The Hunt for Red December….

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Well we’ve just had a white Christmas, so we do not need to hunt for the snow, we had a lovely disruptive drop of flakes on Sunday. My kids loved it. Catching snowflakes on their tongues and having a snowball fight with mum & dad in the garden. The title of this post hearkens back to the 1990 film ‘The Hunt for Red October’ which is based upon a Tom Clancy novel of the same name. However, instead of an elusive soviet submarine, it is ‘Santa Claus’ that we are hunting for; he is the man in ‘Red’ in December.

This is a link into one of the main events at our ‘Spark‘ Christmas Bonanza. We will be holding an epic ‘Hunt for Santa‘ game, and it is not to be missed. So please do come along to ‘Spark‘ if you are aged between 11 and 18 years of age. For more details see our ‘What a Bonanaza’ blog post.

I’m also writing the post to speak about the real ‘Santa Claus‘, not the jolly red elf of our present day traditions, but St Nicholas, the real inspiration behind the myth.

The real St Nicholas was a Christian that lived in Asia Minor during the 4th century A.D. He was also called Nicholas of Bari or Nikolaos of Myra and was in-fact the Bishop of Myra. HE was born on 15th March 270 A.D. in Patara, Lycia and died on 6th December 343 A.D. He is the patron saint of children, sailors, repentant thieves, merchants, brewers, archers, students and pawnbrokers in various cities and countries around Europe. The whole gift giving aspect surrounding this saint is from his most famous exploit of surreptitiously providing the money needed for a wedding dowry for a poor man’s 3 unmarried daughters. In all of the variations of the stories he provides in different ways 3 purses of gold that he delivers into their house under the cover of darkness, in order for his generosity to remain secret. It is from this that we get the modern day story of ‘Santa’ delivering gifts to children on Christmas Eve.

One of his most famous exploits (thought said to be possibly apocryphal) is that he was said to have been so angry with the heretical presbyter Arius for his teaching about Jesus, that he hit him in the face.

St Nicholas is also called Nicholas the wonderworker due to all of the miracles that occur throughout his life as God answers his prayers. Such as the calming of the sea during a storm whilst he was on his way to Jerusalem and the bringing back to life of a sailor that had been killed during the aforementioned storm.

As you can see St Nicholas was a dedicated, if like all of us flawed, follower of Jesus and was passionate about the gospel, not only in word, but in deed. Not the mystical and magical man in a red suit that is portrayed in films at Christmas, but a servant of God that knew he was dependant on God for provision and life. A man who knew that the true gift of Christmas is not found in shiny paper under the Christmas Tree, but in a feeding trough in Bethlehem all those many years ago; Jesus – the Saviour of the world.

So this Christmas, may you have a blessed time, and if you have not received God’s greatest gift, Jesus; I pray that you do.

Have a great week-end, and don’t forget to come to ‘Spark‘.

 

What a Bonanza

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This is a very quick blog to let everyone know about our upcoming Spark North Wales Christmas event.

On Saturday 16th December we will be holding a ‘Christmas Bonanza‘.

A bonanza is something that is very valuable, profitable or rewarding, or it can be used as a synonym for ‘extravaganza‘ – a lavish or spectacular show or event. So we are telling you that this Christmas ‘Spark‘ event is going to be a spectacular event that will be very valuable and rewarding for everyone that comes.

It is going to be held at Gloddaeth Church in Llandudno and will start at 5pm, running though till 7pm; and for those who want a little bit extra, we will be showing a Christmas Movie from 7pm, which will run till 9pm.

It’s going to be a great time; with an epic ‘Hunt for Santa‘ game, a Christingle activity, carols by candlelight and of course loads of lovely festive food.

This is all free for 11-18 years old. So if you are an 11-18 year old, or you know one who you think would enjoy coming to the ‘Spark‘ Christmas Bonanza, then do let them know.

I’ve posted the poster for the event here, so you can share with others too.

Thank you, and be blessed!

Sparkle & Shine

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This week, wherever I travel, as the sun goes down and the nights draw in; I’m seeing more and more Christmas lights appearing in the windows of houses and shops. All of the lights have been switched on in Llandudno, Rhos-on-Sea, Colwyn Bay, indeed throughout the whole of North Wales and beyond, the whole of the UK is ablaze with Christmas lights.

My children love this, and my son and I were playing a game of who can spot the Christmas lights first as we drove home last night from visiting the grandparents’ house. It so glorious to see the lights hanging from windows, trees and lamp-posts everywhere. They bring joy, light and sparkle into the darkness of winter.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16 (NKJV). Jesus instructed his disciples to be lights in the darkness of this world: to make a difference and by the light that they shine, to direct people to the source of the light within them; Jesus, the Light of the world. “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” – Matt 5:14-16 (Msg)

So in the same way that the Christmas lights sparkle and shine and bring joy to those around them; you too can sparkle and shine with God’s love to those around you.

Another place where there will be sparkle and shine this Christmas is at the ‘Spark‘ North Wales Christmas event.

On Saturday 16th December Llandudno Youth for Christ will be holding another of our ‘Spark‘ events. It will be a fantastic night.

The Spark Christmas Bonanza will feature an epic ‘Hunt for Santa‘ game, some carols by candlelight, a classic Christingle and an optional late night Christmas movie.

We are really looking forward to this night, and hope that those of you reading this blog post will share about it in your church, youth group or Christian community and let any young people you think might be interested in coming along all about it.

The event will start at 5pm and run till 7pm, with the optional Christmas movie running from 7pm until around 9pm for those want to make a real fun night of it.

It will be held at Gloddaeth Church, Llandudno, LL30 2SY.

Please do pray for the night too, that everyone that comes has a fun, safe time, and that lives will be changed by God’s love.

Be blessed, and continue to ‘Sparkle & Shine‘

Don’t vent over advent!

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This Sunday, the 3rd of December marks the start of the season of Advent. It is indeed the first Sunday of Advent. The time when we start preparing our hearts for celebrating the coming of Jesus. It is a time of joyful anticipation, however it can become a time of stress and dread for many as they head towards the season of peace and goodwill.

Instead of thinking about the amazing news of God coming to earth as a tiny baby to be the Saviour of all mankind, they are faced with shopping queues, mounting debt, fights with relatives and friends, the remembrance of lost loved ones and loneliness. It is not a time of joy, hope, peace & love.

I think that is because we lose sight of the Saviour amidst all of the tinsel, turkey & trimmings, and the season loses its meaning. Loses its reason. It just becomes something to be endured and not cherished.

There is no life to it without the life-giver.

The stress and fear that people of Israel were under when Jesus was born in Bethlehem is similar to how people feel in troubled parts of the world today; places where there is oppression and war. The Jews had been conquered, yet again, by a foreign power, this time the Romans and they were being ruled by a puppet monarchy. They were oppressed, like in the days of Moses, and were crying out to God for a deliverer. The song ‘O come, o come emmanuel’ resounds with this sentiment.

God in His goodness, mercy, faithfulness & grace heard their cries and sent Himself to be their Saviour, though he came in a way they could have never imagined.

So this advent, don’t allow the pressures to build up and lead you to ‘vent‘, but instead take time with Jesus, ‘Emmanuel – God with us’ and refocus upon the reason for the season (I know it sounds a bit trite, but it’s true) and allow his love to bring the peace to you that your heart needs.

Just like the Jewish people did all those many years ago, as you call our to God, He will be faithful to hear your cries and respond.

Let him know about your fears, your loneliness, your family troubles, your grief. He is big enough and strong enough to handle them all and bring the comfort you need.

Also if you want more information about Advent, perhaps you might like to check out a great resource from Youth for Christ – our Request website.

I’ll leave you now with a lovely song by Bebo Norman called Born to Die.

Be blessed and have a peaceful advent!

A Helping Hand!

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Hi all,

I hope you all enjoyed your Bank Holiday Monday!

Here at Llandudno Youth for Christ we have just had our ‘Refresh‘ mini Conference. It was a truly fantastic day.

We had great weather, great food (I’m slightly biased as I was the cook for the day), fantastic games, great teaching from the book of Philemon, really good campfire worship and time to relax with friends and make some new friends too.

We played Ultimate Frisbee, had a treasure hunt for mini-pictures of Nicholas Cage’s head hidden around the conference grounds, watched ‘Evan Almighty‘, played Parachute games & toasted some giant marshmallows around the aforementioned campfire.

I really hope that everyone who came had as much fun as myself and the rest of our amazing volunteers did.

Everyone was brilliant too. Our great volunteers were there from early in the morning till late at night, helping us set-up and pack away. They took part in all of the games, Bible studies and worship times. They truly were brilliant and really engaged well with the young people.

Some of our volunteers could only make part of the day, with one helping out with 1 part of the day, squeezing it in-between two shifts at work. Another stayed with us until they had to go to another youth group where they were helping out in another part of Wales.

We are so blessed to have some amazing volunteers on our team. Helping us reach out to the young people of Llandudno and beyond relevantly with the good news of Jesus.

We will definitely be needing them in the months ahead as we get ready for next week and the relaunch of all of our amazing events and projects as we head into a new academic year.

We will be relaunching ‘Redefine‘, ‘Reverb‘, ‘Recess‘, ‘After-hours‘ and ‘Spark‘ amongst others. We are very excited to see what God is going to do in and through the ministry of Llandudno Youth for Christ; but as you can see from the news above about the fantastic ‘Refresh‘ mini-conference; we can only hold such great events for the young people with the help of our amazing volunteers; some of whom we will be losing due to them moving away to go to University or due to other changes in their lives etc.

So we are asking for more amazing volunteers to lend us a ‘helping hand‘ with the work that we are doing. The apostle Paul had many people that helped him greatly in sharing the good news of Jesus. He even mentions in the book of Philemon how much ‘help’ Onesimus had been to him. In other epistles written by him, Paul mentions different people who have helped him; in his work of spreading the good news of Jesus, such as Onesiphorus, Epaphras, Luke & Mark.

If like the apostle Paul and the great men & women that worked with him to share the love of Jesus to those around than; you want to see lives transformed by the gospel; then perhaps it’s time to do something and volunteer with us a Llandudno Youth for Christ.

We’d appreciate your helping hands.

Be blessed!

Times of refreshing!

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Hi all, just wanted to let everyone know that this coming Wednesday 30th August we will be holding the last of our summer events!!! – Yikes where has time flown?!?!?!

Yes, this Wednesday 30th August we will be holding our annual ‘Refresh‘ mini conference.

It’s a great event that we hold every year during the summer at St David’s College in Llandudno. We have games, nature walks, BBQs & Bible talks. It always is a great time for all involved. We want to especially thank all of the staff at St David’s for allowing us the use of their amazing grounds and facilities for this mini-conference. Thank you!

This year we will be looking at the 3rd shortest book in the bible, ‘Philemon‘! Beaten to first spot for brevity by the Apostle John’s 2nd and 3rd Epistles. However as many of our young people know by now; brevity of a passage or even a book that is being studied does not mean that we will not get lots of life-changing revelation from studying it carefully and in context.

At LLYFC we pride ourselves on helping all of the young people that come to our events to be able to read and study the Bible by themselves for all it’s worth. For them to really know how to get to grips with God’s Word and be able to hear God speak to them personally through His eternal Word.

The Refresh Conference is another opportunity for us all to gather round God’s Word and grow in faith and be filled with the wisdom of God.

We will also have plenty of time hanging out and engaging in fun activities like ‘ultimate frisbee‘, ‘9 square‘ and singing around a campfire in the evening.

Also, let us not forget the food that we will be having whilst on the 1 day conference. We will be having a lip smacking barbecue; and as we are looking at ‘Philemon’ we will be having ‘Philly Cheesesteaks‘ as part of the barbecue.

We are really looking forward to the conference and pray that God would shape hearts and transform lives through it.

Please do continue to pray for the work of LLYFC, especially as we soon leave the summer behind and head towards the autumn and a new school year.

Be blessed!

Have a go..a Ninja-go..

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This coming Sunday night on August 27th at 6pm we will be hosting our final ‘God, Games & Goats‘ event of the summer. It will be a totally epic night of extreme awesomeness!

Not to be missed!

We will be hosting our very own ‘Ninja Warrior‘ night.

So come along to Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA; and join in the fun.

Ninja Warrior is a televised obstacle course competition that pits the competitors’ strength, dexterity & agility against the various obstacles that they must face. To see a obstacle course being tackled; check out this video of Canadian actor Stephen Amell (who plays the superhero Green Arrow on TV) as he competes during a special charity event.

At this Sunday’s ‘G,G,G’ we will be having our very own course for the young people to face up against and tackle. With prizes to boot!

We love hosting these kinds of events for the young people in Llandudno and beyond. It’s a great opportunity for them to meet up with friends, relax and have fun in a safe environment.

We are also, so very grateful to all of our supporters who faithfully uphold us in prayer; give their time to support the work that we do; and contribute financially to ensure that we can hold such great activities every week for the young people to come to.

Such as this coming Sunday’s obstacle course mega competition!

So thank you!

Talking of obstacles to overcome; in the Bible we are encouraged that with God’s help we can overcome any obstacle that comes our way. In Psalm 18 David composed a song praising God for his faithfulness in delivering God out of the hands of his enemies. He acknowledged that it was God that gave him the strength & ability to overcome the obstacles in front of him. You can also find this Psalm in 2 Samuel 22.

However we are also encouraged to not put obstacles in people’s way that hinders them from coming to God (See Romans 16 and 1 Corinthians 9 in context); especially young people: “People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” – Mark 10:13-15

We want to continue to allow young people the opportunity to meet with Jesus in a real and relevant way; and we continue to ask that you partner up with us and God in this endeavour. Continue to pray for us. Continue to support us. Continue to give your time to such a worthwhile ministry.

Thank you & be blessed!

This is war! – Nerf War!

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This Sunday the 13th of August we are holding one of our amazing ‘Nerf War’ nights. This Sunday the theme is ‘Geese v Goats‘.

This is due to the fact that LLYFC’s mascot is ‘Noa’ as small furry toy goat. She gets taken home by young people and volunteers alike and they get to do a photo diary of Noa’s week with them. We chose a goat due to the fact that in Llandudno on the Great Orme we have a herd of wild goats living there. We chose Geese for their opponents because Geese are well known for not having the best of temperaments.

So this fun farmyard themed battle is going to be exciting and not to be missed. on top of the Nerf War we are also going to be having it surrounded by a 1990’s themed disco. Retro to the max!

Come along wearing your grunge flannel shirt, Kappa tracksuit, wide leg jeans etc. to show off some of the crazy fashions of the decade!

It’ll be a great event and one to bring a friend along to; Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA. 6pm to 8pm.

We hope you can make it.

PS: We will do an aftermath blog post to let you know whether the Geese of the Goats emerged as the victors of the evening’s warfare!

Be blessed!

The Big Bounce Back!

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On the 29th of July, our intrepid centre director, Mr Tim Gough finally launched himself into empty space, attached to a 400ft high crane by a bungee cord – all with the aim of raising funds for our amazing charity LLYFC.

He was originally intended to take his leap of faith on Friday 28th of July, but due to high winds that had to be cancelled. His wife and mum & dad had travelled down with him to Chepstow in South Wales to support him as he jumped, but obviously due to the jump being cancelled they had to return up north without Tim as he spent the night praying that the weather would improve and he could finally jump.

His prayers were answered and on the Saturday morning Tim leaped all 400ft and reached a speed of up to 90mph as he hurtled earthward. Praise God he survived and has lived to tell the tale.

As of today we have raised over £3,000 towards sponsoring Tim’s Big Jump. This is great. We are still receiving in monies that have been pledged, so we may well still attain our goal of £5,000 raised. There is still time to support Tim for having done such an insane feat of daring. You can donate here.

We want to thank everyone who has donated to Tim’s Big Jump so far; thank you. We also want to thank the UK Bungee Club for holding this amazingly high bungee jump.

Thank you to all of the local churches that have supported Tim also as he took this leap.

Also a big thank you to everyone who was praying for Tim as he did his Big Jump. We are so grateful for your faithfulness in praying and also grateful to God for answering those prayers.

“Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].” – 1 Corinthians 13:7 (In the Amplified Bible)

This verse came too mind when thinking about Tim’s jump; because it took no-small measure of resilience for Tim to go through with the jump; especially after it was cancelled due to high winds. He also needed to have a resilient bungee; one that wasn’t frayed at the edges, but one that would support his weight and bounce back. One that would endure.

The bungee ‘bore‘ his weight, Tim ‘believed’ he could do the jump and ‘hoped‘ that it would go well and he ‘endured‘ the slow escalation of the crane as it extended up to 400ft in the air.

Why did he do all of this?

The short answer, to raise the needed funds for the work that we do at LLYFC.

However that is just the short answer; the full answer is that he jumped because Tim believes in the message that we have to share; as the apostle Paul said “Sooner or later we’ll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad. That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure. It’s no light thing to know that we’ll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That’s why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God… If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.” – 2 Corinthians 5:10-14 

Tim believes in Jesus and the good news that He brings; and it is the love of God that moves Tim to leap from over 400ft headlong towards the earth; all to ultimately see more and more young people connecting with God and being transformed by His love.

Have a great week and be blessed!

 

Boxing Clever!

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We held the first of our ‘God, Goats & Games’ nights last night. A lot of fun was had as we battled around a box fort! ?

It was a great way to start off the Summer’s activities. It was also a perfect opportunity for us to test out our box fort building skills in preparation for a bigger box fort event that we will be holding in November.

In November, we will be holding our next ‘Spark‘ event at Gloddaeth Church and be building a big box fort. It will be a lot of fun and not to be missed.

Keep your eyes peeled to our blog post or our Facebook & Twitter pages for updates.

The building of the box fort also made me think of how we are called by God to encourage each other and ‘build each other up’. The other word often used for this is edifying or edification. It comes from the same root as the word edifice which means ‘a large imposing building’. The word comes from late Middle English: via Old French from Latin aedificium, from aedis ‘dwelling’ + facere ‘make’. So in essence it is to make a dwelling.

As disciples of Jesus; Christians are adopted into God’s family and become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. So let us build each other up in the faith. Let us encourage each other in our walk with God. Let us help each other make a dwelling place in our hearts, lives, churches & communities for God’s Spirit to dwell. For Him to move amongst us and bring salvation, healing, restoration, life and transformation.

Be blessed!