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facebook.com/woodlandsym [please ‘like’]myles.tyrell@woodlandschurch.co.uk 

@woodlandsym [please ‘follow’]

 

POSTED Nov/Dec 2014 

People often say, ‘keep me posted, when they want

to be kept up-to-date with what’s going on. So,

welcome to posted- the bi-monthly newsletter

providing an update on the youth ministry at

Woodlands.

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walkin darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8: 12

 As Christmas gets ever closer and the evenings get darker quicker

there is great hope to be found in the words of Jesus. In the Old

Testament God’s intention was for the people of Israel to be a

‘light to the nations’ [Isaiah 49:6] and a beacon of hope in a dark,

broken world. However the people of Israel constantly disobeyed

God and instead of becoming a light to the nations they very often

adopted the practices of the nations around them and became

enslaved as a result.

Jesus’ words in John 8 would therefore have struck a nerve and

made a statement. ‘I will succeed where Israel failed’ is what the

people would have heard as Jesus spoke. Jesus lived a sinless life

and never acted against the will of his Father, ‘the light shines in

the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it’ [John 1:5].

This is Jesus, the true light of the world, sent by God to be the

Saviour of the World.

He succeeded where Israel failed and Jesus still succeeds where

 we fail. We are weak, sinful and prone to wander yet He is strong,

pure and absolutely faithful — this is the good news that we

celebrate at Christmas. The ‘true light that gives light to everyone’

[John 1:9] has come into the world, full of grace and truth.

 Yours in Christ,

Myles

Full Name: Ewan Milburn

 Age: 13

School: Carrickfergus Grammar 

Favourite Subject: Technology

Favourite Teacher: Mr McDonald 

Pepsi or Coke: Coke

Steven or Cecilia: Steven Christmas or Summer: Christmas

KFC or McD’s: KFC

Likes: Football, rugby, wraps, pizza

Dislikes: Maths, potatoes, slugs

Future hopes: To be able to grow and have a

stronger faith in God and help others along the way

07809 483971

New Youth Website —www.woodlandsyouth.co.uk — live on Sunday 23rd November!

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 We had a great time at the Youth Weekend in October and the pictures [See the Woodlands Youth Facebook for more pics] below should give you

an idea of what we got up to — everything from gang games to banana boating. Alongside the games and fun we also saw God move in a really

powerful way as several boys became Christians.

YOUTH WEEKEND

 YOUTH ALPHA UPDATE

 After the Youth Weekend we decided to run a Youth Alpha course alongsideChristianity Explored for adults. The idea behind the course is to give young

people time and space to explore the meaning of life and the basics ofChristianity. Small groups form a big part of the course and we have beenencouraged each week as young people have talked openly about faith and askedsome great questions. Pray for Myles, Ali, Gary, Cameron, Jill & Judith as theylead the groups and help to facilitate discussion.

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The words of Colossians 1 have caught my attention recently, specifically verse 23 where

Paul calls followers of Jesus to ‘stay in the faith and do not move from the hope held out

in the Gospel’. This is my hope for young people as they grow up and I know many of youare as passionate about seeing this as I am. I also love how the Message paraphrases the

same verse — ‘stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the

message, careful not to be distracted or diverted.’ We want to take every opportunity tocall young people to tune in to the things of God, when many different things are calling fortheir attention/time we want them to fix their eyes on Jesus.

 We see this working itself out in a number of ways but let me draw your attention to onenew initiative. Young people aged P7-Y10 are invited to leave church on a Sunday morning

 before the sermon for a more focused time of teaching. Please seek God for a generation of young people who are tuned in to the Gospel and passionate about his glory.

5th Carrick BB

There have been some changes to BB at Woodlandsthis year as Peter McAlister has been appointed asleader in charge of company section and he had thefollowing to say about the last couple of months:

It has been a great start to the year in CompanySection. We have been greatly encouraged by the

amount of boys coming and we are blessed to have anenthusiastic (sometimes too much so!) and committed

 group of boys and officers. We have made a fewadjustments from last year with an earlier start time of

7.30pm which allows us to squeeze more into theevening and the boys have responded well to this. A

typical night involves a variety of activities such as drill,badge class, sport, Scripture and squad games whichcan be anything from Pointless to Tug of War and the

boys can be very competitive.

We also participate in various BB [battalion andnational] competitions throughout the year and the boys

have done really well so far. Our Junior 6-a-side teamrecently won their Battalion competition as they

conceded no goals before beating 1st Ballyclare in thefinal and four of the boys also finished second in the BBMasterteam quiz. Outside of BB we also have nights outwith the boys and we recently went to Clip N’ Climb in

Dundonald.

Finally, some of our boys joined with GB & YF to go onthe Youth Weekend in Portadown. This was a really

special time, as several of the boys became followers of Jesus, and we are thankful to God for all he is doing in

the lives of our boys. The motto of BB is clear and wehave seen Christ’s Kingdom advanced amongst our boys,please pray for them as they begin their journey of faith.

Tune in next time to hear about Woodlands GB!

Our focus for the year in YF is on discipleship and we want

to be intentional about helping young people to follow Jesus

for themselves. It is for this reason that we, in partnership

 with Exodus, are starting a mentoring scheme for young

people. Mentoring can sometimes be quite a vague topic

however Sophie Peace has given a great definition of what

an intentional, Christian mentoring relationship will look

like:

One Christian taking the initiative with another

individual to help them know Christ better and obey him

more fully through studying the Scriptures, prayer [for

and with them], sharing one’s life with them and leavingthe results to God.

There are several examples of in the Bible [most notably

Paul & Timothy] which show us how effective these

relationships can be and we are excited about giving young

people the time and space to ask questions and learn from

more mature followers of Jesus.

There will be a training night for all mentors and young

people on Wednesday 12th November.

left, Scott

Laughlin at

 Youth

 Alpha

right, the

Blue Gang

at the Youth

 Weekend

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Parents

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains ofchildbirth until Christ is formed in you.

The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the GalatianChurch [4:19] to summarise his intense desire forthem to know Christ. As far as Paul was concernedthis was the top priority, for Christ’s life to become visible in their lives, and we, as leaders believe thesame for your young people. However, while we arepassionate about this and will do all that we can topoint your young people to Jesus, we recognise thatit is ultimately the Christian parents role to discipletheir children. To this end we want to partner with,and not replace you.

In each issue of Posted we will include an articlefrom an outside source that you may findinteresting. This time we have included an excerpt

from an article entitled ‘ We [Parent’s] Really

Need the Gospel’ from Desiring God:

Someone asked me recently, “If you could say onething to parents, what would it be?” My response was, “You need the gospel more than you think youdo.” This sounds rather trite, like something we’veheard over and over before. But it’s the truth.

It took becoming a parent for me to realise justhow much I need the gospel. Before I had children,the gospel was like viewing a tower in the fog. I

knew the gospel, understood its importance, but Ididn’t see the impact in all its fullness. The details were hazy and its beauty shadowed. But after becoming a parent and taking on its package ofresponsibilities and challenges, I have begun to seethe gospel with more clarity. It has become for methe tower of refuge that it is.

Gospel in the Everyday

Parenting has helped me understand and love thegospel at a deeper level than I had ever known before. I see traces of the gospel story every day inthe things I encounter as a mother. Each time Iconfront sin in my children, I see my own sinreflected back at me and I am reminded of mygreat need for a Saviour. When I work with mychildren on yet the same issue again and again, Isee God’s patience in how he handles my ownongoing struggles against sin.

Full name: Olivia Wenda McDermott

 Age: 19 

Studying: Adult Nursing at Queens. I’ve just started mysecond year and absolutely love it! It’s hard work but well worth it. I’m about to start my first placement of second year and I’m really looking forward to it.

Leadership Role: YF/GB leader

Likes: Spending time with family and friends, laughing,reading, my dog, good food, sleeping, dancing, singing,

shopping, being tanned 

Dislikes: Spiders, sneezing, revision, getting up early

Favourite verse: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for mypower is made perfect in weakness.’ 2 Corinthians 12:9  

Prayer for you: It's always hard going into somewhere newso pray that I fit in well to my new placement and that they will see Jesus through me. Pray that I can be a light amongmy friends in uni as none of them are Christian's. Finally Ihave so much on everyday so pray that I can have a good balance between work and socialising and mostimportantly that I make time to spend with God.

Hopes for YF: I hope that as a YF we can build a close knitcommunity, that support and encourage one another. I alsohope and pray that the young people will come to know what God has done for them on the cross and that they willmake the amazing decision to follow him. 

Next summer a team of young people will be travelling with Exodus to

Romania. Before the placement in Romania the team will meet regularly to

study the Bible together and while we are in Romania we will be partnering with

local churches and serving communities by running a Holiday Bible Club,

painting/decorating and distributing food to families. The trip is for young people

aged 16+ who have a desire to serve and to learn more about what it means to

follow Jesus today. 

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Prayer Points

•Thank God for the young people we currently have contact with through BB, GB, YF & School’s work

•Praise God for the new Christians, pray for them

• Youth Alpha — thank God for the group of young people who come faithfully and who are starting to open up and

ask questions. Pray for those who have not made the decision to follow Jesus.

•Pray for the boys in BB — That God will continue to grow and strengthen those boys who made the commitment

to follow Him. That new disciples can be made through the example of the boys, the actions and words of the

Officers and Christian boys and through what is spoken in Scripure. The boys will maintain their commitment

so we can continue to grow as a group

• Also pray regularly for the YF leadership team - Myles, Chris, Peter D, Peter M, Gary, Jonny, Gillian, Stuart,Olivia, Aimee & Emma. Pray that they would continue to use their gifts to disciple young people and honour God.

•Pray for Olivia McDermott using the points above.

•Pray for the mission trip to Romania, for wisdom if there are too many applicants.

NOVEMBER

2nd | YF - John 5: 16-21 w/ Myles

Tyrell

9th | YF - John 5: 22-30 w/ Jonny

 Addis 

12th | Mentoring Training Night

16rd | YF - John 5: 31-47 w/ John

Morgan 

23rd | YF - John 6: 1-15 w/ Julie

Bowers 

29th | YF Social - Hub youth event

DECEMBER

7th | YF - Christmas Characters Pt. 1

14th | YF - Christmas Characters Pt. 2

19th | YF CHRISTMAS PARTY

Note there will be no YF on 21st/28th

Dec. YF will resume on Sunday 4th

January 2015.

 When my child wanders off in a crowd and I can’t find him, I get a glimpse of the Father’s love for me andremember the lengths he went to make me his child. And as I pray with my children through their toughcircumstance, helping them see the gospel’s relevance, I experienceanew the refreshing and cleansing work of Christ’s death inmy place.

In Christ Alone

The hymn “In Christ Alone” captures the main lesson I have

learned through parenthood. My hope and strength are reallyfound in Christ alone. I need Jesus. I need his gospel everymoment of every day. For it is the gospel which tells me that because of what Christ accomplished for me at the cross, I can bring my sins, failures, and weaknesses to his throne of grace inconfidence and find the help I need (Hebrews 4:16).

It tells me that while I am utterly sinful, even more than I think Iam, the Father loves me with the same love with which he loveshis Son. It tells me that because Jesus lived a perfect life, Godlooks at me and sees Christ’s righteousness. He sees Christ’sperfect love for others, his perfect patience, grace, forgiveness,and forbearance, and not my sinful reactions, grudges, andselfishness. It also tells me that because Christ freed me fromslavery to sin, I am free to live for him.

Gospel-Empowered Parenting

 When I view my daily parenting challenges through the lens ofthe gospel, I see Christ’s love and grace for me. When I fail as aparent, the gospel reminds me of the forgiveness Christpurchased for me. This truth sustains and strengthens me. As Itrust and rest in what Christ has already done for me, I amempowered to face every challenge parenthood throws my way because the gospel is my tower of refuge.

Jesus said that we need to abide in him because apart from him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). Parenthood has revealed thistruth to me in so many ways. I can do nothing apart from thegospel, including parenting. It may sound trite, but it’s true: Ineed the gospel more than I think I do — every single day.