Nathan has been a pastor of our Church since 1994.
Our deepest yearnings are satisfied in God, and only scratched elsewhere.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons by Nathan Nettleton (Page 35)
Fights and divisions in the church are a sign of how far we still have to go, but if we don’t run from them, God will use them to mature us and grow our ability to love.
The church rightly has an impact on the world, bringing out the taste of God, but it won’t come from pedantic obedience.
We are saved by our trust in God, and the only basis we are offered for our trust is the cross.
The experience of Christ crucified unites us – theories about it are more likely to divide us.
The Word has become flesh to redeem us. Now our redeemed response must become flesh.
Preparing the way of the Lord is not just a temporary clean-up for the visitor, but an embracing of the new possibilities that are opening to us.
We are called to live the lifestyle of the era that has not quite dawned – values found in Jesus Christ that will bring life to the world.
The values Christ calls us to live by can (for most people) only be lived in community with the saints, past and present.
Christian discipleship is about fully living the faith you have, and it is a basic human duty, not a cause for special commendation.
Real life is found in a trusting relationship with God, but the greatest obstacle to that is a culture of trusting money and we will only be able to avoid that if we fight it together.
The search for meaning and fullness of life without cost, risk or struggle is futile, but the Kingdom is still a free gift, given by God, to all who will accept it.
The three most valuable helps for those who would learn to pray are, 1) an experienced mentor or spiritual director, 2) the use of well prepared set prayers, and 3) perseverance.
Our experience of being reconciled to God through Christ provides the inspiration and the model for the work of reconciliation across the various divides within our world.
Our perception of things can be distorted by the context in which we see them. Jesus constantly challenges our misperceptions by challenging us to look at things through a different frame. It is only by constant reference to Jesus and to the ways that he looked at things that we learn to see ourselves and our surrounds more realistically.
Our bodies are integral to who we are and are destined for resurrection and glorification, but the fracturing of the integrity of creation affects us too in ways that mean we often find our bodies at war with our spirits. The pathway to sanctification involves a reintegration of body and spirit, and sometimes that means denial and disciplining of physical desires.
People judge one another by their conformity to certain expectations (which vary from group to group), but God is only interested in our willingness to come into the loving intimacy he offers to all.
Cheering for Jesus is easy, but when he goes where we don’t want to go, only a few still follow while the rest shout “Crucify!”
Christian discipleship is an ongoing journey, so any attempt to preserve what is right today can mean we are in the wrong place tomorrow because Jesus has moved on.
When we encounter the reality of God we are overcome with our own unworthiness, and we are confronted with a choice – to push God away and hide from our self-realization, or to accept God’s gracious invitation to mercy, transformation and mission.