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‘.

 

Outstanding!

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In this blog post I want to commend the amazing young people that come to the events that we hold. They truly are outstanding!

Often in so many ways young people are looked down upon and disrespected by those that are supposedly older and wiser. Sometimes this does hold water, and the young people in question are not acting or behaving in a way that will earn them any respect because they are not giving any. However, this is often because they have not had the good role models and input that they need from those that have more life-experience.

Equally though, young people should never be written off because of their age. Indeed, throughout the Bible we see examples of God using young men and women who have a passion to serve and follow Him. Young people such a King David, Mary, Esther, Jeremiah, Joseph & Timothy. These are just a small sampling of such individuals within the pages of God’s Word. As Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” – 1 Timothy 4:12.

Last night at ‘Redefine‘ our amazing young people did just that. A handful of them presented short 5 minute talks in-front of their peers. Talks about various topics, but all centred firmly around their Christian faith. They were inspirational; and it was so good to see what God is doing in their lives. In a day and age, where the young people can be written off and side-lined, it was great to see so many of them stepping up to the plate with a strong voice; declaring the truth of God and having a voice that needs to be heard. Heard by their peers at school and in the community. Heard by parents and teachers, pastors and preachers. Old and young, weak and strong. Sorry started to get a bit poetic there.

The young people are not the church of the future, they are the church of today, and have a voice that needs to be heard.

In the book of Deuternomy God commands His people regarding His laws, to “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates,..” – Deut 11:18-20.

We have a responsibility as God’s people to guide and instruct our young people in the way of following God. At Llandudno Youth for Christ, this is our main aim, to share the gospel relevantly with the young people in Llandudno and beyond. We want to see God’s love at work transforming lives and changing hearts.

Last Sunday night at ‘Redefine‘, we had great testimonies of just that; young lives transformed by the power of the good news of Jesus.

So I not only want to applaud all of our young people, but I also want to applaud all of the parents, teachers, church leaders, church members, Sunday school teachers and friends that support the work that we do at Llandudno Youth for Christ. Upholding us in prayer. Giving much needed finances to the work that we do. Faithfully supporting us in the Reverb Saturday Cafe @ St John’s. Taking part in and volunteering at events we hold, and spreading the word about the work that we do in your churches and beyond.

Thank you.

Keep on doing what you are doing. Like our amazing young people, keep on being outstanding.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:17

Be blessed!

Walrus cruise anyone?

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Hi all, just a quick post about a great opportunity coming up this Easter holidays.

The Walrus Cruise; a Christian voluntary organisation which provides sailing holidays for boys and girls from the ages of 13 to 18; is having their Easter Cruise this year between the 8th and 15th of April, and they still have spaces available for this great adventure holiday opportunity.

The Walrus Cruise started in 1924 and today operates on the inland waterways of the Norfolk Broads and the coastal waters of the Western Isles of Scotland. It’s aim is help young people explore, grow and develop in their Christian faith.

The first official cruise took place when Joe & Bill Church took five teenage boys on a single yacht, way back in 1924. At the time that the first cruise took place, each of the local boatmen who earned a living on the water used to wear a distinctive drooping moustache that made him look a bit like a bull walrus., this inspired the name for the cruise.

Despite many changes to the types of yachts used over the years and the technological improvements that have been made to the yachts; the cruises still provide a challenging environment where each person can have great fun and, at the same time, learn more about themselves and their faith.

Many of Jesus’ first disciples were young men and teenagers who worked on the Sea of Galilee and were aware of the rigours and challenges of working on the water. One of them even walked on the water with Jesus.

I love it how God can speak to us so well through the world around us, and personally, having grown up on the island of Anglesey, I have a strong affinity for the water, and love sailing, so I can understand how this adventure holiday can really be a life-changing experience for those that decide to step aboard a Walrus Cruise.

If you want to have an adventure this Easter, deepen your faith, and learn great skills that will be with you for the rest of your life, then why not consider checking out the Walrus Cruise.

 

 

Theobibliophiles Rule!

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This is a bit of a follow up from our last Blog post. The title of the post is meant to get people thinking ‘what does that mean?’, ‘what are they talking about?’ Let’s break it down…

Theo – God or of God.

Bibiliophile – lover of books.

So the title is saying that people who love God’s books (The Bible) rule. They’re ok. It’s an encouragement for people to get into the Word of God, just like the Bereans in the book of Acts chapter 17 (read it here).

At our ‘Monthly Meet‘ we had a great time looking at some up to date research on youth work ‘small groups’ from ‘Youthscape’ – “A  national youth work organisation working for the good of young people of all faiths and none”. Check out their findings here.

Then we looked at John 2:1-12 and spent time in groups underlining, highlighting, circling and writing on the handouts to really try and get to grips with the passage we were studying. It was great!

My handout with its myriad of scrawls is just here ->

It was great to read, study and discuss the Bible, with no other agenda than to let the Bible speak for itself. Not have a Bible Study with leading questions and tailored results, but rather be open to letting God speak to us as a group and as individuals from the passage we are studying. It’s something I would really encourage everyone to get into. Let’s be Theobibliophiles in 2017 and beyond!

I also love our ‘Monthly Meet‘ training nights. They are an invaluable resource for youth workers in the North Wales area, and I really get a lot out of all of the training that is done at these events.

Our theme for next month is looking at how to get kids involved in church more. Looking at how to help them engage with church life in their community; and we have a fantastic speaker for this; Andy Hughes, the director of Urban Saints in Wales. He has a wealth of experience in youth work and this is a not to be missed night. Do come along; Monday 20th February, 7pm @ Ty Llywelyn Community Centre.

If you want to come to our ‘Monthly Meet‘ and be kept informed about when the next free training evening is being held, then subscribe to our mailing list on our Blog post homepage (top right hand corner of the screen) or email us in the office asking to be added to the ‘Monthly Meet‘ mail-out. Also, please let anyone you know that you think would benefit from this great resource know about it.

Finally, in-order to continue to hold such great training evenings for free, we need on-going financial support from our local community and beyond.

We love it when someone generously gives finance to support the work that we do at LLYFC, and especially if it is a monthly direct debit or standing order; as it assures us of regular income for the various ministry work we are doing; like the ‘Monthly Meet‘ training events.

Thank you to all of our regular givers, we really appreciate all of your support for what we are doing to impact generations with the good news of Jesus. If you want to support us financially, you can do this by filling out a support form and sending it to our office; or via our ‘Give.net‘ online donations page.

LLYFC Financial Support Form 2016

Thank you!

 

 

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