#pcsu

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. 

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! 

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.

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

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."

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”.

“When you pass through the waters I will be with you, when you pass through the rivers; they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you… because you are precious and honoured, and I love you.” Isaiah 43:2&4.

Hey guys! I’m Becky Gilmour, 5th year at PC. I do the sciences and stuff and became a Christian when I was three, on Valentine’s Day. Why do innocent people suffer? Why did that happen in Paris? Why is this happening to me? We have both heard these questions or thought of them. Since the beginning of creation, people have rebelled against God and his perfect creation has been ruined. Suffering and pain came into the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s what God wanted, he loves us and that’s why he died, so one day we would no longer have to suffer. (Revelations 21:4 ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying nor pain anymore.’) The thing is, Jesus suffered more than we can imagine, he went through betrayal, torture, separation from God and the list goes on, so he has taken a walk in your shoes and he knows exactly how you feel! Hebrews 8: ‘for because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’ Hebrews 12:11, also explains how we can also learn from our troubles. If you aren’t saved, you may face problems because God is telling you that you need to turn to him. If you are saved, it might help you strengthen your relationship with God.

How should we act when things get rough? We need a solid trust in God, and trust that he will keep his promise (think of the story of Abraham and Sarah, with their baby). A friend once asked me, “Have you prayed about it as much as you have talked about it?” Sometimes I can be a pure chatterbox to be honest but this made me realise the first person I should be talking to is God! It says in Hosea 6:1 “come let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us that he may heal us, he has struck us down that he may bind us up.” If you were at Xpression this year, this will sound pretty familiar. We need to push back in hard times, push back in prayer, worship and fellowship. Fellowship is a really big one for me. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says ‘no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.’ This means that there is always someone who is going through the same thing as you, or maybe even worse and they could really help you or vice versa... we don’t share problems for various reasons - pride, shame, judgment, being misunderstood but we need to, leave your pride at the door. We need to have fellowship at Christian events and sing and pray with others. Get others to pray with or for you. Lastly and most importantly, we need solid guidance. The best advice we can get comes from God. Read the bible and study it. God doesn’t usually answer our prayers by having a wee DMC with us, but he speaks to us through his word. Try making your way through Romans, I found it really encouraging or the book of Job, which just totally blew my mind. Maybe you’re thinking “eugh I’ve tried all this and nothing is changing.” Have patience and keep going. When things seem to get worse, pray more and remember God is right there with you and what you’re going through is not forever! ‘God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability’ (1 Corinthians, 10:13).

Hey! I’m Amy, I’m 15 and in fourth year. I have been a Christian since I was 3 years old, I attend Portadown Elim and I LOVE it! #ElimiteAndProud

Instead of talking about myself I thought I would share some thoughts I had on the word ‘hate’. It’s a small word with only four letters, but for such a small word it has such a powerful impact. After the recent Paris attacks, it seemed fitting. As Paris shut its boarders, social media began to fill with hateful comments. So if you weren’t seeing ‘pray for Paris’ you were probably seeing statements made about the people behind the crimes, ‘scums the lot of them’.

We reflect on the scenes and think, how can anyone bring themselves to murder? How can anyone hate someone that much? We often say murder is the worst sin. Jesus says in Matthew 5, that if you murder you are subject to judgement, but if you are angry at someone you are also subject to judgement. So while we are disgusted by the extremists, wondering how or why they did it, we do get angry. But by getting angry and hating them for their sin, we too are sinning a sin that is just as bad as murder. A sin is a sin. I am not saying that what these did in Paris is okay, because it’s not. But I am saying that those people are lost and broken and in just as much desperate need of Christ as you and I were. We are taught in the bible numerous times, to love our enemies and those who wrong us.

Those ‘scums’ were created by the breath of our God, that means they are of immense value. By calling them ‘scum’ you call the breath of God ‘scum.’ That is not okay. Anyone that God labels as valuable, should be valuable to us also. Satan was the real cause of destruction in Paris, get angry at him.

‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.’ – Martin Luther King Jr.

Instead of hating each other, love for another, pray for another and be an example to another.

All my love