2008 - a decisive year?

“2008 will be the decisive year of the decade,” said the Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a New Year statement. For many teenagers in Cornwall that will be true. Kernowyouth's Phil Hadley examines why...

It will be the year you decide your GCSE options, or sit the final exams. It may be AS or A2 exams or GNVQ’s or Diplomas that will help shape your future. It may be the year you decide which university to go to, or the year you chase down the job you want writing letters and sending CV’s. It may be a year of great success or of frustration at the failure to fulfil those dreams. It may be the year your family move home, or the year your parents separate. It may be the year you meet the love of your life. It may be the year your team enjoy success, or it may be the year defeat stares you in the face.

Many teenagers have been scouring their horoscopes looking for that glimmer of hope that will make 2008 the all important year. Many purchase a lottery ticket hoping for riches or apply to the latest talent show hoping for fame and celebrity.

The year 2008 will be decisive for many teenagers in Cornwall. It will be a year when God through his people will be at work as never before in the county. Christians are coming together to impact Cornwall with the good news of Jesus in a way not seen for over 20 years. Many spent New Year’s Day praying together in the cathedral.

ove Cornwall/Hope 2008 will make a big impact in a number of locations across the county. Overflow 08 will be the focal point of that for young people in Cornwall. Events like Space SW will provide opportunities for teenagers to bring their friends to be challenged with the message of Jesus. Worship events like IKON or Worship Cornwall (in January at Flambards) will bring Christians together for praise and encouragement. CCYC has a Cornish church leader as its solo guest speaker for the first time in its 10 year history. Centres like The Source or The TubeStation will continue to impact the local youth culture.

The decisive factor for Christian young people is ‘Will I be involved in what God is doing in Cornwall in 2008?’ That will mean standing up and being counted. That will mean my mates at school and college knowing I am a Christian as I seek to share Jesus with them. That will mean making some lifestyle decisions that will enable me to walk closer to Jesus. That will mean leaving the standards, the desires and aspirations of this world behind as I seek the bigger dream that God has placed in my heart. That means passion and commitment and living 100% for Jesus.

That means leaving my comfort zone and rising to a new challenge. That means my youth group doing things differently. That means going to new places and working with new people. That means being a team player and not a solo performer. That means spending my cash to take the new opportunities. That means broadening my horizons and widening my vision. That means going into the unknown trusting only in God.

That means hundreds of teenagers in Cornwall getting to know God for the first time. That means an impact on the youth culture of Cornwall. That means a revolution in the church of Cornwall. That means God is at work in Cornwall – in me and through me.

Now that would make 2008 the most decisive year of the decade. And I wonder if the PM at No 10 will ever get to hear why?

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