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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26 October, 1997
The need for liberation for the poor and oppressed is obvious, but for the comfortable and successful, the enslavements to consumerism, power and hardness of heart are harder to discern and take the intervention of God to break free from.
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12 October, 1997
The Word of God is constantly calling us to fullness of life, and frequently pierces through our facades to illuminate the ties that hold us back. This is nearly always uncomfortable!
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31 August, 1997
The New Testament teachings on the priority of the spirit of the law over the traditional interpretations of it actually give us a biblical basis on which to reevaluate our understandings of sexual purity.
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24 August, 1997
The Gospel made known in Jesus draws us, body, mind and spirit into the full life of God. This totality of involvement scares off many people, but there is no other way to life.
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13 July, 1997
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Commitment, Discipleship, Mission, Suffering
Scripture: 1 & 2 Samuel, Mark
Whole-hearted devotion to God and commitment to God’s mission brings joyous freedom, but also often results in derision, rejection and even violent opposition.
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18 May, 1997
The Holy Spirit, poured out on the church, opens pathways of communication, enabling the Gospel to break through the multiple barriers to our hearing. Barriers are also broken down to enable us to to communicate with one another and with God.
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13 April, 1997
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Bible, Formation, Jesus, Spiritual Disciplines, Spirituality
Scripture: Luke
It is in a developing relationship with Jesus Christ that our minds will be opened to understand the scriptures, just as happened for the disciples of Jesus.
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23 March, 1997
Many of the stories of Jesus’ life, such as the entry into Jerusalem, can only be properly understood in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and so the church has a vital role in the revelation of the gospel.
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2 February, 1997
Moments of transfiguration show how much more lies beyond our mundane perceptions – of Jesus, of the world, of ourselves.
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15 December, 1996
With the coming of the Christ, our deepest longings and yearnings will be fulfilled.
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8 December, 1996
God does not wish our suffering and struggle to continue, but is ready to gather us in his arms, and calls us to prepare for his arrival.
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24 November, 1996
Christ’s call to respond to his presence in the needy is a call for the church to embrace a lifestyle of radical communal hospitality (but we have often used it to justify empires built on the labour of guilt-ridden, over-extended, under-prepared Christians!)