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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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7 April, 2019
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Communion, Incarnation, Love, peace, Reconciliation, Worship
Jesus shows us that being overly cautious about the boundaries of personal space and touch can, especially in worship, risk excluding, stigmatising and humiliating people.
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24 March, 2019
Jesus sets out to reshape our view of the relationships between sin, repentance and disaster, and if possible, to call us out of our spiral into global self-destruction.
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17 March, 2019
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Apocalypse, Discipleship, Faithfulness, Fear, Grief, Love, peace, Sacrifice, Sin
Scripture: Luke, Philippians
In a world that is hell-bent on self-destruction, Jesus calls us to gather to him and to love faithfully and vulnerably with him, rather than surrendering to the hate and fear.
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3 March, 2019
Acknowledging and appreciating Jesus is relatively easy, but we find it much more difficult to transform our lives in conformity with his teaching.
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17 February, 2019
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Discipleship, Faithfulness, Jesus, Virtues
Most of us are addicted to achieving results and success, and it is crippling us. Jesus leads us towards an unexpected and almost unrecognisable freedom.
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30 December, 2018
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Scripture: Colossians, Luke
Jesus models for us a willingness to listen, learn and grow rather than a domineering certainty that insists on knowing who’s right and who’s wrong.
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23 December, 2018
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Christmas, Conversion, Culture, Hope, Incarnation, Salvation
Scripture: Luke
The baby whose coming is awaited will turn the world upside down (not just the lives of its parents!), and our counter-cultural observance of Advent is a necessary preparation of ourselves for that reality.
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16 December, 2018
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Anger, Conversion, Culture, Faithfulness, Holy Spirit, Hope
Scripture: Luke
Angry prophets who tell us the hard-to-hear truth about ourselves pave the way for a new world to emerge.
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9 December, 2018
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Baptism, Conversion, Discernment, Formation, Holy Spirit, Hope, Leadership, Repentance
The task of being changed into what God calls us to be involves a radical break with the established norms of our world.
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2 December, 2018
The coming of Christ to transform the present world into the Kingdom of God will be earth-shattering, but we easily lose sight of it in our anticipation of “another Christmas”.
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25 November, 2018
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Scripture: John
In the face of a politics grounded in nationalist arrogance and fake news, Jesus proclaims a ‘kingdom’ grounded in shared humanity and truth.
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18 November, 2018
The collapse of the institutional church and other social structures will be painful for all of us, but it is not ultimately a threat to mission of Jesus.
