Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
At Open Icon Baptist Church, we value great preaching — 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. Click here to meet the inspirational preachers depicted in the gallery above, none of whom have preached for us!
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Pastor
Nathan Nettleton
Nathan Nettleton has served as pastor of this congregation since 1994. He was ordained as a Baptist pastor that same year and completed an honours degree in theology at Whitley College in 1995, followed by a Master of Theology in Liturgical Studies from the University of Divinity in 2001. In our church, he carries particular responsibilities for the preaching, teaching, and ordering of worship and prayer, and for pastoral care. He also writes liturgical resources for a global audience through LaughingBird.net, and serves as a board member of Open Baptists. Nathan is married to Margie, and they have an adult daughter, Acacia, and two dogs.
Sermons by Nathan Nettleton
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2 August, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: antisemitism, grief and lament, Israel and Palestine, scapegoating, supersessionism, Yoorrook Justice Commission
Scripture: Romans
Paul grieves for Israel rather than standing apart in judgement – and asks what it would cost us to stop pointing the finger only outward.
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1 August, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Blessing, church conflict, Grace, Hospitality, self-acceptance, the Magnificat, the Visitation, vulnerability
Scripture: Luke
Mary and Elizabeth welcome each other with nothing to prove. A funeral homily on hospitality, vulnerability, and receiving favour.
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26 July, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
When grief leaves us wordless and a hard parable unsettles us, Jesus promises that nothing – not even death – can separate us from God’s love.
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5 July, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Being “inclusive” doesn’t end the old habit of exclusion – it just relocates it. Jesus offers a different yoke instead.
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28 June, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Abraham and Isaac, child sacrifice, fear and religion, law and grace, populism, scapegoating, slavery metaphor
Scripture: Genesis
Fear-driven religion and fear-driven politics run on the same engine. Paul knew it. Abraham discovered it. Grace is the only thing that breaks the cycle.
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31 May, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: belonging, church identity, Hospitality, image of God, Reconciliation, Trinity
An ancient icon of the Trinity shows us a table of radical hospitality — and calls us not just to sit at it, but to become it.
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24 May, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: consumerism, eucharist, Feast of Tabernacles, Holy Spirit, living water, nationalism, paraclete, Pentecost, thirst and longing
Scripture: John
Jesus offers living water to a world sold counterfeit spirits — but bad experiences with cheap substitutes needn’t put us off the real thing.
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14 May, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Ascension, change and loss, church identity, Community, Holy Spirit, liminal space, multilingual worship, Pentecost
Scripture: Acts
When everything familiar has gone and the new thing hasn’t arrived yet, the disciples’ upper room is closer to home than we might think.
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10 May, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Evangelism, fasting, interfaith, Islam, Paul in Athens, Ramadan, Reconciliation, religious diversity, spiritual formation
Scripture: Acts
Paul in Athens, a Muslim Uber driver, and a Georgian bishop walk into a sermon — and together reframe what Christian interfaith encounter could look like.
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3 May, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Philip asked Jesus to show him God. The answer dismantles centuries of angry-God theology — and exposes the retributive impulse hiding in all of us.
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26 April, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Jesus came that we might have life in abundance — but abundant life can’t be hoarded. The moment we try to secure it for ourselves at others’ expense, it stops being life at all.
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19 April, 2026
When the executed one comes back, everyone expects retribution. The shock of resurrection is that he doesn’t.

