Barton Youth Live

Jesus needs to be discovered. How far will you go, how much will you give up in order to possess the immense and immeasurable treasure of Jesus?

It must have been terrifying for a young woman of Mary’s age to be told, not only that she would have a baby, but that she was to be mother of the Messiah. Facing huge physical trial, potential shame and outcast from society, and the burden of bearing the Son of God, Mary steps up and obeys the instructions of the angel. She does not refuse what God has asked her to do.

Mary was obedient to God's voice... How far would you go in obedience and trust in God?

You are a light. How will you shine your light for Jesus?

There is pain in our lives. Physical. Emotional. Spiritual. There is suffering around us. In our families. In our friendship groups. In our country. In our world. We live in a culture that has medicines for pain. We have injections and vaccines for diseases. We have counsellors to help us understand why our life is going the way it is. All of these are good. But none are God. None can say "The Paracetamol who Heals" "The Tetnus Jab who Heals" "The Counsellor who Heals". Only God has the confidence to say "I AM The LORD Who Heals you". We often go to God as the last option for pain and healing, but when we look at the life of Jesus, there are a lot of stories of Him being the God who heals.

Everyone has a reaction to Jesus and what He stands for. What's your reaction?

Google Maps. Apple Maps. Fortune Telling. Career Advice. We all want to be led in the right direction. We all want the quickest way to get somewhere. In the OT a shepherd was a hard job. Often on your own, in the middle of nowhere. Day and night looking after the flock they have been put in charge of. It was the shepherds job to lead the flock into green pasture. It was the shepherds job to protect the flock from predators. It was the shepherds job to rescue the flock that got away. We all want freedom and independence, but with that comes the wilderness. Jesus promises to be the shepherd, the one who guides you to a better way of living.

God has given you so many gifts. How will you use them?

When we think about God being our provider, we often think of providing for our daily needs. And while that is true, we learn in the story of Abraham and Issac, that Jehovah Jireh provides for more - he provides for our steps of faith. If you follow God, there will be times that you need to step out in faith and step out into scary situations just like Abraham did. But it's often when we take the unknown scary step that God then provides for us. It is when we take the step of faith that God provides us with the words to tell our friends about our faith, it is when we take the step of faith that God provides us with the words to answer a question our friend has, it's when we take the step of faith that God provides the strength we need to follow the prompting we have from God to do something. 

Whatever you've done. Whatever you feel. You can always come back to God.

The word Shalom means peace or to bring something back to wholeness because it is broken. The world is anything but peace or whole at the moment. Can you think of a time in the last 1, 2, 3, 4, 5+ years that something crazy hasn't been going on in this world?. We all can be sitting in inflatable rings in the wildest sea, being thrown around by all the different waves coming at us from different angles. It is only when we calm ourselves down and recognise God is peace, that He is with us, we can change our inflatable ring for a surf board and ride the waves of life.