Prayer for the lives lost in Chilwell and Beeston.

Over the past few weeks there has been some real heartache across the community of Chilwell and Beeston. There have been 2 needless deaths where people have felt like they have had no hope. As a response to these events NYfC alongside the local Church, held a prayer vigil overnight last Wednesday. Please find below some of the prayers and thoughts from that vigil.

Jesus taught them:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth

It is hard enough to handle when you have a faith, how do those people cope that don't. People may not have to talk to someone but they must have the opportunity.

Psalm 20: May the Lord answer you when you are in distress, may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
Isaiah 41:10: fear of the future and the hugeness of emotion won't overwhelm - God will strengthen you.

We pray that through the pain and sorrow there will only be one way they will turn. There is only one who can truly comfort the huge sorrow that is being felt.

You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. i trust in you Lord, I say 'you are my God' - Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

Oh my Jesus, be with these young people, show them your compassion, your love and your understanding. We know they can have no realisation of what this all means. Nobody knows what really happened to these 2 unfortunate souls. We can only trust they are with you and all sins are forgiven. Please be with the family and friends. Give them comfort.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for i am with you: do not be dismayed, for i am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. We hold this vigil, Lord, not only to mourn these 2 lost souls, who met such a tragic death, but also to pray for those that they left especially the young friends who must be suffering from shock. maybe some feel they are to blame in some way. Help them Lord, be with them. Shine a light on them Lord, show them the way to enlightenment.


James 5:16a-18
"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. "
I pray with you for God's blessing on this town and its people

Praying comfort for the famiies and friends in their great sadness, God's presence in the memorial service and that the young people of Beeston and our city would know the love of Jesus.

Praying here in Sheffield for Chilwell and Beeston at this time. Real sense of everyone praying from their rooftops, calling out to God and his angels enveloping the whole town. Keep standing together in prayer.

May God be with you. Turn to him and he will comfort you. He loves you and cherishes you.

Praying for young people of chilwell and beeston that they will know they are loved and have a purpose

Praying for all the family and friends of both Chloe and Daniel. That somehow and somewhere they will find a God who can comfort.

We continue to pray for all those affected.

Richard

Is there any point in being defensive?

I love hearing about Church history. Whether that be the early church in the book of Acts or the start of denominations like Methodism and the Salvation Army. Listening to Question Time at the minute and hearing them talking about the amount of people trying to create a revolution in the middle east over the past few months, i remember stories about the abolition of the slave trade or the day of Pentecost and i love the face that the Church has been part of so many revolutions. So what i would like to know is when is the next one? Some would say it if you look at the Church it is a long way off, although some would say we have this sleeping giant just ready to awake. So why isn't it happening? One of the reasons is that we have become defensive about our faith, and defensive about what we believe. In a world that is becoming more secular, and in a country like ours that has become less Christian, instead of using this culture shift as a challenge and a chance to become part of a new revolution, we have become more restrained, by trying to keep our own traditions and our own ways safe. We can see some elements of this still when we see cultures within a lot of churches not being able to connect with the culture outside the doors. Being part of a revolution is not about doing what everyone else does, or even changing because everyone else does. What being part of a revolution means is to stand for what you believe that goes against what is going on around. What it also means is that you don't go into your shell, batten down the hatches and sit it out, but move out and show what you have is of the greater good. Could this be the Church? or shall we just wait until it is all over, but if we continue on the back foot, there maybe none of us left to come out from behind the door.

Richard

Love is in the air...

As Valentine’s Day has just passed, it got me thinking about love. At this time of year, you seemed to be surrounded by love hearts, roses and cheesy poetry… and it gets a bit sickening. Well, that could just be me being bitter, but I think love should be celebrated all year round, rather than a day being set aside as an excuse to tell someone how you feel about them. At home, Valentine’s Day is a pretty big deal. My mum goes to ‘Marks and Spencer’s’ (which only happens on special occasions) and checks out the Valentine’s day deals; my step dad writes cards for me and my sisters from “our secret admirer” even though at eighteen, you would have thought I had worked it out by now; and my younger sisters come home from school with stacks of cards from various boys. I guess it is quite exciting to know that someone thinks you’re special, but why not be made to feel like that all the time? There are so many verses in the Bible telling us how much God loves us…
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands” – Deuteronomy 7: 9.
How awesome is that!? God promises us his love to a thousand generations and all he expects in return is to “keep his commands”. And even if we do mess up, he is still going to love us anyway! Proverbs 10: 12 says “love covers all wrongs” and I think this is so powerful, to know that no matter what we have done, God is going to love us just as much, and he will do all he can to get us back on the right path. He also teaches us to love each other, as the second commandment found in Matthew 22: 39 is “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’.” It doesn’t specify as particular day on which we have to show each other that we love one another, we should do it all the time!
So today, and every day, think about the people that surround you. Think about how special they are to you, and tell them! God loves us and gave up everything he loves so that we could live and love each other.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3: 16.

Charli Wood

Parlez Vous Christian?

“Eh up me duck, that cob looks peng!”
Even though I only moved to Nottingham from two hours up the motorway, I still had trouble at first working out what on earth people were saying sometimes. But that’s how language works isn’t it? Every town, every generation, every culture have their own words and phrases.

I love it that Nottingham has it’s own identity and part of that identity is it’s language (although I still reckon it’s weird to call someone ‘duck’…). The young people have their own dialect too which I’m starting to pick up and occasionally I’m even deemed cool enough to use it. But whether we use the ‘latest’ words or not, the fact remains that young people are speaking a different language, so what does that mean for sharing the gospel with them?

Youth for Christ’s mission statement is ‘taking the good news relevantly to every young person’ so to be relevant, we need to talk the same language. And we do, but it’s more than just replacing ‘not’ with ‘ain’t’ and taggingin ‘init’ on the end of everything we say. You can’t say to a young person “If you confess your sins to God, you’ll be saved by grace through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ”. They don’t get it – even Shakespeare makes more sense to them. So ditch the jargon and speak the gospel in English. Simply yes?

I’d say nothing ever is. Eugene H. Peterson, author of The Message says, “The original books of the Bible were not written in formal language” and so “every generation needs to keep the language of the gospel message current, fresh, and understandable—the way it was for its very first readers”. And I agree entirely. But even in The Message ‘grace’, ‘salvation’ and ‘sacrifice’ are regular guests, so are we right to omit them entirely from our conversation or talks?

What happens when young people start reading the Bible and come across all our Christian jargon? I fear the Bible will feel irrelevant and the gospel message they thought they’d understood once again becomes a stranger. So, as the James wisely advises us, we need to watch our words!

Becci Raine

Discipleship

Recently I have been thinking about discipleship. This is because in the job I do I get fairly excited about those who come to faith but massively passionate about disciples. This is partly because since I started looking into youth work I have had Matthew 28:19 imprinted in my mind (and heart). Jesus clearly instructs us to make disciples in all nations not just convert them. There are two things that I have been wrestling with when working for Christian youth work organisations that are not assigned to, or part of, a local church.
When someone converts where do they go?
I love local church and do my best to support them, however when you have one young person come to Christ and there are 6 churches in one area how do you help the young person choose a church they would like to attend and be nurtured in and how do you do it without seemingly supporting one church with favour to the others? It’s easy to slate the church saying its stuffy, old fashioned irrelevant. However I feel the church (meaning the whole church) is great and beautiful. The only issue I have really found is one which comes out of something good. The church is great at looking after its own so when someone is converted that isn't part of the existing Church, most people ask how do we integrate them into church? I really don't like the word integrate, it speaks of shaping and moulding a person into the ways of the church (the way we do things round here). The God I know wants us to understand that we are made in the image of God. Calling us to participate in the body of the church, bringing the gifts and talents God has given us and utilising them in such a way that edifies the church and glorifies God.
Secondly, because discipleship is what I see as my calling (work) how do I do it with friends and family?
I have lots of family who think I am crazy for doing this job but they still need to know the lord. After I have been at work all day or at the end of the week when I call my mum how do I disciple her when all I feel like is having an easy nice chat not one that makes me do my “work” with family. It’s easy to give one liners or tell a story of what God has done with someone but to actually disciple family and friends is hard. Even more so when its these relationships I go to for rest comfort and being looked after.

Ant Stevens

Where are we taking them?

I have a passion. Not just for Doctor Who, not just for Nottingham Forest but for seeing young people impacted by the love of an amazing God. The question that i keep asking myself is 'What does that look like?'

Being a dad of a couple of amazing children, i often look at them and wonder what they are going to look like when they are older. Not just in looks, but in what job they may do, the kind of people they will hang out with, what their hobbies and interests they may have and what kind of families they may have (well Joel that is, obviously Amy is not even allowed a boyfriend until she is 30). Obviously I have no idea of what is going to happen to them, and in someways I am glad, as i am sure i would want to control it more than I should. What I do know is the world will be a different place. I know that because it is different now than it was when i was growing up. I remember having a ZX81 computer system and that was top range with its 16k ram pack you could add onto the back.

I also know that the way faith looks like nois different to when i was growing up. It is now more about how you live your life everyday rather than just turning up to Church every Sunday morning. That is hard to get my head round, that actually what faith looks like to me is different to what it looks like to those lovely older ladies who were in Church every Sunday making me feel welcome and loving me. Neither of us are wrong, it is just different, and will continue to change.

Vincent Donovan in his book, Christianity Rediscovered, says this:

"...do not take people back to where they were or do not try to call them back to where you are, as beautiful as that place may seem. You must have the courage to take them to a place neither you or them have been."

Faith can be and is an amazing thing. Are we willing to walk with others to somewhere we haven't been? Am i willing to take young people on a journey where I am trusting God for a new fresh destination? Or am i the one in control wanting to feel secure and 100% certain that the way God works in my life is the way He works in others?

Richard Dawson

Verses for 2011

Acts 16: 6-10

'6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. ' New International Version.

Ten years can seem a long time. Ten years ago George Bush succeeded Bill Clinton as President of the US. The UK foot and mouth crisis began. The atrocities of September 11th happened. Does it seem a long time ago or only yesterday?
I remember all those things, I don't as easily remember life without Kids and what that felt like. I do remember though coming back to Nottingham, with Laura, to re-launch Nottingham YfC back in 2001. The one thing i remember vividly was waking up on 1st September, at my in-laws because we didn't have a house, and thinking 'right, what shall i do? where shall i start?'
These past ten years seem to have gone quite quickly, and what i know is that NYfC wouldn't have been able to impact as many young people as we have without people praying for us and God leading the way. For the most part we seem to have been able to make a difference and it has felt like we are where God has wanted us to be. there have been times where we have probably got it a bit wrong, but part of knowing where God wants you to be is to try different things, if you don't knock the door will never be answered.
There have been times where we seem to have stayed in the same place for a long time, done the same things for longer than was thought, and that can sometimes feel frustrating and restricting.
If you look at Youth for Christ centres across the country, as i write there are 66/67 local YfC centres, they are predominantly based in towns and villages, and i understand why. You can get your head round an area with a certain number of schools and a certain number of Churches, whereas a city is a different kettle of fish. There are more opportunities, more possibilities, more young people to connect with and more risks to be taken. i remember one trustees meeting a number of years ago where we discussed whether we should become Nottingham West YfC as that was where we were putting our mission focus, and had been for the majority of the years we had been working. The vision had not slipped though, it was still to 'take good news relevantly to every young person in Nottingham.'
Ten years on having honoured that vision, we seem to have more opportunities than ever before, renewed favour amongst Churches, Schools and young people alike, but this brings with it fresh challenges.
Paul, in this passage, wanted to enter Bithynia, which would have taken him back into Asia minor, and back towards the middle east. Instead, because of his listening to the Spirit, they went to Macedonia, and so began Christianity's impact on Europe. What an impact that decision had. God was already working in Macedonia, but by listening to His Spirit Paul was able to bring his own dynamic to the mix which helped bring the Roman empire into a Christian thinking.
At the start of 2011, we have some great opportunities to move into new areas across Nottingham, and also in the areas we already work. We want to connect with more young people this year than ever before, we want to try doors, without being to precious about what happens if we have got it wrong, but most of all we want to listen to God through His Spirit and ask where is He wanting us to partner with Him to help impact this generation. Please stand with us in seeing God do amazing things through NYfC in 2011