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September 2009
Archives: Value...
Archives: September 2009
Surviving the Soul Survivor come down...
By Liza Hoeksma
So you had a great summer, met with God, were inspired by some great speakers, spent hours talking to your mates about how fantastic Jesus is, poured out your heart in worship – and loved every minute of it!
But what happens now you’re home? Do you just start the count down to the next festival high? Or can you keep meeting with God and keep that passion alive all year round? Well here are a few ideas to help you stay on track with God…. we’re not claiming they’re rocket science but they are tried and tested!
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is with you all the time, not just when you’re at a festival! Keep asking God to give you more of his Holy Spirit and keep practising his gifts. Pray together with friends, ask God to speak to you for one another, pray in tongues and pray for healing.
Get into God’s story
When we think “I have to read my Bible” it becomes a chore and we end up avoiding it. God didn’t give us the Bible so we could feel guilty for not reading it; he wanted to show us something about who he is. It’s his story and it’s amazing!
Granted some of the books are harder to get into than others so don’t start with Leviticus and wonder why you’re not enjoying it – read the inspiring stories of people of faith like David and Joseph in the Old Testament ; and Jesus and his disciples in the New Testament.
If you’re still struggling, try using a different version (maybe the Message is more your kind of thing) or have a listen to the Bible on audio (you can buy CDs or listen for free on websites like www.biblegateway.com)
Want to set yourself a challenge? You could read the whole Bible in a year if you read it for just 15 minutes a day!
Talk to God
There’s no secret formula to prayer (or if there is, no one’s told us about it!). Talk to God about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Philippians says, “Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks.” If it bothers you, it’s worth praying about so whatever is going on, good and bad, talk to God about it!
Worship
It might seem easier to engage in worship when you’re being led by a band and surrounded by thousands of other young people but God still loves it when it’s just you and him! Sing alone, sing along to a CD, play an instrument if you’re musical, jump around – whatever you want to do to thank God and praise him for who he is. Or why not get a group of mates together every so often for a time of worship?
Teaching
There’s so much amazing teaching available online! Loads of churches put their sermons up each week and let you listen for free so try out a few different ones and see what challenges and encourages you in our faith.
(Try here to get you started...)
Keep asking questions
No one is pretending we have to have this whole faith thing sewn up! If you’re not sure about something then ask other friends and chat through your questions and concerns with leaders. See what the Bible has to say on the subject and find teaching from people who’ve looked into the issues a bit more. Wrestling with different topics can help deepen your faith so don’t be afraid to get stuck in and ask questions.
Keep a short account with God
We all mess up. It doesn’t matter how convinced we were that this time would be different; we all get things wrong. The important thing is what we do next. The worst thing we can do is think we’ve blown it and walk away. Instead we need to say sorry to God and ‘repent’ which means ‘to turn away’ i.e. try not to do it again.
Trust that God forgives you and that you can start again with a clean slate. ‘Keeping a short account’ simply means saying sorry whenever you get it wrong rather than storing it all up and saying sorry once a week or only when you take communion.
Keep encouraging one another
God puts us in community with other Christians because we need the encouragement. It’s not always easy following God, life can be tough and we face lots of challenges but we can encourage one another and keep each other going when things are hard. Don’t hide yourself in a Christian bubble but do make sure you are hanging out with friends who know Jesus. Talk about the things God is doing in your lives, remind yourselves of his character and pray for each other that you’d keep going and keep getting closer to him
Don't forget...
Don’t forget we put this magazine up every month to try and resource you in your relationship with Jesus! If there’s a subject you want us to cover you can drop us a line editor@soulsurvivor.com
Soul Survivor is a Christian charity that puts on events for young people. Our registered charity no. is 1080720. We are also a company limited by guarantee in England & Wales. Our company registered number is 03991111, which is nice. Thanks for caring.
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