NCF Sunday Talks

Considering what Jesus said in Mark 4:1-20, we are reminded that God plants seed in our lives. We need to personally cultivate the soil of our lives. God's Word won't return to Him void. Sit close to Jesus! You can read the script for the whole Service here.

We first hear a short statement about our good friend Margaret who had died on the Wednesday before this Service. This Talk is based on John 10:1-18. Jesus talked in ways that made people sit up and listen. He had authority, but His delivery was also different from the other teachers around Him. Sheep are clever and recognise many voices. A sheepfold is good for protection at night, but they need to go out during the day to get fed. Let us too, follow the voice of our Shepherd - Jesus. We will find pasture through Him. Be aware of the thief too. You can read the script for the whole Service here.

This Parable is told in all the Synoptic Gospels, at Matthew 9:16,16, Mark 2:21,22 and Luke 5:33-39. God has given us all an Invitation to come to Him. How do we make sure that our regular activities and current ideas don't get in the way of what God wants to say to us and do with us? We can't pick and mix with a bit of God and a bit of us in our lives - it needs to be all of God! Once we've accepted God's Invitation, let's pass it on to other people. Heaven is going to be populated with the friends, family and strangers that we talk to. Let's attend the Feast and bring someone with us! You can read the Script for the whole Service here.

When Jesus spoke in Parables, He was helping us to remember what He was saying so that we could ultimately change as a result of what He was speaking about. The possibility of not understanding what Jesus was saying in His mini-stories in Luke 14:25-33 is small. He is telling us that we need to give everything we have and are to Him. How will we live sacrificially for Him? God might be calling you to do something specific, so start off small and grow in that sacrifice over time. God demands everything from us, as we can't be a part-time disciple of Jesus. You can read the script for the whole Service here.

We have around fifty parables spoken by Jesus that are written in the Synoptic Gospels. He used familiar visible items in stories that told the truth of God's upside-down invisible world. The punchlines often necessitated change in the listeners. They still do! Are you ready for Jesus' Second Coming? Are you ready for the commands He gives you? Fixing our gaze on Jesus and wanting to be close to Him are essential activities if we describe ourselves as Christians. Let's keep company with Jesus! An introduction to the Series is given from 00:00, with this Parable being read from 15:13 and then some thoughts on the Parable from 16:57. The Script for the whole Service can be read here.

These two short Talks on Easter Day remind us of the immense actions that Jesus undertook on our behalf. We needed a Saviour to make it possible to have a good relationship with God, as sin had tragically blocked that intimacy. Jesus is that Saviour! The cross is now empty. The tomb is now empty. However, how obedient are you being to God? Paul reminded the Church in Galatia that we also needed to be crucified with Christ. Will you give everything you have and are to God? Make yourself dependent on Jesus. The second Talk begins at 16' 54". You can read the script for the whole Service here.

On Palm Sunday we consider how Jesus wasn't the only person to enter Jerusalem that day. Thousands of pilgrims would have made the journey up to Jerusalem, as well as Pontius Pilate arriving with his large military entourage. Jesus had a choice as to whether to enter the city and continue His walk towards His death on the cross. It was a week of awful suffering for Him and yet because of us He chose to die. We should in a similar way let Jesus enter our lives and obey Him, as He says, "Follow Me!" The script for the whole Service can be read here.

At our biennial Partnership Sunday we think about the life of Joshua. He faced fresh challenges at different points in his life and through them actively sought to be obedient to God. Whether NCF is our long-term spiritual home or not, God is calling us to partner with Him in both our actions and our character. Let's make the decision to follow God, obey God and serve God and others. Let's put aside daft things that don't help us or anyone else. Keep on seeking God! You can read the script for the whole Service here.

We begin with ten people briefly describing why they chose a particular song for our special Songs of Praise Service. We then remember how God is our shelter and our strength (Psalm 46). Our lives reflect the truth that God has substance. He is not like a doting uncle who gives presents galore. God loves us, but wants all to grow and mature. We need to actively obey and follow Him! God's laws liberate us in our lives. In our lives, we can echo the psalmist when he invited people to 'Come and see what God has done.' The script for the whole Service can be read here.

We need to read the Bible! It's good for us, as God inspired it to be written so that we might get to know Him. He encourages us, challenges us and leads us as we read it. The Bible straightens us and our lives out! The Script for the whole Service can be read here. (NB: After about seven minutes into the Talk John realised that he hadn't turned on his mic. Plenty of interaction had occurred in this initial period of the Talk, but it was later rerecorded in a much simpler way at home. This is why the first three minutes of this file sounds different to the rest of the recording.)

God calls us to live in unity with other people. What a blessing it is to do that! A brief summary of all the Psalms we have met in this Series is also given. You can read the script for the whole Service here.

We're all getting older! Physically, changes are going on in our bodies, but what about spiritually and emotionally? Are we maturing as Disciples of Jesus? Are we changing from being less childish to more childlike? Are we at rest with God? Often being content will lead on to being curious, but we need to be courageous in order to change. Is God causing you to be restless over something? That's good! Let's actively keep journeying with God on our pilgrimage. Let's trust God as a child would each day. Decide to develop, mature and grow up! The script for the whole Service can be read here.

God doesn't measure things the same way that we do. For our sins we deserve eternal separation from God. Instead, He offers everyone reconcilation and restoration if we accept the fact that He paid the cost for our benefit. If God kept a record of our sins we would certainly not survive. We ought to be living our lives more riskier than others because of God's goodness to us. Let's love our enemies and realise that God provides for us. Let's be still in order to recognise and understand that God is God and we are not. Allow God to do things in your life that simply don't add up. The Script for the whole Service can be read here.

The Psalmist praised God for the way that He had restored them. It was beyond belief what God had done for them! May we too dream big because of what God has done in our lives and in the livesof others. May the wowometer of our lives consistently put God at the top of our actions and thoughts. May the Lord transform and restore our cracked walls, our broken cisterns, our flaky ideas and our crumbling foundations! The Script for the whole Service can be read here.

God calls us both to work and to rest in our pilgrimage with Him. Let's not measure things by what we can see or hear now. Let's work for God in the ways that He instructs us to, then leave the outcomes to Him. The script for this Service can be read here.

The Psalmist in Psalm 124 tells us several times that if it hadn't been for the Lord, then life would have been quite awful. God often goes well beyond the scale that we find to be normal in the way that He deals with us. We are on a Pilgrimage and Jesus is our Guide. Many of Jesus' stories are recounted in the four Gospels. Two of them (the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) and the Prodigal Son (Luke 15)) remind us that God doesn't stick to our measurement of giving love and showing compassion, but goes well beyond what we might consider normal or just enough. He showed this in action when He died for us. Can we too cast off the constraints of what most people do and follow what God does, showing love and friendship in a generous and undeserving way? Let's take beauty to situations that aren't beautiful. You can read the Script for the whole Service here.

Whether our day is golden or it has immense problems, we truly need to call our Maydays out to God. "We need You and we are desperate for You!" That's how some of the worship in the Psalms of Ascent reads. God, we won't be overwhelmed when we're with You. We need God's help, and the help of others, in our lives regularly. Without the Lord, we are lost! The Script for the whole Service can be read here.

Our lives are a pilgrimage. How is our journey going? What are we carrying? What is our final destination? Who is guiding us there? This series of Talks in January and February will help us think about these questions. Let us give more prominence to the actual journey we're on and ask God to help us travel well and lightly with Him. The script for the whole Service can be read here.

The last day of a year is a wonderful time to look both backwards to 2023 in thanks and ahead to 2024 in order to prioritise our ambitions and dreams and then to submit everything to God. It's a certainty that God will remain faithful in 2024 as He has done in previous years and decades. The Script for the whole Service can be read here.

Our circumstances may not always make us feel joyful and peaceful. We all face uneasy things from time to time. However, let's decide to put out trust in God no matter what! You can read the Script for the whole Service here.