Listen regularly to Nuneaton Christian Fellowship's Sunday Morning Talk. A variety of topics are addressed, all firmly based on the Bible. We are situated in the centre of England.
God is calling us to love Him sincerely and with gusto, but also to make it a habit to build people up and not to discourage others. This is the essence of partnership. We actively do what is right to other people, love being kind to others and live humbly, trusting God. None of us are insignificant. Our character, our abilities and gifts are all useful to God, we only have to open our eyes to what He has invested in us and then work with Him.
We've learnt a lot about Jesus since the start of this Series of Talks. We also know that we need to actively and intentionally press on to knowing God more and being obedient to Him. Every tribe and nation will be represented in heaven. Heaven is very different from what we experience on earth. Everyone in the world will meet Jesus, as He will judge everyone. Heaven is real. Hell is real. Everyone needs Jesus - not just for the future, but for today. Who will you introduce to Jesus this coming ...
Nothing is too difficult for God (Jeremiah 32:17). A lady met Jesus on a very crowded road once. She had had problems with bleeding for 12 years. This caused physical problems, but it also made her ritually unclean. People would shun her and keep their distance so that they didn't become unclean too. As she reached out to Jesus and physically touched Him, so she was healed. Jesus stopped what He was doing and spent time with her, calling her "daughter" - a beautifully intimate term. She had been...
God surprised many people in the Bible. Moses was at work - looking after his goats and sheep in the wilderness. Work and wilderness. These aren't generally places where we expect to meet God, but that is exactly what happened to Moses. He was profoundly changed because of this encounter with God. How often do we put God in the routines of our day and not let Him speak to us? Do we ever extinguish the Burning Bush that God uses for us? We need to let God show His 'otherness' to us and put Him ce...
Sometimes we think we know what is going on, but Jesus might give a diferent answer. The Scribes tried to trap Jesus, but instead they went away with questions. Jesus obviously knew the Torah better than the Scribes. We are not condemned by Jesus, but forgiven - just like the woman who met Jesus in John 7:53-8:11.
Jesus met many people while physically on earth. Luke 7:36-50 tells us an interesting story. Jesus is having a meal with a Pharisee. This man knows the Old Testament very well, being steeped in the Law and in Jewish tradition. A blatant sinner also turns up. She kneels behind Jesus and anoints Him with perfume and with tears. How do we approach Jesus as we worship Him? Worship is so much more than singing. How do you worship Him? Do we give Jesus everything and sort out the things that don't rea...
Meeting Jesus challenges us. We have to reappraise and then change. We repent. The Holy Spirit was working on the woman as Jesus spoke to her at the well. Let's be prepared to reevaluate our lives as we too spend time with Jesus.
Sometimes we might feel that the place or situation that we're in means the end of life as we know it. Probably the two people walking to their home in Emmaus on that first Easter Day felt like this. They had invested their lives in following Jesus, but He had been crucified. They thought that their life was over. Unknown to them Jesus had risen from the dead and He came and walked along side them. In a calm way He explained everything that had been happening. As He shared a meal with them, they...
Huge numbers of people met Jesus when He physically walked on the earth. People reacted in different ways to Jesus. In this Talk we hear how Jesus told Lazarus, a person He greatly loved, to "Come forth!" How did Lazarus and his siblings react to this? We can still meet Jesus today. How do you react when you encounter Jesus? Jesus came to liquidate the works of the devil. Wearing chains isn't what God intends for us.
Luke, in his Gospel, encourages us not to be like King Herod or the troubled inhabitants of Jerusalem. Act like Jesus! Our preference might be to follow a king like Herod, as no demands are being made - or so we think. However, we should follow and obey the One who suffered for us. Jesus is not selfish, but invites us to come to Him. Let's do that.
From a place of normality and safety, Mary and Joseph, the Wise men and Jesus all listened to promptings from God to do something amazing and unexpected. Today God is calling us all to move from our den of safety and let Him travel with us in our lives.
Perhaps we have been desensitized about the Christmas story? The people involved found it to be an utterly incredible event! The shepherds, the angels and the wise men all did things that weren't expected of them because of it. Perhaps we should behave like Mary and treasure and ponder the different parts of the story. We shouldn't quickly move on to other things, but give praise to God for Jesus' Incarnation.
We explore the times when Jesus was born and how He knew He would suffer. He didn't come to meet people's expectations as Messiah, but to obey His Father. God understands our sufferings. He is with us and He loves us.
Elizabeth andher son John the Baptist were empowered and quickened by God was Mary and Jesus (still in Mary's womb) came to visit them. We look at how God quickened various people in the Bible and notice that such a quickening always led to action. How will God quicken us today? How will we respond to this?
Is celebrating only singing, or is it much more than that? How do you acknowledge God's grace and love in your life? Why is it thought of as a Discipline - surely it's easy to do? God wants us to participate in a lively and spirited dance with Him, rather than a religious plod. Let's pray that this will be true for all of us.
In any relationship there is a small list of things that we should do and somethings that we shouldn't do. We need to communicate with the other person. This means both talking and listening. This is true with God too. As our relationship with God deepens and matures so we find that that we seek God and follow Him changes. We want to sin less and put Him first more.
Following God necessitates effort and positive intention. We all confess things in the normal way that we live. Perhaps it is "I don't understand what is going on!" It might be "I don't understand what is going on, but You are God!" It could also be, "I did this.... I was wrong. I'm sorry. Please help me now God." King David confessed to sin in 2 Samuel 11,12. His confession is found in Psalm 51. When the Prodigal Son returned to his father (Luke 15) he too gave a confession about what he had do...
Being spiritually fit is very important for all of us and this takes discipline and action. How do you serve God and others? Do people see what you're doing as you serve them or is it quite hidden? Do you actively seek to bear the burdens of others? As we consider Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, so we must seek to serve others ourselves too.
What distractions do we have in our lives? What stops us from spending time alone with God? What can we do about this?
Do we make our own lives too difficult? What could we cut back on so that we might seek God, His Kingdom and His righteousness above everything else? What chains us to not following God wholeheartedly?
Have you ever fasted? Do you do it regularly? We can use it to tune our ears to God's voice. What matters the most is why you do it, rather than how you do it. Give it a go!
Praying is good, as it means we are spending time with God. Do you tend to generally pray the same way each time you meet with God though? Listen to be encouraged in your prayer life and to try different ways of communicating and listening to God.
What are the Spiritual Disciplines and how do they help us to become spiritually fit? As well as hearing two short Talks on this, Colonel Frank HW Miller also talks about the importance of getting going (a video of this segment is on YouTube) and Nik briefly explains some of the changes that are coming to NCF's structure over the next few months. Everyone is welcome to contribute to these changes as we consult widely on people's thoughts.
Listen to the whole Service from 26th September. Sung worship, a time of prayer, a Bible-reading and two short Talks are the components you'll hear. Paul was in prison when he wrote a letter to the Church at Colossae in around 60AD. He encouraged the believers there to kneel down, speak up, keep things in and to let God out. God is encouraging us to do the same today. Let's open our hearts to God to see our Borough transformed.
Listen to the whole Service from 19th September. Sung worship, a time of prayer, a Bible-reading and two short Talks are the components you'll hear. God is generous. Exceptionally so! We have God's DNA within us. God calls us to be creative in how we are generous to others and to ourselves.
Listen to the whole Service from 12th September. Sung worship, a time of prayer, a Bible-reading and a Talk are the components you'll hear. God is looking after us in His great providence. Sometimes there is a conflict between logic and faith, but we need to remember that we are not alone. We hear about the influence of Greek thinking on the spread of the Bible, as well as how God uses angels. God doesn't allow random things to affect us. He loves us greatly.
Listen to the whole Service from 5th September. Sung worship, a time of prayer, a Bible-reading and two short Talks are the components you'll hear. God has lavished His extraordinary love on us. We were doomed to eternal separation from God, but God reconciled us to Himself. Fantastic! How do we respond to that? It is fitting to totally surrender to God. Psalm 150 gives s some help with that.
Listen to the whole Service from 29th August. Sung worship, a time of prayer, a Bible-reading and two short Talks are the components you'll hear. For our last Talk on Elijah we are are reminded that God is in control whether we clearly see that or not. He is sovereign. There is so much mystery regarding God, but that is fine. We trust Him. He is faithful.
Listen to the whole Service from 22nd August. Sung worship, a time of prayer, a Bible-reading and two short Talks are the components you'll hear. We come to the end of Elijah's ministry. He worked during the reign of three kings - a terrible time for Israel. There was a succession which God had prepared. Do we listen to God? Do we sometimes prepare our answers to potential questions from God before He has asked them? We might prefer Exclamation Marks in our lives rather than Question Marks, but ...
Listen to the whole Service from 15th August. Sung worship, a time of prayer, a Bible-reading and two short Talks are the components you'll hear. Elijah was given a second chance by God. He was re-equipped and sent out on another mission for God. Am I putting God first in my life? Am I obedient to Him? Past failings don't need to stop me today or in the future. We need to stir ourselves because God is on the move. We need to accept God's second chance for us.
