Holy Trinity (4)

WELCOME

CALL TO WORSHIP

God calls us in this moment.

Jesus welcomes us to this moment.

The Spirit unites us in this moment.

Come and worship!

HYMN

HERE I AM TO WORSHIP STF 175

PRAYER OF PRAISE

It is good to share.

Let us share now in praising the majestic name

of the Lord God and delight in his glory. Amen.

Father God, you are full of joy and love.

You delight in the world you created.

What love you have for us, all created in your image.

We love you and adore you.

What delight you have in the Son,

who is all that you are and who you sent in love

in order that we may be in relationship with you.

We adore you and glorify your name.

What joy and pleasure you had in sending your Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth and make you known to us.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we give you all glory. Amen.

A prayer of confession

Lord God, we come to you now to say sorry for all the times we’ve been less than truthful in our relationships, including the one with you. As a consequence, we often miss out on your joy…Lord:

please forgive us.

Lord God, we’re sorry for ignoring or being dismissive of others. And of you: for not always wanting to hear or acknowledge your truth…Lord:

please forgive us.

Lord God, we’re sorry for the days we spend remembering and living in past experiences rather than living now with you. Help us to focus on our relationship with you now. We need to be forward thinking but not to the point of missing out on your unfolding truth today…Lord:

please forgive us. Amen.

Assurance of forgiveness

Because of our faith in Jesus Christ,

who died that we may live,

we stand in God’s grace.

Absolved from guilt we stand forgiven,

rejoicing in the hope and glory of God. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Or Father:

HYMN

O JESUS I HAVE PROMISED STF 563

OFFERING

READINGS

John 16: 12-15

John 16:12–15 ESV

“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 authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

HYMN

COME NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP STF 24

SERMON

Some of us can feel hungry when we are in church can’t we, so today I have brought along some food with me.

• Inside these 5 bowls are 5 different things to eat.

• Who is hungry and would like to come and try some? (Receive your child volunteer)

If I took the tinfoil off the bowls, you would be able to see what is there to eat.

• You would be able to pick and choose what is good for you,

• but I am not going to let you do that.

Today you are going to have to pick a bowl and eat what is inside it whilst blindfolded.

• so, let’s put a blindfold around your eyes. (Blindfold child)

Now that you are blindfolded, I need to tell you that in some of these bowls are foods that

are good for you to eat.

• In other bowls there are things that are definitely not good for you to eat.

• In one bowl there is something that is positively dangerous for you to eat.

Which bowl are you going to pick to eat from?

• Will it be bowl 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6? (Child hesitates)

• It’s hard to choose isn’t it because you don’t know which bowl has the good food and

which bowl has the bad food?

What if I said that you could choose someone to help you?

• Someone who can see what is inside the bowls and who will tell you the truth about which bowls are safe and which bowls aren’t.

• Who do you trust most in the world to help you? (Child volunteer says, “My mum/dad” and

you invite them to come and join you.)

So, while Olivia (name of child volunteer) is blindfolded, I am going to uncover the bowls so that we can see what is inside them. (Take the tinfoil off all of the bowls)

• In one of the bowls there is some delicious chocolate.

• In another there are some tasty worms.

• In another there is some crunchy nails and screws.

• In another there is some healthy fruit.

• In another there is some smelly cat food.

· In another there are some sweets

OK Olivia, as you are blindfolded would you like some help in deciding?

Now you’ve already said you trust your mum to help you?

ask your mum to tell you which number bowl of food has something good for you to eat in it. (Child asks parent and the parent tells them the number)

• Do you trust your mum to tell you the truth? (Child responds positively)

• Knowing that there are meal worms in one bowl and cat food in another.

do you really trust mum to tell you the truth or might they trick you? (Child responds positively)

Let’s give you some of what is in the bowl that your mum/dad said was good to eat. (Give

child piece of fruit or piece of chocolate to eat and child eats it)

• Was that good? (Child responds)

You were right to trust your mum/dad because they guided you well.

• They guided you in the truth of what was safe and good to eat, and helped you avoid

eating something that was bad for you or dangerous.

• Let’s take off the blindfold now so that you can see what they helped you avoid

eating. (Remove blindfold from child and let them see what is in the other bowls)

• Thank you…..do go and sit down.

Having someone we can trust to guide us when we don’t know what to do is a precious thing isn’t it?

• On our own it can sometimes be really hard to know what is right and what is wrong.

• We need someone to help us, someone who will speak the truth to us.

Jesus told His first disciples that after He had left them, He would send them someone to

help them.

• to guide them and teach them so that they could walk in the ways of God.

• He told them that He would send them the Spirit of Truth. (John 16:3)

And that promise of Jesus came about on the day of Pentecost, which we celebrated last week.

• That was the day when the Spirit of truth was given to the first disciples.

• He came to live inside them, guiding them and teaching them day by day,

• speaking truth to them so that they could make good choices and live lives that would bring glory to Jesus.

It is the same today.

Today we celebrate the trinity who can tell me what we mean by this?

It’s easy to say but very hard to explain, isn’t it?

We have God the Father of all creation.

We have Jesus who was divine but human.

We have God the Spirit.

So, how can we understand this in a simple way?

If you think back to last week as the Churches celebrated the arrival of the Holy Spirit onto the disciples.

Acts 2:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

Notice that the house was firstly filled with the spirit, before the Spirit entered them?

We does that mean to us today?

• The Spirit of truth is still being given to live inside followers of Jesus.

• He is the One who will guide and teach us day by day,

• speaking truth to us so that we can make good choices and live lives that bring glory to Jesus.

Now the Spirit of Truth isn’t any old spirit.

• The Spirit of Truth is the Holy Spirit…He is God.

• When He speaks to us, He speaks Jesus’ words of truth to us. He speaks our Heavenly Father’s words of truth to us.

So be encouraged today.

• As a follower of Jesus, you are not on your own like Olivia was, trying to work out what to

do before their mum/dad came to help them.

• You have been given the Spirit of truth, God Himself to live inside you.

• He will guide you day by day if you let Him.

• The key thing is, are you letting Him guide you?

• Are you listening to the still small voice inside you?

HYMN

BE STILL FOR THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD STF20

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

A prayer of praise and thanksgiving

Father God, thank you for being in our lives, enjoying the little things with us as well as the bigger events.

Thank you for sharing yourself with us when you sent Jesus. How can we ever thank you enough?

What a gift!

On his return to you, Jesus entered into the joy of your presence. But thank you that he also left joy behind in the form of your Holy Spirit, who remains with us. How can we ever thank you enough?

What a gift!

You take pleasure in us. Our joy is your joy. Your joy is ours. Thank you for all you give us. You impart wisdom, peace and unfolding truth through your Spirit. And you use our life experiences to help and speak to others. Thank you that, whatever point we’re at in life, you are there to meet our needs of the moment, pouring out your gift of love to us. How can we ever thank you enough?

What a gift! Amen.

Prayers of intercession

Holy Trinity,

we bring to you in our prayers those

whose relationships are breaking down;

and we pray for your healing.

We think of relationships that have gone wrong

and have caused division and bitterness;

and we pray for your healing.

We think of relationships between nations

where there is tension and mistrust;

and we pray for your healing.

We think of our relationships

where we feel inadequate or helpless or used;

and we pray for your healing.

And we thank you for your relationship with your world,

and with your Church, and with each one of us.

Amen.

HYMN

SPIRIT OF GOD UNSEEN AS THE WIND STF 394

BLESSING

A sending out prayer

Be in our homes that we may know your peace.

Be in our hearts that we know your love.

Be in our lives that we may take the challenges you present, day by day.

Amen.

May the grace:

END