Freedom: a blog by Abby Clark

This year the BBC is examining the concept of ‘freedom’, by asking the question: ‘What does it look like to you?’ since researching into racism for my degree course, it has left me questioning the possibility that freedom can really be attained. Are we really free?  Even if people aren’t physically bounded up in chains, can we really escape the expectations brought on us by those around us? I do believe God created us to have freedom, but because of our sin, we have created a world in which true freedom is impossible. As Christians we are told that we are free to live for Jesus, even though there are millions of Christians around the world being prosecuted for their faith. This doesn't look like freedom to me. The worship song ‘Holding Nothing back’ talks about how Christians are free.

I'm free to live
Free to give
Free to be
I'm free to love you  

But this song isn’t talking about our earthy freedom. I mean, how easy is it to ‘hold nothing back’? To live fully for Jesus, giving him everything, just being whom we were created to be, and loving Jesus fully. Ask any Christian, they’d tell you, it’s very hard work, not freedom. What this song really talks about is an eternal freedom.  Freedom, from the world’s restraints, free from our sin. These may seem to pin us down whilst we’ve still alive, but if we accept Jesus as our lord and savior, we gain the freedom to be part of Gods kingdom, both on earth and in heaven. I suppose the freedom you feel, comes from within your heart. My answer to the question, ‘freedom: what does it look like to you?’ is: freedom, is an eternalmiracle, a concept that is impossible, made possible through the grace of our lord Jesus Christ.  

Abby is a first year CYM placement with Nottingham YfC

She is based in Radcliffe and originally comes from a village outside Durham.

I'm right : a blog by Fiona Spencer

Over the past few week I have been in situations where people have been arguing over issues of faith or parts of the Bible. Not just disagreeing but arguing - as if what their say is the only way to look at it.

 

But is there only one answer to every issue concerning faith or the Bible?

 

I grant you there are many things where there is only one correct view, such as: Jesus is the only way to get to God. However, what of other issues like how worship is conducted, how to pray or the meaning of a Bible passage.

 

There are lots of different denominations of the church, each with different styles of worship and prayer. This is clearly due to the fact that one style of worship that will be great for one person, will not be beneficial for another.

Furthermore, worship is not just the music. Worship can take on many different forms. It can be creative: through art, theatre and dance; through serving: meeting regularly with other Christians or doing jobs in the church like steward, cleaner or elder; and practical: sharing your testimony or reading books to help develop your understanding of Christianity.

There as so many different ways of interacting with God, that surely we don't have the right to force our way of doing it onto someone else? We should allow others to experiment to then find a way that they feel they can connect with God.

 

Bible passages can be interpreted in different ways, but yet I find that we can be determined that all passages have only one meaning. Take for example the parable of the Lost son from Luke 15:11-32. It tells of the younger son in a family, who obtains his inheritance from his father. This son leaves for a distant land, where he squanders all him money. He has to take up the work of herding pigs, and is even reduced to hungering for the food of the pigs. He finally comes to his senses and decides to return home, if only to work for his father as a hired labourer. As he nears home, his father runs to welcome him home, and holding a feast to celebrate to return of the son.However, the older brother, who had remained at home working, resents the mercy shown.

This parable can be interpreted in three different ways:

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Firstly, that it is about the fact that God is willing to take us back when we have ran away from him.

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Second being that if we turn from God there will come a point where we realise we need him.

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And lastly that we can act like the older brother, but no matter what wrongs people have done we should welcome them into the Church.

So is one of these interpretations right and the other two wrong? All are just different ideas that people have got from the same passage.

 

Everyone is different which must be why we all worship differently, and can get different ideas from the same passage. We must therefore be more willing to to see others points of view of faith and the Bible, instead of thrusting ours on them as the only right way.

Fiona is on the yfc one program based at Nottingham YfC

She works in Radcliffe and is based at St. Mary's Radcliffe

Fiona's home is north of the border in Glasgow.

Hope mission academy @ nottinghamyfc #1

Hope mission academies at Nottingham yfc are a merging of our 30 hour missions and hope mission academies. The main idea of them is to help young people experience being involved in mission alongside training and equipping them to go back to their own communities and make a difference.

A group of ten of us set off to work with north staffs yfc and support the work they do with churches in the area. 

We started by meeting some of the local young people that we would be working with at the YMCA and looking at some of the issues that are faced by young people today but also what others think about young people. We were sleeping on a church floor over the weekend so it was nice to have a local base. From there we were able to go into Newcastle town centre and bless the community with an acts of kindness treasure hunt while also giving out hot chocolate. After playing some games we went out for a nice meal before planning our Sunday morning work which included leading worship, Sunday school and being involved in the preach.

Sunday morning was great and even better as throughout the weekend one lad had decided to follow Jesus and he just shared his story. Another girl, after losing her iPhone 5 on Saturday night had prayed and found it straight away, a girl who only a day before had said she didn't believe in God, shared on the Sunday morning that she understood that God had revealed Himself to her. 

Isn't it great to have opportunities to be part of what God is doing. Anyway it might be worth you listening to what the young people who came with us had to say about it. Check out the video diaries here http://youtu.be/ESNeVd1-GP8

Us being given breakfast on our hope mission academy

Grace v Justice

Grace has been described as generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved. It’s shocking in a way to know that when we say sorry to God he forgives us unconditionally an forgets about our sin.

I’ve been reflecting recently on how grace fits within today’s laws and where justice comes into play.

Recently I met a young man who’d unfortunately made some serious mistakes and was facing jail.

As I began to talk to him I had an overwhelming sense from God that I should pray for him and plead with God to take away his jail sentence. As the conversation developed and I asked if I could pray for him, it sparked a huge conversation about having a faith in God. The conversation ended with the agreement that if the jail sentence was cancelled then it must have been God’s doing. My prayer is that I will see this young man next week and he can tell me that God has done a miracle in his life.

This is a very hard subject to talk about because I know people would argue with me and say ‘where’s the justice in that?’. In many ways I would agree with people like that and say that wrong actions have consequences and in this case a jail sentence is deserved.

However if I could choose between a young person going to jail or a young person experiencing God’s miraculous power in his life which changes him for ever, resulting in a new life which seeks to love God and others. I would choose God’s intervention every time.

One of the aims within my youth ministry is that I help young people experience God and if I think I can help this young man see God’s grace in his own life then I reckon I’m doing the right thing.

What do you think?

Simon Bentley is on his 2nd year placement with Nottingham YfC 

 

Verses for the year 2014

Each year we see to look where God is working and what He would like to do through the work of Nottingham Youth for Christ. This year we will be looking at what Luke 24:13-13 has to say for us at NYfC. 

There are many different ways you can look at this passage and the way Jesus walks and talks with the two men but for me it epitomizes the whole of Jesus' ministry as he journeys with His disciples and continues to journey with us in our every day life. 

We are called as an organization and as part of the wider church to journey with people and as we get alongside them we are able to speak into their lives. As an organisation it is also our role and responsibility to journey alongside other partners to help provide the best opportunities to experience the love of Christ.

As we unpack the idea of journeying over the next few weeks and months as we go through 2014 our heart and our prayer that you might journey with us and maybe together not only will Jesus reveal Himself to each of us but we will see Jesus revealing Himself to the young people we work with. Seeing young people's lives transformed and relationships restored through the revelation of Jesus.

Richard Dawson is Director of Nottingam YfC