For Yours is the Kingdom…

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We have just 1 week left at Redefine of our series focussing on the Lord’s Prayer. Last Sunday night we looked at ‘Give us our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’.

This coming Sunday we will be looking at ‘For Yours is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, for ever and ever, Amen.’ I love how the prayer starts and finishes with us focussing on God.

We are trusting in Him, our Father, to answer our prayers; so it’s great knowing that the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory are His. All that we do is in Him, through Him and for Him.

Please be praying for the young people as we finish off looking at the Lord’s Prayer, that they would see how truly amazing God is and that their faith in Him would grow and become more firmly established.

Also this week all over the North Wales coast, from Holyhead to Prestatyn, the Higher Tour is taking place. This is a great outreach event that we are praying will produce much fruit as young people hear the gospel presented to them in relevant and meaningful ways.

We’re really excited and expectant over what God is going to do in the lives of young people in North Wales this week. This is a great opportunity. Please be praying for the week’s events.

Thank you and Be blessed!

 

Give us this day…

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This is the 3rd Blog post in our ‘Lord’s Prayer’ series.

This coming Sunday we will be looking at the part of the prayer that goes ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ – Matthew 6:11

I love how it is put in the Passion Translation – “We acknowledge you as our Provider of all we need each day”

This is such a great truth to learn. To know that God is our provider, that the one who clothes the lilies of the field and who provides food for the birds is the loving Father who provides all we need each day.

As a charity, we at Llandudno Youth for Christ know this to be so true. Many times we have seen the provision of God come through for the work we do in reaching out to the young people in this area and beyond with the good news of Jesus.

So feel encouraged that God knows your situation and He loves you and wants to meet all your needs with the provision of heaven.

Also, please be praying for the work that we do, that we would see more of the provision of God in 2020 as we aim to reach further and higher, to see more young people come to know Jesus. Also please be praying for Tim’s Big Trek, that we would raise a phenomenal amount of money for this sponsored event, and that our director Tim Gough would be upheld and protected by God as he trains for and then takes on the challenge of climbing from Snowdon to Everest.

Have a great week and be blessed!

Our Father who is in heaven…

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For the next couple of weeks at Redefine, we are going to be looking at prayer by studying the  ‘Lord’s Prayer’. The prayer can be found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. In the passage from Luke Jesus tells them the prayer in response to His disciples asking Him to teach them how to pray.

It is a great part of scripture and really informs us well on how to pray.

I love the start especially as it focusses us first and foremost on the one we are praying to: God.

Our Father.

But not God as an impersonal omni-being that has created the universe and now stands apart from His creation, but ‘our Father’. Intimate and in relationship with His creatures. And it is not my Father, your Father, or their father, but our Father. There is personal and corporate ownership and belonging to the name Father. God is ours just as we are His. We are all His children, loved and treasured. We are all also brothers and sisters, equally loved.

Who is in heaven.

The Father we are praying to is above all. He reigns in the heavens where everything is under His feet. There is no situation or circumstance that we can bring to Him that is too big or too difficult for Him to deal with.

Hallowed be your name.

There is reverence in the prayer. Worship of God is the starting place of prayer. We lift our eyes up to our Father in heaven and ask that His name be kept holy in our lives and the lives of those around us.

And all of that is just in the start of the prayer. It is so rich and full and life changing.

Sometimes we say it too often by rote and miss all the beauty in it. Try reading it prayerfully this week, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you more of God’s heart.

Also, please be praying for us and the young people as we look through the Lord’s prayer in the next couple of weeks. Pray that their relationship with God would grow and deepen as we look at the model prayer that Jesus gave us.

Be blessed!

New Year, New Opportunities!

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Well we’ve all returned from our week away in Manchester at the Youth for Christ National Conference. It was as usual a brilliant conference with encouraging talks, stimulating Bible studies and thought provoking seminars.

We as Llandudno Youth for Christ even ran one of our brilliant ‘Nerf Wars’ on the last day of the conference. This was a definite hit with all who took part.

We’re now back and raring to go. Ready for all that God has in store for us in 2020.

We’re looking forward to our first Redefine of 2020 this coming Sunday 12th January; and the rest of our various projects and ministries will all be starting up again after the Christmas break.

Thank you for all of your prayers for us during the conference. We were certainly encouraged and blessed by all the great input we received.

Please continue to pray for us and the work we are doing.

Please pray for the coming week with all of our projects starting up again. Pray that we would be able to share more of God’s transforming love with the young people; telling them about the good news of Jesus.

Thank you and be blessed!

National Conference Here We Come!

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On Monday 6th January a group of workers and volunteers from Llandudno Youth for Christ have travelled to Manchester to take part in the Youth for Christ National Conference.

This is a great annual event where Youth for Christ centres from all over the UK and even some from overseas, come together to pray, worship and grow in their relationship with God. It is always a great time and it really sets us up well for the year ahead.

Here is a short word about the conference:-

“Our conference theme is Transform. As you know we have been on a journey of change over the last few years; at the very heart of change is the desire to be transformed! At Youth for Christ we seek to be significantly transformed

at every level, starting with ourselves, then our ministry
and ultimately a nation of young people. We don’t desire change for change’s sake but the transformation that comes through close proximity to Jesus.

We will be unpacking the richness of Romans 12 and its impact on us as leaders. Each day we will have inspirational Bible teaching, life giving seminars and workshops, and soul-refreshing evenings of ministry. Conference 2020 will be bold and courageous as we seek to explore transformation that starts with us and finishes with young people’s lives being changed by Jesus.

I hope that you leave refreshed, encouraged and energised to see more young people’s lives changed by Jesus.

Blessings,

Neil O’Boyle

National Director”

Please be praying for the team from Llandudno Youth for Christ that have gone to the conference. Pray that they would hear clearly from God and come back envisioned for 2020.

Be blessed!

The holidays are here!

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Well, we’ve only got just over 1 week left of 2019. It’s been a great year for us here at Llandudno Youth for Christ. We’ve seen young people make decisions to follow Jesus, we’ve seen others grow and develop in their relationship with God. We’ve shared the good news of Jesus with thousands of young people.

In our different projects we’ve seen God graciously growing a community of young people that are engaging with questions of faith.

We’ve seen God come through for us in so many areas including financially. It truly has been a blessed year.

So much so, that we are moving into 2020 with expectant hearts, looking forward to seeing and partaking in all that God has in store for us.

Please do continue to support us in prayer, with finances and with your time. We really do appreciate it, and let’s see God do amazing things in the lives of young people in Llandudno and beyond in 2020.

Have a truly blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year from everyone here at Llandudno Youth for Christ!

Celebrate Good Times!

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Last Sunday night we held the last Redefine of 2019, in fact it was the last Redefine of the decade. Wow!

To celebrate we had a sumptuous banquet of Christmassy food and an epic Christmas Quiz!

We had decorated the main hall for the evening with Christmas trees and fairy lights festooning the walls. It was brilliant!

Everyone got stuck into both the food and the quiz.

It was so much fun and the brilliant send off to what has been a fantastic year.

This season we have looked at what worship is. How we worship God, how we encourage ourselves in our worship of God and how we encourage each other in our worship of God. We’ve also looked at who Jesus is in the lead up to Christmas and gone through our brilliant ‘We believe’ series.

It has truly been a brilliant and blessed year and we are so grateful to God for all that He has done in and through the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ.

We thank you for all your support in 2019. Support that allows us the privilege to share the amazing good news of Jesus with an amazing bunch of young people. Thank you.

That said, let us look forwards to a blessed and prosperous 2020.

Be blessed!

Noel!

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Well, Christmas is almost upon us. Only 22 – 23 days to go. I’ve put up my Christmas decorations and soon will be up to my elbows in wrapping paper. Here at Llandudno Youth for Christ we are also preparing for Christmas. We’ve just finished our series looking at what worship is at Redefine and for the next 3 weeks we will be looking at the Christmas story and its significance for us as Christians.

We will be especially looking at the fact that Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us.

We will be looking at His Godhood and His humanity. What does it really mean for Jesus to be both fully God and fully man? Why does He need to be fully God and fully man?

I love this time of the year, where we get to sing songs about Jesus and we focus on the amazing truth that God himself became a baby. Weak, little & dependent upon Mary & Joseph to look after and care for Him.

Wow!

God comes to us in the most unobtrusive and humble way, but that is more often the case, that God meets us in our day to day lives, not with fanfare and pomp, but in humility and love. Coming to meet us where we are at to bring us hope, joy & love. To lift us up to where He is.

We have such an amazing God and Saviour.

Please be praying for us at this Christmas time. Praying that the young people will be excited by the Christmas story. That they will see how amazing God’s love is and why Jesus had to come as a little baby.

Thank you and Be blessed!

From the heavens to the nations

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Last Sunday night we concluded our series on worship at Redefine. We looked at the topic ‘Worship Out‘. This was speaking about how during worship we are to encourage each other in our worship of God. Our worship, as well as being directed towards God, is also focussed outwards to encourage those around us to worship God.

The title of this blog post is a line from the Hillsong worship song ‘Hear our Praises‘. In the chorus, the song lyrics go like this ‘from the mountains to the valleys, hear our praises rise to You. From the heavens to the nations, hear the singing fill the air‘. The worship is not only aimed at God, but is focussed outwards calling all of creation to join in worshipping God.

This is like the Psalmist in Psalm 148, who calls different parts of creation to worship God. From angels, to the sun, moon & stars, all are called upon to worship God. Interestingly enough another Hillsong worship song is based upon this psalm: ‘Great in Power‘. The psalm goes on to call upon all creatures, kings and nations, young and old to worship God. There is no-one and nothing that is not called upon to worship God.

So when we get together to worship God, our focus is inward to encourage ourselves to worship God, upwards to put all our focus on worshipping God for who He is and outwards as we encourage others and indeed the whole of creation to worship the Creator and Saviour of us all.

We have loved leading the young people through this series, giving them a greater understanding of what worship is and how worship touches upon all aspects of life. Please be praying for the young people, that having been encouraged by this teaching series, they will grow in a develop their own worship of God that is inward, upward and outward.

Be blessed!

Worship Up!

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At ‘Redefine’ we are currently doing a series looking at worship.

Before the half-term we looked at ‘Worship In‘: how we encourage ourselves to worship God. We focus inwards to encourage ourselves to worship God, despite how we are feeling. As King David says in Psalm 103 – “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:..” Just like David we remember in worship the goodness of God and all the blessings He showers upon us and this helps us refocus on God as both the source and goal of our worship.

This Sunday evening just gone we looked at ‘Worship Up‘. This is where all of our attention and focus is upon God in worship. In Psalm 121, the Psalmist encourages us to lift up our heads, to look up, above our circumstances and situations to the God who is stronger and mightier than mountains.

After the teaching on worship, which was taken from Psalm 63, where we looked at how King David, despite being in a desert, had a longing for God that was greater than his need for water; we finished our time of teaching by responding in worship ourselves and singing together the song ‘Waymaker’.

Next week we will be looking at ‘Worship Out’. This is where we look outwards in our worship to encourage those around us to worship God. As seen ins Psalm 117, everyone is encouraged to praise God.

It’s really great giving the young people that come to Redefine a good foundation in worship. Please do be praying for us as we finish this series on worship and then start preparing for celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Thank you and be blessed!