The light shines in the darkness

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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:1-5

At this time of year when the clocks have gone back an hour and the nights are drawing in, it’s encouraging to know that Jesus is the light of the world and that He is the light that the darkness cannot overcome. The darkness can do its worst to Him, but it can never defeat or overcome Him.

Indeed, when we look at the cross, where the darkness and sin of the Universe was placed upon the Son of God, we see Jesus victorious; defeating sin and darkness. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”– 1 Peter 2:22-24

That is why we celebrate Christmas when we do. It’s because the shortest day is on December 21st and any day after that is getting lighter and the days are getting longer. So Jesus, the light of the world has come into our darkness with His light, to bring us freedom and victory. Freedom from sin and victory over the darkness. That is why we celebrate on December 25th His coming into the world. It is also why Halloween or All Hallows Eve is followed by All Saints Day.

In Christianity, wherever you see darkness, you see God’s light overcoming it. Jesus is the light of the world and He has overcome the darkness.

At Llandudno Youth for Christ, we want all the young people to know that Jesus is the light of the world and that He can bring light to dark parts of their lives. To bring freedom, healing and life. To know that He is the only one who will bring freedom, victory and life to their lives.

At this time of the year, when the nights are dark and we are preparing to celebrate Christmas; the light of the world taking on flesh and entering into our world. Please be praying for the young people that attend the different events we hold at Llandudno Youth for Christ. Pray that they would encounter the light of the world. That Jesus would become more than a historical figure to them. That he would be the light of their world, for that is what He truly is.

Be blessed!

 

Baby You’re a Firework

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Well on the 30th of November there was a magnificent Fireworks display in Llandudno that certainly wowed everyone. We too, here at Llandudno Youth for Christ are going to be having our very own mini fireworks display on the 3rd of November.

It’s great at this time of year when the nights are lengthening and the temperatures are dropping to fill the dark sky with light, colour and noise. Also, what fireworks display would be complete without Toffee Apples and Sausage butties? We’re going to be having both at our Fireworks night. Sunday 3rd November 6-8pm at the Lighthouse Church in the West Shore of Llandudno.

Please do be praying for us as we hold this event for the young people who attend Redefine (our Sunday evening Bible Study). Pray that everyone stays safe and has an enjoyable time.

In writing this article, the title is taken from a song by pop singer Katy Perry called ‘Firework‘. In the lyrics she encourages the listeners that feel lost and alienated, to let their light shine, like a firework shooting across the sky. For the listeners to the song to know that they have worth and are valued.

Just like in the lyrics of the song, at Llandudno Youth for Christ, we want the young people that attend our events to know how much worth they have in God’s eyes and for them to let their light shine. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16

Please pray they will be blessed and encouraged.

Be blessed!

Every Season

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It is finally here – autumn. We say goodbye to Summer and all the fun events that we have held and look forward to the recommencement of our regular programmes. ‘Reverb‘, ‘Recess‘, ‘Redefine‘ and ‘Shuffle & Shake‘ will all be starting back up in the next two weeks.

We are so excited about this, looking forward to seeing all that God is going to do in and through the work of Llandudno Youth for Christ.

We have had lots of fun during the summer, with ‘God, Games & Goats‘ and ‘Refresh‘, but it’ll be nice to get back into the rhythm of our regular events.

Please do be praying for us as we plan and prepare for the next few months. Pray that we would be clearly led by God as we get ready for the next 4 months.

It’s great knowing that in every season we are in at Llandudno Youth for Christ, there are people faithfully supporting us in prayer, with finances and by giving their time to volunteer at the different events/projects we hold.

It’s even greater knowing that the God who made the seasons is with us whatever the season of life we are going through. As it says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:” God is with every step of the way and it is He who makes all things beautiful in their time.

Whatever season you are going through it is comforting that the God who said that He will never leave or forsake us, is with us. Holding us as we walk through this life.

Have a great autumn, and I pray that you are surprised by God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Be blessed!

Refresh 2019

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Well the Summer is almost over. Pretty soon school will start and we will be back into running our usual projects here at Llandudno Youth for Christ. ‘Redefine‘, our Sunday evening Bible Study group will meet back on Sunday 8th September. Before that on Thursday 5th September we will be holding ‘Recess‘, our two lunch-time Christian Unions in Ysgol John Bright and Ysgol Aberconwy and ‘Reverb‘ our after school Youth drop-in club will be will also be running on the same day.

Please be praying for us and the work that we do, especially as we go into a new school term.

Thank you for praying for us and all of the summer events we have been holding. They have gone extremely well and we really appreciate the prayers that you prayed for us.

We’ve had great night of ‘God, Games & Goats’ at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre on Sunday evenings during the Summer, and more recently we held our amazing and fun filled ‘Refresh’ mini conference in the grounds of St David’s College (hence the title of this blog post). It was a brilliant and well attended event.

We had lost of fun playing games, watching a movie, having a barbecue, making smores over a campfire, worshipping God and gathering together to study the Bible.

We looked at the life of the Apostle Peter and times when he failed and made mistakes. The first passage we looked at was Peter walking upon the water of the sea of Galilee with Jesus. Here he sank and had to call out to Jesus to save him. We learned that despite his fearfulness and failure to perfectly walk upon the waters Peter still walked out to Jesus. He did something that the other disciples didn’t. We learnt from this passage that Peter had the curiosity to ask: “‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water’.” – Matthew 14:28; the courage to act: “Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus.” – Matthew 14:29 and finally a voice to call: “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” – Matthew 14:30.

We were encouraged by Peter’s example to have the curiosity to ask – to ask questions about faith, to ask questions of God. To have the courage to act on our faith and what God tells us and to have a voice to call – to call upon God not only when we need His help but to make prayer an essential and intrinsic part of our every day.

We then looked at the Transfiguration of Jesus and Peter’s clumsy response to that and finally Peter’s denial of Jesus around the campfire whilst Jesus was on trial.

All in all it was a great mini conference and the young people went home with great memories and a lot to think about.

We have 1 final God, Games & Goats this coming Sunday, which will round off our Summer events. Please be praying for us and the young people that come to this final event.

Thanks and be blessed!

“Fight the good fight with all thy might…”

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Last Sunday night we held our infamous “Robot Wars” night at God, Games & Goats. It was spectacular fun!

We hold a Robot War night 1 to 2 times a year. What one of these nights entails is putting the young people into teams that are then tasked with the design and construction of ‘Robots’ to fight against each other in an arena. The materials they have to use are cardboard, polystyrene, packing tape, strings, a set of wheels each and sharpie pens for decorating the finished robots.

This is great fun and it’s really interesting watching the creativity and team dynamics of all the young people.

Once the ‘Robots’ have been constructed they are named by their team and awarded points for the aesthetic appeal.

The second challenge of the night is for the ‘Robots’ to undertake a timed race around the Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, with the fastest gaining the most points.

The final challenge of the evening is what everyone had been waiting for. This was the Robot Wars themselves. Here the Robots undergo a series of rounds against each other and points are awarded for control, aggression & destruction: so how well the Robot is controlled by its creators, how aggressively they play the round and how much destruction is meted out to the other player. We also have 2 house Robots to add to the mix to increase the fun and destruction.

Last night was great fun, and the bots got seriously smashed up. The young people had a thoroughly good time and it was a great team building exercise.

Along with the theme of fighting and wars, it reminded me that there are times in the Christian life, where we have to contend for the faith, to fight the good fight as the hymns goes. “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” – 1 Tim 6:12 and “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” – 2 Tim 4:7-8 This is good news. Despite the obstacles we often have to overcome as Christians, despite the fights we have to fight, we are more than conquerors and are overcomers. That is good news.

Plus we are never alone in our fights, God is always with us. He is a warrior and fights for us.

We have more fun events for the rest of the Summer, a game of life size Cluedo in less than 7 days time, and this Friday we will be holding our annual ‘Mini-Conference’ – ‘Refresh’. Please be praying for all that we have going on during the summer. Pray that the young people have fun and most of all that they encounter God in a real and transformative way.

Be blessed!

Read all a-bleat it! Baaaaa…..

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Well all of the young people that went away to Soul Survivor a few weeks ago are now back, safe and sound despite it being a very long return journey due to the mini-bus breaking down on them.

Now they are all ready & fired up for all of our amazing summer events; ‘God, Games & Goats‘ which runs on every Sunday evening during the month of August (plus 1 night in September) and the Refresh mini-conference towards the end of August (Friday 23rd August).

We have some really fun events in store during August. Last Sunday night we had a movie night with mountains of ice-cream!

This coming Sunday we are having our annual ‘Robot Wars‘ night. It is such a fun event. The young people get into teams and build a formidable robot out of cardboard and other craft materials. They then have to face off against each other in the arena to see which bot is the mightiest of them all.

The following week we have a ‘Human Cluedo‘ night, where the young people have to guess whodunnit!………….

And on the last Sunday night of the Summer holidays we are going to have an epic ‘Ultimate Loo Roll‘ Night.

Please do be praying for the young people that attend the events. Pray that they would come to realise how much God loves them and for some of them that this Summer would be the time when they say Yes to His invitation to follow Him.

Thank you for all of your support, we couldn’t do this without our faithful supporters.

Here’s to a great summer, and be blessed!

 

Soul Survivor here we come!

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In 12 days time Llandudno Youth for Christ will be taking a group of young people to Soul Survivor for the very last time. This has nothing to do with Llandudno Youth for Christ stopping attending a Summer Christian camp, but rather the sad fact that this is going to be the last Soul Survivor ever.

We have so many great memories from our many years of attending the Soul Survivor Conference. Lots of young people have come with us over the years and been impacted by God and His love for them in ways that have transformed them for life.

This year we have great expectations for God to move in the lives of the young people that we will be taking along with. Please do be praying for us during this time – Saturday 3rd August till Thursday 8th August. Pray for safety on the outbound and return journey. Pray for good interaction and fellowship between the young people and leaders that are going. Pray that everyone would hear from God and come back changed by having met with Jesus. Pray for fun, good food and good weather.

We also want to say thank you to everyone who has over the past several years volunteered and helped out with out Summer Soul Survivor trips. Know that your labour for God was not in vain and that you were used to make a difference for the Kingdom of God in the lives of many young people.

Thank you.

We will put up a blog post after the young people come back from Soul Survivor with news about what went on during this great event. But in the meantime, please do be supporting us in prayer.

Be blessed!

Here comes the Summer!…

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Despite the fact that the weather hasn’t been consistently Summery, Summer is here and at Llandudno Youth for Christ we are looking forward eagerly to a whole host of fun events that we will be putting on for young people in Llandudno and beyond.

We’ll be starting off the Summer with our annual trip to Soul Survivor in Stafford. This is a brilliant, fun, faith filled event where the young people get to learn more about God and meet other Christians from around the UK. Sadly this is the last year that Soul Survivor is going to be held, so we’re looking forward to making the most out of it.

Then after Soul Survivor we are going to be running on every Sunday in August our fantastic ‘God, Goats & Games‘ night. This is a sort of amalgamation of the best bits of Redefine (our Sunday evening Bible Study group) & Reverb (our after school youth club). It full of games, opportunities to learn more about God and our Goat mascot ‘Noa’.

Finally we will be closing off the Summer with our fantastic and amazing ‘Refresh‘ 1 day mini-conference held at St David’s College in Llandudno. Again this will be chocka-block full of games,  good food, and opportunities to learn more about and engage with God (though there will be no goats).

Phew!

We have a load of amazing things ahead of us. Please do continue to support us in prayer for all of these events. Please pray that the young people will meet with God in real and relevant ways through the events we are holding. Please do consider supporting us financially. It does cost money for us to hold these great events for the young people. Finally please consider supporting us in person by volunteering your time to help out at one of the many events that we hold.

Thank you for all your support. Let’s have a great summer and see young people’s loves changed by Jesus.

Be blessed!

 

The reckless love of a good, good Father.

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Wow, it’s only a week ago that Llandudno Youth for Christ was celebrating its annual Showcase at Gloddaeth church. This was a special Showcase, as this year 2019 is our 10th anniversary year.

It was a great evening and we want to say a massive thank you to everyone who came and supported us and also to everyone who took part. We heard from some of the young people that come to the events that we run, we heard from volunteers at our projects and we heard from past and present chairs of our trustee board. There were scrumptious cupcakes and cookies to be eaten and lots of time to chat with everyone who came.

It was a really successful night and we want to once again say thank you to everyone who attended. We also want to thank God for His faithfulness to us and all the young people that have attended any of our projects over the past 10 years. It has been amazing seeing so many lives transformed by Jesus. And we look forward to another 10 years of seeing God touch and change the lives of young people in Llandudno and beyond.

We love being part of what God is doing amongst the young people of North Wales, and last Sunday night at our evening Bible Study group, Redefine, we had the privilege to share on Father’s Day and Trinity Sunday about how God is a good Father, and that despite at times us getting a wrong view of Fatherhood due to having poor examples from broken people, we can trust and rely on God to be a good Father.

We learned that His love for us is powerful, passionate and limitless.

We learned that He defends and protects the weak.

We learned that He loves to bless young people.

It was a great night and we finished off the evening by singing ‘reckless love‘ and ‘good, good Father‘.

It so great seeing the young people growing and developing in their relationship with God, and we thank you, our supporters, for all of your commitment to pray for the work that we are doing.

Indeed, this Sunday 23rd June we will be holding our monthly Prayer Gathering at 7pm at Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, please do come along and join us as we pray for the young people.

Be Blessed!

This I believe…

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We had another great night on Sunday at Redefine. We are continuing to look at Jesus and who He is. What we know and believe about Him is so important. So it’s great to be able to get to grips with what we believe about Jesus. To be passing on the faith to future generations.

This is something we are passionate about at Llandudno Youth for Christ.

We do not simply want to introduce young people to Jesus, but we want to help them grow and become established in their faith. To be discipled well and see them walk with God. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”– Matthew 28:19-20

This is something we have been passionate about for the past 10 years at Llandudno Youth for Christ, and it is something we will be passionate about for the next 10 years and beyond.

2019 is the year of our 10th Anniversary, and throughout the year we will be having different celebrations to mark the occasion. We’ve already had a brilliantly attended Prayer Gathering last month, and this week, on Wednesday 12th June we will be holding our 10th Anniversary Showcase at Gloddaeth Church, from 7-9pm.

This will be a great night to hear about all that God is doing in and through the ministry of Llandudno Youth for Christ. We’d love to see you there.

Be blessed!