The Great Outdoors Songs of Praise

Hello and welcome to Songs of Praise from my homeland, County Antrim.

As we explore this beautiful part of Northern Ireland,

you'll be meeting people with a passion for life and the great outdoors.

Bikers who're on the right track.

A man who's happy and on the crest of a wave.

The rugby players who pray as hard as they play.

And we have special performances from local singer-songwriters, Keith and Kristyn Getty,

and Rend Collective Experiment.

Nestling in the hillside along the County Antrim coastline

is the chapel of St Killian's College.

It has a backdrop of fields, forests and hedgerows

and a spectacular view over the Irish Sea.

It's an inspiring location for our congregation as they gather

and sing the first hymn, Praise My Soul the King of Heaven.

It is breathtaking here, in more ways than one.

At every turn there are dramatic landscapes, forests, mountains

and of course, beaches and where you have waves, you'll have surfers.

People like Andy Hill who's as happy in the water as he is out of it.

Andy runs a watersports business in the seaside town of Portrush,

just at the end of the beach.

I've been surfing here almost 30 years now

and that passion just developed into my life, really.

I was a member of the Irish national surfing team.

I was at three World Surfing Championships and seven European Championships

and I was an Irish national champion six years on the trot.

It sounds like an idyllic lifestyle that I led and it was good,

it gave me a lot of life experiences and opportunities.

I met wonderful people but I still felt there was something missing,

wasn't quite fulfilled to the right way.

I became quite unwell and just had a life-changing moment.

I felt God threw a storm into my life

and it made me look at things in a slightly different way.

'Look at that for a wave...'

I realised that maybe there's more to this world than just me.

It was sort of a pivotal moment

where I went from almost being, well, I was an atheist

and I just now believed in God and I wanted to research that.

The aim is to try and find out who Jesus was...

'I help lead a Christianity Explored course and it's an informal presence

'where we can introduce the gospel of Mark to people.

'All sorts of people come, we have people who come from their own fellowship,

'people from the community.'

It's an opportunity to take that time and that's the thing -

our world is so busy.

When I was just a surfer and a competitive surfer,

the waves were all about me.

I was almost addicted to surfing,

I needed that salt water fix every day.

I wanted to ride those waves as aggressively as I could

and it's when you have that addiction, it becomes your idol.

That's when it becomes dangerous and basically, surfing was my idol.

I am still passionate about surfing

but it doesn't define me any more.

I would like to say I'm defined as a Christian now

but I'm still blessed to go in the water and surf and enjoy it.

After I became a Christian, I had this peace

and I can rely on God's and Jesus' strength now

to meet the challenges of this busy, busy world.

It's a gift, anybody can receive this gift.

It's the gift of grace, none of us deserve it,

but just accept it and trust what Jesus has done for you

and I guarantee you, your life will be so much better.

There are many ways of getting around County Antrim.

You can drive, you can swim, you can walk, and you can bike.

A lot of tourists love to take the time and cycle along the coast road,

stopping every now and again to enjoy this incredible view.

And then there are others whose eyes never leave the tracks,

like Winston Copeland.

Winston is part of a group with the unusual name of BOMB NI,

which, thankfully, is not as bad as it sounds.

Squaring up to the challenge of bumpy forest paths

is something that he takes in his stride.

As soon as we heard BOMB, it clicked.

At that time, Northern Ireland was coming out of conflict.

It stands out

and it gets a reaction, no matter where you go.

It's a fantastic name!

BOMB stands for Believers On Mountain Bikes,

using bikes as a tool, as a medium to get people's attention.

And then share the gospel with them.

Through time and through prayer,

it has formed into the group it is today.

When you're out on the trails,

you'll come across logs and roots...

'We felt, in order to reach young folk, young groups,

'we needed to get them out on the bikes,

'and that's where we approached a local bike shop

'and they in turn came back with 10 mountain bikes.'

That was our first ever real answer to prayer.

Mountain biking is a fantastic way to get out and about

in the mountains and the forests,

to meet new friends and to push yourself.

There's so many challenges on a bike.

You've certainly a sense of achievement and a sense of fun.

Faith and life is full of challenges.

Your life is full of challenges -

from the time you get up in the morning till you go to bed,

you face challenges, much like mountain biking.

From when you get on the bike

until you get off the bike, you're facing challenges.

And your faith helps you deal with those challenges

on a day-to-day basis.

It's as much a buzz for us to get out on the bikes on a Saturday afternoon

as it is to take the group out, and that's why we love it.

We start to talk to them about who we are and what we're about,

we try to relate mountain biking

to everything we do as regards the gospel.

So, it's just always about ticking the boxes

and keeping them entertained, but also getting the message across.

The thing is about building relationships.

These are folks we want to meet with again, to see again.

Once they become Christians,

if that's the way it works, then they'll be disciples

through their own churches and we can come back and get to know them,

to encourage them to think outside the box as regards Christianity -

that Christian isn't being just about on a Sunday,

it's an every day affair, it's through your hobbies, through your sports.

Even if only two or three come to us about mountain biking,

if the rest of the group go on and look for hockey or football

or rugby or knitting, whatever they find themselves interested in,

a group of Christians together doing the same thing

can impact so much more than one on their own.

That may have looked like rain to you but to us here in Ireland,

it's what we call a "soft" day.

It's not unusual in these parts for musicians to gather informally

and just see what happens.

Rend Collective Experiment started out something like that -

a group of friends with a collection of instruments

who wanted to explore worshipping God in a new way musically.

The experiment caught on, the music and enthusiasm infectious.

You can hear them now as they perform

specially for Songs Of Praise - Build Your Kingdom Here.

# Come set your rule and reign

# In our hearts again

# Increase in us we pray

# Unveil why we're made

# Come set our hearts ablaze with hope

# Like wildfire in our very souls

# Holy Spirit come invade us now

# We are your Church

# We need your power

# In us

# We seek your kingdom first

# We hunger and we thirst

# Refuse to waste our lives

# For you're our joy and prize

# To see the captive hearts released

# The hurt, the sick, the poor at peace

# We lay down our lives for heaven's cause

# We are your church

# We pray revive

# This earth

# Build your kingdom here

# Let the darkness fear

# Show your mighty hand

# Heal our streets and land

# Set your church on fire

# Win this nation back

# Change the atmosphere

# Build your kingdom here

# We pray

# Unleash your kingdom's power

# Reaching the near and far

# No force of hell can stop

# Your beauty changing hearts

# You made us for much more than this

# Awake the kingdom seed in us

# Fill us with the strength and love of Christ

# We are your church

# We are the hope

# On Earth

# Build your kingdom here

# Let the darkness fear

# Show your mighty hand

# Heal our streets and land

# Set your church on fire

# Win this nation back

# Change the atmosphere

# Build your kingdom here

# We pray

# Build your kingdom here

# Let the darkness fear

# Show your mighty hand

# Heal our streets and land

# Set your church on fire

# Win this nation back

# Change the atmosphere

# Build your kingdom here

# We pray. #

And now, a couple of lads who hardly ever sit still.

They're members of the Ulster rugby squad.

South African, Johann Muller, and local lad, Paul Marshall.

For both of them, rugby and success is obviously important.

But their strong personal faith in God is even more so.

I think for me growing up,

it was something that I was always very passionate about,

something I probably put before a lot of other things at times.

I definitely put it ahead of my schoolwork,

which probably got me in a bit of bother at times!

-COMMENTATOR:

-Johann Muller, looking for his first Ulster try.

Has he got across the line?

All South African little boys have got a dream

and that's to play for the Springboks

and that dream became a reality at the age of 26 for me.

I never would have thought that I would, firstly,

have played for the Springboks and then to captain them

and to win a World Cup, it's all dreams come true.

So, really, really fortunate.

Within my school team, we had a lot of talented guys.

I was not one of our best players,

but I always kept in the back of my mind,

"I want to play for Ulster," and I worked as hard as I could

and tried to be the best that I could be,

and it's just a schoolboy dream for me come true, really.

I don't think we just play rugby for the sake of playing rugby.

I think we've got this wonderful opportunity to play rugby,

but it's about something bigger and it's about spreading the word.

It's about talking to people about the wonderful love of God.

I think we're in a really fortunate situation here

that we do have rugby as something that we can use.

Something which we've put in place to try and encourage each other

is our own Bible study once a week before training, you know.

I think it's been fruitful for the two of us

and for the other guys as well.

It's open for the whole team - if anybody else wants to come along

they're more than welcome.

It's not just a secluded group for the holy huddle or anything.

It's a real privilege and it's a blessing to be there...

'It opens doors, playing rugby,

'to maybe go to church events or youth groups.

I think over the last season, because we had

a more successful season at Ulster,

we've seen that going through the roof at times.

Whenever we go to a youth group or a manse meeting, I always say,

"If you leave today after this meeting, you'll go,

"Paul Marshall and Johann Muller's a great guy, great rugby players."

I'll be really disappointed if they leave with that mindset.

At the end of the day it's not about me and it's not about Paul.

At the end of the day, it's about Christianity and it's about faith.

We're just the lucky ones, you know?

I think it's also really important -

I can't change your mind and I can't make you a Christian.

All I can do is sow that little seed and just leave the rest up to God.

I think that's probably our job, is to go out there,

just sow little seeds to people, and show them

what we believe in and the way that we live our lives

and hopefully, that will make them grow

and hopefully God can take it from there.

Throughout the holiday season,

this part of County Antrim is a hive of activity

as people escape the busyness of everyday life.

Some come for the views,

others for the good fresh air along the coast

and others come in search of a quiet space in a picturesque harbour.

And that's what the great outdoors has to offer, isn't it?

Space for recreation and reflection,

a place to contemplate the beauty of creation.

And in keeping with that theme of quiet rest,

we join the congregation at St Killian's again

as they sing Be Still.

Keith and Kristyn Getty have been writing hymns for over 10 years now,

bridging the gap between traditional and contemporary

and creating what's been described as "singable theology".

The music's familiar to churchgoers around the world.

In Christ Alone is one of the favourites here on Songs Of Praise.

But for us now, they're singing By Faith.

# By faith we see the hand of God

# In the light of creation's grand design

# In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness

# Who walk by faith and not by sight

# By faith our fathers roamed the Earth

# With the power of His promise in their hearts

# Of a holy city built by God's own hand

# A place where peace and justice reign

# We will stand as children of the promise

# We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

# Till the race is finished and the work is done

# We'll walk by faith and not by sight

# By faith the prophets saw a day

# When the longed-for Messiah would appear

# With the power to break the chains of sin and death

# And rise triumphant from the grave

# By faith the church was called to go

# In the power of the Spirit to the lost

# To deliver captives and to preach good news

# In every corner of the Earth

# We will stand as children of the promise

# We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

# Till the race is finished and the work is done

# We'll walk by faith and not by sight

# A-ah

# By faith this mountain shall be moved

# And the power of the Gospel shall prevail

# For we know in Christ all things are possible

# For all who call upon His name

# We will stand as children of the promise

# We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

# Till the race is finished and the work is done

# We'll walk by faith and not by sight

# We will stand as children of the promise

# We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

# Till the race is finished

# And the work is done

# We'll walk by faith and not by sight

# We'll walk by faith and not by sight. #

We give thanks for the gifts that God has given you.

May he continue to give you success to keep you eager,

trials to keep you improving

and determination to ensure that each day is better than yesterday.

And may almighty God, the father, son

and Holy Spirit come upon you all and remain with you for ever.

CONGREGATION: Amen.

And that's almost it from County Antrim.

In their own way, the people who you've met today are all valiant.

Andy, Winston, Johann and Paul,

dedicated and determined to be the best they can be

in God's great outdoors.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, in 20 years from now,

you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do

than the things you did.

So, sail away from the safe harbour.

Catch the trade winds in your sails and explore, dream, discover.

Until the next time on Songs of Praise, bye-bye.

Next week, Aled samples the vibrant lifestyle in London's newest

royal borough, historic Greenwich.

The Archbishop of Canterbury celebrates the life

of one of his predecessors and you can join in

with hymns sung in the setting of the Old Royal Naval Chapel.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd