Jesus The Obedient High Priest

Posted on 17th October 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our Rev’ Nick Mwandia on the 17/10/21 for our harvest festival celebration.

Sermon starts at 4:10

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Isaiah 53 v 4-12

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


Hebrews 5 v 1-10

1 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.

3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.

4 And no one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”

6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered

9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
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Jesus, God’s Final Word

Posted on 3rd October 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our reader Julie Taylor on the 3/10/21 for our harvest festival celebration.

Sermon starts at 3:35

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Hebrews 1.1-4; Hebrews 2.5-12

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets,

2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels.

6 But someone has testified somewhere, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them?

7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honour,

8 subjecting all things under their feet.” Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them,

9 but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,

12 saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
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Harvest Festival

Posted on 28th September 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our reader Julie Taylor on the 26/9/21 for our harvest festival celebration.

Sermon starts at 1:57

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James 5: 13-20

13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.

14 Is anyone among you ill? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,

20 remember this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
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Faith And The Tounge

Posted on 12th September 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our priest in charge Rev’ Nick Mwandia on the 12/9/21 on the 15th Sunday after Trinity. This sermon is called ‘Faith and the Tounge’.

Sermon starts at 2:33

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James 3.1-12

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.

4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.

10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
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Faith and Favouritism

Posted on 5th September 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our priest in charge Rev’ Nick Mwandia on the 5/9/21 on the 14th Sunday after Trinity. This sermon is called ‘Faith and Favouritism’.

Sermon starts at 2:30

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James 2.1-13

1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism.

2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.

3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

6 But you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?

7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing right.

9 But if you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,

13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
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Create In Me A Pure Heart

Posted on 30th August 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our reader Julie Taylor on the 29/8/21. In the 13th Sunday after Trinity. This sermon is called ‘Create In Me A Pure Heart’.

Sermon starts at 3:21

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James 1: 19-21, 26-27

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.


Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 20-23

1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus

2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.

3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.

4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.

7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’

8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.

15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them.

21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,

22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
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Response To Jesus

Posted on 22nd August 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our reader Julie Taylor on the 22/8/21. In the 12th Sunday after Trinity. This sermon is called ‘Response To Jesus’.

Sermon starts at 5:38

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Joshua 24 (paraphrased)

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem.

Joshua said to all the people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “Long ago your ancestors lived beyond the River Euphrates and worshipped other gods. But I took your father Abraham and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants.

I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.

‘“Then I sent Moses and Aaron and I brought you out. When I brought your people out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea.

They cried LORD for help, and I brought the sea over the Egyptians. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the wilderness for a long time.

‘“Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did also a lot of other “ites”, but I gave them into your hands.

You did not do it with your own sword and bow. I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.”

‘Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshipped beyond the River Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.’ Then the people answered, ‘We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.’

Joshua said to the people, ‘If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.’

But the people said to Joshua, ‘No! We will serve the LORD.’

On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD.

‘See!’ he said to all the people. ‘This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.’


John 6: 56-69

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live for ever.’

59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you?

62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!

63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you – they are full of the Spirit and life.

64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.

65 He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.’

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’

70 Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’

71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
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The Magnificat

Posted on 15th August 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by Bishop Richard on the 15/8/21. In the 11th Sunday after Trinity. This sermon is called ‘The Magnificat’.

Sermon starts at 3:48

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1 Kings 2.10-12, I Kings 3.3-14

10 Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David.

11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established

3 Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places.

4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.”

6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.

7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.

9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”

10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.

11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,

12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.

13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honour all your life; no other king shall compare with you.

14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”


Luke 1:46-55 (The Magnificat)

46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

48 for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
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Jesus, The Bread Of Life

Posted on 8th August 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our priest in charge Rev’ Nick Mwandia, given on the 8/8/21. In the tenth Sunday after Trinity. This sermon is called ‘Jesus, The Bread Of Life’.

Sermon starts at 2:22

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Reading from John 6.35, 41-51

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves.

44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.

47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.

48 I am the bread of life.

49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
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Pressing On

Posted on 1st August 2021 by Peter

Sermon from St Andrews Church, Slip End, UK. Sermon given by our priest in charge Rev’ Nick Mwandia, given on the 1/8/21. This is the seventh and final in a series with the theme of Staying Alert To The Spirit. This sermon is called ‘Pressing On’.

Sermon starts at 3:37

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Isaiah 42.1–9

1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.

2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.

3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

5 This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:

6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,

7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

8 “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.

9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”


Mark 6.1–6

1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.

2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?

3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”

5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.
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