Listooder Youth Fellowship

Continuing our series on the I AM declarations of Christ, we turn our attention to John 15, where our Lord positions Himself as 'the Vine'. Timothy Nelson, joining us at Listooder for the first time, examines the significance of the statement and gets to the heart of what this means for us as believers in the One who is the great I AM.

As we head closer to Christmas, where materialism is at its most noticeable, it is worth considering Paul's challenge in Philippians 4:11-12. He had learned that whatever his circumstances, whatever he had, wherever he was, he could be content in Christ. A challenging lesson, but great preparation for those times when things in our lives will not quite go according to plan.

In the first of our "I AM" meetings, David takes on Christ's declaration as the Bread of Life in John 6. This was spoken by the Lord on the day after over 5,000 had fed from His hand in the mighty miracle. There is surely so much we can learn from that great event.

As we have grown together in Listooder over many years, it has been our desire to teach Christian young people to love and study the Word of God for themselves. In this special one-off workshop, we share (in a very unique way!) some techniques for getting the most out of your Bible reading.

Reading from James 2, but examining many other portions of Scripture, Jonathan Rea took a look at reasons why we should want to praise God. For the Christian, we have every reason to Praise Him. Yet so often we restrict our praise only to singing and to Psalms. Is that all there is to praise? Throughout the Bible we are clearly shown that both prayer and singing are vital for our praise, but as we go deeper we can see that praise to God can be demonstrated in so many other ways. It is, in fact, accurate to say that we can praise God through every part of our lives and every aspect of our being.

To conclude our final meeting of the Spring 2017 season, Stephen Moore shared a message from the Word of God to encourage the young people in their service for Him. Reading from 1 Peter 3, Stephen reminded the young people that it is their duty to get involved. He also stated that we, at any age, can be involved in service for Christ wherever and whatever we are dong, but only through His power. And finally, he concluded that we will have our reward. The Lord is a rewarder of those who seek Him and of those who serve Him.

In our final meeting of the 2017 Spring season, Victoria Reid explained how she came to know the Lord. Victoria realised that, despite her privileged upbringing in a Christian home, she herself needed to come to Christ as a sinner and accept, in faith, the price that He paid for her sins. Victoria has attends Listooder Youth Fellowship for several years, and also attends Saintfield Baptist Church where she was recently baptised. She shared how this had given her a moment, not only to obey the command of God, but to publicly declare her faith in Christ.

It was an absolute pleasure to welcome back former Listooder leader, James Greer, who brought an interesting subject considering the hinges and pivots of life. Beginning with a classic 'sword-drill', with verses from the Bible all featuring the little word but, James considered some major hinges of Scripture upon which some great Biblical truths hang. Firstly the FALL, where in God's perfect creation Adam and Eve were given the freedom of the Garden of Eden, 'but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil' (Genesis 2:17) they were not to eat. Satan deceived them, they disobeyed the command of God, and sin entered into the world. We were then reminded of our FAULTS in the story of Namaan. He was a mighty man, captain of the host of the king, 'but he was a leper' (2 Kings 5:1). Namaan's FLAW is a picture of our own sin, passed down from Adam and by nature separating us from God. In Isaiah we read of the FRUSTRATION of a life without God, wearied with the burden of sin, 'but they that wait upon the Lord shall

We were joined by David Shields, who covered the Biblical principles of Prayer and Fasting and presented their relevance to Christian lives today. David began by considering these as two of the many 'holy habits' that Christians should be regular engaging in. Reading from 1 Timothy chapter 4, David highlighted the trend of many churches who attempt to appeal to the world's logic and the world's standard for living. This is in stark contrast to the words which Paul uses here to encourage Timothy. He encourages the young man to be set apart from the world, to put aside its expectations and strive to live fully for Christ. This is no simple task. It takes time, effort and discipline. Just as those who train for a sport or learn a new instrument, we must make our walk with Christ a dedicated, habitual process that draws us closer to Him. Prayer should be a habit. In Matthew chapter 6, the Lord gave us a wonderful pattern for prayer. Beginning 'Our Father' we are reminded of the privileged position that we have, t

In 2016, Listooder were involved in the successful #BibleBox campaign, collecting almost 300 well used and well loved Bibles to be sent out to the Philippines for the work of God there. Tonight, we were delighted to welcome Gareth McDowell, to whom we sent those Bibles, to give us a report on the movement of God in this land. Gareth began by sharing some of his early experiences sitting under Gospel teaching and learning of the free offer of salvation. Gareth was saved young, but was reluctant to get involved in the meetings in which he had been attending. Yet despite his reluctance, and despite challenges with his speech, God made it clear to Gareth that he was to be involved in missionary work - specifically the mission field of the Philippines. Serving there with his wife and family since 1999, Gareth arranges for food, clothing and other essential supplies to be sent from Northern Ireland to the Philippines as a form of disaster relief from frequent flooding and other natural threats. He then works with l

Continuing on from our group Bible Study on the subject of Abraham, we were joined by Brian McCoubrey who also considered aspects of the life of 'Friend of God', who features so heavily in that wonderful chapter of faith, Hebrews 11. It was in this chapter that Brian began, commencing at verse 8. As he considered also some of the other characters of faith, Brian pointed out that other individuals who appeared here do not feature too heavily in other parts of Scripture. What a wonderful reminder that God takes note of faithful actions of His children, no matter how small they may seem to us at the time. The first thing that Brian considered about Abraham was that he was a saved man. In Matthew 11, Christ Himself speaks of the multitudes of people that will sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven. Abraham's faith in God was a saving faith, and as we read in Genesis 15, "Abraham believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness". As well as having a saving faith, Abraham al

Tonight we welcomed back John Hanna to consider some of the devasting, staggering and 'random' events of 2016, and consider the question: what was God doing? Turning to John 16, and reading it in full, our attention was drawn to the final verse of the chapter and to the final words "be of good cheer; I have overcome the world". The Lord Jesus Christ has overcome the world. So, what is 'the world' in this case? In the context we read that 'in the world ye shall have the tribulation'. The world is 'tribulation' for the Christian. It is a heavy weight, a hinderance and a challenge to our Christian walk. It is unpredicatable, it is uncertain and it is potentially destructive. Yet, with this knowledge, many people trust in the world for comfort and for contentment. But if we are trusting solely in Christ, we have sure foundation, a rock, with which to build our lives upon. When we look around us at the world, our faith can be shaken. But we are reminded that in overcoming the world, Christ already reigns victorous

The first meeting of 2017, saw a good crowd of young people gathered into the hall as we welcomed back Kyle Boyd to speak. Opening the Word of God in Mark chapter 6, where the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand was recounted, Kyle began to consider the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this passage, Christ showed that He had compassionate hands. Despite the exhaustion of the day, the hunger of his own body and that of His desciples, the Lord used His hands to produce a miraculous abundance of food. Not only were the people satisfied, but they were completely filled. The compassionate hands of the Saviour are infinitely abundant in reaching out to help His people. Moving over to Luke 22, Kyle then considered the praying hands of Jesus Christ. In coming to His Father, with the shadow of the cross looming over Him, Christ's humanity is in full view. He is in need of support from His Father, desiring the comfort that comes from Heaven. In this action, the Lord not only shows us His human nature, but set

Philip Robinson joined us again to consider the challenge many believers face against those who claim that God's creation of the world is a lie. This time around he focused on the topic of Dinosaurs, and how perceptions of these magnificent creatures have been shaped by many sources. For example, the tagline of the famous dinosaur movie, Jurassic Park, "65 million years in the making", presumes that the account of creation was not correct and that instead everthing evolved slowly over time. While merely a Hollywood film, Jurassic Park, and other sources of a similar theme, have been instrumental in the belief that evolution alone has the answer to the origin and extinction of great beasts such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex. There is, of course, an alternate view to this one. It is a view that opposes evolution, ocurred within thousands of years - not millions - and places God in control of everything we see, feel and hear. It is the view of the world contained within the pages of Scripture; detailed for us in the

Continuing our long-term series on the characters of faith found in Hebrews chapter 11, Scott Woodburn spoke on the story of Cain and Abel, focusing on the faith displayed by Abel. Before stepping into the Word of God, however, Scott briefly shared his testimony, recounting how the Lord saved him as a young man when he came into contact with both Christian company and with the glorious Gospel. Moving on to Genesis 4, where we read that God accepted the offering of Abel, we also find that the offering of Cain was rejected. This made Cain very angry, against both his brother and against God. Driven by his anger, Cain then killed his own brother. As with many who read the Scriptures, Scott shared how he first, as a young child, sympathised with Cain. Why should his offering be rejected? Why would God treat him so unfairly? But as Scott grew in his knowledge of Scripture, he began to realise that there was a far deeper understanding to be had of this passage. Allow the Bible to interpret itself, which is how it i

From an organisation working in the Arab world, our visiting speaker shared with us the work among the Muslim community, both in Northern Ireland and abroad.  He reminded us of the great privilege of hearing the Gospel at almost every turn, with so many Bible believing churches in this land. He then turned our attention to the Arab world, where so few have heard the glorious news of Christ Jesus and His sacrifice for the sins of many. But God is at work. Many are fleeing from their towns and cities to find refuge in other lands - countries in which the Lord has a presence. Believers in Jesus Christ are faithfully proclaiming the Gospel and Arab men and women are coming to put their trust in Him. There is a rise in Atheism, among the Islamic community, with families turning their backs on the Muslim faith. This is a great opportunity for the work of God. We were told of a website which reports that 60,000 individuals in the Arab world have downloaded the complete Bible for personal reading. The same w

Luke Barker joined us for the first of our two-part series on 'Feasting on the Word'. Beginning at Hebrews 4:12, Luke impressed upon the young people the authority of Scripture, reminding them that preachers, teachers, commentaries and books can all be flawed, but the truth of God's Word never fails. The Bible is never out-of-date. The truths contained within its pages apply as much today as they ever did. As we read in Isaiah 40:8, "the grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever". Yet while the truth of God is secure, it can be twisted and manipulated by those with malicious intent. When Scripture is made complex, it is often a sign that we are being deceived by an argument of man. Be wise, beware, and ensure that you are comparing what you are being told with what Scripture truly teaches. We have to also be wise about the translation we use. Luke gave an example of the Ethiopian eunuch, who asked Philip what hindered him to be baptised. Philip's answer "if thou be

An excellent crowd joined us, many for the very first time, for our opening meeting of this new season. We also had the pleasure of welcoming Danny Roberts, no stranger to us, who appropriately considered the need to stand out for Christ from day one. He began by considering the general opposition of society to Christians. The vast majority of people with whom we share our school, university and workplaces with are not sympathetic to the truth contained in the Bible. So how can we, as Christians, continue to stand strong and speak out for Christ in the environment in which He has placed us? It won't be easy. As we know from 2 Timothy chapter 3, the days that we live in are inherently evil. Christians, therefore, cannot expect to get an easy ride from those who do not believe. In school particularly, the expectation to conform, to 'fit-in', is very high. Yet choosing, as many do, not to take a stand at the first opportunity we open ourselves up to many and mighty temptations. We will face trials. We a

Joining us for the first time as a speaker, Adrian Reid, a former member of the Youth Fellowship, began by recalling the wonderful blessings he experienced during his time at Listooder and encouraging the young people to commit to the meetings and to be found under the word of God and among Christian friends. Turning us then to Romans 8, Adrian read verse 28: 'And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose'. Of all the people in Scripture, and specifically among those mentioned in Hebrews 11, Adrian believes that no-one's life relates more to this verse than the life of Joseph. Joseph had a troubled life, particularly in his early years when he received a lot of abuse from his brothers. This abuse culminated in the selling of Joseph to slave-traders, who subsequently sold him on to Egypt as a slave. Yet even in these circumstances, Joseph, who loved the Lord, served his heavenly Master with all that he had. Working for a man

Ross Greer turned us to Romans chapter 12 to consider what it means for a Christian to be a disciple. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, He should expect to be given our all. We are to be a 'living sacrifice' to God, thinking not of our own hopes, dreams and desires, but taking His desires as our own. Romans 12 exhorts the members of the church to serve the Lord. Age is of no importance, nor is overall ability. Each of us have been given gifts and talents, and it is in line with those gifts that we should serve our God. For example, if we have the gift of kindness, we should gladly show that kindness to others in the name of the Lord. If the gift of teaching, we must teach diligently in the name of the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul reminds the Believers of what many of them had been saved from - specifically listing many vile sins. However, in verse 11 he speaks about God has done for them and for each us who are saved. No more are we 'branded' by the sins of the past, we have been fully washed and cleansed f