True and Beautiful

Verse of the Day: 1 John 4:7–8 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Kids Takeaway:

God is love: Good Morning! How is everyone doing this morning? I want to share with you something I bet you’ve heard before, “God loves you.” The Bible tells us that God loves us and we his love from the first page of Scripture to the last, but does anyone know why it is that God is loving? It is because God is one being in three persons. He is three in one. This is a really big idea, but over the rest of your lives as you follow Jesus you will find truth and beauty in this. In the words of Tedd and Margy Tripp, I want to give you big truths you will grow into not half-hearted explanations you will grow out of. God the Father loved God the Son in the love of God the Holy Spirit for all of eternity. If you are a little confused, that’s okay. We start with reality then we work to understand. Let me pray for you this morning…

Prayer

God we come to you this morning expectant that as you have revealed yourself throughout history and throughout the mundane of our daily lives you will do so again this morning. Father, we draw in, you desire to give out. We are empty and would be filled; you are full and flowing over. Would we taste and see that you are good. We pray according to your will Father, by the power of the spirit, in the name of Jesus, amen.

Introduction:

Illustration / example: The last time you met someone and were sharing and asking about some of the most essential aspects of who each of you are, what did you say? Did you share about your family of origin, your spouse, your job, your kids, your hobbies, the coffee mug you’ve got in your hand?

What then is the thing or things that are so essential to who you are that if they are removed you cease to be you. What first comes to mind? Would it be your family, your spouse, your job, your gender, your faith?

So then as we look to who God is we must rightly ask what is so essential to who he is that if we take it away then he ceases to be who he is. And what we find as the backdrop for the salvation history in the story of the Bible is that God is trinity. A word that may bewilder or confuse us. Yet, truly my heart’s desire this morning is that you find this true and beautiful reality of God exciting and attractive. I pray that it firms up your faith in the shadow of doubts, and you have greater confidence in the God we serve.

Primary Claim: Object / Complement (What and How)

God is love because he is triune. This makes his self giving in the gospel of Jesus Christ, good news.

Organizational Sentence: How the primary claim will be achieved in the main points.

We will consider the trinity from 3 angles, the context, the boundaries, and the persons that make up the Godhead. I hope that we are transformed by the God that we find that we are ever transformed to know and love him more.

Passage

Apostle’s Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, 

Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; 

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; 

Born of the Virgin Mary; 

Suffered under Pontius Pilate; 

Was crucified, dead and buried; 

He descended to the dead; 

The third day He rose again from the dead; 

He ascended into heaven; 

And sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; 

From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit; 

The Holy Christian Church, 

the Communion of Saints; 

The Forgiveness of sins; 

The Resurrection of the body; 

And the life everlasting. Amen.

Matthew 3:16–17 ESV

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Main Points:

The Context

What does trinity mean?

It means God that God is three in one; one being in three persons. We will work this out further this morning, but it is no less than this.

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

Our goal is to describe and wonder

We want to describe what God has revealed not explaining every aspect of who God is (Heb 1:1-3; contra the sin in Rom 1)

I hope by the end of this message your palette will be whetted and a spark ignited for appreciated and taking in the depth and infinite blessedness of God as trinity.

The Guard Rails of the Creeds and Church Fathers

Apostles Creed

The Apostles' Creed is one of the three ecumenical symbols of the Western church and is widely regarded as the most concise summary of the Christian faith1. Despite its name, it was not directly authored by the twelve apostles, but rather evolved from the Old Roman Creed used in ancient Roman baptismal rituals1. The creed's final form likely originated in sixth-century southern Gaul and became the Western church's sole baptismal creed1. It contains a summary of core Christian beliefs, including faith in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, as well as other fundamental doctrines2. The creed's roots trace back to apostolic times, embodying apostolic teaching and serving as an early "Rule of Faith" in the church3. Historically, it was associated with baptism, where individuals would confess their faith in the triune God, focusing on the Trinity and Christ's person and work45. Today, the Apostles' Creed remains an important confession of faith in Christian practice, often used in non-communion services and as part of daily prayers45. - Logos AI

Nicene Creed 325 AD

addressed the heresy of Arianism that did not believe in the full deity of the Son and the Spirit with “begotten not made”

left room open for modalism

The Nicene Creed is a significant statement of Christian faith, originally formulated at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and later expanded at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD12. This creed was developed to address specific heresies, particularly Arianism, which denied the full deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit12. The creed provides a more detailed affirmation of the divinity of Christ and the Holy Spirit than the Apostles' Creed23. It is recognized by both Eastern and Western churches, making it the only Christian creed with universal recognition2. The creed affirms belief in one God, the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ as the only-begotten Son of God, of one substance with the Father34. It also declares belief in the Holy Spirit as the Lord and Giver of Life35. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan version added explicit recognition of the full divinity of the Spirit5. A notable point of division between Eastern and Western churches arose over the inclusion of the phrase "and the Son" (filioque) regarding the procession of the Holy Spirit2. - Logos AI

Constantinople Council 381 AD

Athanasian Creed

We ought to be deeply concerned about who God is

God is the bedrock of reality and thus that he is trinity is not an addition but the very foundation of his character and all of life as his creation

It is who he is, not a fact about him

“What you perceive of the Trinity is the working out of what you understand the Gospel to be.” - JM

If God is trinity, then all that he does is trinitarian including salvation.

The trinity is the background for the Gospel (sanders); the trinity is the mould for the gospel (reeves)

Illustration: If we would vet new employees, our potential spouses, and buying a new car, perhaps we can take a second look at the God we worship and live by the word of his power.

God is love because he is triune. The Gospel of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension is an outpouring and God’s overflowing love, but it is not what makes him loving. Rather, it is an expression of who he has always been and always will be. - JM

(1 John 4:7–8 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” James 1:16–17 “16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”).

“The Father loves the son in the love of the Holy Spirit.” Sanders’ paraphrase

“The more deeply Trinitarian we become, the more Trinitarianly deep we become. We are who we are because of the triune God’s work for our salvation, and it is high time for us to grasp the truth more firmly, and bind to ourselves the strong name of the Trinity.” Sanders, p.19

That God is triune is not a theological hill to be conquered and marked with a trophy on our mantle. Rather, it is a truth beyond our finite understanding that leads us into the heights and depths of enjoying God our savior. As we delve in, may we taste and see that God is good (Ps. 34:8).

Transition: Our dealing with God as one being in three persons will not be perfect, but we may need to belly flop before we can swan dive. But at least we’ll be belly flopping together.

The Boundaries

Unity

the persons of the trinity are unified in substance

Is. 43:11; Deut 6:4; James 2:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16

Individuation

God is 3 persons

Matt 3:16-17, 26:39, 28:19; John 1:18; Heb 10:12; Gal 4:4-7; Rom 1:1-4

God the Father is not God the Son is not God the Holy Spirit, yet all are God

Divinity

all persons of the trinity are fully and equally God, of one substance

Father - Gen 15;

Son - Fully Man and Fully God Isa 43:11, 2 Peter 1:1; Titus 2:13; Jn 1:1, 14; 1 Jn 5:20; Col 1:16-17

Spirit - Jn 3:5-8; Isa 63:10; Acts 5:4, 7:51;

Pushing the boundaries (heresy)

Common Heresies

Modalism: God operates in distinct modes, i.e. sometimes the father, other times the son, and sometimes the Spirit

Arianism: The belief Son is a similar substance to the Father but is not self-same God and is the first creation

definitively rebutted by the Nicene Creed “begotten, not made”

Tritheism: 3 individual gods (rebutted by Is. 43:11; Deut 6:4; James 2:19)

When one of these analogies is leaned on as the all encompassing explanation to who God is, heresy finds a home.

Analogies Fall Short

It is a common tactic in teaching children to share that God is like certain things

Water’s 3 states: liquid, gas, ice (modalism)

3 leaf clover: All one entity, and each side is a part of the Godhead, but does not correctly handle the individuation of the persons

Eggs: shell, white, and yoke

“We give our children big truths they will grow into rather than light explanations they will grow out of.” Tedd and Margy Tripp

“Reality comes first, and understanding follows it.” Sanders, Deep Things… p. 33

The Trinity is who God is. He is love because he is trinity. He loves us because of the overflow of intratrinitarian love.

I pray that this morning God would give us a sense of awe and wonder for who he is

As we consider this truth may we find an overflowing cornucopia of God’s truth and beauty

Transition: Now that we have considered the boundaries we are to work within, let us move on to the persons of the Godhead.

3 Persons

The Father’s Love Overflows

1st person of the trinity

God as eternal Father

God is not firstly creator. He was Father for eternity past and will forever be so.

If there was as time that God did not have a son or that the son was not, it would mean that there is something deeper to God than this. (John 17:24 “24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” )

Who among the gods is like you?

in human religion God’s needs us to worship them, serve them, or fulfill some other ends

But the God of scripture is not so, he loves us because he loves us

“We must confess Father and Son before we can apprehend God as One and true.” Hilary of Poitiers

Father to the nation of Israel (Ex 4:22; Is 1:2, 63:16, 64:8; Jer 31:9, 3:19, 3:4; Hos 11:1; Deut 1:31, 8:5, 32:6; Ps 103:13, Mal 1:6; )

Matthew 3:16–17 “16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

For some of us the sense that God is Father is not a comfort, but a concern. It may be a danger, a potential for abused power or hurt from inaction when they were needed. This is fair and legitimate. Your experiences are real, but the image that every father is meant to attain to whatever they glory or failures is to be as God the Father. Their inability to keep this standard is not a stain on the Father, but a reality of why we need him above all others.

For those of us with outstanding loving fathers, God the Father outshines your dad. He is the source of reality and he is the source of all good things. Your dad is a finite reflection of the abounding and overflowing of the love of God the Father. This love is directed towards the Son.

God the Father has always loved the Son

John 17:24 “24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. .

Jn 17:26 “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.””

Intratrinitarian love

“God the Father loves God the Son in the love of God the Holy Spirit.” (Deep Things of God, Sanders, p. 69)

This overflowing love leads to creation and redemption

this love does not necessitate a creation with which to bestow its love upon. rather it is self sufficient for all times and in all ways. It is only in the overabundance of love like a fountain that led to the creation of the world and a desire to share this love with those creatures made in God’s image

illustration: we might consider the flood that kept us from meeting last week. Water is an incredible image of that which overflows, leave the faucet on too long, have too heavy of a rain perhaps the water will get in. Floods rarely tend to be a good thing

God’s love is by nature overflowing and effusive

Colossians 1:15–20 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Jn 1:1-18

“He is being itself, and as such must necessarily be infinitely happy in the glorious perfections of his nature from everlasting to everlasting; and as he did not create, so neither did he redeem because he needed us; but he loved us because he loved us.” Susanna Wesley (1738)

One of the things that I deeply believe is that true and genuine love is one that overflows and creates the substance of love that is meant to share that love with others. Consider that when you are married and children are born, from the love of two comes the substance of the third. Sometimes we call self-serving love loving, but as God gives us a picture, his love overflows to create humanity with which to bestow his love upon. His eternal love is effusive and self-giving.

Transition: This love is the love he gives to the son.

The Son’s Shares What is His (Salvation)

2nd person of the trinity, eternally proceeding from the Father

The Son in the Father’s Love

Matthew 3:16–17 “16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

So that they may know…

John 14:31 “31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”

John 15:9 “9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

John 17:23 “23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Luke 10:21 “21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

The Son Reveals the father Col 1:15; Heb 1:3; Jn 14:9; Jn 5:19;

John 1:18 “18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

The Son’s Obedience

Jesus’s very food is to do the will of God John 4:34 l

The son always does the will of the Father “not my will but yours…” Luke 22:42;

He came to do the will of the father John 6:38

Freely Given Sonship

Romans 8:14–17 “14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

Galatians 4:4–7 “4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

John 1:12 “12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”

1 John 3:1–3 “1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means he does not understand Christianity very well at all.” J.I. Packer Knowing God, p.224

God does give us love because he is compelled by some outside force and he does not give us grace freely because he is going to get his pound of flesh on the back end. He does not pay us according to the sins that are due us but takes it upon himself in the second person of the trinity. He freely offers offers sonship because of the obedience of the Son.

This is more than more than mere it is who we truly are in Christ through the Holy Spirit. We are Spirit anointed Sons of God.

Jesus as the 2nd person of the trinity is the only one who can be the perfect son that is needed to make humanity whole from the broken state we are in. As Sin ravages, God is full and overflowing, seeking to give us his son who love’s to share the love of his father by the spirit.

Transition: the love the father has for the son in the love of the holy spirit is given to us by the Spirit

The Spirit’s Life (Beautifies)

3rd person of the trinity, eternally proceeding from the father and the son

If God’s love were something that could be earned, we would not need Jesus or this trinitarian God, we would just try harder

Romans 3:11 “11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.”

Romans 3:23 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 6:23 “23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What the Son accomplishes through the power of the Spirit, the Spirit applies to believers

We cannot earn what Jesus accomplishes and we cannot apply it, for this reason we need the work of the spirit

Give believers new hearts

Ezekiel 36:26 “26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

John 3:3–8 “3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

through the power of the Word

1 Peter 1:23 “23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;”

James 1:18 “18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

Hebrews 4:12 “12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The spirit beautifies his new creation by making us in the likeness of Christ

Makes us like Christ

2 Corinthians 3:18 “18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Philippians 3:21 “21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

1 Corinthians 15:44–49;

And what does Christ do? He loves the father!

Teaches us

John 14:26 “26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

1 Corinthians 2:14 “14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

The fruit of Christlikeness

Galatians 5:22 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”

Matthew 22:36–40 “36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””

1 Corinthians 13:13 “13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Makes the Father’s love known in Christ

Romans 5:5 “5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

2 Corinthians 13:14 “14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16; John 20:21-22

Transition: We must then ask how we are to take this true and beautiful reality of God as trinity and appropriate it to our daily lives.

Application (give as specific examples as possible)

Be careful what you worship.

You become like what you worship. (Richard Sibbes, G.K. Beale, James K.A. Smith)

Whether you are at work or at play you are worshipping something. Consider what it is that you are worshipping in your life? Is it your status within the Kirksville community? Is it your job? Is it your spouse? Is it the success of your child? Is it your ability to be well liked? Is it the closeness of a relationship?

Anything can be worshipped as it that which is seated at the heart of our affections. What has a hold of your heart, your emotions, and your mind?

God is not so much after your behaviors as much as your longings and desire. Once he has your desires you will find that your actions will follow.

Worship God as Trinity.

This is the background to God’s character and the Gospel itself. If we would worship him rightly then we must worship as three in one.

We get to do as sons and daughters, not only as slaves of Christ, but heirs of God.

Look for the language of Father, Son, and Spirit in the text of Scripture. It is everywhere. Let that image of God reorient your worship of him because it is what makes him truly loving and as we worship the one who is truly love, we will become like him.

We must become as he is by the power of the Spirit in us

self-giving

relentlessly faithful

hating evil

loving good

expressing overflowing love to create more love

When we are made like God we will love the Father as the Son loves him and love the son as the Father loves him, both in the love of the Spirit. From this love our love will overflow from God’s love, not our own.

Mothers and Fathers: What environment does your home create? Is it a place of hostility seething and barely veiled rage? It is a place of ignoring? Is it a place where all others are a means or hindrance to success? Or is it a home overflowing with love? When others walk in your home what would they say? When you talk to your children in the halls of this church? What does it look like? Does it reflect the love of the trinity or does it reflecting a love that is drawing from our own reserves and not from his? I hope that whether your children are elementary or have children of their own that you will continue to consider how we foster love in the place we call home. Perhaps when you are irrated you bite your tongue and cry out to God. Perhaps if you are frustrated with your child your tap in your partner with fresh resolve to step in and help.

Children: honor your father and mother. This is included in the 10 commandments and repeated throughout the Bible as of first importance to those who would follow after God.

Conclusion:

Recap: Too often we believe that God is loving because he has acted lovingly to us. When we read things that seem to contradict our fallen and imperfect sense of love we turn to God and question this. Yes you may have saved me, we say, but you are allowing evil in the world.” We feel quite indignant and await like Job or Habakkuk a response from God’s lips given our complaint. But we essentially miss that God did not become loving when we he created or when he chose Israel, or when he sent his son to be born of a young 1st century Jewish girl, then to live as a traveling teacher, and to be crucified by his own people. Then as though he threw down the uno reverse card, with a sweet and tantalizing plot twist, God was just a little ahead of the curve and beat those arrogant and hypocritical Pharisees.

Perhaps, in some part, but God the Father has loved God the son in the love of God the Holy Spirit since eternity past. This overflowing led to the creation of the world, and is the background for a trinitarian God who is love and all that he does is loving. He has always been and always will be loving. When we substantiate God’s love on his actions, then we observe something that appears to contradict we question whether he is loving. Deeper than this, it is not based on his observable actions in the scriptures or in our lives, but it is his character and who he is in the deepest sense. He is one God in three persons and this makes him loving. With this lens we then go forth interpreting the milieu of daily life.

Illustration / example:

One of my favorite things in life has been to observe and watch the stars at night. It is dazzling to sit on a cloudless night and watch the expanse of God’s creation. The moon with its ever waning

“Poetry is sane because it floats easily in an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross the infinite sea, and so make it finite. The result is mental exhaustion…The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits.” Chesterton, Orthodoxy, pp. 31-32

We do not need to know everything, but we do need to turn our eyes upon the triune God and look full in his wonderful face which is God the Father revealed by God the Son made known by Spirit.

Closing Prayer

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

Amen.

(Excerpt from St. Patrick’s Breastplate)

Benediction

2 Corinthians 13:14 “14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Small Group Questions

How would you describe the trinity? Is it a mere fact about God or something more? Hint: It is who he is, nothing less.

Where in Scripture are some places that come to mind which display God is triune? Hint: (Matt. 3:16-17, 28:18-20; 2 Cor. 13:14)

What were the boundaries discussed for the doctrine of the trinity? Hint: 1) That each of the persons of the trinity is distinct thus it can be stated: “The Father is not the Son is not the Holy Spirit.” 2) Yet, all are God in unity 3) and divinity.

Why is the doctrine of the trinity integral to the Christian faith? Hint: It is who God is and as he has revealed himself.

What does God being triune tell us about who he is? Hint: He has been loving from eternity past. His love for the Son in the love of the Holy Spirit, before any created thing, is the background for creation and the Gospel.

What are some dangers of using analogies to explain the trinity? Hint: They reduce God to an aspect of observed creation and leave him little more than the object from which it is derived. They also tend to focus on one or two aspects of the triangle while leaving out the third. This results in a faulty and ultimately incorrect perspective of God as trinity.

Why is worship of our trinitarian God transformational for the Christian? Hint: We become like what we worship. As God is love so will we become loving. (1 Jn. 4:7-8; Gal. 5:22)