PCSU

PORTADOWN COLLEGE SCRIPTURE UNION

[portadownsu]

Emily Gilliland//PCSU//GRACE

Hi everyone, so for any of you that don’t know me I’m Emily and I’m in upper sixth. I’m studying biology, ICT and history ( I want to be a teacher so luckily I can have a totally random mixture of subjects). Some things you may not know are that I have an adorable dog called Bailey, I had a slight obsession with Blue Peter when I was little and have 5 badges (life goals complete) and I cried when my sister got me a jar of malteser spread as part of my birthday present (I think a lot of people can relate).

So anyway, I don’t really know why I decided to do a blog and I’m still not exactly sure what I’m going to type but I’m going to give it a go.

So I learnt a lot at the weekend, some things that I had never even noticed before. For example the word “Authentic” itself was a shock for me. I just thought I was a christian, I did what christians do like go to church, read my bible (although I’m lacking on that part I have to admit) and pray. Although within five minutes of Mark opening his mouth I knew I had got something very wrong. Being a christian wasn’t about following the crowd, it’s not about “doing the things christians do” it’s about having your own, unique faith and personal relationship with God. After all God didn’t give us all the same fingerprint, he made us unique so why would he give us the same relationship? Even the way we worship is different and the gifts we have ( I definitely did not get the gift of a voice because I sound like a dying whale). When I thought about it I realised how naive I was. I need to make time for God. I have always struggled with reading my bible and I think that’s why I never realised I wasn’t living an authentic faith. It’s like when you mum calls you down to wash the dishes or hoover the house, suddenly you’ve got too much homework to do even though you’ve been sitting watching a whole season of vampire Diaries on netflix all day. I just didn’t make the effort and I didn’t make the time to have a personal relationship with God so how was I going to know that I wasn’t living an authentic faith?

Mark mentioned at the weekend: “Faith can be something we intellectually agree with but don’t spiritually live out.”. That’s another thing that I had never even realised. I love the idea of christianity. I love the idea of everyone being so loving to each other and the way God wants us to live but whether I actually live that out or not is a totally different thing. There have been loads of times I’ve known what the Bible told me to do or be like and I’ve ignored it. Sometimes when I go to church I’ll go, I’ll listen and I’ll know what I’ve just learnt about but I won’t apply it to my life because once I walk back out the church doors I let it go out of my mind again. I need to take what I learn and use it. That’s how people see God. You're the light that others need! It’s a lot of pressure and it can be scary. I know it is for me because when I first started PC and my friend lost her faith it was the mockery and the actually quite strong valid arguments she made against christianity that scared me. I had no answers for her and I felt that I should have! I knew they were there somewhere I just didn’t know what they were. The truth is I should have shown her christianity through my actions and came back to her on all those questions she had! Instead I got fed up and to be honest I doubted God myself but really he was trying to say “Emily show them, show them what a christian is! Help them with their questions and pray for them, pursue holiness, live spiritually and TRUST ME.”.

Luckily God’s very patient and eventually, at the weekend I heard what he was telling me. I will try my best to pursue holiness and be a light to those who need God. It’s pressure and it’s scary but Hebrews 12 v 1 says “Let us run with perseverance the race that’s marked out for us.”. Keep going and keep trusting because one day it’ll pay off! I hope this has related to some of you in some way and i’ll leave you with a little verse that’ll hopefully help you with your faith and through your exams:

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” -Proverbs 16v3.

[portadownsu]

Sarah Herron//PCSU//GRACE

Our imperfections are opportunities for God's grace ✨

Hello everyone and welcome back to SU blogs! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sarah Herron, I'm 16 and I am in year 12. People seem to say what subjects they study but since I'm doing GCSEs I basically study every subject that's on the go. Some things that you might like to know about me include: I can't catch a ball to save my life, I have the cutest dog in the world (even if she hates me I will forever love her) and I love Jesus a lot.

I had been thinking about writing a blog for a month or so when my fave Irish gal Becky Gilmour❤️ "encouraged" me to finally take a leap of faith and go for it.

So...today I'm gonna tell you a lil bit about my Christian life and how Christianity impacts me on a daily basis.  

Well, to begin, I was really blessed to be born into a Christian family. I was brought to church from I was born and I was sent to my campaigners (for all of you who have no idea what campaigners is, it's the equivalent of GB and BB). I'm not one of these people who can remember the exact date, time and what they had for lunch when they became a Christian. I think I was around 7 at my church's summer scheme. Obviously I didn't really understand what being a Christian was all about and my life didn't change much. Primary school went by without a hitch. I recommitted myself to God in the summer before junior high. Then came secondary school, and suddenly, not everyone was a "Christian". I really struggled with my faith in junior high, I didn't have many close Christian friends and my schools SU was super small. I didn't really have anyone my age that I could ask to pray for me or to even have DMC about God with. However everything changed for the better when I moved to PC! I made so many good Christian friends and I started going to this amazing SU which has encouraged me in my faith so much. I have become more confident in stepping out in my faith and have tried to talk to non Christians about God. Even if these conversations made no difference I just am so thankful to God that he has given me the confidence to step out for Him.  

Two of the greatest things I think Christians struggle with is the idea of imperfection and judgement.  Perfection can mean many different things to different people. It may be always having to do well in exams, always appearing to have everything under control or even trying to be a "perfect Christian".

Like the typical Presbyterian I am I can sum it all up in three points.

1 We judge our own imperfections  

For ages I would feel guilty or put myself down about not being as "good a Christian" as other people I know.  I would tell myself that because I didn't read my Bible every night, I wasn't a good Christian.  I feel that often Christians are under so much pressure to seem to be perfect people by those around us, and often this can cause us to feel the desire to act perfect. However we must remember that no one except God is perfect! Everyone has fallen short of His glory and we all make mistakes (even those who act as if they are holier than thou). We must remember that God doesn't expect us to be perfect, He just calls us to be his followers and come as we are in simple worship. Our imperfections are God's opportunity for grace, being a Christian is not about constant perfection, but about progression within our relationship with God. We need to remember that Christianity isn't a religion. It's a personal relationship with the Father who created you with never ending love.

2 We judge the imperfections of others

Often we can judge the lives that non Christians live rather than help guide them closer to God. Jesus said to "love your neighbour as yourself" so, instead of judging those who don't live out their lives in a God pleasing way or those who say they're Christians but often don't act like it, we should be trying to gently encourage them. Never condemn them. For we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God, just because we are Christians we are not better people than anyone else, as in the Bible it says "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).   Sin is sin. Sin can be telling a little white lie or sin can be stealing a car. No matter how small we might think our sins may be compared to the sins of others, it's still sin and we still need to be forgiven by God and made new again by His grace and love.

3 Only God has the right to judge

James 4:12 says "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you-who are you to judge your neighbor?" When it comes to judgement day we will all have to stand before God and He will judge us. We are all sinners in need of God's saving grace. For God is the only person in the whole universe who is without one piece of sin in His life. That is why only God can judge our imperfections and sins. We all sin, yes in different ways, but we all sin and therefore no one has the right to judge anyone else without first looking at their own lives.  God reminds us of this in John 8:7 when it says "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." This does not mean that we can do whatever we want and if anyone tells us what we are doing is wrong we can sassily reply "Excuse me ! Only God can judge me"   No. We must allow brothers and sisters in Christ who are looking out for us and want the best for us, to guide us and teach us when we struggle. There is a difference between helping and judging.  

So to conclude what has been a very long read: both Christians and non Christians are under constant judgement from the world but in the end we must remember that the most important judgment is that of God.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

[portadownsu]

Becky Gilmour//PCSU//GRACE

Hey peeps, so I’m Becky if you don’t know me, and I’m in lower sixth. I spent the majority of this week trying to think up something funny or interesting about myself but failed miserably, so let’s just jump right in. Psalm 91v 14- 16: “‘because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him.’ “ Have you ever been at one of those praise nights, where everyone is going wild, singing and waving their arms about to the point where they might just take off and fly but then, in the midst of it all- is you? You’re just kind of awkwardly standing there, feeling no huge emotional experience, no jumping-up-and- down-joy, no tears, and no nothing. Have you ever slapped open your bible before bed, skimmed a passage quickly, have no idea what it means and frustratedly (sorry that’s not a word but it fits) hit the lights and went to sleep? Have you ever been completely broken and alone, crying out to God in prayer for what feels like the millionth time but still can’t feel God working in your life? David struggled just like us, and he’s a great guy to learn from. Psalm 17: “Hear me, Lord, my plea is just; listen to my cry. Hear my prayer… I call on you my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.” Psalm 18: “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise and I have been saved from my enemies… he reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.” I’m yet to meet a Christian who hasn’t experienced this in their life at some point. I’ve been there, and you have probably been there too. It will either make or break you- use these opportunities to build your strength rather than the opposite. So, listen up- here are a few things God has taught me in my life, which might hopefully come in handy to someone else. 1) READ THE FACTS. Often, we question if we truly are Christians when we appear to lack a relationship/ response from God- you might feel pretty alone.  Don’t ignore this or push it to the back of your mind. Confront it, open your bible and show yourself why you believe that it is the truth. When confronted with different theories and questions (especially the ones in RE, sometimes they can be quite confusing) find answers, ask youth leaders and friends.  Find out exactly what you believe to be right for yourself. Sometimes as Christians we just grow up relying on other people’s views though, e.g. our parents or youth pastor- just because they think it’s right, so do we. To get deeper you need to understand why for yourself. 2) READ THE BIBLE WITH CONSISTENCY. I hear this one a lot, but it’s true. If you are struggling with something, whether it be your faith or something else, the cute little verse you use as your hipster screensaver won’t be enough to supply you with the answers and support you are gonna need. Take out your bible, and read a little bit as often as you can. Don’t do it because some grumpy old man at church said “you must read your bible every night or you aren’t a proper Christian,” (that’s rubbish) do it because you love God, and because you want to make him a priority. Recently I’ve ranted and raved about the psalms, they are divided up small and are actually so comforting, and it’s a good way to get started. Bible study groups are great too, but remember to have your personal time with God. 3) PRAISE GOD. Man was made to glorify God. It’s our sole purpose, so look at everything around you and appreciate it, thank God for the people and things he has given you and remember what an amazing God he is- constantly remember that. 4) AWAIT YOUR ANSWER. God hears you, even if you feel silly praying, like you aren’t worthy or are being ignored. He loves you. He hears you. He knows when the time is right to deliver you, so trust him and remember that your answers are coming.  Psalm 5:3 “I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” Stay strong, even when you feel like God is so far away from you- he isn’t and you need to remind yourself of that. You are loved by God and you are very, very precious to him. Don’t let times like this destroy you- take it as an opportunity to be strengthened because there is a reason God has you right where you are. Matthew 28:20 “and surely I am with you to the very end of the age.” Sorry if this was super long, thanks for reading!

[portadownsu]

Sam Robinson//PCSU//GRACE

Welcome back to the blogs guys! I'm Sam Robinson, if you didn't already know from the picture or you didn’t read the Facebook post. Some things about me: I like hitting drums with sticks and watching movies with my eyes…other than that I am quite boring. Thankfully this post isn’t really about me, but it is about God. I’m sure for everyone it’s a relief to finally be free from exams, and whilst now having time to reflect on my life again I want to share some things God has been teaching me since before school began again in September. Like a typical Presbyterian, I can pin point three major learning curves:

I am a lot more broken than I ever realised.

I don't know about you, but for a while I used to think I was a good enough person. I did what I thought was right, tried to follow Jesus’ teaching and have been saved since I was about 12. But occasional goodness is only one side of the human nature; on the other side is our deep desire to sin. This school year alone I have failed to do so much of what I said I would and have failed God even more. Begrudgingly, I came to the conclusion that I simply would never be able to meet MY OWN standards, let alone God’s. I realised just how much my sin is part of me, how deeply rooted it is and how much it controls my lifestyle.

To put this plainly, if we watched ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’  most of us would identify with one of the children - pure, kind and smart. We however, are not the like children. We are Count Olaf.

I don’t know why it took me so long to realise the real weight of sin. I guess when things seem easy and you feel okay it’s easy to lose perspective and that is dangerous. For a while I found it crushing, it was like the Baudelaire mansion burning around me (bare with me and these analogies…). If I simply ended this blog here it would be a miserable image and there would be no hope of redemption. It really would be like “A Series Of Unfortunate Events”, Lemony Snickett would keep constantly popping up to remind us “It doesn’t get any better”…

2) "I am a mess, but I am God's mess”

Those are the words of Matthew Winter (subsequently quoted by Peter Morrow) and I think they perfectly sum up the Christian. We are God’s and although we sin, He steps in with his Gospel of grace and takes the weight on the cross. Like Snickett stitches together the redemption story of the Baudelaires, God crafts His purpose into our lives. If anyone was at Livewire 2016 you will be well acquainted with Romans 8 (a book very different from Snickett’s). I can’t seem to escape Romans though because at the same time as Livewire I was reading a study book of Romans 8. A verse that I found interesting was v28:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him”

In the book Raymond C. Ortlund Jr explains that if we take "all things" to literally mean "ALL things", God can even use sin to create a good. How crazy an idea is that? He goes on to explain that this does not condone our sin, soften the hard consequences, or give us an excuse, after all v13 still commands us to put it to death. This is what it does mean:

“I cannot sin my way out of the purpose of God, because my sin is the very thing his saving purpose most intentionally redeems… Nothing can out manoeuvre the mercy of God for us, if God intends mercy for us”

This is a huge comfort and Romans 8 even begins with “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”.  Even if we are as dubious as Count Olaf, no one is beyond God’s love and mercy.

3) God wants us to walk with him daily to resist our sinful nature.

Verse 5 presents us with a stark contrast: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on things of the Spirit”. On one hand of this contrast we have our sinful nature, “the flesh”, and on the other hand we have our ideal Godly nature, “the Spirit”. Verse 6 presents us with the consequences of whichever side we choose to live by: “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace”.

The key to both of these verses though is “the Spirit”. If we want to be able to resist temptation and kill our sin, we NEED to be in step with God daily. It is unavoidable. In Romans 8 “the Spirit” is mentioned a whopping 19 times in 39 verses, and that is not even counting “the Son”, “Christ” or simply “God”. God does not simply want to be like Arthur Poe and turn up to bring us to our next destination with a pleasant smile and optimistic comment before swiftly moving on; He wants to be a part of it and wants us to rely on Him.

If we were able to resist sin alone would we ever need a salvation plan? If we are not searching for God, talking and listening to Him daily, then we will end up in a downward spiral of sin pictured in the second half of Romans 1 and things really would be a self inflicted ‘Series Of Unfortunate Events’. I don’t mean physical suffering, but I mean the ever growing guilt of sin. I have noticed many downward spirals in my life and they’re impossible to get out of alone.

God wants us to be with Him and spend all our moments with Him because ultimately He knows us, every weakness and sin. And He has to be our strength.

[portadownsu]

Holly Bothwell//PCSU//GRACE

Hi! My name is Holly (or Holly B as some people know me as) I’m currently in lower sixth studying chemistry, music, ICT and RE. (Bit of a mix I know but that's what ya get when you don’t know what to do with your life!)  So I signed up to do this blog by the persuasion of some of my friends at SU and honestly I was scared but I’m probably gonna thank them for that because for me, I’m not really a very outspoken person when it comes to talking about my faith. I remember going to Xpression for my first time back in summer’15 and I remember Mark Hand asking us to pray in our small group out loud and I was like ‘‘wait what, I have to do what?’’ and I immediately started freaking out and couldn’t even think of one simple thing to pray about and of course my older sister just had to be the team leader of our group, so that was embarrassing but I can honestly say that things have gotten better from then and the encouragement from the small group back in Xpression has given me the confidence just to always speak from the heart. One verse that has particularly helped me in being a more outspoken Christian is Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly father’’  I’ve learnt over time that it doesn’t make any sense to stay quiet in a world that is filled with darkness; our faith was made to be public. To be shared with anyone. It took me ages to figure out how someone can be so fully committed to Jesus, as I always felt intimated by everyone in church, SU or CE. I felt like the smallest person there and was often questioning God as to why I wasn’t like all those other people or why I didn’t understand as much as those people but as time went on and I truly prayed and opened my mind up into what people and God were saying, I realized that we are all the same, maybe different stages in our journey with God but everyone has something to share and those people I felt intimated by don’t seem so scary anymore as they are able to share things about their faith that maybe I hadn’t discovered before and at the end of the day we are all equal and loved equally in the eyes of God, and if anyone knows me then they know how much of a stubborn person I am, so when I say that it took me ages I mean it took me ages, we are talking a good two years to realize this! But on the course of that two-year journey, I came across a man called Bob Goff and he said, “I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes.” And this is what I was exactly missing. The reality is I am no better of a Christian than anyone else reading this. Jesus died for you just as much as he died for me; and we are both imperfect and in need of a saviour. Now in saying all of this does not mean I am a ‘’perfect Christian’’ now in life. I still make mistakes, I still often use a swear word here or there but that just makes me human, that doesn’t mean I give up and accept a life of sin, you’ve got to pursue your life to try and become as close to Jesus as you can, make it a challenge if you want and even if we stumble along the way then from there seek forgiveness and get back up and try again and again, it doesn’t matter how many times we think we fail in life, we aren’t going to live a life that is flawless and without mistakes. Faith conquers fire no matter what and God made us human. So thanks for reading and I hope I made some sort of sense and I’ll leave you with this verse. Have a good week! 1 Peter 3:15: “Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are’’ 

[portadownsu]

Ross Gilmore//PCSU//GRACE

Colossians 1:13-14 - "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." 

Alright so, for those of you that don't know me, I'm Ross Gilmore. I'm currently in lower sixth, and I'm studying maths, biology, chemistry and RE. Earlier in the year I thought it would be a good idea to put my name down to write a blog at some point, and have regretted that decision ever since! But anyway, I'm going to give it a go, and give a brief run through of how I became a Christian (cause that seems to be a popular topic for SU blogs!) So here goes... 

So, I guess that I could say that same old cliché about how I was brought up in a Christian family, and attended church and Sunday school on a regular basis, but looking back on it, I wouldn't be telling the whole truth. If anything, as my brother and I have gotten older, it has become more noticeable, to me at least, that my parents faith doesn't seem to be one of great devotion. I have no doubt that they believe in God, however I do think that they have a very relaxed attitude to devoting time to God. But I'll leave that for another discussion, as this blog will be long enough. So as usual in testimonies, I can say that through primary school, everything was pretty good. Nearly everyone believed in God, and there wasn't really much need to question what was happening and what you were being told. Next after primary school came Clounagh, and suddenly, people stopped believing in God. Suddenly, instead of the school being mostly Christian, it became sort of a weird thing. Christians were spread few and far between throughout the school, and I ended up with a friend group made of a majority of people without a belief in God. Looking back, I can see that their behaviour and attitudes toward things definitely influenced me, and this wasn't a good thing. My faith meant little to me at the time, and I probably would have fallen away from God all together if it wasn't for the youth leaders in my church. 

So the end of third year rolled around pretty quickly, and I was encouraged by Mark Hand to sign up for Xpression 2014. I had also managed to convince a few friends to give up a week of their summers and do it with me. So we arrived on the first day and I was amazed at just how awesome the whole thing was! Before this point, I never realised worshipping God could be lively and fun! It was simply amazing! Over the week the way I viewed God changed drastically, and I really connected with God in a way that I hadn't before. Suddenly God became a lot more real to me, and I realised that I needed to change. I couldn't go on with the way I was living, spending one hour a week with God and ignoring him the rest of the time. Eventually on the Friday I finally gathered the courage, and went out to receive prayer. I made a commitment to God and that commitment has changed my life. 

So after Xpression, summer ended, and suddenly it was my first day at the College. Since then I've decided to take charge of my faith, and become accountable to God for how I live. At first I found it difficult being around my friends again, but soon, with me spending more and more time reading the bible, praying and spending time with God, it became easier and easier. Since then I've kept the same group of non-Christian friends, attempting to witness to them through my words and actions, and seeing how their attitudes towards God have changed over time, from completing rejecting God to actually asking about what's going on with SU. They still have an impact on how I live, and I still struggle to keep my faith as the most important part of my life, however I've also managed to build up a great group of new Christian friends that help keep me on track, and encourage me to focus on God. So I guess that's it. I've been on a few mission teams and stuff since, but again, in an effort to make this short and easy to read, I'll save those stories for another time. So, thanks for reading guys! I'll just leave you with this... Psalm 103:4 & 12 "Who redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with love and compassion ... As far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us" 

[portadownsu]

Rachel Buchanan//PCSU//GRACE

Hi everyone! For anyone that doesn't know me, my name is Rachel Buchanan, I'm in upper sixth, I'm studying Geography, Biology and RE, I go to Emmanuel church Lurgan, And I love Jesus a lot! I was so fortunate to be brought up in a Christian family, both my parents love Jesus and I was always sent to church, Sunday school, GB, kids clubs and just about any other event there was. I became a Christian when I was 6 years old at Kingdom Kids in Portadown Elim. Because of this typical testimony I used to believe my story was boring because although there have been many ups and downs, nothing overly dramatic has ever happened. But now I realise that since my life has been completely changed by Jesus and it is His story, not my own it is definitely not boring. And it is such a blessing that I got to start this amazing journey at such a young age. In this blog I just want to share a little bit of my story and a few thoughts which I have been really challenged by. I'll start with a quote. "Your relationship with God should be deeply personal, but never private" I'm not sure who originally said this, but I heard it from Mark Hand quite a while ago, and it has really stuck by me. As Christians, we need a deep personal relationship with God, and we also need to share Jesus with others who don't know him. Firstly is absolutely essential to have a personal relationship with God. For many years after I became a Christian it wasn't very personal. I always went to church, Sunday school, GB etc. But I rarely spent time on my own with God. For me it had become more of a religion, rather than a relationship. This began to change in fourth year, when I began to take my relationship with God a lot more seriously. This change did not happen over night, so often I still struggle to spend time reading my bible, worshiping God, talking to God and listening to what he has to say, but I find that when I do these things, it just makes me want to spend more and more time just being in his presence. I think I started taking things more seriously, when I fully realised the extent of Gods love. I began to realise that he is so faithful even when I'm not, and because of this He deserves at least some, if not all of my time. I love the theme of 'Grace' in SU this year. I constantly need to be reminded that although I don't deserve any of this, because of Gods amazing Grace, and Jesus' sacrifice each of us are able to come before him. I still struggle spending time with God, but now rather than spending time reading my bible and praying because I felt guilty about not doing it, it has started to become something that I actually enjoy doing. Too often I find it difficult to set time aside and spend time with God, especially with the many stresses of school and life in general. But It says in Psalms 46v10 "Be still and know that I am God" so it's definitely something I'm working on. One thing that has really helped me grow in my relationship with God is by doing it with other people. I have been so blessed with a solid group of Christian friends, we are able to build each other up and also help be accountable for each other. There are also many leaders and older Christians that I look up to, all these people challenge me and encourage me daily and I am so thankful for them. So if we have this personal relationship with God we need to show others Jesus. We can do this through our actions, and also by telling them the best news they will ever hear! I know that there are so many broken people that I know in my life and it breaks my heart knowing that they don't know Jesus. I'm nowhere near perfect, and I'm definitely not a good representation of Jesus. This is why it's also important for us to tell our friends and family about Jesus, because he is perfect. We have the best news they will ever hear and we cannot keep it to ourselves. A few weeks ago at SU it was mentioned that we have a mission to share the good news of the gospel here, near and far. I love mission. I Love that our God is a missional God, and he calls each of us to play a small part in his plan for this world. In Mark 16v15 it says "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Mission abroad is something I have been really challenged about recently, I have also been challenged to start praying more for the nations of this world, because our prayers do make a difference. However mission at home is also so important. Even within Portadown there are so many people who need Jesus. We don't have to look far to see that we live in a broken world with so much homelessness, people struggling with addictions and loneliness. But the good news is that we have a hope, Jesus is the hope that so many people need in their lives and we have the privilege of sharing it with them. I'd really encourage everyone to get involved with mission, in whatever big or small way you can. I love the quote from Mother Teresa "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." Finally, Im sure all of us know a lot of people who are not Christians and it breaks my heart that they just don't know Jesus yet. Recently I have been really challenged to be bold and take more risks in sharing my faith. Someone once told me that if I pray for opportunities then God will give you them, and this couldn't be more true, I just need to be bold and take these opportunities. I also find that it's so important to trust Gods timing, having faith that God is working in someone's life even though it may not be visible is a real challenge, and something I daily have to hand over to him. Thankyou so much for reading, and enjoy the rest of your week!!

[portadownsu]

Helen Kane//PCSU//GRACE

Hi there, I’m Helen Kane and I’m currently in year 13 studying Maths, Computer Science and RE. If you don’t know me then you won’t know that I am extremely sarcastic, have a strange sense of humour, say calm down way too much and I’m obsessed with my dog Penny (everybody knows that). I’m just going to share with you how I became a Christian and how God has impacted my life. 

I was born into a Christian family with both my mum and dad being Christians from a young age. So typically I attended Seagoe Parish Church, Sunday school and Church Girls Brigade every week. As most children do, I found church services quite boring and usually just brought other things to do or read (when I was two I “carried” the Argos catalogue to church and picked out everything I wanted), but I enjoyed going to Sunday school and brigade with my friends. So at the age of 10, at Edenderry Holiday Bible Club in the summer, the leader of my age group asked if anyone wanted to become a Christian, so I made the decision to ask God for forgiveness and to be part of my life. However, after that my life really didn’t change, I continued to attend church weekly and acted and seemed just like everybody else. 

When I started Killicomaine, my faith in God started to drift. None of my close friends were in my class which I found very difficult at first and usually kept quiet in class. But I slowly started to make friends who weren’t necessarily the right ones for me at the time. I fell into a bad crowd, started to go to church less and less and ultimately questioned if God was even real. However, in 3rd year I got very close to a group of friends who encouraged me to go to CE, along with my sister Emma. 

I was beyond excited to start PC. For some strange reason I thought it was really cool that my sister and I were in the same school and therefore I knew so many upper sixths. However, I soon realised that having my mum in school was a bit of a pain, but she also came in handy when I needed money. Again on the first day I didn’t know very many people in my form class, but this time I found it easy to make friends (shout out to Sarah McAlpine). It was so different compared too junior high where you didn’t know who was a Christian and who wasn’t. We are so lucky that we are surrounded by so many amazing Christian teachers and friends. PC really has made me much more confident, not only in myself but also in my relationship with God. Even a year ago if I was asked to write this I would have laughed in your face. 

Two weekends ago Bethany, Kiara and I were at making your mark, which is a SU training weekend in Belfast Inst. I can honestly say it was the most life changing weekend I have ever been on. In just three days I grew in my faith more than I ever have and even had the courage to pray out loud (which is a great achievement if you ask my friends). It was amazing to see how God works in so many schools and also how we can be encouraged even more. 

To end, I just want to thank God for what he has done in my life and that he has blessed me with such amazing Christian friends and family who can pick me up when I am down and make me laugh.

[portadownsu]

Kirsty McNiece//PCSU//Grace

This Summer I went to Greece with a group from my church (Vibe) based in Armagh. Fun fact, it used to be a nightclub! But when I first heard about the mission trip the plan was to go to South Africa and I signed up hoping that I could gather the money from somewhere because I definitely wanted to go but I definitely didn’t have any savings what so ever 😁

So while I was trying to save, the trip destination was changed from South Africa to Greece because a lot of the team members felt that’s where God was drawing us because the need there is so great. And so the decision was made.

This made me want to go even more because it was breaking my heart knowing there where so many people hurting, lonely and stuck there. However, then I began thinking what could I do? But God reminded me that that doesn’t matter, doing little things with lots of love does.

Meanwhile, I still had the problem of gathering the finances I needed. But God took care of that. My wonderful friends and family blessed me with money so that my savings were growing so shout out to them 💛 Skipping ahead a bit, it was about 2 weeks before we were due to leave and I still hadn’t got all I needed to be able to afford the trip. That’s when I started to worry and began thinking “Hey God, now would be a good time to work your magic 😊” which is obviously the wrong attitude! God did not let me down though (surprise, surprise). A few days before I was due to leave one of my amazing friends just ‘decided’ to give me (a lot) of money and the day after, my auntie would literally not let me leave her house until I took money from her! In the end, two days before I was due to leave, I had more than I needed (later this meant I was able to help someone out by blessing them financially). More than I ever thought I could gather and lastly more than I deserved! So God really blessed me that way.

While I was actually out there it was tough. I knew that it was going to be hard, but I couldn’t of imagined it would be so exhausting, emotionally and physically. We would be walking all day and nearly every night we had the chance to go to a place called Victoria Square and we met so many people from different places with different stories. I met some from Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran. Some families, some who were travelling alone. I even met a guy called Amir from Afghanistan who has no friends and family with him. He’s living at a refugee camp but occasionally wonders about Athens. He just turned 17. He made sure to come back and visit us every night and we assured him that he had friends and family now, he had us.

Victoria Square was my favourite part of the whole trip. The first night you could tell people were watching, trying to figure out why we were there as we played with some of the 'brave’ kids who came up to us first when we brought out our kids toys including a big parachute which they loved! We were also handing out fruit, water and some clothes, which went down well with everyone!

As the nights went on you could see the kids becoming more excited to see us coming, even some of the parents were laughing and smiling. We even had a young mother tell us how precious it was to see her children laughing and smiling again, she also mentioned they hadn’t done that in a very long time. But then again, their lives have completely changed and they’ve lost so much.

All in all, God went before us. He set up conversations that lead to people opening up and receiving prayer. We also saw people healed, (one person got out of their wheelchair and started having a dander) instantly and over a period of time, now that was so amazing and it just shows how powerful He is!

For my first mission trip abroad, it was intense but so worthwhile. I won’t forget it. Ultimately, I learned that God will provide you what you need, you only need to trust him! I learned that when you aren’t relying on yourself for your strength that’s when God can really do his thing and give you the perseverance. Also, Don’t Underestimate Prayer. When you pray with the right heart and sincerity, God will do things you couldn’t imagine. That’s His promise, and I’ve seen it happen!

I think it is so important to have the attitude that what comes from God isn’t yours and that way it is easier to give and you will develop a humble heart. Like I said, I found out the reason God blessed me with money was so I could bless others and that was so heart-warming. Lastly, I just want to say, with God there are no failures. Some people did not receive us well in Greece but we were still able to help them with providing food or time and company so you can never really fail because God is in control!

Thank you for reading about my time in Greece, God bless you! ☺️

[portadownsu]

Tara Grant // PCSU // Focused

-The Colour has been added-

(Copyright most of this is Mr Spence’s but I’m afraid I had to let tonnes more people hear!)

So last night I went to TABLE which is normally pretty nifty anyways but for some reason last night it was just different… whenever I feel God telling me do something my heart normally beats faster but last night I swear my heart was near out of my chest as it was beating so quick and I ligit could hear my heartbeat. I starting shaking and my hands became really clammy. Right now you’re probably like Tara I really do not want to hear about how your hands became clammy but hear me out.

Right so Easter Sunday one of the greatest days in history. Jesus rose from the dead. How many times have we all heard that? I know even when I ask my wee anchor boys about it they can tell me Jesus died for our sins and came back to life. For me, I took it for granted I had been brought up knowing what he did for me and being told that it was amazing but not really sitting down and thinking what it meant. Well folks last night that all changed. Jesus came back to life! He didn’t stay in Jerusalem and shout from the top of the highest building he was alive. No he went down the wrong path (away from where he was resurrected and buried) that a couple were taking home (Luke 24:13). Mr Spence said something v relevant for I think much of our lives, if we go down a wrong road or sway from God he will walk down that road with us listen to our troubles, not condemning us, not throwing lightning bolts at us and yelling “you fool!”. Instead he’ll gently call us back to him saying “child come back to me”.

I don’t know why but recently I’ve been finding it hard to talk to God properly in prayer like it’ll be a wee quick “thanks God, love you lots.. ps help me with blah blah blah”. Like what the flip? What was I playing at? GOD IS AMAZING!!! He should be not be a wee 10 min devo session in the day then I forget everything I learnt and act like a knob to my brother or be sassy to my mum and dad when they ask me to feed the cats. I should be showing Jesus’ love everywhere. In the street, in my home, in school, just everywhere.

So next thing Mr Spence and Aaron Quinn (and some other guy too- sorry I don’t know his name) was like “someone here is feeling lost, depressed, and has dry bones” (will explain that soon), right 3 times I was given a chance to go up and get prayed for, but yet just like Peter I denied Jesus 3 times. I thought I could pray for myself and that’d be enough, my pride wouldn’t let me be weak and seek out God completely. So what if we look weak? We are all weak! We will always be, there is always troubles, always something that makes the joy fade from our life… but as long as we have Jesus completely that all we really need. So Aaron said someone in the room was feeling low and incomplete (me), feeling like the joy of God has slowly gone (me), then Mr Spence got this image of black and white flowers that were becoming coloured, this image he said was normally associated with depression. I’m not saying I was depressed cause flip I can be a real happy person and I never stopped loving Jesus, but it resonated with me. I felt like I wasn’t worthy enough for God like I could never be good enough for him. It’s so weird yet wonderful… I will NEVER be good enough for God, I will NEVER be perfect, but I will ALWAYS have God. We ALL do!!! He loves us despite our faults, despite if our devotional time isn’t always good or if we’re feeling low.

Right so final few thoughts I wore a jumper I had not worn in a year…guess what was on it. Flowers. Yep. God works in marvellous ways, he knew what would happen last night, it’s as if he was saying “I knew the colour would come back in your life, I’ve never left you, how many times do I need to tell you, I will never leave you nor forsake you”. (A wee bitta Joshua 1:9 there for ya= brill wee verse!) Anyways finally Mr Spence mentioned Moses. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I admire Moses and how much I can affiliate myself with him, don’t worry I haven’t killed any Egyptians slave

masters but I have found it hard at times to do what God wanted me to do and I question him a lot (Exodus 4:10-13). So when Mr Spence mentioned Moses being able to all he did, I swear I had tears in my eyes. I no longer had dry bones and I’m excited to go to church again and I won’t resent it. Church is not the building, nor the style of worship… it’s our Christian family who all love God, it’s that community coming together to serve and worship God in whatever way suits them. To those who aren’t happy with your church- stay with it, help it, don’t look for the faults in it, look for the good in it and build on that!

Sorry this is extremely long it was just a stream of consciousness I had to type out! Hope everyone had a brill Easter and don’t stress too much about revision God has is sorted! HE IS AMAZING!!!

Matthew 11:28- “Jesus said ‘Come to me all those who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest.’”

[portadownsu]

Megan Watson // PCSU // Focused

1 Peter 3:15 : 

"Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience."

Definitely think I'm all caught up on my sleep after Focus 16! I want to start this off by acknowledging what a privilege it is to have and be a part of such an amazing su. I am incredibly thankful for how much the committee, the teachers involved and all the people behind the scenes (who do not go unnoticed), invest into the SU and it was so exciting to get the chance to chase after all that God has for us with a room full of people who have a heart for Jesus! 

Mark Hand brought so much to the weekend and put a different spin on things and from it, I've learnt that once God becomes the main focus in your life, everything else falls in to place once your life is based around the One who died to give you new life and the chance to spend eternity with Him! I realised the importance of how I spend my time and that my private life affects my public life and how they should be one and the same and they should not inter-change on the basis of who I am with or where I am. 

Finally, it was so great to get the chance to talk through everything that happened in the meetings in the small groups, I loved getting to listen to what everybody took from the meeting and what actions they were going to take to change after what they'd learnt. During the final session in open mic, someone shared a bit and said "rather an 'oh well' than a 'what if'." (Deepest apologies to whoever said this, I honestly can't remember but what you said was on point)! The amount of time we spend on this Earth is limited and we can never know how something can turn out if we don't try and realistically you're not going to know unless you step out and take that risk, but sure where's the fun in staying in your comfort zone? The worst that can happen is that you just get totally rejected but in the bigger picture you don't know how that person has really pondered on what you've said or how it matters to them that you took the time to be concerned. 

You've probably noticed that I'm a why say 10 words when you can say 100 type of gal by now so, to round it all up, get yourself to next year's su weekend, the banter's an added bonus, it's a great way to meet new people and just come with an open heart and be ready and expectant for what God's going to do because I can assure you, it will be amazing what He will do if you give him that chance! Megan

[portadownsu]

VICTORIA McTURK // PCSU // FOCUS

Hello everyone, many of you may not know me. My name is Victoria McTurk and I just transferred to PC from Markethill high school this year. So as you probably guessed this was my very first S.U Weekend and to be honest I was extremely nervous about going however now I can proudly say that it was one of the best experiences of my life and I can’t wait for next year. First of all, I would like to thank the amazing S.U committee for organizing such an inspiring and fulfilling weekend. The point of this weekend was to get FOCUSED. Not focused on ourselves or school or anything like that but to focus on the most important person in all our lives. GOD. During this weekend we had the privilege of being spoken to by Mark Hand, who was simply inspirational and allowed me to truly think and absorb everything he was teaching us. After the first session I was completely mind blown by how much I had been neglecting God and how ashamed I was of myself. However, I then realised that I was not the only one feeling this. I learnt that God has to come first. I had to admit to myself that reading my bible once a month or when I could, wasn’t enough. I was also taught that I wasn’t alone, I had my friends who could be accountable for me, I have people who mentor me and teach me more ways to be focused on God. Mark Hand asked us a question that I believe made me truly think, ‘Is God your steering wheel or your spare tire?’ God shouldn’t be my spare tire, He should be the first person I go to for when I have a problem, when I’m sad or when I want to share happy news. He should be the first person, He should be my everything. We can do this by taking risks for God, taking risks to express our faith to others and taking the courage and wisdom God gave us to live as He lived himself. In our small groups, go small group 1!!!!! (The best group ever) we discussed everything that we learnt in our sessions and how we could adapt them to our lives and make ourselves more focused on God. I loved my small group and small group leaders they were simply the best! I never felt uncomfortable around them, which was one of my main worries at the start. I also loved the games we played as well, probably not the most important thing of the weekend but it was still funny seeing people shouting ‘my chair’. There were many moments that I could say were the best, however the main moment that stands out to me from the whole weekend was the open mic. Let’s just say there were a lot of tissues needed for that day. Many people came up and talked so freely about what they learnt on the weekend and what they were scared of and who they wanted to thank. Thank you to everyone, especially my friends! I could not have done any of this without you! Special mention to Daniela Adamson for just being simply amazing and Tara Grant, you wee babe, thank you for the amazing talk while on our night walk it truly inspired me and made me feel like I belonged with everyone there. #PCSU#FOCUS16#LOVETHEMALL#BESTWEEKENDEVER

[portadownsu]

Samuel Robinson // PCSU // Focused

So hello, I'd just like to start with a shout out to Ryan Davison, before I forget, still kinda feel guilty about that... Sorry man... 

Anyhow, let's get focused. 

Going into my second SU weekend I didn't really know how to feel; I had no idea what to expect from "Focus", what if the speaker was boring and what if small group sucked? To be honest, though I was excited, I never thought it would surpass last year... 

Boy did God prove me wrong!

In a small group of 7 people named "Small Group 7" I was really encouraged and strengthened in my faith! God provided the perfect people I needed to help me refocus on Him and then challenge me to take a risk for Him! 

After each session going and talking to a bunch of strangers I now call friends about focusing on God really tested my thinking. I've learned that if we are focused on God, it's okay to take risks for him and to fail trying (something that Mark Hand expertly explained to us in Session 3). 

The risk that I need to take in my life is finding an opportunity to talk to my dad about my faith and about God. My dad isn't a Christian and has had a tough go at life. He's made mistakes and sinned, we all have, but has never found his focus on God to be forgiven... 

Mark taught that we should ask for God to break our hearts for something. I have never once tried to reach my dad, not once have I talked to him about God, not once tried to show him my faith... And the dad that I love never witnessing God’s grace broke my heart... And I'd never been focused enough to bother helping him find it.

Before I'd always been too uncaring, too distracted to try. I'm scared for rejection, scared of feeling embarrassed in front of my dad and just failing to impact him at all. But I now realise that if I don't try, who else will? When I do get a chance to explain a part of what I believe, even if it does seem to outwardly fail, I now realise that perhaps seeds were planted and what looked to have failed wasn't too bad after all. 

Within Small Group 7 God placed the right people in order to really encourage and challenge me to really find an opportunity! You all know who you are and I can't thank you enough. Though it may feel like a risk, if I keep focused on God, then what is there that can go wrong? It really is okay to try for God and potentially fail, just keep your focus on him! 

Thanks for reading! 

"Throughout thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience" - 1 Peter 3.15 

[portadownsu]

Daniela Adamson // PCSU // By Faith

Hey! I'm Daniela, I'm 18 and in my final year of PC studying History, RE and Health and Social Care, hoping to become a Pediatric Nurse. OHHH and I'm madly in love with God.

I'm going to take a guess that eyebrows were raised at my second statement. A solid 99.9% of you thought;

'You defs weren't madly in love with God when you were swearing today.'

'Or when I saw you downing that Magners...'

'Dani, you're being kinda hypocritical with that one.'

I'm not here to tell you that I'm not a hypocrite, because that's one thing I most definitely am. I'm inclined to the occasional alcoholic beverage, a swear word will be said too often, I will gossip all day and all night and while I'm being completely honest, recently I haven't been head over heels in love with God. I've actually been really angry at Him, confused by Him and heartbroken by Him.

I blame God for my feelings of loneliness.

I blame Him for not showing me the plans He has for me.

I blame Him for not answering my prayers.

I blame Him for not giving me what I want.

I blame Him for the pain that my friends were going through.

My life was consumed by these feelings daily and although I would greet you with a smile everyday (or most days) in school, in the back of my mind these thoughts would build and build. Therefore a night out with my friends seemed like the perfect opportunity to forget all my problems. When I was angry or annoyed swearing was an outlet for that. To make myself feel better I would gossip about other people.

All those things helped, for a while, but at the end of the day/night when I was alone, there was only one person I knew could heal the broken heart that I had: God. I had put up so many barriers and all I wanted was for God to break them down. But every time I prayed or cried for help - nothing happened.

See I wanted God to do all these things for me, to make me happy. I was leaving no room for His plans in my life. I continually asked God why me?

But why not me?

Why do I think I get a free pass to not suffer in this world?

The the penny dropped and things changed - it wasn't that God just came and changed everything and I have been happy ever since. Instead God has given me peace that in those situations He has put me in, He will be there.

Matthew 20:20 - 'And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age.'

I blamed God for everything yet not once did He blame me for putting His son on that cross.

To those in PC, my family, my friends, anyone whose path I have crossed, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry for not showing you a true representation of God. If you have based your opinion of God on me and my actions, I really want to change that.

Because God is love.

And the explanation of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. LOVE NEVER FAILS.

I fail every single day.

God doesn't.

So the ultimate message I want to say is, God loves me even with all the sin in my life meaning He loves you with all the sin in your life no matter what it is. Please don't base your opinion on God on all the things I do wrong, and the times when I am a hypocrite. He is SO great. I really don't want you to miss out on Him and the plans He has for you. You'll see me in school and I will probably be exactly the person I described at the start, the person I really wish I wasn't, but know by the grace of God, I am trying.

As a human full of sin, I will change everyday and I will fail everyday.

But God, He never changes and He never fails.

It baffles me why He chooses me despite everything that I do. He chooses you too, all you have to do is say yes.

I promise you, you won't regret it.

[portadownsu]

Sophianne Durand // PCSU // By Faith

Before I start I'd just like to say...HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE [insert a tonne of Christmas emojis here]

Hi! Most of you may know me as part of the SU committee (or the one who complained how tired I was at the SU social for being in school for 15 hours...) and I have felt in my heart to share just a 'little' bit about me and of course, Christmas. I'm Sophie and I'm lower sixth and study French, Moving Image Arts and Art. I'm a die hard fan of The Walking Dead (probably not expecting that) and have this crazy passion for film. But all in all, gotta say I love God the most 🏼 This year has been probably the most challenging of my life so far. Yes I haven't been on the earth that long but many things I have found haven't panned out as well as I hoped (apart from being part of SU cause that's where it is at!)

To start off the year, I began to have a problem with my intestine, making me loose a lot of weight too quickly. Cutting the story short it led to me having the dangerous "red flag" and had to have numerous X-Ray's, tests and procedures in order to know what this "red flag" problem was. The worst part I'd say was having to have an operation the day before my French exam and being told that I was definitely NOT allowed to take it with a general anaesthetic still in my system. But let's say God lifted me up and gave me strength to face the exam without any regrets the next day and ending up with full marks (what?). Overall without getting prayer from my whole church, family, amazing boyfriend and really supportive close friends, it could have turned out a completely different route. It was at that moment, I realised how powerful prayer really is and how we can't always just depend on God whenever we are in trouble and need him the most. If matters could get worse, I somehow managed to break my nose at an outdoor swimming pool, typical me... "Your not a walking dead you're a walking disaster" ~ Wise words from Jasmin Hamilton.

Like I said this year has proven a challenge. I've had disappointment upon disappointment almost everyday but I've learnt something very important. God has a plan, He is in control...no matter what. A God, who can move mountains, who can raise the dead and bring his son to cleanse the whole earth has a specific yet fantastic plan for every single one of us. Whether you too are facing a pretty tough year, if you think God isn't answering prayer or has just given up on you, he has his hand on your shoulder pushing you to finish the race.

The way I think of struggles and disappointments is like a marathon. You prepare, train your body to the limit (and probably take those weird protein shake thingys) until you know yourself, you're ready. When the moment arrives, you're standing at the starting line, you have been waiting for this for so long and finally it is here. The race is well underway but suddenly, you fall, damaging yourself and thinking straight away about failure. Disappointment is the only feeling you have left in your body. But you just have to get up, cause there is something inside of you that is pushing you on. This fire that is telling you to never give up, that is God.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ~ Romans 8:18

This Christmas, God wants to reignite that fire in every single one of you. Disappointments are only temporary, they'll fade away and soon you'll realise that the only permanent thing in life is Jesus. What matters most is not your iPhone whilst you're reading this, or new clothes, new makeup or new video games...this Christmas I ask you to remember one thing, Jesus is the greatest gift of all. You may be fed up of hearing the nativity story over and over again and you may even forget the true meaning behind it all. It's that Gods everlasting love never fails, even if it means sending his own perfect son for us.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. ~Psalm 100:5

So this Christmas, eat all the crap you want, enjoy time with your family and friends and remember to always give thanks to the man in the sky who offered you the greatest gift this Christmas.

Recommended tunes:

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3l9MXJYDp0

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rMNIDW8Vho

[portadownsu]

Amy Newell // PCSU // By Faith

Hey guys, I'm Amy, I’m in year twelve and I am studying far too much maths and science to be considered sane at this point. I can honestly say that last year the idea of writing this blog would have been terrifying to me but this year’s teachings in SU have really challenged me to be more active in my faith and to keep challenging myself, hence in writing this blog for all of you lovely people.  

I wanted to write about prayer because of all the recent troubles in the world and how desperate situations are globally; concerning ISIS, fear and violence. But I wanted to bring it back to basics because frankly in a day filled with homeworks, coursework, and exam preparation it can be hard to find time for God. 

 Let’s face the facts: we're not very good at prayer. Sin, now that's a different story; we seem to be doing fairly well there - but prayer, well, ever since the disciples slumbered in the garden of Gethsemane, it seems like it's got us well and truly beat. Or has it? Lately, God has been rousing the Church with a desire to tune into the things that set His heart on fire and to pray accordingly. Strip away the kneeling and the old English language and prayer is basically communication with God. There are many types of prayer: confession, adoration, thanksgiving, and so forth. In this though I want to explore only one aspect of prayer: asking. This is known in the trade as intersession, and it is exactly what people have been rediscovering lately. It's a world away from my previous attempts at prayer, which always ended up with me dribbling onto my sleeve as I fell into a deep, deep sleep.

But how much prayer is enough? An hour out of twenty four doesn't sound like much at all but the thought of a four hour quiet time would send most of us into a deep panic. The truth is that we need to learn to relax a little and know that life can be a prayer, and we need to spend time communicating with our Father in Heaven. However, while it is possible to communicate with someone who you love without saying anything, there comes a time when there's nothing left to do but have a good chat. Instead of making prayer and intersession a legalistic 'you ought to say your prayers, you ought to have your quiet time,' it is helpful to get back to basics and find out exactly what it is that drives us to pray. In Luke 11:1-10 (NIV), Jesus described four steps to a solid prayer life:

 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.  Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins,     for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

 1. The need

Like all good detective novels, there are clues scattered all around the Bible. In the text quoted above, Jesus does some major hint dropping. The scenario of an out-of-town friend turning up shows four conditions for prayer, without which prayer is dull and lifeless. The host is in desperate need of a bit of food, so desperate that he wakes up his friend in the middle of the night. I wouldn't get up in the middle of the night unless it was really, really important and I loved them more than I love my bed (which is a lot) and so the host fulfils the first condition for prayer - he had a need.

 2. Nothing to give.

The cupboard was bear; there was no sign of the necessary previsions. Realizing that he cannot come up with the goods himself, the host knows that he needs help from somewhere else. In order to understand prayer, we need that our own inelegance, money, popularity or resources cannot meet the needs of the world or even the specific needs of those around us.

 3. I know a God who can.

The host knows his neighbour has plenty of the necessary provisions. Do we believe that God has exactly what we need? If we do, then well get on our knees just like the man who went to his neighbour's door, and we will...

 4. Keep on asking.

Luke 11:7-8 refers to the toast hunter's boldness as the deciding factor in the neighbour getting out of bed. The footnote that accompanies the story suggests that the word 'boldness' could be described as 'persistence'. Clearly, it's so boldly persistent that it’s verging on cheeky. However, when we start praying, we can sometimes feel as though God is tucked up in his bed and can't be bothered to answer. At those times we give up, thinking that it would be rude to keep on asking; but it is at those times more than any other that we need to do as we're told and keep on knocking on the door, determined to wake up the whole neighbourhood if necessary.

     In the end, we need to believe that God wants us to pray and to feel as passionately about things as he does. I'll love you and leave you with a tremendously relevant quote from a Jesus Culture song - Set a fire.

                           "Set a fire down in my soul, that I contain that I can't control, I want more of you God."

 Pray for your discovery of your fire guys!

[portadownsu]

Sarah Gawley // PCSU // By Faith

Hello there, I’m Sarah Gawley aka Sazza G and I’m currently in upper sixth studying HE, RE and English. I drink a lot of tea, tell awful yet brilliant dad jokes daily and I tend to sing my heart out while driving to and from PC! You may also know me as the one who said “Bread” more than any other during the months of August and September, sorry about that.

I thought I could share a few things with y’all. So please grab a cup of tea, sit back and have a read at my attempt at a blog: 

Something that will always be difficult to understand is why we face difficult and tough situations, for many this is really confusing and often this can cause people to question God and their faith.  These situations can be anything from school stress, home difficulties, squad fallouts, illness, death etc. Now I’m not saying that immediately after such situations we will know why it happened to us or someone we love dearly but I live in the hope that one day this will be revealed. For now all I know is that we do face tough and unpleasant situations and often because of these we can become weary, tired and fed up. But please don’t be disheartened and give in to this weariness because from experience I can tell you that crap situations tend to leave you in awe of Jesus. 

When in Malahide I was responsible for teaching the 8-12 year olds their memory verse at the holiday bible club and to my shame they remembered it more than I did. So one of the days I taught them “I am the good Shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10v11). This got me thinking that whether we like it or not, we are the sheep: In an attempt at independence we try to do our own things and try to fix our own problems and forget that we have a shepherd who is there to guide us in the big old pasture of life. Don’t forget that God is always there even when you seem very far away in your faith, He’s got you covered.

In Ecclesiastes 3 we are told there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh” and basically there is a time for everything from joy to sadness and we are more than likely to experience these during our life. Personally I’m a massive fan of attempting to promote positivity if possible but this year especially I have faced situations where my response has been the opposite of the message “Positivity is my lifestyle”  which I have on a t-shirt, and instead I’ve been a bit of a negative Nancy in my response.

Some days I need to be reminded that everyone faces troubles, stress and hard situations- It’s not just me. If you’re a fan of statistics here’s one: my HE coursework revealed that 50% of 16-18 year old girls in sixth form at PC are stressed daily, and that really upset me because it got me thinking how people I know are probably going through things that I am oblivious to. And as a result these people may turn to comfort eating, some may drink tea, some may go on a wee rant, some may cause a mini war in the squad group chat- my point is we all handle struggles in very complex and varied ways. Usually when faced with a struggle it can be hard to pray or worship because in the back of your mind a little worry is nibbling away your joy and draining your hope away.

So how should we respond to difficult situations? Well, whilst reading through Acts, in chapter 14 I discovered that Paul gets stoned (the rock kind of stoned not the drug kind, just to clarify) which I imagine was pretty painful and not the coolest thing to experience. Now while we don’t all get whacked by massive rocks, Paul suffered just like we endure tough times and while we may not suffer in the same way Paul did, we can learn a lot from his response to trials and suffering. So in verse 19 we are told he gets stoned and they literally drag him out of the city as they assume he is dead, but wait for it because the next day he is up “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue on in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God”.

I wish I could say that I always respond by encouraging others like Paul did but to be quite honest sometimes I’m not as encouraging as I could be, and often I am disheartened in my faith due to stressful situations overpowering me. For example during my GCSE year I got shingles (chicken pox like things that people don’t get until they are elderly) because I was so stressed. Was I joyful in my response to this? No. Should I have complained less and prayed more? Yes. You see in PC there are plenty of people who are probably suffering whether they tell us or not and everyone becomes a little weary this time of the term (especially when Christmas is so close you can practically taste the freedom of being off school before the storm that is trials arrives).But maybe we could all try to work on responding to difficult and stressful situations in a more loving, positive and Paul-like way.

This year I allowed schoolwork to take over my time for socialising with my friends, being the try hard I am I totally forgot about the need I have (the need we all have) for encouragement and fellowship. So I want to encourage you to do a few things: if you are stressing remember that it won’t last forever and I overheard someone in the corridor saying that we stress about stuff that doesn’t even happen so boom, shoutout to whoever said that because they were very wise and true with those words!

Next I want to remind you that unloading your problems to friends can really help your worrying, in fact I got reminded of this whilst stressing over what to write for this blog. A very cool friend reminded me they are always praying for me and that is so encouraging to hear, be like this person and pray for the squad and their problems (even if they don’t tell you them). Little locker notes with encouraging words/verses, a simple “How are you doing?” Or even some homemade food could be a simple way of encouraging others to keep on going (unless you are Scott who made fifteens that many mistook for fudge at a bake sale, but hey he tried).

So when stress and life gets too much why don’t we all try a little harder by adopting the attitude portrayed in James 1v2-4 “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow”.

I hope this has helped you if you’re stressing or whatever. But here’s a quote I discovered in my notebook that reminded me we all need a little banter and a lot of Jesus. The main man C.S. Lewis writes in The Four Loves “We have reached the stage at which nothing is more needed than a roar of old-fashioned laughter”. So remember you got this, God’s got this: Keep the faith, spread the joy, encourage others and roar always!