OPENING SENTENCE-
How excellent is your name in all the earth

HYMN

GREETING

Grace and peace to you from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

COLLECT FOR PURITY

Almighty God

to whom all hearts be open

all desires known

and from whom no secrets are hidden;

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

that we may perfectly love you

and worthily magnify your holy name

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.

Amen. Lord, have mercy.

CONFESSION

God is love and we are God’s children.

There is no room for fear in love.

We love because God loved us first.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.

God our Father, we confess to you

and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ

that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,

and in what we have failed to do.

We are truly sorry.

Forgive us our sins,

and deliver us from the power of evil,

for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

ABSOLUTION

May the God of love and power

forgive you and free you from your sins,

heal and strengthen you by his Spirit

and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.

GLORIA sung by Sue Turner

COLLECT

Almighty and Everlasting God,

you have given us grace in the profession of true faith

to recognise the glory of the eternal Trinity:

keep us steadfast in this faith

and bring us to see you in your perfect and eternal unity;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, world without end.

Amen

FIRST READING Psalm 8 read by Ron Beagrie

Divine Majesty and Human Dignity

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are humans that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honour.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

SECOND READING Romans 5:1-5 read by Annabelle Guthrie

Results of Justification

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

HYMN

GOSPEL READING JOHN 16:12-15 read by Rev Ann Wren

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John chapter 16 beginning at verse 12

Glory to Christ our Saviour.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has, is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

“A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.”

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel.

Praise to Christ our Lord.

SERMON

One of the things that has really taken off is the word puzzle called “Wordle.” It is produced daily by the New York Times and the idea is to work out the word in six attempts. Another puzzle, which is the same format is “Quordle” where you have to work out four words at a time and then there is “Sedecordle” which is much more challenging, as you have to work out sixteen words at a time. I must say that I love puzzles and I thoroughly enjoy these. Today though we look at a completely different puzzle that of the Trinity, how can God be three and yet one? I would say it is more of a mystery than a puzzle for our finite minds will never comprehend on this earth the infinite.

This mystery of God as one and yet distinct persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit has been explained in many different ways. Many of will know of the illustration of the shamrock with its three distinct leaves and yet one shamrock. Many would point to an egg and say it is one but three parts, shell, egg white and yoke or many would look at the concept of water, and how water is three things ice, liquid and steam. These examples may help us try to get our mind around the concept of three in one, but never fully satisfy us, for let’s be honest water is sometimes liquid, sometimes ice and sometimes steam but never all three at the same time, nor can they mutually indwell one another, so these examples might be helpful but fall short of defining fully the Trinity.

The Trinity, I don’t believe can be properly defined but we can grasp some truths about the Godhead. It would be true to say that not all Christian denominations believe in the Trinity for after all the word “Trinity” does not appear at any time in the Bible. Those who do not believe in the Trinity are Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, members of Unification Church, members of Oneness Pentecostals, Christdelphians to mention just a few. Are they right to reject the doctrine of the trinity which itself was first introduced by Tertullian at the end of the 2nd century but wasn’t widely accepted until the fourth and fifth centuries? The term “Trinity” comes from the Latin noun “trinitas” meaning “three are one.” The Trinity doctrine expresses the belief that God is one being made up of three distinct persons who exist in co-equal essence and co-eternal communion as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our Christian tradition and indeed most Christian traditions would embrace the concept of Trinity, for the notion of three in one is expressed throughout scripture.

The first mention of Trinity in Scripture is in Genesis chapter 1 when God says “Let us make man and woman in our image. The Hebrew word for God is plural “Elohim’. The singular is Eloah and what is fascinating is that this plural noun is followed by a singular verb, confirming a plural Godhead and yet a oneness. Notice too that it says “let us make man and woman in our image,” – that little word us is all important, implying plurality in the godhead and that all persons of the Godhead have the same image and nature. There seems to be no hierarchy in the Trinity but rather equality, and a mutual working together in love.

In Psalm 8 it talks of God making us humans a little lower than angels. Interesting the word for God here is also Elohim the plural of God, implying more than one person and throughout Scripture we are told of the three- fold nature of Elohim, as it frequently refers to them as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What we see in this Godhead is love mutually shared and yet each person of the Godhead is distinct with their own role. In the Godhead Christians refer to God as Father and as Creator of all things.

As Psalm 8 reminds us he is Father of the universe. Even when you look at creation itself there is a trinitarian aspect to it. We talk of space. Space underlies everything else. What is space – it consists of three directions; length; breadth and height. Another basic in the structure of the universe is matter, and matter has three aspects: energy, motion and phenomena. Time is another basic reality of our universe-it too is threefold- past, present and future. Space, matter and time are interlinked and there is a trinitarian quality about them.

In Psalm 8 God speaks of the greatness of man, whom he has made a little lower than angels and crowned with glory and honour. The trinitarian aspect about human beings is: firstly, they have a consciousness, a self -aware human ego. The second is that human beings are persons, they have thought processes that distinguish them from the animal world. It was Descartes who said” I think therefore I am”. Thirdly there is personality, that unique quality that makes us who we are. So, ego, person and personality are the trinitarian aspects of us as human beings.

What is key about human beings is that they are the pinnacle of God’s creation and what is most important is God loves us. He rejoiced that all he made, was good, very good. God as Father reaches out in love to us. Throughout the Old Testament God is continually reaching out to his people in love, pleading with them, encouraging them, constantly being there for them even when they have turned their backs on him. So, the Trinity is about God’s love as Father reaching out to us, it is about God’s love through the Son in us and about God’s love through the Holy Spirit working through us.

God, as Father reaching out to us in love, is best seen in his willingness to let his Son come to this earth and suffer death on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins and to bring about unity for us with himself. So, God’s love is most fully demonstrated in his reaching out to us in the sacrificial gift of his Son, Jesus our Saviour.

Jesus demonstrates the fullness of God’s love by his works of healing, teaching, training and primarily by his presence among people from all walks of life. Jesus’ love is an inclusive love, and no-one is excluded from his loving embrace. His love touched the hearts of the poor, the downtrodden, the outcast, the rich and the oppressed. His love is a forgiving and renewing love, and his love is self- effacing and sacrificial. His death for you and for me on the cross highlights his great and awesome love for us. This love Christ passes on to us through the Holy Spirit, as this love is shed abroad in her hearts by the Holy Spirit and it is this same love that dwells within us. This love of Christ is within us. I know of no other religion outside Christianity which comes anywhere near making such a claim or expressing such an experience.

Christ’s love and fullness dwells within and many Christians testify to this. John Wesley said “he felt his heart strangely warmed” by the love of God. In 1737, Edwards rode out into the woods for a time of prayer: “I had a view, that was for me extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God… and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love”. Dwight L. Moody said: One day in the city of New York – oh! What a day, I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it. It is almost too sacred an experience to name… I can only say, God revealed himself to me, and I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him to stay his hand.” The disciples on the road to Emmaus said “were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us.”

I have experienced this love and warmth too- I felt this love most powerfully at my ordination as deacon in St Andrews; one afternoon whilst I was working and playing with children with HIV in what was then known as Swaziland, I felt an unusual warmth of love; in Paris whilst on mission I felt my hands were burning and I was meant to help someone; latterly at an Alpha course here in St John’s at the Saturday away day at Speddoch, I felt a such an overwhelming love for the people present accompanied by an urgency to pray with them. Christ’s love fills us and burns within us through the work and ministry of God’s Holy Spirit, as it said in our epistle reading from Romans “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

So, God’s love reaches out to us, God’s love lives within us and finally in the trinitarian style God’s love flows through us. Just as God’s love reaches out to us and is in us, so that love can flow from us. In many ways the Holy Spirit acts as our Guide, leading us as our Gospel said into all the truth. As the Spirit guides, this love fills us and spills out from us.

Mother Teresa demonstrated God’s love flowing from her. She founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to the poor, particularly to those in India, that opened numerous centres serving the blind, the aged, and the disabled. Her love for others poured out of her as she set up soup kitchens, a leper colony, orphanages, and a home for the dying destitute.

She treated the lepers, educated the poorest of the poor, and fed the homeless, all whom she considered and cared for as family. Her daily prayer, explains the love that flowed from her and the power of her ministry. This was her daily prayer “Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus.”

Whilst I have chosen Mother Teresa, there are countless others I could have chosen, through whom God’s love flows freely. We are inspired by Mother Teresa and others to let God’s Spirit fill us with his love so that it might flow from us.

So, throughout Scripture the concept of the Trinity, of Father as creator, of Jesus as Saviour, and of the Holy Spirit as Guide is all apparent and we see God’s love reaching out to us in the Father, dwelling within us through Jesus and flowing from us through the Holy spirit. As we look more closely at our universe, we see trinitarian aspects in space, time and matter and in human beings. In the Trinity, we see a God who is with us always, who shows us perfect love, and who never abandons us.

For me the trinity speaks most powerfully of the effective and harmonious community of love between, Father, Son and Holy Spirt and it is this love that we are called to emulate in our own communities. Amen

NICENE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one substance with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven;

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father.

With the Father and the Son,

he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism

for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYERS

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

with awe and reverence we come to you.

We rejoice in your unity

and in your relationship of mutual love.

Unite your church together as one,

fill her with your Spirit,

that we might serve and work in harmony and love.

We lift to you the nations of the world,

asking that your rule of justice and peace might reign.

Guide all those in authority to act justly, with compassion for all.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God the Father,

we praise you for your sovereignty

and for the knowledge that you are in control.

We thank you that you are in the business

of restoring, renewing

and working all things for good

for those who love you.

We thank you that you are beyond us,

that you are transcendent

and that your ways are not our ways

and your thoughts not our thoughts.

We lift to you those who are stressed just now,

feeling that everything is spiralling out of control,

and ask that you will draw near to them

and give them your peace and calm.

Bring into their lives the right people

who can offer the support and help they need.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God the Father

you love us with an extravagant love,

caring enough to call us your children,

providing each day our every need,

and protecting us throughout our lives.

We pray for those in poverty,

those who lack life’s basic necessities,

the homeless and the unloved.

May we share your compassion for all your children

and reach out to them with love.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God the Son,

you graciously shared our humanity,

and experienced both our joys and sorrows.

In gentleness you reached out to all in need,

and brought your wholeness and love.

We pray for all your disciples,

that we may be faithful in service,

bold in proclaiming the Gospel

and gentle in helping others.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God the Son,

thank you that you walk

through our lives beside us.

We are grateful that we are never alone.

You are ever present to us

in times of need and trouble

and also in times of joy and delight.

Reach out to those today

who feel hurt, lonely and depressed.

Shed your light into their darkness

and fill them hope and strength in these days.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God the Spirit,

you are with us each and every day,

constantly by our side, working in us and through us,

teaching, guiding, encouraging, and leading us.

We marvel but do not comprehend

how you are within us,

in a sense built into us.

We draw courage, hope and strength

from the knowledge

that you are dwelling within us,

working in us and through us

with God’s love, joy and peace.

We pray for all who are facing important decisions,

those who are seeking employment,

those who are grappling with family problems

and those who are living with uncertainty.

Help them to know your guiding hand

and lead them in the right path.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God the Spirit of new life,

we thank you for the precious gift of children.

We praise you for their individuality and uniqueness,

for their sense of wonder and discovery,

and for their vitality and energy.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

we hold before you in prayer

those who are sick at this time at home or in hospital.

We remember to you

those awaiting results of tests,

and those recovering from surgery.

We think of those caring for loved ones at home or in hospital

and pray for their wisdom, patience and gentleness.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God you are love

as Father your love reaches out to us.

Jesus, as Saviour, your love dwells within us.

Holy Spirit as Guide, your love works in and through us

We thank you for the wonder and mystery

of a Triune God who is ever with us,

caring and loving us.

We lift to you with thanksgiving our loved ones

who are now in your nearer presence.

Grant that we may share with them

the joy of worshipping you for all eternity.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty

Hear us and help us.

God the Trinity,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

work in and through us

that we might reflect,

your love, unity and harmony.

Merciful Father

accept these our prayers

for the sake of your Son,

our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those

who sin against us.

Do not bring us to the time of trial

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

HYMN

BLESSING

God the Holy Trinity

make you strong in faith and love,

defend you on every side,

and guide you in truth and peace;

and the blessing of God almighty,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

be among you

and remain with you always. Amen

DISMISSAL

Go or stay in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ.