‘The Trinity is where we live and how we live’
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Part 1
Hymn:
MP 237 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, holy, holy! – merciful and mighty, God in three persons blessed Trinity!
Part 2
Hymns:
MP 142 Father we love You
Or
try this one: Holy, Holy, Holy, santo, santo, santo
Part 3
Hymns:
MP 400 Lead us, heavenly Father lead us
Or,
MP 1201 Longing for light, we wait in darkness
Part 4
Hymns:
MP 936 Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart
Or
this version if you really want a smile:
MP 506 O Lord my God!
A brilliant reggae version:
Other Links:
For a list of resources to help you do the hard work of anti-racism click here:
with thanks to Illustrated Ministry hello@illustratedministry.com
Transcript of the Service
‘The Trinity is where we live and how we live’
Welcome / hope you’re all well
Today on Trinity Sunday let us worship the one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God of earth, stand among us;
God of air, breathe within us.
God of water, flow around us;
God of fire, burn within us.
Christ of the past, Word made flesh, speak to us.
Christ of the present, revealing the Father’s glory, be born in us.
Christ of the future, bearing witness to the truth, live your life in us.
Spirit of mercy and peace, we open our hearts to you, move among us.
Spirit of gift and grace, we open our minds to you, move within us.
Spirit of truth and love, we open our lives to you, fill us to overflowing.
The Psalmist says:’ O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
And we worship you.’
Our first hymn is that great hymn of the Trinity
MP 237 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee; Holy, holy, holy! – merciful and mighty, God in three persons blessed Trinity!
Prayer:
Father, we come to you and bow down before your glory.
Jesus, we come to you and rejoice in your saving grace.
Spirit, we come to you and ask for an outpouring of your wisdom.
When I open myself up wide to you, O God, three in one, I am truly amazed.
But I confess, Lord, that so often I don’t take time to see and appreciate the wonder.
Rather I just concentrate on the little bit of you that fills my immediate need.
Lord, on this wonderful day forgive my narrow view, and allow me to see you in full ‘3D’, in glorious ‘Technicolor’.
Open my heart to your fullness.
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Mighty God, we praise you that you have made us your children and filled us with your Spirit. We thank you that we can trust you with our lives as you guide us forward, ever deeper into your truth. Amen.
Lesley’s piece . . . her thoughts on the Trinity and her challenge to embrace it . . just as the early church did . . .
The early church experienced God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and ‘the Trinity’ was the Church’s definition of that experience. In the following readings listen for mention of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The first reading takes place as Jesus is speaking to his disciples after the Last Supper before going out into the Garden of Gethsemane where he is arrested.
And the in the second reading we hear Paul speaking about how we can have peace with God the Father through Jesus and experience his love by the Holy Spirit.
Read: John 16:12-15 followed by Romans 5:1-5
Thank you, Joyce.
Our next song is very simple, enabling us to focus on each person of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And as you are on the internet perhaps you would like to try a Spanish version
MP 142 Father we love You
Or try this one: Holy, Holy, Holy, santo, santo, santo
Photo by Clay Banks Via Unsplash
As Lesley points out in her thoughts, we often make the Trinity too complicated. The truth is that when Jesus’ followers began to think about their experiences it led to a revolution in their thinking about God.
What makes for a revolution in the way people think?
Perhaps when something really new comes along and changes everything.
That is what happened when the Church in the 4th Century finally decided to call their understanding of God, ‘The Trinity’
The first disciples knew Jesus. They recognised him as the Son of God and eventually as God:
‘Who but God could do the things he did?’
The question then was, how could Jesus being God fit with their Jewish upbringing?
A man can’t be God, but there were all those miracles and Jesus kept on using the phrase, “I am . . .” God’s name for himself when Moses asked him for his name.
And what about the intimate way Jesus related to God as his Father and then said, “I and the Father are one”?
The Father was God . . . and if Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus must be God.
And what about the Holy Spirit who ‘speaks only what he hears’ from the Father and ‘takes what is Jesus’ and makes it known to the disciples’? (John 16:13-14)
A revolution in thinking about the nature of God was called for and the Church finally concluded that this is the way God works: as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The disciples experienced God in all three persons and so can we.
The question is not, ‘What is the Trinity?’
The question is, ‘How do we experience God?’
And the answer is, ‘We, like the first disciples, experience God as the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As Professor NT (Tom) Wright says in ‘Twelve Months of Sundays’,
‘In the New Testament the Trinity isn’t an abstract theory, it’s where you live. And, hence, how you live.
This new home is where you discover ‘an otherwise distant or unknowable God as a loving, wise and very present father.’
And if you wish to live in this new home you are asked to do some strange things:
Like, always being ready and willing to serve others, to forgive the unforgiveable, to lament the suffering in the world, to lay down your life if you wish to save it, and to love your enemy. All just as Jesus did.
But, if you are willing to accept the cost of living in this home, then here you will discover life in all its fulness.
How?
Through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit who will come to live in you and enable you to live in a wonderful intimate relationship with God our heavenly Father.
As the Trinity is also about how we live, how does this work out in everyday life?
Well, in the light of the coronavirus we seek to do all we can to care for, and protect, those who are vulnerable; it’s a simple act of loving our neighbour.
The Rossendale Food Box Scheme is a great example of love and service.
As the Trinity is about how we live, then we will be serious about Black Lives Matter and doing the hard work of anti-racism for a deep, profound, and systemic change in society as a response to the events in the USA, at home and around the world.
No justice means no peace, but of course where God dwells there is hope, and in God, to know justice is to know peace.
We are called to ‘act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God’ (Micah 6:8), who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Trinity is where we live and how we live: Our story is woven into God’s story. Ribbons
We become part of the story of God’s people through worship, prayer, service, caring, evangelism, Bible reading, and studying together and playing together.
And, as we do, our relationships with God and one another are nurtured and so grow and deepen.
Jesus was in constant touch with his Father and was empowered by the Holy Spirit, and this needs to be true of our relationship with God too.
As we grow in this relationship it gives us hope for our lives as individuals, for the church, for our community and for the world. The world desperately needs to experience God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit today.
With the church made up of individuals woven together into a relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit there is much we can do in the continual struggle for justice and peace.
Thankfully, our strength is not our strength, it is the strength of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who together overcame the powers of sin and death; how wonderful it is to be woven into the life of the Trinity.
The Trinity is where we live and how we live.
Two choices for our next hymn: either the traditional Lead us heavenly Father lead us with its focus on the fatherhood of God in verse 1, on Jesus’ humanity in verse 2 and the joy and wonder of the Spirit in verse 3.
Or, how about a more recent song albeit from 1981 that focus’ on Jesus but also leads us into our prayers.
MP 400 Lead us, heavenly Father lead us
Or, MP 1201 Longing for light, we wait in darkness
Intercessions: Offer your prayers for peace and justice in the world, in the church, for others and yourself. Reading from page 94 in 'Hear my Cry.'
The Lord’s Prayer
And to close our worship again a choice of two hymns – if you feel like dancing with the Spirit join in with ‘Teach me to dance’ 936 in Mission Praise. The second version is by the African Children’s choir.
Or if you’re feeling like praising God as Creator praise Him in the words of a How great Thou art – that great Russian hymn number 506 in Mission Praise
If you want a more upbeat and fun version then try the reggae version sung by George Nooks and if you really want to party, try the version by a band called Christafari.
MP 936 Teach me to dance to the beat of your heart
Or this version if you really want a smile:
MP 506 O Lord my God!
A brilliant reggae version:
Blessing: Father, you are life. Jesus, you bring me life. Spirit, you help me to live my life.
We go forth in the name of the living God, Father, Son, and Holy - Spirit, to continue our journey into truth. Amen.
For a list of resources to help you do the hard work of anti-racism click here:
with thanks to Illustrated Ministry hello@illustratedministry.com
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