The Trinity of God:
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Planning Ideas And Resources For The Entire Church Year
Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration
Suggestion:
Begin with some strong questions, as for example, Are you awake? (wait for response). Are you alert? Are you aware? Are you expectant? (wait for response, a strong response each time before proceeding.)
I invite, I encourage, I urge you to be enthusiastic about God, and God's church, that is, each other.
Continue with this litany between pastor and ministers:
Pastor:
Who do you think you are?
Ministers: We are the church of Jesus the Christ. We have come here to remember what our being a Christian means, and to be the church at worship, so we can be the church in ministry beyond the church building.
Pastor:
I invite you to be honest during this time, so you will be honest when you leave here. I invite you to open your hearts, minds, wills, pocketbooks to God's word.
Ministers: We will be honest and open to God's Word.
Pastor:
Great! We continue to praise God in worship, beyond worship.
Ministers: Amen! Let it be so, in you and in me.
The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life
Try this:
Integrate the confession part of Isaiah's call, that is, he confessed his own sin before confessing the sin of his people, with the confession part of the Romans 8:12-17 passage.
Follow with this, or a similar, prayer:
Our Lord and Reconciler, we who have taken your Name as our identification, the description of who we are and what we are for, we confess shame and confusion. We are shamed for failing again and again to be the standard bearers of your will, the revelation of your love, the instrumentalities of your meditating grace to others. We have failed for many reasons, most of which we are aware: selfishness, lack of commitment, thoughtlessness, lives centered in our own desires, drives and responsibilities, and not first and foremost on yourself. We are confused, Lord, that we so often confess and repent, and slip back into the same old patterns. We are confused that we are so stimulated and inspired to do better and be better, only to end up the same old way. We know that we will fail to meet the test, and will never suffer for righteousness' sake unless things are different within. Heal us on the inside. Fill us with right behavior on the outside. Empower us with your Spirit, that we may be your people, living to your glory. (author unknown, revised)
Integrate the assurance part of Isaiah's call, that is, his receiving pardon, and offering thanks, with the assurance part of the Romans 8:12-17 passage.
Follow with the congregation's praying
a contemporary version of the Lord's Prayer, which
you will need to print in the bulletin.
Message with the Children of All Ages
Consider this:
Focus on the essence of either passage, John 3:16 or Matthew 28:19-20. Ask the children if they memorized either or both of those passages in church school. Give them an opportunity to recite one or both. Then, ask them what they think the passages mean. Sometimes, we ask people, especially children, to memorize Bible passages which have little, or no meaning to them. We need to help each other update the understanding of our faith; we promise to do so when people are baptized, and when they unite with the church, and all along the way.
Proclamation of the Word
Consider these ideas:
Introduce this as Trinity Sunday. Give some background to our understanding of the Trinity. You may want to include some of the controversy surrounding the concept, historically. You could mention the conflict led to Servetus' death.
We can debate the issue forever.
The point is this: How well do we Christians live out the messages of John 3:16-21 and the Great Commission? We have made some horrible mistakes; we have committed many atrocities in the Name of God. God calls us, however, to share the truth we know in Christ, assertively, not aggressively. In the sharing, we will appreciate each other as persons, and let God's Spirit do the changing and converting.
Stewardship Challenge
Suggestion:
The stewardship of belief put into action. D. T. Niles, former Bishop of the Church of South India, said, "The church exists for mission as fire exists for burning." A former president of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Visser t'Hooft, once pointed out that syncretism is the secret religion of many of us. Which statement reflects our giving, of our money, of ourselves?
Charge to the Congregation
Try this:
If we believe that all religions are headed in the same direction, or that it doesn't matter what we believe so long as we're sincere, then we have missed the essence of the gospel.
Our response, as people of faith, hope, love, to Christ's mission is not, "Will you join us, Lord?" but rather, "We choose to join you." When we do, we will discover that only the disciplined change the world, and that "a Christian is an 'Alleluia' from head to foot." (St. Augustine)
Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions
Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures
Liturgist:
Psalm 29
Psalm 149
Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22
Isaiah 6:1-8
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Romans 8:12-17
II. Suggested Hymns
Coordinator:
"Earth and All Stars"
Herbert Brokering, 1968
"Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty" Reginald Heber, 1826
"Come, Thou Almighty King" Anon., 1757; alt., 1972
Also titled, "Come to Us, Mighty King"
"O Trinity of Blessed Light" Latin, 6th century
Trans. by John Mason Neale, 1852
"Ancient of Days, Who Sit Enthroned in Glory"
William C. Doane, 1886; alt., 1972
(Refer to the Trinity Sunday section of your hymn book.)
III. Other Music Possibilities
Organist/Choir director:
Music for Preparation
Medley of Trinity Hymns
Response to the New Testament
Adult Choir
"Thanks Be to Thee"
Handle
Response to the Children's Message
"Beyond a Dream"
Words and Music
by David Yantis from New Wine, United Methodist Church
Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"Prayer of the Sicilian Mariners"
Warner
Music for Dismissal
"Carillon for a Joyful Day"
McKay
IV. Bulletin Cover
Church secretary:
V. Bulletin Symbols
VI. Miscellaneous Details (Assignments:)
Ushers
Candlelighters
Hosts/Hostesses
Banners
Flowers
Greeters
Posters
Name-tags
Others
Suggestion:
Begin with some strong questions, as for example, Are you awake? (wait for response). Are you alert? Are you aware? Are you expectant? (wait for response, a strong response each time before proceeding.)
I invite, I encourage, I urge you to be enthusiastic about God, and God's church, that is, each other.
Continue with this litany between pastor and ministers:
Pastor:
Who do you think you are?
Ministers: We are the church of Jesus the Christ. We have come here to remember what our being a Christian means, and to be the church at worship, so we can be the church in ministry beyond the church building.
Pastor:
I invite you to be honest during this time, so you will be honest when you leave here. I invite you to open your hearts, minds, wills, pocketbooks to God's word.
Ministers: We will be honest and open to God's Word.
Pastor:
Great! We continue to praise God in worship, beyond worship.
Ministers: Amen! Let it be so, in you and in me.
The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life
Try this:
Integrate the confession part of Isaiah's call, that is, he confessed his own sin before confessing the sin of his people, with the confession part of the Romans 8:12-17 passage.
Follow with this, or a similar, prayer:
Our Lord and Reconciler, we who have taken your Name as our identification, the description of who we are and what we are for, we confess shame and confusion. We are shamed for failing again and again to be the standard bearers of your will, the revelation of your love, the instrumentalities of your meditating grace to others. We have failed for many reasons, most of which we are aware: selfishness, lack of commitment, thoughtlessness, lives centered in our own desires, drives and responsibilities, and not first and foremost on yourself. We are confused, Lord, that we so often confess and repent, and slip back into the same old patterns. We are confused that we are so stimulated and inspired to do better and be better, only to end up the same old way. We know that we will fail to meet the test, and will never suffer for righteousness' sake unless things are different within. Heal us on the inside. Fill us with right behavior on the outside. Empower us with your Spirit, that we may be your people, living to your glory. (author unknown, revised)
Integrate the assurance part of Isaiah's call, that is, his receiving pardon, and offering thanks, with the assurance part of the Romans 8:12-17 passage.
Follow with the congregation's praying
a contemporary version of the Lord's Prayer, which
you will need to print in the bulletin.
Message with the Children of All Ages
Consider this:
Focus on the essence of either passage, John 3:16 or Matthew 28:19-20. Ask the children if they memorized either or both of those passages in church school. Give them an opportunity to recite one or both. Then, ask them what they think the passages mean. Sometimes, we ask people, especially children, to memorize Bible passages which have little, or no meaning to them. We need to help each other update the understanding of our faith; we promise to do so when people are baptized, and when they unite with the church, and all along the way.
Proclamation of the Word
Consider these ideas:
Introduce this as Trinity Sunday. Give some background to our understanding of the Trinity. You may want to include some of the controversy surrounding the concept, historically. You could mention the conflict led to Servetus' death.
We can debate the issue forever.
The point is this: How well do we Christians live out the messages of John 3:16-21 and the Great Commission? We have made some horrible mistakes; we have committed many atrocities in the Name of God. God calls us, however, to share the truth we know in Christ, assertively, not aggressively. In the sharing, we will appreciate each other as persons, and let God's Spirit do the changing and converting.
Stewardship Challenge
Suggestion:
The stewardship of belief put into action. D. T. Niles, former Bishop of the Church of South India, said, "The church exists for mission as fire exists for burning." A former president of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Visser t'Hooft, once pointed out that syncretism is the secret religion of many of us. Which statement reflects our giving, of our money, of ourselves?
Charge to the Congregation
Try this:
If we believe that all religions are headed in the same direction, or that it doesn't matter what we believe so long as we're sincere, then we have missed the essence of the gospel.
Our response, as people of faith, hope, love, to Christ's mission is not, "Will you join us, Lord?" but rather, "We choose to join you." When we do, we will discover that only the disciplined change the world, and that "a Christian is an 'Alleluia' from head to foot." (St. Augustine)
Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions
Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures
Liturgist:
Psalm 29
Psalm 149
Psalm 33:4-6, 9, 18-20, 22
Isaiah 6:1-8
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Romans 8:12-17
II. Suggested Hymns
Coordinator:
"Earth and All Stars"
Herbert Brokering, 1968
"Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty" Reginald Heber, 1826
"Come, Thou Almighty King" Anon., 1757; alt., 1972
Also titled, "Come to Us, Mighty King"
"O Trinity of Blessed Light" Latin, 6th century
Trans. by John Mason Neale, 1852
"Ancient of Days, Who Sit Enthroned in Glory"
William C. Doane, 1886; alt., 1972
(Refer to the Trinity Sunday section of your hymn book.)
III. Other Music Possibilities
Organist/Choir director:
Music for Preparation
Medley of Trinity Hymns
Response to the New Testament
Adult Choir
"Thanks Be to Thee"
Handle
Response to the Children's Message
"Beyond a Dream"
Words and Music
by David Yantis from New Wine, United Methodist Church
Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"Prayer of the Sicilian Mariners"
Warner
Music for Dismissal
"Carillon for a Joyful Day"
McKay
IV. Bulletin Cover
Church secretary:
V. Bulletin Symbols
VI. Miscellaneous Details (Assignments:)
Ushers
Candlelighters
Hosts/Hostesses
Banners
Flowers
Greeters
Posters
Name-tags
Others
