Peter’s Declaration about Jesus
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” 15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Every morning at 6am throughout TYC #2KC, an awesome session of praiser-cise kicked off the days festivities – Combining morning exercise with prayer and reflection. Being located at the beautiful Lake Taupo, we were surrounded by fields, walking treks, and of course Lake Taupo itself! Every morning praiser-cise took on a different feel and look.
|
"The Methodist church must become more responsive to issues around mental health and in particular youth suicide. Too many of our young people are ending their lives because they seemingly feel they have no other choice. It's not ok for us as a church to sit silently and let this happen. We must do more - Let the Children Live?" |
|
|
" We would like Methodist church leaders to know that we, as young people, are capable, intelligent thinkers - who don't necessarily need our adult leaders to micro-manage everything that we do, or underplay the value of our voice in the life of the church. There are many qualified and trained professionals among our youth are want to contribute to church life - provide us with the space to. " |
"We would like to see a Methodism 101 Toolkit created, providing resources for local church youth groups to learn more about their Methodist background and heritage. This is important - that we are able to educate young people about who we are, but is only possible with suitable and engaging resources!" |
|
|
"We need money please! Funds to help enable our visions and dreams for what we would like to see happen in the church...a church bus?" |
|
The evening showcase was an amazing night of not only outstanding talent and creativity, but also the interactive and informative passing on of knowledge and ideas. Expression Sessions achieved and exceeded expectations, helping our young people to become more aware and in touch with their Methodist DNA and heritage.
|
For this workshop, everyone was split into their prayer groups and tasked to complete a challenge called the Human Knot. This is a teambuilding challenge that requires teamwork, communication, patience and perseverance. Each group had a different set of limitations to mix it up – some were unable to talk at all, some had an outside person providing orders etc. The challenge was only complete when all 9 groups had untangled their respective knots.
|
Our final night devotion was led by our one and only Osaiasi Kupu, Youth Convener for VTOA. Oz again unpacked the text of Matthew 16.13-20, and brought forth a strong call to our young people that they must surrender and know Christ personally, in order for their identity to take shape. |
|
After devotion had concluded, we gave synod groups a chance to touch base. A spirit of worship and joy was tangible as synods prayed together, sang together and embraced each other in fellowship and unity. This topped of another fantastic day at TYC.
|
Once everyone had fueled up on breakfast, we gathered for our final morning devotion. Our morning devotion was led by a powerful testimony by our Wakaito-Waiariki Synod youth convener, Amelia Takataka. Amelia inspired attendees sharing her story of what her faith journey has been. Her raw, honest and ultimately faithful story of God being at work through her left a lasting impression on all and encouraged our young leaders to never forget the undeniably real impact that God makes on all things.
|