Trinity Sunday
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle A
Object:
Seasonal Theme
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
Theme For The Day
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity. God as Holy Parent, Son and Savior, and the Spirit with us here and now.
A Suggestion: For the next thirteen Sundays, the First Lesson will be from the book of Genesis for those who use the Revised Common Lectionary. Now might be a good time to introduce these readings to the congregation by putting an outline in your worship bulletin.
1:1-2:4a -- Creation of the Universe and Adam and Eve
6:11-22ff -- The great flood and Noah
12:1-9 -- Call of Abraham
18:1-15 -- A son promised to Sarah and Abraham
21:8-21 -- The birth of Isaac
22:1-14 -- The command to sacrifice Isaac
24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 -- Isaac and Rebekah
25:19-34 -- Esau and Jacob's story
28:10-19a -- Jacob's dream at Bethel
29:15-28 -- Jacob marries Laban's daughters
32:22-31 -- Jacob wrestles at Peniel
37:1-4, 12-28 -- Joseph dreams of greatness
45:1-15 -- Joseph reveals himself to his brothers
Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 1:1--2:4a
The Creation
This is the first of two varying accounts of creation. The second one begins with 2:4b. The Hebrew word bara here is used only for God's work (see also Isaiah 40:26, 28, 45:18). To have an orderly universe is only possible by God's activity. For preaching the important thing in this account is not the mechanics of how God brought order of chaos, but rather the fact it was God who did it. "In the beginning when God created..." (Genesis 1:1).
Many of our brothers and sisters would want to demand we believe this account of creation literally word for word, as if in just these few days it all happened. With God-given brains, however, we have learned more about how God did these acts of creation over many years. We live in an age when scientists are able to learn more and more about how God works. Marvelous! The Bible is neither scientific nor unscientific; it is pre-scientific. What we have, then, is a hymn of faith that it was God who did it. Let's let the scientist discover how God was able to do such a marvelous thing. Verses 27 and 28 describe the belief of the writer that God created humans as a part of this process. The hymn of faith continues rising here to the best act of creation -- us humans. And notice we are given the gift of procreation (v. 28b). We may have interpreted this badly over the years thinking our main tasks were to populate the world with hordes of humanity and asphalt over the earth to "subdue it."
Verses 1:31--2:1 picture an almighty creator who could do all this and then feel the human characteristic (anthropomorphism) of getting tired and having the need to rest. We don't want to miss the point here that as God created, it came out as God intended. Not only good but "... it was very good" (v. 31).
We ought be careful using this resting of God for rationale that we should observe Sunday as a day of rest. It says it was the seventh day not the first day of the week. We better argue for Sunday observance claiming it the day of resurrection. It is a little Easter for us Christians.
New Testament Lesson
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Appeal And Blessing
This passage's selection for use on Trinity Sunday wouldn't make any sense except that in verse 13 is the Trinitarian formula: Jesus, God, and Holy Spirit are all there. Paul and the Corinthians had many difficulties not unlike many congregations and their pastors. But it all ends here with an appeal and a blessing. The appeal is to live in peace and the God of peace will be with them. Then the blessing: grace from Jesus, love for God, and the sharing in the Holy Spirit. That ought do it for the Corinth congregation and for ours as well. No matter the discord and strife in their lives, here they are left with God's peace and God's triple blessing.
The Gospel
Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
Now comes our commission for Trinity Sunday. Jesus has gathered his disciples up on a mountain in Galilee after his Easter resurrection to give them instruction for after he has returned to heaven. They have had his model of ministry and his instruction for three years. Now it is time for them to go out on their own and make disciples, baptize in the name of the Trinity (no doubt why this is here on this Sunday), and teach. He then leaves them with the promise they won't be on their own after all. He will continue to be with them. And with us! So eleven or twelve men and perhaps a few women start out to bring the gospel to the world. And they really haven't done so badly, have they? This is one of the few places in the New Testament where the Trinitarian formula is used.
Preaching Possibilities
This is the only Sunday in the liturgical church year which is named after a doctrine. It is placed right after we have come through "Our Lord's half year" concentrating on the life of Jesus and at the beginning of the church's half year when we will focus on Jesus' miracles and teachings.
A. Some possibilities for a children's sermon for today and the Trinity would be using water, ice, and steam (made from dry ice and water) to show the three-in-one idea. You might also show three leaves from a sassafras tree which have three different shapes. Or you might show them a person who is a nurse, a parent, and a teacher, but still all the same person. Or a pastor, parent, and a spouse. Anyway, it seems the church mothers and fathers wanted us to use this Sunday to teach the doctrine of Trinity. So however we do it, the sermon ought to explain the three persons of God: Holy Parent, Son, and Spirit.
B. I think I will experiment with a different metaphor for this sermon. It borders on heresy (which is often the most exciting and creative). I think I will try using Holy Family in a new context:
1. God the father and creator;
2. God the Son who is the savior and advocate; and
3. God the mother who is the spirit presence with us here and now.
C. Of course all three readings also deserve to be treated by themselves:
1. Genesis -- the creation and our responsibilities to be good stewards of the creation
2. 2 Corinthians -- the presence of God's peace and love even when we disagree with each other
3. Matthew 28 -- the great commission which includes our task as followers of Jesus: make disciples, baptize, teach. And the promise is his presence with us while we do.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. A good outline for today's sermon would be the three questions asked of us at baptism and their answers which are the three articles of the Apostles' Creed. You can begin by standing at the baptismal font and calling attention to the fact there are three questions asked:
a. Do you believe in God, the father?
b. Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
c. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and the Christian church?
2. Tell them the answers are the Apostles' Creed which we stand and say as a statement of our Christian faith.
3. Now move to the pulpit and continue your sermon by saying it is Trinity Sunday and we can learn a lot about God and God's activity by looking further into this belief. The church foremothers and fathers were so sure of this that they named a Sunday (the only one after a doctrine) after this belief.
One way to approach the meaning of Trinity is to say it helps us to understand God in many ways:
a. As a creator who brought it all into being.
b. As a savior who went to the cross to work forgiveness.
c. As a spiritual presence here in the form of the Spirit.
4. In each of the three roles of God above you can do two things: have a person read the scripture for the day. And then have another person read the Catechism's answer to what the article of the Apostles' Creed means. Then, your further explanation of what that means for us in our life together in this congregation and community.
5. So if you follow the above, after the time at the font:
a. Explain the emphasis on Trinity Sunday.
b. Read the Old Testament passage of Genesis.
c. Read the meaning of the first article of the Apostles' Creed.
d. Explain that this means all is God's and we are to be stewards of this creation on loan to us for a while.
e. Read the New Testament passage from 2 Corinthians.
f. Read the meaning of the second article of the Apostles' Creed.
g. Explain this means we have God's love and peace to share with others.
h. Read the Gospel reading from Matthew.
i. Read the meaning of the third article of the Apostles' Creed.
j. Explain what this means. We have the equipment of God's spirit and we have a mission in the world to make other disciples, baptize and teach.
6. Now close it all by returning to the baptismal font and re-enacting the actual baptismal Trinitarian formula: "In the name of..."
Prayer Of The Day
Almighty and everlasting God, you come to us in many different ways. Empower us by your Holy Spirit; forgive us by the cross of your son Jesus, the Christ; and make us faithful stewards of your marvelous creation. In the name of God our Holy Parent, Jesus our precious Savior, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us. Amen.
Possible Stories
Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes: "There are more people on the earth alive right now than have ever lived and died here. If God would rewrite the Old Testament now, instead of 'be fruitful and multiply,' God would say: 'enough already!' " I believe Andy is correct and that family planning has become crucial to our Christian stewardship.
In a play I saw in Chicago the woman says, "Right now I have in me the power to create another human being. When I think about that I think of myself in a whole different way. I wonder if God felt that way when God created me?" The potential to create new life is awesome and calls for a special stewardship of life itself.
When taking camp counselors on canoeing and camping trips into the provincial forest of Canada, we learned of the law of the woods. Under a lean-to there would be some dry firewood ready for starting a fire. And we were to prepare the same for the next camper. It's a principle of Christian stewardship. We always carefully consider those who will come after us as we consume the resources we have now.
On January 13, 1982, according to Windsor and Usher of the Washington Park Police, "It was a balding man, perhaps in his mid-fifties, with a heavy mustache and gray sideburns." He was the sixth man and he refused the rope four times for other people to take it. Air Florida Flight Number 90 had just gone down in the Potomac River. When the helicopter went back for him, he had disappeared. M. L. Skutnick, 30, an office employee of the Congressional budget office, jumped in to save a woman who let go of the rope. We also have a Savior who rescued us and paid with his own life in doing so. To be one of the saved is quite a privilege.
A television commercial for John Hancock Insurance says: "We can help you here and now, not just here after." The Christian can claim the same about the Holy Spirit. Not just for eternity, but equipment to live our lives to the fullest.
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
Theme For The Day
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity. God as Holy Parent, Son and Savior, and the Spirit with us here and now.
A Suggestion: For the next thirteen Sundays, the First Lesson will be from the book of Genesis for those who use the Revised Common Lectionary. Now might be a good time to introduce these readings to the congregation by putting an outline in your worship bulletin.
1:1-2:4a -- Creation of the Universe and Adam and Eve
6:11-22ff -- The great flood and Noah
12:1-9 -- Call of Abraham
18:1-15 -- A son promised to Sarah and Abraham
21:8-21 -- The birth of Isaac
22:1-14 -- The command to sacrifice Isaac
24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 -- Isaac and Rebekah
25:19-34 -- Esau and Jacob's story
28:10-19a -- Jacob's dream at Bethel
29:15-28 -- Jacob marries Laban's daughters
32:22-31 -- Jacob wrestles at Peniel
37:1-4, 12-28 -- Joseph dreams of greatness
45:1-15 -- Joseph reveals himself to his brothers
Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 1:1--2:4a
The Creation
This is the first of two varying accounts of creation. The second one begins with 2:4b. The Hebrew word bara here is used only for God's work (see also Isaiah 40:26, 28, 45:18). To have an orderly universe is only possible by God's activity. For preaching the important thing in this account is not the mechanics of how God brought order of chaos, but rather the fact it was God who did it. "In the beginning when God created..." (Genesis 1:1).
Many of our brothers and sisters would want to demand we believe this account of creation literally word for word, as if in just these few days it all happened. With God-given brains, however, we have learned more about how God did these acts of creation over many years. We live in an age when scientists are able to learn more and more about how God works. Marvelous! The Bible is neither scientific nor unscientific; it is pre-scientific. What we have, then, is a hymn of faith that it was God who did it. Let's let the scientist discover how God was able to do such a marvelous thing. Verses 27 and 28 describe the belief of the writer that God created humans as a part of this process. The hymn of faith continues rising here to the best act of creation -- us humans. And notice we are given the gift of procreation (v. 28b). We may have interpreted this badly over the years thinking our main tasks were to populate the world with hordes of humanity and asphalt over the earth to "subdue it."
Verses 1:31--2:1 picture an almighty creator who could do all this and then feel the human characteristic (anthropomorphism) of getting tired and having the need to rest. We don't want to miss the point here that as God created, it came out as God intended. Not only good but "... it was very good" (v. 31).
We ought be careful using this resting of God for rationale that we should observe Sunday as a day of rest. It says it was the seventh day not the first day of the week. We better argue for Sunday observance claiming it the day of resurrection. It is a little Easter for us Christians.
New Testament Lesson
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Appeal And Blessing
This passage's selection for use on Trinity Sunday wouldn't make any sense except that in verse 13 is the Trinitarian formula: Jesus, God, and Holy Spirit are all there. Paul and the Corinthians had many difficulties not unlike many congregations and their pastors. But it all ends here with an appeal and a blessing. The appeal is to live in peace and the God of peace will be with them. Then the blessing: grace from Jesus, love for God, and the sharing in the Holy Spirit. That ought do it for the Corinth congregation and for ours as well. No matter the discord and strife in their lives, here they are left with God's peace and God's triple blessing.
The Gospel
Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
Now comes our commission for Trinity Sunday. Jesus has gathered his disciples up on a mountain in Galilee after his Easter resurrection to give them instruction for after he has returned to heaven. They have had his model of ministry and his instruction for three years. Now it is time for them to go out on their own and make disciples, baptize in the name of the Trinity (no doubt why this is here on this Sunday), and teach. He then leaves them with the promise they won't be on their own after all. He will continue to be with them. And with us! So eleven or twelve men and perhaps a few women start out to bring the gospel to the world. And they really haven't done so badly, have they? This is one of the few places in the New Testament where the Trinitarian formula is used.
Preaching Possibilities
This is the only Sunday in the liturgical church year which is named after a doctrine. It is placed right after we have come through "Our Lord's half year" concentrating on the life of Jesus and at the beginning of the church's half year when we will focus on Jesus' miracles and teachings.
A. Some possibilities for a children's sermon for today and the Trinity would be using water, ice, and steam (made from dry ice and water) to show the three-in-one idea. You might also show three leaves from a sassafras tree which have three different shapes. Or you might show them a person who is a nurse, a parent, and a teacher, but still all the same person. Or a pastor, parent, and a spouse. Anyway, it seems the church mothers and fathers wanted us to use this Sunday to teach the doctrine of Trinity. So however we do it, the sermon ought to explain the three persons of God: Holy Parent, Son, and Spirit.
B. I think I will experiment with a different metaphor for this sermon. It borders on heresy (which is often the most exciting and creative). I think I will try using Holy Family in a new context:
1. God the father and creator;
2. God the Son who is the savior and advocate; and
3. God the mother who is the spirit presence with us here and now.
C. Of course all three readings also deserve to be treated by themselves:
1. Genesis -- the creation and our responsibilities to be good stewards of the creation
2. 2 Corinthians -- the presence of God's peace and love even when we disagree with each other
3. Matthew 28 -- the great commission which includes our task as followers of Jesus: make disciples, baptize, teach. And the promise is his presence with us while we do.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. A good outline for today's sermon would be the three questions asked of us at baptism and their answers which are the three articles of the Apostles' Creed. You can begin by standing at the baptismal font and calling attention to the fact there are three questions asked:
a. Do you believe in God, the father?
b. Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
c. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and the Christian church?
2. Tell them the answers are the Apostles' Creed which we stand and say as a statement of our Christian faith.
3. Now move to the pulpit and continue your sermon by saying it is Trinity Sunday and we can learn a lot about God and God's activity by looking further into this belief. The church foremothers and fathers were so sure of this that they named a Sunday (the only one after a doctrine) after this belief.
One way to approach the meaning of Trinity is to say it helps us to understand God in many ways:
a. As a creator who brought it all into being.
b. As a savior who went to the cross to work forgiveness.
c. As a spiritual presence here in the form of the Spirit.
4. In each of the three roles of God above you can do two things: have a person read the scripture for the day. And then have another person read the Catechism's answer to what the article of the Apostles' Creed means. Then, your further explanation of what that means for us in our life together in this congregation and community.
5. So if you follow the above, after the time at the font:
a. Explain the emphasis on Trinity Sunday.
b. Read the Old Testament passage of Genesis.
c. Read the meaning of the first article of the Apostles' Creed.
d. Explain that this means all is God's and we are to be stewards of this creation on loan to us for a while.
e. Read the New Testament passage from 2 Corinthians.
f. Read the meaning of the second article of the Apostles' Creed.
g. Explain this means we have God's love and peace to share with others.
h. Read the Gospel reading from Matthew.
i. Read the meaning of the third article of the Apostles' Creed.
j. Explain what this means. We have the equipment of God's spirit and we have a mission in the world to make other disciples, baptize and teach.
6. Now close it all by returning to the baptismal font and re-enacting the actual baptismal Trinitarian formula: "In the name of..."
Prayer Of The Day
Almighty and everlasting God, you come to us in many different ways. Empower us by your Holy Spirit; forgive us by the cross of your son Jesus, the Christ; and make us faithful stewards of your marvelous creation. In the name of God our Holy Parent, Jesus our precious Savior, and the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us. Amen.
Possible Stories
Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes: "There are more people on the earth alive right now than have ever lived and died here. If God would rewrite the Old Testament now, instead of 'be fruitful and multiply,' God would say: 'enough already!' " I believe Andy is correct and that family planning has become crucial to our Christian stewardship.
In a play I saw in Chicago the woman says, "Right now I have in me the power to create another human being. When I think about that I think of myself in a whole different way. I wonder if God felt that way when God created me?" The potential to create new life is awesome and calls for a special stewardship of life itself.
When taking camp counselors on canoeing and camping trips into the provincial forest of Canada, we learned of the law of the woods. Under a lean-to there would be some dry firewood ready for starting a fire. And we were to prepare the same for the next camper. It's a principle of Christian stewardship. We always carefully consider those who will come after us as we consume the resources we have now.
On January 13, 1982, according to Windsor and Usher of the Washington Park Police, "It was a balding man, perhaps in his mid-fifties, with a heavy mustache and gray sideburns." He was the sixth man and he refused the rope four times for other people to take it. Air Florida Flight Number 90 had just gone down in the Potomac River. When the helicopter went back for him, he had disappeared. M. L. Skutnick, 30, an office employee of the Congressional budget office, jumped in to save a woman who let go of the rope. We also have a Savior who rescued us and paid with his own life in doing so. To be one of the saved is quite a privilege.
A television commercial for John Hancock Insurance says: "We can help you here and now, not just here after." The Christian can claim the same about the Holy Spirit. Not just for eternity, but equipment to live our lives to the fullest.
