Sermons
At Open Icon Baptist Church, we value preaching that engages deeply, humbly and honestly with Jesus, the Bible, and the pain and joy of living in the real world. And since going permanently online, we have been able to welcome great preachers from all over the world without having to wait for them to visit our shores.
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20 June, 2004
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Christian ascetic discipline is not about earning God’s acceptance, but about banishing the demons so that we can live life more fully in the here and now.
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30 May, 2004
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Holy Spirit, Liberation, Resurrection
The message of Pentecost is the message of Pascha – Christ is risen and, in him, we are liberated from our captivity to the spirits of death, fear, despair, and division, and freed to dance to the Holy Spirit’s tune.
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9 May, 2004
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Gifts, Hospitality, Love, Purity, Reconciliation
When God accepts and gifts those who are supposed to be excluded according to our theology, then its time to change our theology to a rule of love instead of a rule of purity.
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2 May, 2004
Preacher: Garry Worete Deverell
Topic: Identity, Jesus, Martyrdom, Resurrection
Scripture: John, Psalms, Revelation
Jesus’s resurrection was a sign which declared that Jesus’ cause was God’s cause, that Jesus’ values were God’s values, that Jesus’ people were God’s people.
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25 April, 2004
The risen Christ is extravagantly generous and excruciatingly unwilling to settle for pious platitudes in return.
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18 April, 2004
The experience of the resurrected Christ may not be as instantly transformative as we’ve often thought, but those who seek Christ’s self-revelation will grow into his mission.
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14 March, 2004
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Fullness of Life, Repentance, Suffering
Scripture: 1 Corinthians, Isaiah, Luke
Repenting of our past ways and following Jesus does not guarantee us safety from disaster, but it certainly opens the way to an abundance of life that is beyond what any disaster can destroy.
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7 March, 2004
In the face of powerful evil, our choice like Jesus’s choice is between the natural human instincts of flight or fight, and the third way of obedience to God.
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8 February, 2004
Extravagant grace can be terrifying because it asks nothing of us but a complete change of life!
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1 February, 2004
God consistently favours love and acceptance over purity, so when we are not sure, it is better to take a risk on love and acceptance.
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18 January, 2004
God’s love is like a refuge from the storm, like the hospitality of a generous host, like the continuing delight of a bridegroom for his bride, and like the alchemical power of the miracle-worker transforming even our fear and inconstancy into the power to love, forgive, and cherish.
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11 January, 2004
In baptism Jesus submits himself to his God-given destiny and vocation, and it is by a similar submission to God, allowing Christ to live out his baptismal life in us and for us, that we have life and hope.