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Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
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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6 September, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
When grief and loss make no sense, scripture’s oldest protest offers not answers, but a God who weeps beside us.
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1 September, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: climate grief, Communion, Creation, feast of creation, Icons, Resurrection
Scripture: John
On the first Feast of Creation, this sermon asks whether a wounded world might still be a window into the grieving heart of God.
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30 August, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Peter begged Jesus to avoid the coming disaster. Paul offers something braver: how to live with love, courage and beauty when there’s no escape.
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23 August, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
A footballers’ scandal, a call to sober judgment, and an uncomfortable question: how much of this culture do we all help sustain?
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16 August, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: antisemitism, asylum seekers, belonging, dispossession, Grace, kindred, slavery
Kindred is beautiful – and it always draws a line (usually without realising). A sermon on Joseph, Jesus, and grace beyond the boundary.
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9 August, 2026
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Modern slavery, a half-hearted rescue, and a sinking disciple: a sermon on what makes a response to injustice faithful, not just felt.
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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.
