June 4, 2023  Trinity Sunday 

Prelude
Entry of the Bible 

Lighting the Christ Candle

 

Welcome and Announcements 

• Thank you Rev. Ena for leading our worship on this Trinity Sunday.
• This month's Loonie Offering will be going to help out with the Salmon Arm high school apprenticeship program. You can get more information by checking out the "Recent Posts" to the right of the Welcome screen.

Called to Worship: 

Let us worship the eternal God, the Source of love and life, who creates us.
Let us worship Jesus Christ, the Risen One, who lives among us.
Let us worship the Spirit, the Holy Fire, who renews us.
To the one true God:  Father, Son, and Spirit, be praise in all times and all places. 

 

Hymn:  299  Holy, holy, holy

Prayer of Adoration 

Holy God; Father, Son, Spirit we praise you for always being present with us.  We are grateful that we are always enfolded in your love.  We thank you for coming to us in Jesus, healing and liberating and showing us who you truly are.  We thank you for coming to us in the Spirit, filling us with your love and power and the wisdom to use that power for loving the world.  May our worship today, help us to grow in love and wisdom.  Amen. 

Hear us now as we confess before you and ask your forgiveness 

 

Unison Prayer of Confession:
O holy God, we acknowledge to you, to ourselves, and to one another that we are not what you have called us to be.  We have not stood in faith, nor shared our hope.  We have not spoken of your love, that could have made a difference in people’s lives.  Have mercy on our repentance, forgive our sin and change our lives that we may live for Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.   Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon 

Our almighty God, is always present with us and claims our lives, sharing with us the gift of redemption and giving us the grace to live as his children in this world.  He fully honours us in the mercy of Jesus, and works powerfully through us by his Spirit.  Praise be to God, we are forgiven, loved, free, and called to be his most loved children. 

The Peace 

The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.Let us share a sign of peace.   

 

Hymn:  291 Thou whose almighty word 

Scripture Lessons:

Psalm 8 Page 848
2 Corinthians 13: 8-14  Page 1808
 

Sermon:  Always in the blessing 

The Ascension text a few weeks ago, showed us that as Jesus was blessing the people, he ascended.  Mid blessing.  Without finishing the blessing, he simply ascended. 

That is the powerful truth that we keep encountering in Scripture, the blessing is never finished.  Jesus ascended without finishing the blessing because he continues to provide the blessing in all that he does as he sits at God’s right hand.   

That blessing includes his partnership in prayer with us, but also includes the gift of the Holy Spirit, who fills us with power, wisdom and love, and reminds us of God’s great mercy and grace.   

That blessing from God:  Father, Son and Spirit, is what we celebrate today.  And like the blessing of Jesus, it is also never ending and always available. 

Because we are completely immersed in all that God does for us at all times, we are in contact with that blessing at all times.  This Sunday as we try to understand a God who is one and yet three, we see that this is the blessing of all the ways God reveals himself to us.  There is no clear statement regarding the Trinity in Scripture, but  we do have clues everywhere, and those clues paint a picture of a God who created us, died for us, and fills us with his Spirit; a blessing that stretches from Creation to Eternity.   

This past week that became clearer and clearer as I studied the truth from the Psalm.  The commentators kept mentioning that the only true interpretation of Scripture is Scripture—I  have long subscribed to that truth—as well as the truth Scripture is opened to us only by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. These two truths working together show us in today’s Psalm some of the clues that point to the fullness of who God is.  

The commentators pointed out that these clues begin in Genesis where God says, let us create humans in our image and the Spirit blows life into creation.  Whereas we are more capable of seeing the Triune God in the description of the creation; it is also clearly represented in the Psalm.   

The Psalm clearly represents that we, as God’s creation are immersed in his blessing.   

The Psalmist reflects upon the stars and ponders the greatness of God’s creation and realizes that he is very small in relationship to all that God has done.   

He asks the question, “When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?”  NIV 

And as small as we can feel in relationship to the Universe, the stars, and moons, the planets, the Heavens and the Earth, there is also that universal truth that is traced throughout Scripture.   

Humans have been created to be in the image of God. More than that. God has created us to be the caretakers of the earth and all that is in it; and best of all—God loves us, and crowns us with glory and honour. 

The commentator Hoezee points out that creation, responsibility, glory and honour is because God engages with us in a special relationship in which he connects with our hearts and our minds, sharing with us his Grace and Mercy; his Wisdom and Love.   

The proof of this?   

That God sees us and likes us, and crowns us with glory. 

Our sense of smallness in the face of this truth arises from the knowledge that we have not always lived up to being Grace and Love in the world.  We have failed to give Mercy.  God’s Wisdom often eludes us.  Our guilt and shame holds us back from accepting and grasping the truth that we are “little lower than the angels[e]
    and crowned …with glory and honor.”  NIV 

That means that in spite of our worse selves, God still sees us.   

God still likes us.   

God still loves us.   

God still crowns us with glory.   

That is the blessing that is always with us.   

We also read from 2 Corinthians today, where throughout the whole letter,  Paul reminds the people that he has already written concerning their lack of love and their failure to grow in the Spirit.  He reminds them that he is writing again so the matter can be settled and he won’t have to speak of it when he comes to visit. 

The commentator Bratt points out that it is important to note that Paul begins and ends this letter with a benediction.  Paul is not happy with the people.  They clearly have matters they need to attend to, yet, they are still in the blessing of God.   

Bratt writes, “Grace not only surrounds Paul’s letters, it also saturates them.”  When something is saturated, it is so full it can not hold anymore.    I recall what Jesus says to his disciples, in Luke:   Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.”  We can discern from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, who were clearly not living with the full measure they can give, that they were still GETTING the full measure of the blessing from God.  God is always merciful.  

We all know that God gives us this grace through Jesus, but we don’t always think of the role of the Holy Spirit in grace.  Bratt points out that the Holy Spirit gives grace, by pointing out to us that God always meets the people’s failures with an outpouring of grace.   

That is worth pondering.  God always meets the peoples failures with an outpouring of grace.  

 

And that is because as people we can be very hard on ourselves.  We call ourselves unworthy, the greatest of sinners, then, while we are busy beating ourselves up the guilt can cause us to turn away from the grace that God is offering.   

We are reminded that in spite of our worse selves, God still sees us. 

  God still likes us.   

God still loves us.   

God still crowns us with glory.   

From the letter to the Corinthians and all of Paul’s letters, we learn about that never ending grace. 

Where followers fail to grow—God is always gracious 

Where God’s children faith to listen—God is always gracious 

Where the church fails to be of one mind—God is always gracious 

Where Christians have failed to live in peace—God is always gracious. 

Pause a moment.   

Think about where you have failed in this past week alone.    

And what is God’s response to you?  Say it with me:  
God is always gracious! 

We are reminded that even though our sin is great—God’s grace is even greater.   

The commentator Work, points out that the Christ-like virtues we seek are the fruits of the Spirit and that therefore the loveliness of Gods’ grace is bestowed on us as his dearly beloved children.  

Bragg points out that the benediction included in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, even though it was a letter meant to scold them, is a sign of God’s grace for those who don’t deserve it. 

I remember being an evaluator at the trials for license of a candidate for ministry.  He led us in worship.  The sermon was thoughtful and spoke strongly about God’s love.  The prayers were filled with mercy.  The sermon and the prayers were confidently presented.   Then…the benediction, felt like he was trying to escape the duty to utter the words. 

I asked him about the difference in him at the benediction.  He told me that he didn’t feel worthy to give anybody that blessing.   

I simply reminded him that it wasn’t his blessing to give.  It is God’s blessing and that in his calling he merely stands in God’s place reminding everyone that God’s blessing is with them now and forever.  I then told him that the benediction would be the very first thing he will do after his ordination, and to think about whose blessing it is when he gives it. 

The simple truth is that none of us are worthy to receive the blessing, never mind give it.  Bratt writes in regards to the Corinthian letter, “The Spirit’s ongoing nature is a grace for those who don’t always want it.”   

That of course is the ultimate expression of grace.  None of us is worthy.  More importantly,  in our guillt and shame, we don’t want to receive grace…. And yet, it is given to us. 

None of us trusted Jesus for our salvation in our own power.  None of us adopted ourselves into Gods’ family.  None of us declared ourselves forgiven. 

It is all God’s doing in Jesus, through the power of the Spirit.   

The Psalmist asks, who are humans that God is mindful of them and loves them? 

Who are we?   

The creation of God, forgiven in Jesus and empowered by the Spirit to live in the blessing of Grace.  Even, maybe especially when we feel unworthy. 

Frederick Buechner writes:  “Grace is something you can never get, but only be given.  There is no way to earn it, or deserve it, or bring it about, any more that you can deserve the taste of strawberries and cream” 

That’s an evocative image, isn’t it.   

We don’t deserve the joy of the taste of strawberries and cream, or rich chocolate, or turkey with gravy—yet we can have them any time we want. 

Better than that… We don’t deserve grace and yet we have it all the time, every day, every hour, world without end. 

Buechner points out, “There is only one catch, like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you’ll reach out and take it.”  He adds, “Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”  

The gift of the blessing is ours.  Now and forevermore.  Amen 

 

Hymn:  298  Glory be to God the Father

Offering and Offertory
Doxology 830

Offertory Prayer 

O God you have endowed our lives with bountiful blessings. 

We praise you that we can return to you the blessing of our time, the fruits of our labours and our commitment.  May the gifts we bring bring about the enrichment of our community, and the ministry you have trusted to our hands.  Amen 

 

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer 

Gracious God, we thank you that in this time of worship you have filled us with the Holy Spirit.  Continue your work in us by opening our hearts to feel the things our hands cannot touch. 

Continue your work in us by opening our hearts to hear the still small voice that is only heard in silence and is missed by our listening ears. 

Teach us to be what you truly are:  love softly spoken, mercy flowing like a fountain, grace poured out with no measure, and joy to overflowing. 

Hear us now as we pray for your people and your world. 

Joy and Thanksgiving 

Your people 

Your hurting world 

Fires in NS, especially those in Hammonds plain that threaten Halifax and Lwr Sackville  evacuees/may the rain help 

Fires in AB and BC—grateful that the wet weather has helped somewhat 

Lead us all into lives of fullness.  Help us to live as your children with all that we are and have.  Let our tears and our laughter be the instruments of prayer through which we know your mercy to be present with us filling us with the love of Jesus, in whose name we pray, saying: 

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 our debts as we forgive your debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever.  Amen 

 

Hymn:  290 Immortal, Invisible, God only wise 

 

 

Charge and Benediction 

The power of God, which created the world is the power of love. 

The power of Jesus which rescues the world is the power of love. 

The power of the Spirit, which lives in us and changes the world is the power of love. 

Go, in the power of love from God, Jesus and the Spirit and bring to the world the blessing of that love.   Amen 

 

Sung Blessing

575 Lead me Lord

Lead me Lord, lead me in your righteousness
Make your way plain before my face
for it is you, and you, God only
who makes me to dwell in safety
Public Domain

3-Fold Amen