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Holy Trinity Sunday Worship Order for June 7, 2020

Introduction

Welcome to Worship!

Here is some Music for worship today from Reggie

Today is the Holy Trinity Sunday. It is a Sunday set apart to reflect upon and rest in the mystery of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the unity of the Persons of the Trinity we have a vision of love and communion. Today is also the day when the church has traditionally professed the third of our ecumenical creeds–the Athanatian Creed. This creed is name for Athanatius, an early church father who was the chief defender of the churches teaching on the Trinity against Arius. None of us will be able to fully understand the significance of the Trinity. But, I assure you this, our faith and the church would be completely and totally different if the truth of the Triune God was not one of the foundations upon which our faith is built. And so, Happy Holy Trinity Sunday. Welcome to Worship!

Gather with loved ones, in the same room or on the phone, and participate in worship. As you do, even if these words are on a big tv, a computer screen, or a tablet, remember this. This is worship. It is not something you watch. Worship is participatory in nature. Certainly it is different than if we were in the same room singing and praying together. But, I encourage you to engage your hearts, sing and say the words, give of your heart and mind to this time as we encounter the risen Lord Jesus together.

Order of Worship

A Prelude to center our hearts in the mystery of the Three in One and One in Three

We call on the Name of the Triune God. We gather in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

An Opening Song

Amazing Love

Earth and All Stars

The Kyrie

In Peace, Let us pray to the Lord

Lord, Have Mercy

For the Peace from above and for our salvation let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy

For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

Help, save, comfort and defend us, gracious Lord.

Amen.

Openning Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us grace to make the confession of a true faith. We acknowledge your glorious eternal Trinity, and we adore the unity of your majestic work. Defend us by this faith from all adversity and opposition to your way; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Amen.

The Word

Today’s Old Testament Lesson and Psalm both tell of the beauty and grandeur of Creation. The lessons are Genesis 1:1-2:4 and Psalm 8. I encourage you to read them today at some point. This video covers far more than just creation. It is a summary of the first 9 books of the Bible. Creation continues to tell the story of God’s endless pursuit of us.

Sharing Questions: What stood out in this short video? What did you hear differently than you may have remembered it previously?

Acts 2:14a; 22-36

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,
    for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
    my flesh also will dwell in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
    or let your Holy One see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
    you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Another Song for Worship

King of Kings

Holy, Holy, Holy

Today’s Gospel and Sermon

Some Discussion Questions:

Share the story of a time when you were falling in love.
When was a time that loving someone was hard–even though it was the right thing for you to do?
The Great Commission clearly makes Baptism a central part of our work. Share a baptism story or discuss what you think and feel as you watch a baptism at church.
What does it mean to realize that another way to translate the Great Commission is: While you are going, Make Disciples?
Define disciple.
What is something that you can do today, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to become a better disciple?

We Profess our Faith

As mentioned in the introduction, Holy Trinity Sunday is the day we profess our faith with the third of the ecumenical creeds. I invite you into the mystery of the Trinity with these words. And, although they may help you gain understanding, these words proclaim faith and the mystery of our God. As it is lengthy, it has been broken down into a responsive reading for you.

L: Whoever wants to be saved should above all cling to the catholic
faith.
C: Whoever does not guard it whole and inviolable will doubtless perish eternally.
L: Now this is the catholic faith: We worship one God in trinity, and
the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the
divine being.
C: For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit
is still another, but the deity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is
one, equal in glory and coeternal in majesty.
L: What the Father is, the Son is, and so is the Holy Spirit.
C: Uncreated is the Father; uncreated is the Son, uncreated is the Spirit.
L: The Father is infinite, the Son is infinite, the Holy Spirit is infinite;
C: Eternal is the Father, eternal is the Son, eternal is the Spirit;
L: And yet there are not three eternal beings, but one who is eternal, as
there are not three who are uncreated and unlimited beings, but one
who is uncreated and unlimited.
C: Almighty is the Father, almighty is the Son, almighty is the Spirit,
and yet there are not three almighty beings but one who is almighty.
L: Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and
yet there are not three Gods but one God.
C: Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord, and
yet there are not three Lords but one Lord.
L: As Christian truth compels us to acknowledge each distinct person
as God and Lord, so catholic religion forbids us to say that there are
three gods or three lords.
C: The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten;
L: The Son was neither made nor created, but was alone begotten by
the Father.
C: The Spirit was neither made nor created, but is proceeding from the
Father and the Son.
L: Thus there is one Father and not three fathers, one Son and not three
sons, one Holy Spirit and not three spirits.
C: And in this Trinity, no one is before or after, greater or less than the
other,
L: But all three persons are in themselves coeternal and coequal, and
so we must worship the Trinity in unity and the one God in three
persons.
C: Whoever wants to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.
L: It is necessary for eternal salvation that one also faithfully believe
that our Lord Jesus Christ became flesh,
C: For this is the true faith that we believe and confess: that our Lord
Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is both God and man:
L: He is God, begotten before all worlds from the being of the Father,
C: And he is man, born in the world from the being of his mother, existing fully as God and fully as man, with rational soul and a human
body,
L: Equal to the Father in divinity and subordinate to the Father in humanity.
C: Although he is God and man, he is not divided but is one Christ: He
is united because God has taken humanity into himself; he does not
transform deity into humanity.
L: He is completely one, in the unity of his person, without confusing
his natures.
C: For as the rational soul and body are one person, so the one Christ is
God and man.
L: He suffered for our salvation.
C: He descended into hell, and rose again from the dead.
L: He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
C: He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
L: At his coming, all people shall rise bodily to give an account of their
own deeds.
C: Those who have done good will enter eternal life, and those who
have done evil will enter eternal fire.
L: This is the catholic faith.
C: One cannot be saved without believing this firmly and faithfully.

Prayer

I invite you into a time of prayer. Together as a family. Together in silence. Together–although gathered apart.

For these things we pray:

Praise and adoration of the Holy Trinity
Awe and wonder at the gift of Jesus for our sake
For forgiveness and reconciliation for our brokenness
For the outcries across our nation, that justice, peace, and hope might be manifested among us.
For our community that we would find common and fair ground and that all voices might be heard.
For the health of our nation and the world and a speedy resolution to Covid19.
For the cares and concerns of our own hearts and our community of faith that is Prince of Peace.

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Pray together the Lord’s Prayer

Every Wednesday night in the Youth Zone, as the youth gather to pray at the end of the time, our dear brother Jeffery leads the youth and leaders in the Lord’s Prayer. We miss many things about not being together. Thanks to this video, we can have a taste of the faithfulness of Jeffery as he leads us in the Lord’s Prayer.