God, Goats & Games

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Hi all, on Sunday 30th July we will have held our first ‘God, Goats & Games’ night of the summer.

This is an event in the summer that we home that combines the best elements of our ‘Redefine‘ Bible study from Sunday nights, with our ‘Reverb‘ Thursday after school drop-in youth club.

We hold these throughout the summer; every Sunday at 6pm to 8pm at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA.

It’s a great opportunity to meet up with your friends & have great fun with games, food and talks.

We will be having different special events for each night. On our first night we will be having a ‘Box Fort’ ?event. What is that?!?! Come along & find out. On Sunday 6th August we will be hosting a Disney ?sing along! ? 13th August will be a Nerf battle ?to end all Nerf battles (Goats v Geese), on the 20th we will be watching a movie ? together, and on our last night the 27th of August we will be hosting a ‘Ninja Warrior’ night! Hiya! ???

We hope you can come along & enjoy these fun nights together.

Be blessed!

Suits you sir!

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This coming Sunday the 23rd of July, we have our last ‘Redefine‘ Sunday evening Bible study for this academic year!

To celebrate the evening we are having an awards ceremony with food, lights, fun, food, suits, dresses, food & of course awards! A mini Oscars or Bafta type night to celebrate the end of the year and launch us into the Summer.

Then in less than a week later our director Mr Tim Gough will be jumping from an insanely high platform attached to a bungee rope. He will be jumping 400ft and reach a maximum travelling speed of 90mph and the whole jump will only take him just over 5 seconds to do this! Though I’m sure it will seem a lot longer to Tim as he plummets headlong to the ground!

Why on earth is he doing this?

He is doing it to raise some much needed funds for the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ. In fact he is aiming to raise £5,000 in total with his jump. If you want to sponsor him in this, then donate here.

Let’s jump back to our awards evening now.

The night will be for us an opportunity to celebrate with each other, but also to celebrate each other. To give awards that recognise the contributions that each volunteer and young person that attends ‘Redefine‘ has brought to make our Sunday evening bible Study such a fun place to be.

It will also be a chance for us all to dress up; sort of like an end of school prom and also a chance for us to start the Summer holidays with a bang.

At LLYFC we love being able to bless the young people that come to the events that we do. We also love being able to honour them and also the volunteers that work so hard to see lives changed by the good news of Jesus.

“Love each other with genuine affection,and take delight in honouring each other.” – Romans 12:10

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.” – Romans 1:16

So this coming Sunday’s awards ceremony is a great opportunity for us to bless and honour the young people that come to ‘Redefine‘.

We will also be able to let them know about the plethora of great events we have planned for over the Summer.

(Check out our LLYFC Summer Events Flyer 2017  for more information.)

So there is a lot going on here at Llandudno Youth for Christ; please be praying for us and the work that we do. Pray that God would use everything that we do to change lives and share His love. Also pray that God would send more workers to help us in the work that we do; or if you are one of those who would like to get involved, please contact us.

Have a great week and a great Summer.

Be blessed!

Waiting for the summer…

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Hi all, some of you might recognise the lyric & title to a less well known Delirious? song. I thought it linked well into the fact that in less than 12 days time the schools will close for the summer!

Until then, there are so many young people simply ‘waiting for the summer’.

At Llandudno Youth for Christ, we also have a whole host of fun events that are going to be held during the summer school break.

Just one week after schools close our very own director, Mr Tim Gough, will be finally taking the plunge with Tim’s Big Jump! We are so excited for him in doing this! He will be jumping over 400ft from the highest bungee jump in the UK and is aiming to raise £5,000 for the work of LLYFC. Please support him, especially as we draw closer to the jump day of the 28th of July.

In August we have some more fun days to look forward to.

On Tuesday 1st of August we will be holding our overnight youth event at Gloddaeth Church: ‘The Lock-In‘; this is a fun evening for all the young people, with games, a movie, Bible studies and times of prayer and worship together.

Then on Thursday 3rd August we will be holding a picnic and water fight on the green outside the Lighthouse Church on the West Shore of Llandudno.

Finally we a capping off the summer with our great mini-conference ‘Refresh‘ at St. David’s College in Llandudno.

We are looking forward to hosting these great events for the young people in Llandudno and beyond.

Please be praying for all of these events. Praying for the volunteers and young people involved. Praying that God would change lives at each event.

Also, please consider sponsoring Tim as he jumps over 400ft on the 28th July.

Be blessed!

We want you!

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Not the great British Bake-Off, but this Summer we are looking for some enthusiastic and fun-loving volunteers to help us out with our Reverb Saturday Cafe @ St John’s.

We are always looking for more wonderful volunteers at this great endeavour that creates a safe and friendly environment on a Saturday for shoppers to rest and relax and chat over a nice cup of tea or coffee and nibble a cake. For those wanting something more substantial, we do freshly cooked filled french crepes & yummy toasted sandwiches.

It’s a really busy and fun day for all involved; and it is great to be part of something that brings joy to so many.

However, this Summer, especially on Saturday 29th of July & Saturday 12th of August, we are, due to people being away or unavailable, a little short staffed on those days. So if you know how to make a toasted sandwich, or are an ace with a tea bag and a cake slice, or you feel that you can take & deliver orders with vim and vigour; then we would love to hear from you.

And don’t be fearful that you don’t have what it takes; after all, in the wonderful words of wisdom from ‘Ratatouille’; “Anyone can cook“. So if that’s you, drop us a line and put on your apron.

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” – Romans 12:6-8

If you have been gifted with the gift of serving; then this is a great opportunity for you.

Contact us by email: llandudnoyfc@gmail.com or ring the LLYFC office on: 07517 429763 (Mondays & Thursday 9am to 5pm and Fridays 9am to 1pm)

Be blessed!

A great time that you can bank on!

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This coming Saturday 27th May; Llandudno Youth for Christ will be holding the second of our ‘Reverb Cafe @ St John’s‘ of the month of May.

We hold our cafe’s normally on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, sometimes the fifth Saturday, if there is one.

The Reverb Cafe @ St John’s is open from 10:30am to 2:30pm on the respective Saturdays.

Having a meal at the cafe is a great way to support the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ, as money raised by the cafe goes towards the financing of the various events and projects we run for the young people in Llandudno and beyond.

So, you can enjoy a tasty cake and a warming cup of tea or coffee, whilst meeting up with friends or taking a break from shopping and in doing so you are helping support the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ.

This Saturday’s cafe is going to be running during a bank holiday week-end, so it’ll be all hands on deck.

We are so thankful that we have such a great, dedicated team of volunteers that serve in our ‘Reverb Cafe @ St John’s‘. They truly are amazing and we wouldn’t be able to run the cafe without them.

If you do pop into the cafe this Saturday you can have a freshly prepared sandwich, toastie, cake, hot & cold drink, all served with a smile. It’s a little haven of rest and repose on the Llandudno high street, where you can have a good chat with friends. A place to sit-down and collect yourself amidst a busy bank holiday week-end, full of people going here and there. It will be well worth dropping by, and on this ‘Bank holiday week-end’; you can definitely ‘bank‘ on a good time there.

Also, to note, if you, yourself, would like to help out & volunteer your time at the Reverb Cafe @ St John’s; then please do drop us a line.

We are always grateful to have more amazing volunteers to help us with the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ.

Back to this coming bank holiday week-end. Whatever you do, we pray that it will be a blessed time.

Be blessed!

 

 

Egg-sellent!

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Happy first Monday after the Easter holidays!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Easter break and that we find you on this first Monday after the Easter holidays, full of the joys of spring and not suffering from an overindulgence of chocolate eggs!

I was meant to post the following on Easter Monday; but due to the busyness of the holiday break, it slipped my mind. Sorry. Hope you enjoy the post.

Easter Monday is a holiday celebration in over 100 countries. In some countries it has different names. In South Africa it is known as ‘Family Day’, and is viewed as a day to spend time with friends and family. In Egypt it is known as Sham el-Nisim (Egyptian Arabic: شم النسيم‎‎,) – meaning literally “smelling of the breeze”. On this day people spend the day picnicking in any green spaces, such as public gardens, on the Nile, or at the zoo. They traditionally eat fesikh (a fermented, salted and dried grey mullet), lettuce, green onions, tirmis, and colored boiled eggs (Easter eggs).

Again we come back to the eggs.

Those eggs that now come in so many colours, shapes & sizes.

As regards the origins of those eggs. As spoken so wisely by a young scottish girl to her dad; the little girls asks ‘Is the Easter Bunny in the bible?’ The exchange is hilarious, but it certainly gives you some food for thought about how we celebrate Easter. You can see the original video here.

The whole Easter bunny thing could be a throwback to the pre-Christian festival of spring where the goddess Ēostre is worshipped. There is debate about whether this goddess of the dawn was a true ‘deity’ or just an invention by the venerable Bede; but that’s a debate not to be held here. Be that as it may, she was linked with the idea of spring, new life, fecundity & love. Hares were associated with her as a symbol of fertility. I guess eggs speak the same message. One of new life.

The Persian Zoroastrians had a celebration called Nowruz, that marks the Spring Equinox and as part of this celebration painted eggs were eaten. Again representing new life and fertility.

So it is not such a strange idea that early Christians adopted the practice and imagery of the painted eggs for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. The eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus and the breaking of them can be seen as the stone being rolled away from the tomb and Jesus rising from the dead. In Orthodox Christianity the eggs are painted red to remind us of the blood Jesus shed on the cross.

So whatever you think about Easter eggs and their origins; it is good to be reminded that Jesus is alive.

Death is defeated.

He has come to give us new life (John 10:10, John 11:25).

His blood has paid the price for our forgiveness (Colossians 1)

Be blessed this Spring and celebrate the King!

Have your cake and eat it?

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This Sunday the 26th of March is ‘Mothering Sunday‘, or more popularly known as ‘Mothers Day‘. On this day people around the world send cards and give gifts to their mothers, or people who have acted as mother figures in their lives. It is a great time of honouring our mothers and thanking God for them and their presence in our lives.

Originally however, ‘Mothering Sunday‘ was about people visiting the ‘mother church‘ of their region for a large joint celebration of worshipping God. This was common practice during the sixteenth century, where people would return to their ‘mother church‘, which would be either the main Parish church or Cathedral of the area or region. To do this, one was said to have gone ‘a-mothering‘. In later times, ‘Mothering Sunday‘ was the day upon which domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother church, usually with their own mothers and other family members. Normally opportunities for families of those in domestic service, to spend time together in such a way would be impossible, due to the work demands of their position. So this day was a real blessing to them.

As part of the tradition of celebrating ‘Mothering Sunday‘ people often baked a ‘Simnel Cake‘ to eat on this day midway through Lent as part of the celebration of their time with their families. And for those of us who like myself, have special dietary needs, here is a recipe for a gluten free etc. ‘Simnel Cake‘. This was a treat to be had during the 40 day period of ‘fasting‘ that Lent is traditionally held to be. A Simnel Cake is a light fruit cake with two layers of marzipan, one in the middle and one on top, that is toasted, and eaten during the Easter period. Traditionally it also has 11 or 12 balls of marzipan on the top that represent the 12 disciples minus Judas, or the 12 disciples minus Judas with Jesus.

On this Mothering Sunday we will also be holding our regular Sunday Evening Bible Study – ‘Redfine‘ at 6pm to 8pm. We will also be holding our monthly prayer meeting for all of our supporters to come join us to pray for the work we do in Llandudno and beyond. If you want to come along and support the work that we do, then please join us on Sunday 26th March at 7pm in Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA. We hope you can make it.

Even if you can’t; let us celebrate Mothering Sunday this Sunday by thanking God for our mothers and spending time with our families. Let us also join together with our local church community and thank God for his goodness to us; and perhaps have a bit of cake too.

Be blessed!

It’s a jolly Holi Day!

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The Hindu festival of Holi (in Sanskrit: होली ) is currently being celebrated. This festival is known for its vibrant colours; and indeed it is also called the ‘festival of colours’ or the ‘festival of love’. The festival celebrates the end of winter and the start of spring and represents the triumph of good over evil. On this day hindus focus on the day as a time to have fun, celebrate, play, laugh, forget the wrongs of the past, forgive and repair broken relationships. It is also a time for people to give thanks for a good harvest.

The festival lasts for two days, starting on Sunday 12th March this year, and ending on Monday 13th of March.

After all of the fun flinging coloured powder and water at each other, people clean themselves up in the evening and go visit friends and family.

In reading up about Holi and its traditions and the stories associated with it, I couldn’t but help think of the scripture in Ecclesiastes 3, which states that “He [God] has also set eternity in the human heart“. When I look at other faiths from around the globe, and even some films that are being madetoday, I am aware of echoes and hints of the gospel that are being displayed. Hints and touches that show that God’s great story of redemption and love through His Son Jesus is in some way resonating in every human heart, even if they do not fully know or understand it.

Jesus is the one who overcame evil with good on the cross. Jesus is the one who saves us from the fires of judgement. It is through Jesus that we are forgiven and by His presence and power in our lives that we are able to forgive others. Jesus repaired the broken relationship that mankind had with God. And Jesus is God’s love in action. God’s love revealed.

In his book “The lion, witch and the wardrobe“, C.S. Lewis writes “Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” In this allegory, Aslan represents Jesus; and Jesus takes away the death of winter to replace it with the celebration of new life, the celebration of spring.

As regards the festival of colour; what is more colourful than a rainbow?

In the story of Noah we have God promising to not flood the earth again, and for the rainbow to be the sign of God’s faithfulness to us. Also in the book of Revelation, when John sees the throne in heaven he describes the following “And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.” – Revelation 4:3. Jesus, the King of kings is encircled by a rainbow as He sits triumphant on His throne.

In fact, for us as Christians, the great celebration that we are looking forward to is when Christ returns, triumphant and takes us to be with Him. It is at this great harvest at the end of the age where we will be singing our praise and thanks to God for redeeming and delivering us. It will be a time where the past is forgotten. Indeed God Himself will wipe away every tear. It will be a time full of colour, love, forgiveness, restoration. All other celebrations, such as a wedding celebration, are but shadows of what is to come.

So on this day when many people around the world are celebrating Holi; let us celebrate our great Saviour, Redeemer, Lover, Forgiver, Friend and King – Jesus!

It’s all about Him and it will always be about Him!

Be blessed!

 

“There’s a wind a blowin’…”

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As Storm Doris hits the UK with it’s full force of gales and lashing rain; I couldn’t but think of the line from the David Ruis worship song ‘Sweet Wind‘ – “There’s a wind a blowin’…” Though the wind from Storm Doris is not as pleasant as the ‘sweet wind’ of God’s presence that David Ruis describes; I think the Psalmist in Psalm 29 accurately describes the power and majesty of our God; a power that immeasurably dwarfs the gusts and blows of the storm we are currently going through.

Indeed, when feeling buffeted and blown about by life’s troubles and turmoils, there is no safer haven than in the arms of the One at whose voice, the very wind and sea is stilled. It is safe with ‘Jesus, lover of my soul‘ that we can feel secure, knowing that He is stronger than the wind and the rain of life’s circumstances that can beat against our souls.

Thinking about this reminds me of another song that God used to help me through a difficult period of my life; Third Day’s ‘When the rain comes.‘ God spoke to me so clearly by saying that He would be with me every step of the way.

It is so great that because of Jesus, we now can come to God whenever and wherever with whatever is on our hearts.  The way is now open, it is a new and living way, through Jesus. God is with us now, and prayer (talking to God) is such an awesome privilege.

Especially when going through life’s storms.

We are not alone.

He is with us in the storm.

This coming Sunday 26th February we will be having our monthly prayer meeting at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA; 7-8pm.

We hope you can come and join us to pray for the work that God is doing in the lives of young people in North Wales.

Let’s not be discouraged by life’s storms, but let us meet together and talk with the great storm stiller, Jesus.

Be blessed!

 

“What is love?”

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I’m sure some people after reading the title of this blog post are singing out loud or at least in their heads the tune of the 1993 song ‘What is love?’ by Haddaway. But it is not the song that prompted this blog post, rather, it is because last night at ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening young person’s Bible study, we held a joint meeting with pupils of St David’s College in one of their halls.

The topic of the night, given that this Tuesday is Valentine’s day: February 14th, was ‘What is love?’

With so many songs written about love, like the Haddaway one, it must be something important to us, to humanity; but what is it? Why do we spend so much time, money and effort on this thing called love?

Our centre director Tim Gough gave a great short talk about what love is from a Christian perspective, after giving the young people time to discuss amongst themselves what they thought love was.

Some of the answers were, love for animals, love for food, love for family; but we still had no clarity on what love is.

So, we turned to the Bible, specifically John 3:16. Tim spoke of how God is the creator and originator of love. If we want to know what love is, and what it is all about, then we need to go to its inventor, its creator to find out what it really is.

As 1 John 4:8 says, ‘God is love‘. So everything that love truly is, God is; and “This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his one and only Son into the world so that we could have life through him. This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins.” – 1 John 4:9-10.

So this Valentine’s day with all of its roses, fluffy hearts and trinkets, remember what love truly is. God sending His only Son Jesus to die in our place on a cross. Let us say a big thank you to Him for His great love for us. If you want a love song for Valentine’s day; check out Matt Redman’s ‘This is how we know.” There is also an explanation of the background to the song here.

We hope you have a great Valentine’s day; and even if you do not receive a single card through the mail; don’t forget that the Creator of the Universe loves you.

Be Blessed!