Bulletin – Sunday, June 12, 2022 – Trinity Sunday
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Trinity Sunday
Approach
Lighting the Christ Candle
We light this candle today to remind ourselves that we are gathered in God’s presence to proclaim the wonders of God. This candle reminds us that we are beckoned by the Risen Son to respond to grace undeserved. This candle reminds us that we are united by the Spirit to follow Jesus on the way. Come, let us worship God this day as we feel God’s presence, are beckoned to come, and follow Jesus this day and every day. Amen.
(adapted from Stephen Fearing)
Call to Worship
One: Let us worship the Triune God.
All: Let us worship the One who spoke in the beginning and created something out of nothing.
One: Let us worship the Triune God.
All: Let us worship the One who took on the clothing of humanity to set those who were oppressed free.
One: Let us worship the Triune God.
All: Let us worship the One whose Spirit rests continually upon us, calling us from sorrow filled endings to bright new beginnings.
One: Let us worship the Triune God.
All: Let us worship in word and song, with our hearts, our minds, our whole selves.
(adapted from Rev. J. Lee Hill)
Hymn – “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty;
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and might,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and might,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Prayer of Approach and Confession
Out of our ordinary, everyday lives, you have gathered us here, Holy God, to this time of worship, to this time of praise. Open our eyes, our hearts and our minds to your presence with us.
Take the chaos of the world that has found its way into our hearts—speak your Word and give order and form and new creation. Take the failures and defeats, the guilt and the shame that bind our spirits—speak your Word and set us free. Take our longings for your goodness to shape our lives, this community, the hurting world—speak your Word and infuse us with your courage and your hope and your love. Then, awaken us to your Holy Spirit who is making all things new, even us.
This we ask in the name of Love Incarnate. Amen.
(adapted from Christine Jerrett)
Words of Assurance
(adapted from Christine Jerrett)
Response – “Jesus, Come to Our Hearts”
Jesus, come to our hearts like falling rain;
Come to refresh,
Come to renew,
Wash all our sins away
Spirit, come to our hearts like rushing wind;
Come with your fire,
Come with your life,
Blow all our doubts away.
Come, God, come to our hearts like shining sun;
Come to reveal,
Lighten your Word,
Drive all our gloom away.
Glory be to the Lamb that once was slain;
Praise for his life,
Praise for his death,
Praise that he lives again.
Praises be to our God, the three in one;
Praise for the sun,
Praise for the wind,
Praise for the falling rain.
Time for All ages
The Word
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
1 Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; 3 beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out: 4 To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.
22 The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. 23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth—26 when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil. 27 When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30 then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.
Scripture Reading: John 16:12-15
12 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 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. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!
Meditation – “The Call of Wisdom”
Anthem – “Come and Seek the Ways of Wisdom”
The Response
Prayers of the People
One: Christian Trinitarian theology may be the most unique aspect of our faith. We believe in God who is communal in nature. We believe in one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe in one God who is three as much as one. We believe in one God who is drawing all of creation unto God’s self, bringing community and unity through love.
One: In this time of racial injustice and unrest we pray that we might experience the grace and humbleness of God the Son. Help us to humble ourselves, even unto death, for the sake of our siblings. Lord, teach us to not strive for anything, but in all things humble ourselves, as you did through the incarnation and in your crucifixion. Give us your grace that we might always extend grace to others.
One: In this time of pandemic and calls for racial justice we pray that we might be like God our Divine Parent, Father and Mother, loving beyond our comprehension. Through this love you birthed the universe, the vastness of galaxies and the preciousness of infants. Father God, teach us to embrace our siblings with the love that only a parent knows. Mother God, give us your patience to never give up on one another or the causes of justice in our world.
One: In this time of fear and anxiety, Holy Spirit, commune with us. Equip us, strengthen us, convict us and encourage us toward becoming a more holy and complete church. We confess that we have pushed you aside, squelching your work within us because we are afraid of what a Spirit driven life will mean. We ask, Holy Spirit, that your power would be made known in your church and in your people. We pray that you would build the beloved community of God here in our mist. In this time of chaos and confusion, God who is three in one and one in three, we ask you to comfort us. Open our hearts to feel your presence be felt by those in this community and around the world who are struggling today as we lift up to you in prayer…
One: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, give your church and all your people, the community made known in the trinity. Help us love one another as we would have them love us back. Help us feed the hungry as we would want to be fed in our time of need. Help us comfort the mourning as only a loving parent can comfort. Help us heal the sick and lift up the broken-hearted, as you, the great physician of body and mind, would do.
One: Continue to hear us as we continue to pray in the words that we have been taught;
All: Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Hymn – “Spirit God, Be Our Breath”
Spirit God: be our breath, be our song.
Blow through us, bringing strength to move on.
Our world seems inward, defensive, withdrawn…
Spirit God, be our song.
Patient God: soothe our pride, calm our fear.
Comfort us.
When we know you are near we grown more certain, our vision is clear.
Patient God, calm our fear.
Loving God: be our voice, be our prayer.
Reaching out, joining hands as we share,
We seek your guidance through friendship and care.
Loving God, be our prayer.
Spirit God: be our breath, be our song.
Blow through us, bringing strength to move on.
Through change, through challenge, we’ll greet the new dawn.
Spirit God, be our song.
Benediction
So now we leave this space of worship and while so much of the road ahead is uncertain, the path constantly changing, we know some things that are as solid and sure as the ground beneath our feet, and the sky above our heads.
We know God is love. We know Christ’s light endures. We know the Holy Spirit is there, found in the space between all tings, closer to us than our next breath, binding us to each other, until we meet again, go in peace.
(written by Nora Vedress)
Response
May the grace of Christ attend us,
And the love of God surround us,
And the Holy Spirit keep us,
Now and ever, always.
Amen, amen, forever and ever,
Amen.
