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baptist church
baptist church
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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10 January, 2021
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Baptism, Jesus, Leadership, Politics, Service
In baptism we are anointed to reign with Christ over a new creation, but it is a reign of suffering servanthood, not of reckless force.
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27 December, 2020
The child of God became a human, so that humans could become children of God.
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20 December, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Hope, Hospitality, Incarnation, Jesus, Reconciliation
Scripture: 1 & 2 Samuel, Luke
God’s coming does not reinforce our social norms and hierarchies, but breaches them to reconcile and re-dignify those who the social order has sacrificed and cast aside.
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29 November, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Apocalypse, Commitment, Discernment, Empire, Jesus, Power, Prophesy, Spiritual Warfare
Jesus calls us to resist the satanic desire to credit violence and disaster with meaning, and instead to acknowledge meaning and truth only in God’s suffering love and mercy.
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22 November, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Church, Culture, Jesus, Leadership, Power, Reconciliation
Scripture: 1 & 2 Peter, Deuteronomy, Matthew
In a world dominated by arrogant and exploitative leaders, Jesus models a gentle shepherding leadership that prioritises the reintegration of the broken over the drive for “success” and “efficiency”.
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18 October, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Self-interested leaders will frequently manufacture frightening images of an angry dangerous God to silence opposition and maintain their grip on power, but Jesus opens our eyes to these abuses and to the reality of a God of incorruptible love.
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11 October, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
We are often afraid to face what must be faced in order to enter the new world God has promised, but God continues to promise an abundance of blessings when we overcome our fears and obey.
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20 September, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Creation, Discipleship, Formation, Healing, Hope, Salvation, Stewardship
Scripture: Romans
All creation waits impatiently for humanity to work and pray its way into the fullness of our identity in Christ, for only then will all creation be safe and free.
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6 August, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Scripture: 1 & 2 Kings, Exodus, Matthew
The stories of Moses, Elijah and Jesus on various mountain tops reveals a process of God’s self-revelation as the one who loves us and suffers for us.
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28 June, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Anger, Discernment, Failure, Jesus, judgement, Leadership, Repentance, Sin
The abusive use of anger to manipulate other people’s behaviour is, Jesus says, on the same spectrum as physical violence, and Jesus calls this preacher to repent of it.
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31 May, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Gifts, Holy Spirit, Hospitality, Reconciliation, Unity
Scripture: Acts
El Espíritu de Jesús nos une a través de límites previamente hostiles y nos enseña un lenguaje de amor liberador.
(The Spirit of Jesus unites us across previously hostile boundaries and teaches us a language of liberating love.) -
29 March, 2020
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Death, Fear, Fullness of Life, Grief, Hope, Jesus, Lent, Resurrection
Jesus leads the way towards a new experience of life that is so utterly alive that death is powerless to threaten, limit or constrain it.
