Soul Survivor Winter Mini Mag 2012

Soul Survivor Mini-mag

Winter 2012/2013

Featuring

Plus

> Mike’s New Year’s resolutions

> Talking to your mates about Jesus

> Your stories from the summer

> Live Album news

> Six great articles from the Soul Survivor Youth Bible

> What a summer!

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100% FREE !

22/11/2012 16:13

SOUL SURVIVOR MINI MAG WINTER 2012/2013

Hi guys Well here we are at the end of another year. As I reflect on the last twelve months, through the highs and the lows, I am struck again by God’s faithfulness.

One of my highlights was seeing you all in the summer and I know some of you have experienced God in new and exciting ways this year. Above all my prayer for you is that you continue to see him work in your life and that you keep following him with everything you’ve got. As we move into a New Year full of possibilities, I’d love to encourage you to grab each opportunity that comes your way to share your faith. We’ve included an article on page 18 that might give you some helpful thoughts on how to tell your friends about Jesus.

One of the things I want to get right this year, and would also encourage you to do, is to love extravagantly. Let’s ask God to help us love our families, friends, schoolmates and colleagues so much and so genuinely that they can’t help but see Jesus through us. This is one of my New Year Resolutions and you can read my others in an article on page 20.

I can’t wait to see you all soon! In the meantime, I hope you have a great Christmas.

God Bless,

Mike

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Who is Mike?

Mike is one of Soul Survivor’s directors. He loves cooking, eating, and growing grape vines, and he has supported Manchester United since the club was established in 1878.

What’s inside 04

08

10

What a summer!

Is age just a number?

Get your goodies here!

Some of your stories and testimonies from Soul Survivor 2012!

Can God use us at any age?

We look at the lives of Mary and Elizabeth to try and find out.

Find out more about the brand new Live Album available in the Soul Survivor shop.

12 Soul Survivor Youth Bible We’ve included some of our favourite bits from our brand new Youth Bible for your delectation!

Page 12

Page 15

Tom Brock looks at being useful for God

Beth Croft looks at worship as a way of life

Page 13

Page 16

Ali Martin shares her thoughts on the friendship of David and Jonathan

Page 14 Mike P’s take on worship in the midst of pain

SEX! Now we have your attention, Chris Lane gives us the lowdown.

Page 17 David and Mary Pytches look at the problem of loneliness

18 Sharing our faith 20 New Year, new resolution

We want to tell people about Jesus – but how do we do it?!

Mike P looks at the things he wants to get right in 2013.

22 What’s on?

Get the scoop on what’s happening, when and where!

03 22/11/2012 16:13

What a summer!

Isn’t God AMAZING?!

We were so blown away by how God met with us this summer. We loved hanging out with all of you, worshipping God together, drinking chocolate mountains, dressing up as Wally, surviving on a few hours sleep and living in our wellies! But one of the best things for us was all the ways God met with us and changed us as we opened ourselves up to him. We thought you might like to read some of the stories we heard from this summer...

“Before I went to Soul Survivor, I had been having a lot of trouble at school. I was on my own most of the time and I shut myself off from the world. On the first day of Soul Survivor I made loads of new friends, and when Mike asked if anyone wanted to give their life to Jesus, I went forward. Suddenly I went from feeling so alone to being embraced and accepted by thousands of God’s people all at once. It was such an incredible feeling. He filled me with his Holy Spirit, and it was amazing – it was the most life-changing week. I’ve started talking about it with my non-Christian friends and they are becoming more and more interested in God.”

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“I gave my life to the Lord at Soul Survivor!

It’s been amazing; I felt the Holy Spirit in me and learnt a lot about myself! I love Jesus, all my friends and youth leaders and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!”

“I have always felt like I didn’t belong and even though I’ve been a Christian for as long as I can remember, I never felt good enough to be part of God’s family and his plans. But one night the Lord touched me as we sang ‘Arms of Grace’ and I felt for the first time that I was important to someone: God. I know I’m still going to have times when I feel down and not special but I know that God is for me and no-one can ever take that away.”

“I’m 13 years old and have been self-harming for a year.

During one meeting I felt the Holy Spirit on me and a voice said, “Everything is going to be alright.” I finally felt at peace with myself for the first time in 12 months. The next night I became a follower of Jesus.

Thank you Lord.”

Continued

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“I have left with an overwhelming peace. God has broken my heart for what breaks his and I am committed to using my life to help stop human trafficking.”

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“I fell down some steps and hurt my wrist. I have brittle bones and have broken my wrist seven times already and I knew I had done it again. I went to the hospital and was told I had fractured and dislocated my scaphoid. They put me in a splint and told me to go to my own hospital when I got home. I spent all day in lots of pain and in the evening meeting I couldn’t focus because the pain was so bad. The call for prayer was for healing so I stood up and a few friends prayed for my wrist. After 10 minutes it went hot and fuzzy and after 30 minutes I felt the need to take of my splint. The pain had gone and I could move my wrist! I spent the rest of night praising and thanking God for what he had done. When I got home I took the x-rays to my hospital and they confirmed the break. I asked for new x-rays and the doctor and the nurse couldn’t find the break on them! I told him we had prayed and he said, “Well something has happened!””

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“My life at home is a massive struggle but this week God has truly spoken to me and I know for sure that when I go home I will be a stronger Christian than I’ve ever been. I want to honour the Lord and follow his plans for me.”

“Being on the Enabling team was the most rewarding experience I have ever had.

It was brilliant to be praying with people and see God work in them and do some incredible stuff; I felt so privileged to witness it.”

Isn’t God good?!

We can’t wait to hang out again next summer and see what God does among us then. In the meantime if you’d like to tell us your story, we’d love to hear from you.

Find us on Facebook or email testimonies@soulsurvivor.com

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IS AGE JUST A Our society can have a bit of a weird attitude to age where the young and the old often feel like no one wants to listen to them. But one of the things I love about the Christmas story, is that it reminds us age is no barrier to God. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was probably about 13 when she was visited by an angel to let her know she was going to have a baby.

I’m sure there would be a few people who would have something to say about God using someone so young to do something so significant.

Mary gave birth to and mothered God’s own son. That’s a pretty tall order for anyone let alone a teenager who wasn’t even yet married! But God saw something in Mary that made him choose her: her willing heart.

She found favour with God because she was happy to say that she was the Lord’s servant and was willing to do whatever he asked her to (Luke 1 v38). Mary could have had serious reservations about what being pregnant would mean for her reputation, her family and her intended husband. But she didn’t. She was only concerned with doing what God asked her to do; what an amazing attitude! Her passion for God was the thing that qualified her – her young age wasn’t an issue. Later in the New Testament we read Paul’s words to Timothy about youth and it would seem this was the way Mary lived her life:

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4 v12) Wow! If we grasp this it can change how we view our teenage years. Not as a time we wish away until the good stuff happens, but years of opportunity to follow God and see what he wants to do in us and through us.

But the other mistake we can make is to think that once we hit our twenties we’re all washed up and God can’t use us anymore. Getting older can be talked about so negatively but we need to start seeing the whole of our lives as an offering to God, and not just idolise our youth.

Elizabeth is a great example of someone who stuck the distance with God. She had always followed God closely but she hadn’t been able to have a baby. In those times that was considered to be a sign that God was unhappy with someone but the Bible is really clear that wasn’t the case here (Luke 1:6).

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Elizabeth had felt the disgrace of not having a child (Luke 1 v45) but she hadn’t let it make her heart bitter. She didn’t blame God but carried on loving and serving him. Which meant that when the time was right, six months before Mary became pregnant with Jesus, Elizabeth was also trusted with something special. She became pregnant in her old age (she was probably over 60) and went on to give birth to John the Baptist of whom Jesus said “I tell you the truth: among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”

(Matthew 11:11) If Elizabeth had grown bitter during her years of wanting a child, she wouldn’t have been in the right place for God to use her. If she’d complained that while others were bearing children from their teenage years, God had clearly forgotten her and had no plans to use her she might have missed the great plans God did have for her. God doesn’t put an age limit on his people! Two of the most inspiring Christians I know are a couple who ‘retired’ many years ago and have continued to serve the Lord flat out ever since. They minister to and counsel countless people; our church desperately needs their wisdom gained from years of walking with the Lord.

As Psalm 92 (v12-14) says: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.

If we walk with God we too can bear fruit no matter how old we are. I don’t know about you but I want my life to count. I want to be open and available to God to use me at any age, any life stage and in any way he wants. As we see from Mary and Elizabeth the main thing we need to do is trust in God and walk closely with him, knowing that if we offer ourselves to him he will use us to bring about his plans.

Liza Hoeksma is part of the Soul Survivor communications team and has written a number of books including Heart to Heart with Ali Martin.

09 22/11/2012 16:13

Get your goodies here!

Kingdom Come 2012 Live Album It’s arrived! The brand new live album is out and we love it!

Listening to it brings back so many amazing memories of worshipping God with you all this summer. Our hope and prayer is that the album will be a great resource for you as you worship and seek God. If you’ve not got your copy yet, here’s the track listing to whet your appetite!

Worship leaders are Beth Croft, Tom Field, Sam Bailey and Rend Collective Experiment.

Get your copy from shop.soulsurvivor.com for £11.99 (with free UK p&p) or download from iTunes. You can also get Rend Collective’s album ‘Homemade Worship by Handmade People’ for £9.99 from our shop.

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CD 1

Bonus Momentum CD!

1 Giving You My All 2 Go 3 Kingdom Come 4 Build Your Kingdom Here 5 Guardian 6 Break Every Chain 7 Spirit Rain Down 8 You Are My Vision 9 Exalted One 10 Forever Reign 11 My Heart

1 New Day 2 Now Is The Time For Us 3 Waiting Here For You 4 You Bled 5 Set A Fire

All prices on our website include UK p&p – if you order before Monday 17th December we’ll get it in the post to you so it arrives before Christmas!

www.shop.soulsurvivor.com

Books If you missed our Loud & Clear day on preparing and delivering great talks, you can view all the teaching for free on YouTube. You can also get a copy of Ali’s book on the subject for £6.99. Plus Ali & Liza’s book Heart to Heart on ways we connect to God is available for £6.99 too!

Summer talks Missed a talk this summer? They are all available to download or buy on CD! You can get an MP3 download of one talk for £1 or on for CD £2.50, or you can get all the talks from Week A, B, C or Momentum on MP3 or all the main meeting talks from each week on DVD for £30.

Youth Bible We launched a brand new youth Bible this summer packed with over 500 articles and helpful bits of info for you to uncover the amazing truths in God’s word. We tackle topics like suffering, relationships, identity, evangelism, creation, prayer, worship and loads more! Want to take a little peak?! Over the next six pages you’ll find extracts from our Youth Bible with articles from Mike, Beth, Ali, Tom Brock, Chris Lane, and David & Mary Pytches. Get your copy for £11.99 incl UK p&p.

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22/11/2012 16:14

People used by God - RUTH The story of Ruth

By Tom Brock

David & Jonathan – True Friendship 1 Samuel 18:1-3

By Ali Martin

This is one of the best love stories you will ever find – a story of love and commitment that brought blessings to the whole world.

The friendship between David and Jonathan is one of the most famous in the Bible.

Ruth was married to Naomi’s son, who died while they lived in Moab. Both Naomi’s sons and her husband had died and she had made plans to return to her homeland Israel. She had nothing left and nothing waiting for her at home, so she told both her daughters-in-law that they should go and make a new life for themselves. In a famous statement, Ruth says to Naomi, ‘I’m not going to leave you. Wherever you go, I will go, and I will choose to stay with you even if we both die’ (see Ruth 1:17–18). Naomi had nothing to offer Ruth: she was returning to a life of poverty and she was too old to remarry and have more sons. Ruth looked beyond that and saw that the relationship with Naomi was something of significance, something that meant more than money or position. She decided to stay and care for her.

Jonathan was Saul’s son so should have become king when his father died. Instead God had anointed David – and Saul was so jealous of David that he wanted to kill him. Jonathan, on the other hand, didn’t see David as a rival but as a treasured friend (1 Samuel 18). We’re told that he loved David as much as he loved himself. That’s friendship: putting our friend’s needs and desires on a level with our own.

When Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem, Ruth would go daily to the fields to glean the crops that were left behind. The field belonged to a relative named Boaz. When he saw Ruth, he was attracted to her and began to inquire about her, hearing about her faithfulness to Naomi.

Boaz made a deal to become the caregiver (or the ‘kinsman redeemer’) for Ruth and Naomi, and

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he and Ruth got married and had children.

What we find here is the fruit of faithfulness.

When all was lost and there seemed to be no hope ahead, Ruth decided to follow her heart and remain faithful. Her focus on someone else’s needs instead of her own opened a door for her as well as for the person she wanted to care for.

Boaz made a choice too. He wasn’t the next in line to help Naomi, but because of his heart for Ruth he made a choice to become that person and brought them both into his household. The amazing thing here is that two people who had nothing were now redeemed and had a life of fullness before them. Ruth became the greatgreat-grandmother of David, the king of Israel from whom the bloodline of Jesus came. Because Ruth was faithful and true to her heart, both Ruth and Naomi were blessed and Ruth became part of the bloodline that would bring blessing to the nations of the world.

God has a plan for each of us, and as we are true to him and follow him without withdrawing, we will see his plans unfold for us. We can learn from Ruth that faithfulness has its own reward.

Jesus took this even further. In John 15 we read that Jesus calls us his friends and he says, ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’ (v. 13). Jesus is the ultimate best friend.

He loves us so much that he went to the cross so that we could have a relationship with God. He sacrificed everything and endured unimaginable pain, all for us! We won’t have to die in the place of our friends, but there are other ways in which we can ‘lay down our lives’ for each other. Like Jonathan, we can choose not to be jealous of others and their successes, but to love them and support them come what may. That’s putting their needs before our own. In the New Testament we read about a group of friends who were desperate to help a friend (Luke 5). Their friend was unable to walk, so they took him on a mat to see Jesus, but found that the crowd was too big to get near him. They weren’t going to be defeated: they took the roof off the house and lowered their friend down so that he was in front of Jesus and could be healed. They could have said, ‘We tried, sorry it didn’t work out,’ but instead they stopped at nothing until they found a way to help their friend. Those are the kind of friends I want to have. That’s the kind of friend I want to be.

These articles are taken from the Soul Survivor Youth Bible. find out more on page 11!

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Worship God in the midst of pain Habakkuk 3: 17-19

By Mike Pilavachi

One of the most common questions people ask about the existence of God is this: ‘How can there be a loving God when there’s so much pain in the world?’

Even as Jesus’ disciples, we don’t always have the answers. Sometimes life is too difficult to make sense of. We suffer. We see friends and family suffer. There are wars, famines and disasters that leave thousands dead, hungry, homeless and hopeless. But this isn’t a twentyfirst-century problem. Habakkuk was a prophet who lived about 600 years before Jesus and this short book in the Bible shows us how he was trying to make sense of the pain he saw around him. He asks in effect, ‘Why is there so much injustice in the world? Why is there so much destruction and violence? Why does God sit back and do nothing when he could change everything so easily?’

The Lord graciously replies to Habakkuk, saying that a time of justice will come. He makes it clear that he sees all the wicked things people are doing and that there will be a day when the world will be as it should. In the meantime, Habakkuk learns an important lesson. His closing words show that he has learned to trust in God’s goodness no matter what the circumstances are.

He says that even if he looks around and has nothing, he will rejoice in God (Habakkuk 3:17).

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He always has reason to rejoice because God is his Saviour (v. 18).

The same is true for us. When life is looking bleak and miserable, when we’re not getting the things we want and we don’t see any signs of the good things we long for, we still worship. Sometimes our worship is most meaningful when it’s given through our tears. In the Old Testament they used to sacrifice animals as part of their worship. I’m thankful we don’t do that any more, but we can still bring a sacrifice of praise. We can tell God he’s amazing even when our lives look messy and difficult and we don’t feel like praising him.

King David had the same attitude as Habakkuk, worshipping God straight after his beloved son’s life was taken (2 Samuel 12). Job too fell to the ground and worshipped God when all his children and his livelihood were destroyed in one day (Job 1).

No matter what is going on in our lives, let’s follow the example of these godly men and worship God no matter what. In times of trouble, let’s remember the truth that God is always worthy of our praise. We can always be joyful in God our Saviour.

Worship - A way of life Colossians 3:12-17

By Beth Croft

We all know someone who is completely obsessed by one thing.

It might be football, music or the person they fancy.

It’s obvious that any kind of obsession affects the way a person lives. Someone who is a Chelsea fan goes to matches, buys the new strip, and even knows the name of the manager’s pet poodle. We talk about people who ‘live, eat and breathe’ football or some other passion. How much more is this meant to be the case when it comes to passion for God! In Colossians 3:12–17, Paul writes of how the Colossians sang ‘psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit’ (v. 16) – something we love to do today as we worship God. But notice the context in which he mentions this: it’s one where he’s instructing them to ‘put on love’ (v.14). Paul writes about the ‘clothes’ Christians are to wear, clothes that are made out of compassion, forgiveness and humility. This passage tells us the key to that: live, eat and breathe Jesus. As well as lifting him high in the songs that you sing, be sure to follow his example in the things that you do.

tongue and encourage someone else instead. We have an opportunity to love God ‘in word or deed’ (v.17). Our songs matter, and so do our lives.

Is there something you can do, a person you can care for, out of love for God today?

These articles are taken from the Soul Survivor Youth Bible. find out more on page 11!

When a person causes you pain, as hard as it can be, choose to forgive and don’t hold a grudge.

When you’re tempted to lose your temper, try to be patient that little bit longer. When you’re about to show off or boast about something, bite your

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SEX 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

The names of God - God Who Is Here

By Chris Lane

Hebrews 13:5

Some people think the Bible is against sex, but this is exactly the opposite of the truth.

‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’

Just read Song of Songs – a whole book in the Bible dedicated to celebrating this gift God has given to humanity.

With the joys of e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, perhaps we have several hundred or more friends or ‘followers’. But do you find that for all the hours you spend social networking, if the truth be known, there are times when you feel alone and as if no one really knows who or where you are?

The Bible doesn’t hold back when discussing sex.

It is a wonderful gift, but it must find expression in the right way, otherwise it can be destructive and harmful. As early as Genesis 2, this is clear: a man will leave his parents and be united to his wife, and they will become ‘one flesh’. One flesh – this is referring to the physical act of sex, but also to a deeper truth, that the sexual act is a covenant between two people that should not be broken.

Consistently throughout the Bible, we’re taught that God intends sexual desires to find fulfillment within lifelong heterosexual marriage.

The term ‘sexual immorality’ that Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 4 is quite a broad term that includes any kind of sex outside marriage. So whether in the Old or New Testaments, the teaching is consistent: God’s design for sex is for use within marriage between one man and one woman. Anything outside this framework would be outside his will and potentially harmful to us.

This idea is seen by many as outdated, perhaps even oppressive or damaging to people.

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We can respond in two ways. First, this teaching is for those who want to follow Jesus. It’s not something Christians are called to impose on others, or use to judge the lifestyles of people who choose not to follow Jesus. Our calling is not to try to make people obey the Bible, but to introduce them to Jesus. God alone convicts people of sin. The Christian way of life should be stunning to others in many areas – how we treat our money, how we love our enemies, how we approach death, to name but a few. Followers of Jesus should be utterly different from the world around them – not telling the world how to behave, but showing them another way to live.

Second, we need some perspective on sex.

Being able to be ‘free’ sexually is considered one of the most important freedoms in our society.

But in biblical terms, this is not the case. The two great figures of the New Testament, Jesus and Paul, were both single and celibate (Paul may have been married previously). Paul commends the celibate life: ‘It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman’ (1 Corinthians 7:1). This is not to play down the power of sexual desires, but to put them in their place as one part of human fulfillment that’s dwarfed by the love of God himself and its transforming, freeing effect on our lives.

There is one who knows us through and through.

In the famous Holman Hunt paintings (hung in Keble College, Oxford, and St Paul’s Cathedral, London) Jesus is depicted as standing outside a door, holding a lantern and knocking on the door.

The picture illustrates Revelation 3:20, ‘Here I am!

I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.’ In the picture there is no handle on the outside of the door. Jesus will not force himself on anyone, even though he longs to come in and share with us, to get to know us, to heal our hurts, to banish our fears and to stay close for the rest of our days. He waits for each of us to open the door and invite him in. The promise is that wherever we go, he will go with us. He says he will never leave us or forsake us.

Next time we feel lonely, let’s remind ourselves of this amazing promise.

By David & Mary Pitches

These articles are taken from the Soul Survivor Youth Bible.

Want more like these?

Get your hands on a copy of the Soul Survivor Youth Bible from shop.soulsurvivor.com.

It’s £11.99 incl free UK p&p and if you order before 17th December your kind postie will pop it through your door before Christmas.

Find out more on page 11!

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SHARING YOUR FAITH Yeah well, Jesus loves you so the joke’s on you!

Believe it or not, that is an actual argument that I used when discussing the existence of God with a class mate at school.

He was an atheist and laughed me out the room.

I let anger and arrogance get the better of my emotions and wasted a golden opportunity to explain the life-changing power of God’s love. Instead I had only succeeded in reaffirming his belief that Christians were crazy and that he wanted nothing to do with them or me.

Looking back, I can see he had a point. I had showed no love or understanding, very little grace and a non-existent amount of humility when I was trying to ‘win him over’ to my way of thinking.

I had made the mistake of thinking any discussion should be theological, when explaining in personal terms why I love Jesus and how he has changed my life would have been a much better approach.

If people ask about your faith or why you go to church don’t get tangled up in the ‘whys’ and the ‘hows’ of theology.

Instead, be real and be human. Tell them truthfully about Jesus’ love for you and what you find so amazing about being in relationship with him.

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Robbie is part of the Soul Survivor Communications team and likes pies, association football and the music of Enya.

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In Mark 16:15 God calls us to: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation.”

But is there a way we can make it easier for people to hear? How can we be understanding when communicating Jesus to our non-Christian friends, especially when the idea of God doesn’t seem to interest them? I’ve put together five points that should hopefully help when trying to chat about Jesus to your non-Christian mates. Helpfully, they all begin with the letter ‘P’. Perfect.

1. Be Polite

4. Practice what you preach

As I learnt during that argument at school, people won’t listen to you if you don’t treat them and their opinions with respect. You might not agree with them but be respectful, polite and always try to maintain your composure.

The saying goes “actions speak louder than words”. The way we live our lives can be the biggest evangelistic tool. We need to ask ourselves: how do we treat our friends? How do we handle ourselves? Do we lose our temper or swear? If we are to be a genuine witness to people our actions need to reflect Jesus as much as we can.

2. Be Personal The best argument you can put across when communicating the love of Jesus is you! Be genuine and open when chatting to your mates.

Let them know that relationship with Jesus is so much more than a list of rules and outdated ideas. Tell them your story and how he has changed your life.

3. Persevere Never give up on people. Jesus died for everyone and so as his followers we need to take his love and grace to everyone. Your mates may have a go at you, mock or ignore you but persevere with them. Love them and continue to love them even when things get tough.

5. Pray Underpinning all of the other points should be prayer. We need to be constantly praying for our non-Christian friends. Philippians 4:6 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Pray regularly for your mates. Pray that God will work a way through the issues, difficulties or hard times they’re having and that they will come to understand and form a relationship with God who loves and cares for them deeply.

Through all of this, be a friend. Have fun with your mates, hang out with them and get to know them better. When you feel the time is right maybe invite them to church or your local youth group. Who knows, for some of them it may be the invitation they’ve been waiting for.

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NEW YEAR

NEW RESOLUTIONS

Lots of us have given up on making New Year’s resolutions – they tend to get broken by January 3rd. But I’ve come up with 10 suggestions of things I know I’d like to improve on over the coming 12 months so I thought I’d share them with you.

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Love extravagantly 1 Corinthians 13 Love is at the very centre of our faith. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that we can do lots of amazing things but if we don’t have love, we’re just making a noise. This year I’d like to make less noise and more of a difference!

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Live generously 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Living generously is about more than giving money. We need to learn to be generous with our time, our resources and our encouragement. It not only blesses other people but will make our hearts glad too.

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Be a learner (the whole Bible points towards this!)

Disciple is another word for learner and that is a life-long journey. None of us has discovered everything there is to know about God and we can all learn from one another.

Aim to be someone who learns – even from people who challenge or criticise you.

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Be an encourager (Barnabas in Acts)

We often think of Paul as one of the heroes of the New Testament but I don’t think Paul would have achieved as much as he did without the encouragement and support of Barnabas. In a culture of discouragement, let’s choose to be encouragers.

James 1:2

Walk humbly

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Proverbs 3:34 Humility is not about false modesty. C.S. Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.” Let’s try and make the conversations we have this year less ‘me-focussed’ and more others-focussed.

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Persevere

Forgive quickly

One final thought >>

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Luke 6:37

Look after our bodies OK – I know this makes me sound like a hypocrite but I promise you I’m trying! Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit so let’s look after them as best we can so we can keep going for the long-haul.

Do not envy 1 Corinthians 13:4

Most of us find it hard to forgive others as we have been forgiven, especially when someone we love hurts us. Jesus knew that pain. Even his closest friends betrayed and denied him. He knows it’s hard; he still asks us to do it, but in his strength.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Perseverance is the missing ingredient for many people who failed to reach their dreams.

Let’s stay committed and keep pursuing God. A Norwegian Proverb says a hero is someone who hangs on one minute longer. Do what God has called you to do until he tells you something different.

By Mike Pilavachi

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10

Envy is one of the curses of our age. We envy possessions, friendships, careers, talents, opportunities that people get given – and all that bitterness eats away at us and kills our hearts.

Let’s rejoice when God blesses other people because ‘love does not envy’.

Pursue God unswervingly Psalm 84:10

If I fail at all the other resolutions, this is the one I want to get right. I want to long for God like the Psalmist did, choosing to pursue him in prayer, reading his word, worshipping him in songs and actions. I want to be less greedy in every area of my life except one – I want to be utterly greedy for God’s presence.

If you commit to these resolutions and then mess up (because let’s face it – we always do!) remember this is all by God’s grace. Lean on that. Don’t turn this into law. Let’s remember God never gives up on us. Before you do anything, look up and receive his love; it’s his love that keeps us going.

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What’s on?

FRE

E!

Young Worship Leaders Day Saturday 27th April Passionate about worship? Come along to our worship training day at our warehouse in Watford. This is a day geared towards encouraging and practically equipping you to lead worship at your church, youth group or cell group. The day will be run by our very own Mike P, Beth Croft and Sam Bailey.

Summer 2013 - Book Now! We are busy getting all our plans in place for summer 2013.

We know for sure we’ll be focussing on Jesus and we’re super excited to be doing that with you lovely lot.

Cost: £89-£112

depending on time and mode of booking.

Week A 26th-30th July

Stafford

Week B 13th – 17th August

Somerset

Week C 18th – 22nd August

Somerset

Momentum

Somerset

SoulNet

23rd – 27th August*

soulsurvivor.com/uk/soulnet

Saturday Celebrations

Every month we hang out together on a Saturday night and hold two celebrations at our warehouse in Watford.

Come and join us at either 5pm or 8pm for a couple of hours crammed with worship, teaching and plenty of time to wait on the Holy Spirit.

5th January, 23rd February, 9th March, 27th April, 25th May and 22nd June

Naturally Supernatural

13th – 16th February

In February we will be holding our Naturally Supernatural conference at our warehouse in Watford.

We will be spending four days looking at the Bible’s teaching on the work of the Holy Spirit and how to minister to each other in the power of the Spirit.

Cost: £55 Full Conference, £17 Day ticket

Equal

Saturday 15th June

Mike P and Ali Martin will be joined by Jane Williams for our third Equal conference. We want to encourage women in church leadership by exploring what the Bible says about this and practically supporting women in leadership roles. Sorry guys, this one is just for the ladies (16+)!

Cost: £5

Youthworkers! For more information on our SoulNet retreat in February and our equipping days in Watford and Manchester head to our website.

Momentum

momentum.soulsurvivor.com

Are you 18+? Check out Momentum as we gear up to our weekend away 15th-17th March 2013 and our summer event on 23rd -27th August 2013.

* Bank Holiday Weekend ss_mini_mag_final_amended3.indd 22-23

For more details about any events we run, please visit www.soulsurvivor.com/uk

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Sent from Soul Survivor, Unit 2 Paramount Industrial Estate, Sandown Road, Watford, Herts, WD24 7XF. E: info@soulsurvivor.com

Extra copies?

Stay in touch!

ss_mini_mag_final_amended3.indd 24

If you’d like extra copies of this mini-mag, or if you’re not on our mailing list and would like to receive these mags in future, just drop us a line at editor@soulsurvivor.com and let us know your name, postal address and date of birth.

www.facebook.com/uksoulsurvivor @soulsurvivorGB and @soulnetuk www.soulsurvivor.com/uk

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