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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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17 March, 2024
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Commitment, Faithfulness, Fullness of Life, Gifts, Grace, Healing, Love, Marriage, Salvation
Scripture: Jeremiah
God is passionately in love with us and longing to give us every good thing if we will respond to his love.
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3 March, 2024
We all learn our desires from others, but most of them are destructive, and law tries to control them. The pathway to freedom and life is to follow Jesus and learn to desire as he desires.
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25 February, 2024
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Commitment, Conflict, Discipleship, Identity, Love, Scandal, Suffering
In an increasingly polarised world, championing the radical love and mercy shown by Jesus is likely to bring hostility from all sides.
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18 February, 2024
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Apocalypse, Bible, Conversion, Covenant, Discernment, Ethics, judgement, Lent, Repentance
Scripture: Genesis
Both contemporary and ancient understandings of the rainbow sign point to God’s expansive love overcoming our fears and hostilities.
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4 February, 2024
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Discernment, Incarnation, Leadership, Service, Vocation
Scripture: 1 Corinthians, Isaiah, Mark
Following Jesus in ministering among the needs around us is not a call to do everything ourselves.
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28 January, 2024
Jesus overcomes the demonic powers which colonise our religious structures and thinking and which rob us of our freedom, integrity and life.
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21 January, 2024
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Bible, Compassion, Conflict, Empire, Grace, Reconciliation, Violence
Scripture: Jonah
The story of Jonah challenges us whenever we start thinking that we have special rights as God’s people.
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7 January, 2024
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Baptism, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Mission, Service
In baptism, the Holy Spirit is ordaining us (all of us) for mission.
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31 December, 2023
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
God reaches out to us through babies and elderly folks with a message of love and redemption that cuts through the theological justifications of empire and warmongering and calls us to peace.
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24 December, 2023
The the birth of Jesus we see the beginning of a peace mission that is not based on force but on patience, forgiveness and presence.
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17 December, 2023
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Discernment, Discipleship, Formation, Hope, Identity, Service, Vocation
Discovering who we are called to be is an ever-evolving journey as we follow Jesus in changing circumstances.
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10 December, 2023
Preacher: Nathan Nettleton
Topic: Discipleship, Hope, Resurrection
Scripture: 1 & 2 Peter, Isaiah, Mark, Psalms
Though we are to strive for righteousness and justice now, what we achieve now is a mere shadow of what will be fulfilled in the day of the Lord.
