of God.

Let’s keep on getting up, pressing forwards a
nd faithfully following.

Let’s be like the rubber duck, able to float above any water of adversity because we are holding onto Jesus’ hand.

Fire Safety Training Night

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After having been completely surprised by the young people at ‘Redefine’ last week with a ‘Fire Safety Training’ Night that turned out to a surprise party to say thank you to all of the volunteer leaders who help out at the Bible Study; the leaders at ‘Redefine’ thought that we would take the theme of a ‘Fire Safety Training’ night and use it as the springboard to look at the passage in the book of Ephesians about the ‘Armour of God’.

We introduced the night with a short funny video from the movie ‘Despicable Me 2‘.

Here the little ‘Minions’ have all the right equipment, but not the slightest clue as to how to use it properly.

We want the young people to be able to use all of the equipment that God gives them to the best of their ability.

One of our volunteers, James, used to work as an airline steward and he used his fire safety training knowledge to talk to the young people about the importance of using the fire extinguisher correctly and that he knew how to do that because he had studied the manual.

God has given us a great manual to keep us safe: the Bible.

This led into our look at Ephesians 6:10-20. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.“

Some of the feedback we received from the young people was really insightful.

One said that the word ‘stand’ cropped up a lot, that it seems that the apostle Paul is encouraging Christians to not just half-heartedly stand against the spiritual forces that are against us, but to stand.  Stand tall and strong and give your all.

Another aspect of the passage that a lot of the young people brought out was prayer.  Often when you see a pictorial illustration of the ‘Armour of God’, you have the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit; but prayer as part of the armour does not appear.

Paul really stresses the importance of prayer, and how it can be done in different ways and at different times, but all inspired and fuelled by the work of the Holy Spirit.

It was great to see them getting to grips with the Bible and pulling out some great insights.

We then looked more specifically at two aspects of the armour; the belt of truth and the shield of faith, but encouraged the young people to read the passage at home and ask God to show them more about the armour and how to, unlike the ‘Minions’ in the video clip, use the armour effectively.

When you read the passage above, what do you feel God is speaking to you about?

And, just like the apostle Paul, we really appreciate your prayers for all that we do, that we may fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.

Have a great week.

Night of honour!….(English Translation)

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For everyone who read last Monday’s blog post in Welsh and were thinking, where’s the translation?

Fear not, here it is.

The dictionary definition of honour includes the idea of ‘to pay your respects to’ or ‘to regard with great respect’.

13321801_1050722465019922_7196497760579639689_nLast night, the young people who come to our Bible study ‘Redefine’ surprised all of the volunteer leaders who help Tim Gough with this event. The volunteers thought they were coming to a ‘fire safety’ training night, but were overwhelmed by a surprise ‘Night of honour’ that had been arranged.

In the book of Romans the Apostle Paul speaks of the Christians living lives of honour. “Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10. We certainly see this demonstrated by the amazing crew of youngsters at ‘Redefine’.13394131_1050722845019884_6697867253400701216_n

It was truly overwhelming.

Fizzy drinks were served to us in champagne flutes and tables set out with snacks on them. The room was set out with a row of chairs at the top, with pictures one each chair of the leaders that were being honoured for all the work that they do.

Just like the old TV program ‘This is your life’; if anyone can remember that.

13335515_1050721588353343_77744524890538955_nThe leaders sat down and, one by one, it a different young person stood up to talk about the impact the voluntary leader has had on their lives. It was time to say thank you and raise a glass of fizzy pop to honour them for all that they do.13346705_1050722351686600_897187059535214832_n

They also gave gifts to say thank you.

Gifts that had been specially chosen by the young people, which showed how much they know and appreciate the volunteers who have taken the time to encourage, support and disciple the young people.

13344777_1050722791686556_7495036239892238969_nIt was a great event which was organized entirely by young people.

Wow!

To view such a great demonstration of the Kingdom of God in the lives of these young people was mind-blowing.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

They really got to grips in a real and practical way with Jesus’ message of love and honour for each other.13315809_1050721081686727_5034291348842941180_n

This made me also think about all the people that God uses regularly to speak His truth and love  into our lives. In what ways do we show love for them and bring them honour?

In what ways we can honour those placed in leadership over us by God?

13346828_1050722831686552_3663125379153900986_nPerhaps it is time to stop complaining about what we think our pastor, teacher or leader of a small group is doing wrong, and instead thank them for what they are doing right.

Most of all, perhaps it is time for us to spend more time praying for them.

To finish, I want to say thank you to all of the amazing young people who come to all of our events, not just ‘Redefine’.

You’re amazing!13312918_1050723258353176_8582656454387112386_n

I also want to thank everyone who supports this work also, in prayer, provision (with resources or finance), and people (offering yourselves to the great job of sharing Jesus’ message and seeing lives transformed).

Thanks!

PS: Please read Jessica’s great blog to get a perspective of the night from one of our young people.

A guest post by new Young Redefine Team member, Jessica!

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To any passing onlooker the room at Ty Llywelyn would’ve looked set up for a pretty awesome party. Well, in the humble opinion of someone who helped run the night, I’d say it was as good as epic! But first, you need to understand why we were celebrating.

13335978_1050721241686711_4339974139153416887_nAt our youth group, Redefine, we have a bunch of crazy, unique and slightly scary (but hilarious) leaders. They do everything for us, from giving hugs, praying our exams go well, offering advice (however weird) and teaching us to drum. They also give us food, which in itself is a big feat!13342944_1050722828353219_4418363405899078993_n

When our Youth Leader Tim suggested we have a Thank-You party for the leaders, as a complete surprise, I was delighted. This is exactly what they need to show them how much we appreciate what they do!

Thinking they were coming in for some tediously boring fire safety training, the leaders trudged up to the party room, expecting fire extinguishers and paperwork, I imagine. The second they were through that door sparkling silver balloons were thrown in their direction as a multitude of voices screamed, “SURPRISE!!” Needless to say, they were pretty surprised.13406801_1050722535019915_7143711023394925969_n

Then followed an evening of thanks13315348_1050721001686735_3919747963190810904_n. We wanted them to feel like royalty, so they had a little red carpet and chairs set out like they were judging a contest. We planned it so the five leaders had one young person each to say something about them – a little thank you with a mix of memories from the time we’ve known them. We laughed a lot and some of us nearly cried!13346538_1050721311686704_6812374036015200949_n

To picture the scene you need to imagine a bunch of crazy young people with breadsticks, jellybeans and sausage rolls being wolfed down and a lot of fizzy drinks in posh glasses to toast each leader. Insert colourful bunting, bags of wrapped gifts (like Christmas, but cooler) and signed photo frames of our mad leaders and your have one crazy-awesome night!13344737_1050721475020021_5589286159117633054_n

Tim didn’t know that we had another little surprise in store, just for him. He’d run the whole evening as our official Youth Leader because he said he gets credit from Churches and schools all the time as the ‘face’ of YFC. He wanted the evening to bless the leaders who volunteered their time freely and didn’t always get recognition. But we know that Tim works his socks off (sometimes literally) to pull everything together for our little family. He deserved a thank you too!13315809_1050721081686727_5034291348842941180_n

Kelly appeared magically from the hall with a gift bag just as one of the young people finished her Thank You talk about Tim. The surprise on his face was definitely worth the whispering around that had to be done to ensure he had no clue what was coming!

The evening was a huge success. They didn’t guess a thing! Our leaders deserved that celebration and so much more for their time and energy, done with so much love and support.13327554_1050723105019858_2132137930166449879_n

Tim, Dewi, Chloe, James, Megan and Todd, you are unique individuals who have made an impact on all of us at redefine. Our family wouldn’t be the same without you, so please stay a long time!!

Here’s to all the youth leaders who give their lives to be a blessing on young people.

YOU ROCK!

 

Noson o anrhydedd!

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Mae’r diffiniad geiriadur o anrhydedd yn cynnwys y syniad o ‘i dalu parch i’ neu ‘i edrych ar gyda pharch mawr’.

13321801_1050722465019922_7196497760579639689_nNeithiwr, roedd y bobl ifanc sy’n dod at ein hastudiaeth Beibl ‘Redefine’ synnu pob un o’r arweinwyr gwirfoddol sy’n helpu Tim Gough gyda’r digwyddiad hwn. Mae’r gwirfoddolwyr yn meddwl eu bod yn dod i hyfforddiant noson o ‘diogelwch tân’, ond yn hytrach yn cael eu llethu gan y syndod ‘Noson o anrhydedd’ a oedd wedi ei drefnu.

Yn llyfr y Rhufeiniaid yr Apostol Paul yn sôn am y Cristnogion fywydau anrhydedd byw. “Byddwch o ddifri yn eich gofal am eich gilydd, a dangos parch at eich gilydd.” Rhufeiniaid 12:10. Rydym yn sicr yn gweld hyn a ddangoswyd gan y criw anhygoel o bobl ifanc yn ‘Redefine’.

Yr oedd yn wirioneddol yn llethol.

Diodydd pop eu gweini i ni yn ffliwtiau champagne a thablau a nodir â byrbrydau arnynt. Ar frig yr ystafell oedd rhes o gadeiriau, gyda lluniau arnynt o arweinwyr bod yn mynd i gael ei hanrhydeddu am yr holl waith a wnaethant.

Roedd ychydig fel yr hen raglen deledu ‘This is your life’; os gall unrhyw un ei gofio.

13335515_1050721588353343_77744524890538955_nMae’r arweinwyr eistedd i lawr ac, o un i un, daeth gwahanol bobl ifanc hyd at siarad am yr effaith yr arweinydd gwirfoddol wedi cael ar eu bywydau. Roedd yn amser i ddweud diolch ac yn codi gwydraid o pop swigod i anrhydeddu nhw am bopeth y maent yn ei wneud.13346705_1050722351686600_897187059535214832_n

Hefyd rhoddwyd anrhegion i ddweud diolch.

Rhoddion a oedd wedi eu dewis yn arbennig gan y bobl ifanc, a oedd yn dangos faint y maent yn gwybod ac yn gwerthfawrogi y bobl a roddodd o’u hamser i annog, cefnogi a disgybl y bobl ifanc.

Roedd yn ddigwyddiad gwych a oedd wedi ei drefnu yn llwyr gan y bobl ifanc.

Waw!

I weld arddangosiad gwych o Teyrnas Dduw yn y gwaith ym mywydau pobl ifanc hyn oedd meddwl chwiban.

“Dyma sut bydd pawb yn gwybod eich bod chi’n ddilynwyr i mi, am eich bod chi’n caru’ch gilydd.” Ioan 13:35

Roeddent yn wir yn mynd i’r afael mewn ffordd real ac ymarferol yr neges Iesu o garu ac anrhydeddu ein gilydd.13315809_1050721081686727_5034291348842941180_n

Gwnaeth hyn i mi hefyd feddwl am yr holl bobl y bydd Duw yn defnyddio yn rheolaidd i siarad i mewn i’n bywydau Mae ei gwirionedd a chariad. Ym mha ffyrdd y mae i ni ddangos cariad iddynt a dod â nhw anrhydeddu?

Ym mha ffyrdd y gallwn anrhydeddu’r rhai a osodir mewn arweinyddiaeth dros ni gan Dduw?

13346828_1050722831686552_3663125379153900986_nEfallai ei bod yn amser i roi’r gorau i gwyno am yr hyn yr ydym yn meddwl ein gweinidog, athro neu arweinydd grŵp bach yn ei wneud o’i le, ac yn lle hynny diolch iddyn nhw am yr hyn y maent yn ei wneud yn iawn.

Yn bennaf oll, efallai ei bod yn bryd i ni treulio mwy o amser yn gweddïo ar eu cyfer.

Yn gorffen, yr wyf am ddweud diolch i bob un o’r bobl ifanc anhygoel sy’n dod i bob un o’n digwyddiadau, nid yn unig ‘Redefine’.

Rydych yn anhygoel!13312918_1050723258353176_8582656454387112386_n

Rwyf hefyd am ddiolch i bawb sydd yn cefnogi’r gwaith hwn hefyd, mewn gweddi, darpariaeth (gydag adnoddau neu gyllid), a phobl (yn cynnig eich hunain i’r gwaith gwych o siarad neges Iesu a gweld bywydau trawsnewid).

Diolch!

Testing, testing, one, two, three…

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With exam season well and truly upon us, we at Llandudno Youth for Christ are well aware of the pressures that this can place upon the young people that attend our different events.

Indeed with this being the case, last Sunday evening at the start of the summer half-term we held a great social event where we took advantage of the gorgeous weather we have been having finally here in North Wales and headed out to the West Shore of Llandudno for some beach time.

We met outside the beautiful red brick building of the ‘Zion Baptist Church’, and from there headed down to the beach to play some ball games, relax and hang out together.

It was a welcome break from all of the exams and revising for everyone.west shore beach redefine

A much needed evening of rest.

This got me thinking of how good God was in giving us the ‘Sabbath’ as a rest day.

“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.” Exodus 20:8-11

I love that the word we use in the UK for a ‘vacation’ is ‘holiday’. The root of this is ‘holy day’ a day set apart, and was originally used to denote days where religious feasts and festivals took place. They were times when people stopped their regular work and rested; which included fun and celebration.

Holy day…holiday.

A time set-apart.

Like that special suit you set-apart for a special occasion, or perhaps a treat like a favourite ice-cream or chocolate that you set-apart for a special occasion.

When we set something apart, make it ‘holy’, we realise that it has special significance and importance.

The Hebrew for holy is ‘קָדוֹשׁ’ – qadosh, which can convey the sense of something high and lofty, something higher than us. Something to be honoured. So when God commanded us to set apart one day as special and honoured it was a good thing for our benefit.

Unfortunately we can all too easily see it as something we must do and tie ourselves up in legalistic red tape and this was not God’s desire when he commanded us to keep the ‘Sabbath’.

Jesus really unpacked this well for us towards the end of the gospel of Mark chapter 2.

Jesus points out that God made the ‘Sabbath’ to benefit us, to do us good, not for it to be an onerous, religious millstone around our necks.

I love how our God is good and knows that His people need to rest.  They need to set some time apart to be rested, refreshed and refocussed.

They need some holy time on a holiday.

A time to spend relaxing with God and getting His perspective on life.

I’m so glad we were able to give our young people an opportunity to do that.

Do you need a ‘holy-day’?

Do you need to set-apart a time to rest with your Maker?

Where in the Wor(l)d is that?…..

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The title is a bit of a pun in response to last Sunday’s ‘Redefine’ Bible study we had a Llandudno Youth for Christ.

We were looking at the Bible. D’uh! Of course, it’s a Bible study…..

No I mean we were looking at how to study the Bible.

We were giving the young people tools for them to be able to dive into the Bible and fish out treasure for themselves.

This is really important to do. At Llandudno Youth for Christ we are wanting to equip the young people that come to our events with all the tools we can give them for them to grow and mature in their relationship with God.

On Sunday night we were looking at the macro and the micro when studying the Bible.  Macro: Looking at how to understand a section, passage or verse of the Bible in its proper context, and also  micro: looking at how to study a single verse and ask important questions like ‘How‘, ‘What‘, ‘Who‘, ‘When‘, ‘Where‘ & ‘Why‘. To, as a friend of mine used to say, ‘suck the marrow out‘ of it.  To get more than just a surface or cursory glance over the Bible, but learn how to draw out as much as possible from reading it.

As a fun lead up to the night’s workshopping and studying we had a picture quiz where the teams had to guess, in the first section, where in the world an aerial shot of a landscape or landmark was taken, and in the second section, what the close up photograph of an image was.

It was lots of fun and set the platform for the evening’s discussion (and hence the slightly witty title).

There’s an oft quoted phrase that’s variously attributed to the likes of Confucius or Lao Tze or other ancient writers and philosophers that says
‘give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’

By giving the young people the tools to ‘fish‘ for treasure from the Bible, we’re equipping them to feed themselves on the Word of God for a lifetime.

Jesus wanted us to make disciples, not converts (Matt 28:19). He wanted us to make people that would be life-long followers of Himself. The mentality being more like a farmer cultivating a field, or a shepherd tending his sheep than a fighter pilot notching up ‘kills’ (converts) on his fuselage.

That is why we hold evening such as our ‘Redefine’ Bible study nights – we’re all about making disciples of Jesus.

In the last 6 years since Llandudno Youth for Christ first started, we have shared the gospel with hundreds of young people every year. We have also supported other youth groups and youth leaders throughout the North Wales region.

We have regular, annual contact with 65% of the pupils that attend the local High School in Llandudno, Ysgol John Bright. We do this through assemblies, lunch-time clubs, teaching in lessons and our large scale RE conference.

We want to continue to do this great gospel work, but in order to do that we need your support.

Support in prayer (prayer is the engine room of everything we do).

Support in people (we need more volunteers in the various projects we run).

Support in provision (we need the finances to pay for the different projects that we run).

If you feel God is calling you to help with the work we are doing in any way, please contact us.

PS: If you like some of the illustrated Bible pictures in this post, they’re called ‘Bible Art Journaling’ and you can find out more about this at the following links:

http://www.rebekahrjones.com/ & http://kindawonderful.typepad.com/pink_paper_peppermints/2015/03/free-bible-art-journaling-printables-and-tutorials-the-ultimate-list.html

Waaaagh! Orkz!

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P1040367Recently at Llandudno Youth for Christ at our ‘Redefine’, Sunday evening bible Study,

we had an ‘Ork Night‘.

As we had to keep on reminding people it was an ‘Ork‘ or ‘Orc‘ (depending upon your prefered spelling) night, not an ‘Awk‘ night.  We would be dressing up as members of the mythical creatures from and inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.  It was not a night where we all shared embarassing stores; i.e. #awks.

P1040419The young people really enjoyed the every aspect of the night; from the fun games at the start, including a ‘Nerf Battle’, to eating the gruesomely titled, but tasty food and the main part of the night where we looked at the fall of man and subsequently the whole of creation, and how God set about fixing all that had been broken.

This was the whole reason for the theme; in his novels J.R.R. Tolkien described the creation of Orks in Middle Earth, as them being ‘Elves‘; beings of light, purity, perfection and life, who through deception and betrayal had been corrupted by evil and degraded to such an extent that they became depraved beings of death, corruption and decay. See the video here to hear the explanation.

P1040379The Orks epitomise us, humanity.

Fallen, depraved,decaying, dying, corrupted. See the apostle Paul’s description here.

Thankfully God’s response was not to write off His creation as a failure and leave us in our mess and sin.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17.

We try to deal with our ‘orkishness‘, our sin problem by learning how to look and appear right, from the outside, but there’s no real change, a bit like an Ork in a suit.

God didn’t try to cover up the issue, He stepped in to deal with the heart of the problem.

The cross was God’s response to our ‘orkishness‘ or more accurately our sin problem.

At the cross a divine exchange took place and because Jesus took all of our sin, we can now receive by faith all of his righteousness (2Cor 5:21 ). To use the metaphor of the ‘Ork‘ night, we are transformed by God’s grace from creatures of wrath, death and darkness; into beings of light and life: ‘Elves‘.

Since we have a new nature in Christ, whenever we stumble back into our old ‘orkish‘ ways, they don’t fit us.  We chafe under their load for we are not ‘Orks‘ and therefore cannot live in that way anymore and feel any joy or fulfilment.

We will only feel truly alive, when we live lives that match up with who we truly are now.

As the believers in the church in Antioch became known as, we are Christians: Little Christ’s.

Here to shine the light of Christ into the darkness of this world.

So let’s go and let our light shine.