LECTIONARY GENERATED LITURGY
Additional resources for Trinity
: Love from BELOW, John L Bell,Graham Maule,WildCALL TO WORSHIP
LEADER: Let us praise God the Creator,
PEOPLE: who is filled with glory and power - with holiness and splendour;
LEADER: Let us worship God the Saviour,
PEOPLE: who is filled with love and compassion - with justice and peace;
LEADER: Let us experience God the Spirit,
PEOPLE: who fills us with faith and joy - with love and eternal life.
TIS 101/AHB 5: "Come, you people, come adore him"
LOVE FROM BELOW 84: "God the Creator" Tune TIS 156/AHB 91 Bunessan.
TIS 454/AHB 382 "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness"
PRAYER OF APPROACH -
"The Voice of God" - Bruce Prewer's interpretation of Psalm 29 in "Australian Psalms" (page 39) or
LEADER: Awesome God, your creative power, your glory and holiness are beyond our imagining, yet, you chose to reveal yourself in the most vulnerable way - as a baby. In Jesus, you graciously showed us the human face of your love, stretching our imaginations once more over the lengths he was prepared go to demonstrate the depth of your love for us. And, as if that was not enough, you breathe new and everlasting life into our very beings, through the power of your Spirit.
PEOPLE: Triune God, Source of our lives, we worship and adore you . Amen
TIS 716/SA 35: "Father we adore you" Sing as a round
OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 6:1-8
Invite the reader to read the verses as dramatically as possible.
A WORD WITH THE CHILDREN/YOUNG PEOPLE
The Trinity is difficult for children/young people (and adults!) to grasp - I've suggested one idea below - there are probably more at the following site http://www.sermonillustrations.com/cs/
The dimensions of the temple were approx. 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high. This would have been a modest building compared to some large worship centres nowadays but when it was built it was considered a great architectural achievement. Invite everyone to imagine the picture of God painted in the words we heard from Isaiah. It was as though the whole temple was too small to contain the vision of God. Invite everyone to picture the scene as if it were taking place in your church. The hem of God's robe filled the whole space - just the hem! Angels with six wings filled the air and sang about the holiness of God. It is a picture almost beyond our understanding but it spells out the majesty and awesome splendour of God. If this was our only image of God, we might believe God to be too far removed from us to really care about us. But God's love for the world - for you and me - was so great that God decided that that love would be recognisable in a way we could all understand - and so God's love was born just as we are born - as a baby who grew up to adulthood. God's love took on human form in Jesus. And God's love did not die with Jesus, but was born in a new way - as Jesus' life and love within us as the Holy Spirit. So, while there is still one God, we experience God's love in many different ways - but perhaps in three very special ways: as awesome love; as tender love, and as personal love.. So, today, known as Trinity Sunday, emphasises again just how much we are loved by God.
TIS 106/AHB 14: "Now thank we all our God"
TIS 146/AHB 82: " God, who made the earth...cares about me"
AHB 119: "Like a father watching over me"
PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
LEADER: God, creator of all the wonders which make up this world...
PEOPLE: forgive us for treating our part of the world as a commodity to be
used rather than a gift to be cherished. Forgive our failure to care for and
protect this lovely land, its oceans, rivers and lakes, and the air that we
breathe each day.
(silent confession)
LEADER: God, bearer of our humanity in Jesus Christ...
PEOPLE: forgive us when we fail to live out Jesus' commandment to love
one another as he loves us. When we judge another person by the colour of
their skin, by their possessions or their achievements, rather than accepting
them as they are - as we all are - persons loved and accepted by you.
(silent confession)
LEADER: God, giver of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth...
PEOPLE: forgive us when we betray the truth of the gospel through our lack
of integrity and our abuse of ethical and moral principles .
(silent confession)
ALL: God, Creator, Redeemer, Life-giving Spirit, fill us anew with your
creative power that we may be reborn in your image, glorifying you in and
through who we are and what we do and say in Jesus' name. As Jesus'
disciples and in his name we pray. Amen
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
LEADER: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but
in order that the world might be saved through him." So, hear the good news: "Those who believe in him are not condemned." (John 3 :16 - 18 NRSV)
PEOPLE: Thanks be to God Amen!
EPISTLE: Romans 8:12-17
GOSPEL: John 3: 1-17
SERMON
TIS 118/AHB 38: "We give immortal praise"
TIS 160/AHB 104: "Father all-loving and ruling in majesty"
TIS 167/AHB 116: "How deep the riches of our God"
TIS 478/AHB 454: "I bind unto myself today"
SUGGESTIONS FOR PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION
Prayers from "Be our Freedom, Lord" - "The wind of the Spirit" on page 353 begins with a reference to Nicodemus and could be used as prayer of thanksgiving perhaps leaving out the final two lines and using the prayer "Come, Holy Spirit, renew the whole creation" on page 346 as prayer of intercession adding local concerns where appropriate.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
OFFERING
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
ALL: Holy God, today we have been remembering with gratitude the many
ways in which you touch and bless our lives. Your holiness inspires us to be
more holy; your love causes us to be more loving; your life in us brings to
birth dreams and visions for a better and more just world. We offer these gifts
and our lives in thankfulness for all you have done and are doing in our lives.
This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen
TIS 142/AHB 84 "Glory be to God the Father"
TIS 435: " We all believe in God who made..."
BENEDICTION:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
2 Corinthians 13:13 NRSV
THREEFOLD AMEN
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