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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6 January, 2004
It is always a shock to realise just who Jesus is and what he’s on about.
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24 December, 2003
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Christmas
A modern paraphrase of the Nativity Sermon of St John Chrysostom, first Preached in Antioch in 386AD
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14 December, 2003
Advent faith believes in the possibility of surprise, and that our tragic and repetitive history has a punch-line which will overturn everything that we have been taught to expect.
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7 December, 2003
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Baptism, Fullness of Life, Hope, Salvation
Scripture: Luke, Malachi, Philippians
In baptism, we have passed from the preoccupations of the present to the a life shaped by God’s future, and though the completion of that transformation may be painful, it is nevertheless the fulfilling of our deepest longings.
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30 November, 2003
Advent is a time of deep paradox, a season that speaks to the reality of our world and calls us to be awake.
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9 November, 2003
Jesus promises that if we will face our deepest fear – the loss of our very souls – and if we will trust in his love, then we shall live, even though we die.
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2 November, 2003
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Discipleship, Ethics, Jesus, Love, Relationships, Ritual
Religious ritual and ethical living are both bound up together in the journey of following Jesus into the Realm of God.
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12 October, 2003
Preacher: Garry Worete Deverell
Grace is the opposite of karma, that most ancient and persistent of human laws which proclaims that we get what we deserve. We do not get what we deserve, and thank Christ we don’t!
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5 October, 2003
Preacher: Craig Thompson
Topic: Forgiveness, Grace, Love, Marriage, Relationships, sex
Scripture: Mark
Jesus is uncompromising in his teaching about what we do with our bodies and the significance of our relationships, but also in promising a new beginning when we find ourselves lost in this way.
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28 September, 2003
Christ is sacramentally present to heal and forgive when his people are open, honest and vulnerable with one another in seeking healing for their sickness and suffering.
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17 August, 2003
Preacher: Mark Brett
Topic: Discernment, Humility, Politics, Power, Wisdom
Scripture: 1 & 2 Kings, Psalms
Any political wisdom which has lost touch with the values revealed to us in the character of God is on the road to disaster. It is not wisdom at all; it is just the mouthings of wealth and power.
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3 August, 2003
Making the Church in the incarnate body of Christ is costly for God, and both challenging and salvific for us.