Todays sermon was given by our priest in charge the Rev Nick Mwandia on the 15th Sunday after Trinity, 17th September 2023 entitled ‘Having Mercy’.
Download Mp3 HERE!
Sermon starts at 5.38
Exodus 14 v 19-31
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew
and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood
behind them,
20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the
night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so
neither went near the other all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove
the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were
divided,
22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water
on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and
horsemen followed them into the sea.
24 During the last watch of the night
the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and
threw it into confusion.
25 He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had
difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites!
The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the
waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and
horsemen.”
27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea
went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept
them into the sea.
28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and
horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the
sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their
right and on their left.
30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the
Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.
31 And when the
Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the
people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Matthew 18 v 21-35
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my
brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle
accounts with his servants.
24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten
thousand bags of gold was brought to him.
25 Since he was not able to pay, the
master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to
repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged,
‘and I will pay back everything.’
27 The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled
the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed
him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back
what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will
pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he
could pay the debt.
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were
outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled
all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy
on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
34 In anger his master handed him over
to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your
brother or sister from your heart.”