Trinity Sunday
What follows is a worship service which, I pray, you can participate in at a time(s) that are convenient to you. This 'service' will take about forty five (45) minutes.
I pray that you will feel called to ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE in this service.
The text that is in regular typeface (that is what you are reading at the moment) is to be read quietly, while the text that is in bold face (like you are reading right now) is meant to be read aloud.
Opening Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we commence our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
A Call To Worship:
We meet in the name of God,
Creator of the universe,
source of true humanity,
mother and father of all. Amen.
An Assurance of Forgiveness:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
The Sentence For Today (let us say aloud):
O Lord our Governor, how exalted is Your Name in all the world!
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Our first reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Our second reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Gradual Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we raise out voices in praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
Listen to David speak to this gospel
or, if you prefer, you can read the sermon, below:
Sermon for Trinity Sunday, 15th June 2025
Welcome friends and peace be with you. MAY the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>
For many people today, the first Sunday after Pentecost, is “Trinity Sunday”. The celebration of the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and, behind me, is Andrei Rublev’s (1360-1430) famous icon of the Trinity. <PAUSE>
Our gospel reading today (John 16:12-15) records, “Jesus said to the disciples, ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now’”. <PAUSE>
What comes to mind when you think of the unbearable? What are your experiences of the unbearable? Most of us, I suspect, focus on circumstances of pain, loss, and suffering, circumstances that break our hearts, shatter our lives, and bring us to tears.
The death of a loved one, the end of a marriage, the loss of a job, a medical event or diagnosis, or in a thousand other ways. They are painful experiences. A moment when all we can do is either call God’s name or curse God’s name, and sometimes people do both.
That is place where “the unbearable” takes us. <PAUSE>
BUT … it’s not our only experience of the unbearable.
There is a completely different aspect of “the unbearable”.
Think about a time when love, joy, or beauty was so real, so deep, so full that you could not hold it all. It was more than you could bear and tears poured forth, your heart was enlarged, and all you could say was, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
You stood in awe and amazement of what was happening - perhaps as you first set eyes on a newborn child, or grandchild and silently wondered, “Who am I that God would be mindful of me, that God would seek me out?” (My paraphrase of Psalm 8:3)
When has THAT been your experience of the unbearable? In what ways have beauty, joy, or love been more than you could bear and moved you to tears?
This kind of “unbearable” reality is beyond our wildest dreams and imaginings. It’s more than the greatest, biggest, and best wish for ourselves. It leaves us in speechless gratitude.
This unbearable opens us to receive a life we could never create for or give ourselves. It shatters our fears, breaks through our defences, and brings us to tears. <PAUSE>
The unbearable in either aspect can open our hearts. It can make us vulnerable, real, and authentic. It creates space for and invites vulnerability and intimacy. <PAUSE> In a sense we need “the unbearable”. <PAUSE>
Here’s why I say that. The unbearable stops us sleep-walking through our days missing out on life, love, beauty, and the need to walk with each other. The unbearable can awaken us, offer insights into our life, teach us about ourselves, grow us up, and bring us more fully into ourselves … and …Ultimately, though, ‘the unbearable’ reveals the presence of God.
Those who stand in the midst of “bearing the unbearable” are given ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to love. <PAUSE>
I can’t help but wonder, what if God is never more present to us than when we bear the unbearable? Yes - the death of a loved one. The loss of a job. The breakup of a marriage. The loneliness that cripples. The diagnosis that turns life upside down. The unfathomable love. The beauty that leaves us speechless. The tears of joy.
What if those things that ask more of us than we can handle and offer us more than we could ever have imagined are the very places in which God is most present and most real? <PAUSE>
When I look at Andrei Rublev’s icon of the Trinity, I do see the three persons but there is also more. I seem to be being invited IN TO the empty place at the front of the table. To go to the communion cup and sit
The table of communion is not complete until I, UNTIL WE, take our place among the three.
You see, because of Christ, we don’t have to ‘bear the unbearable, alone! When we bear the unbearable WITH Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - the Holy Trinity becomes a kind of “Holy Quarternity”.
It’s not only about the three. Yes, there are the three but there is also a fourth. You and I become that fourth.
Do you see it? Look at the icon, think about the unbearable things of your life, and see YOUR invitation to and place at the table with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and be welcome, loved and supported.
If the Feast of the Holy Trinity today reminds us of anything at all it reminds us that we need never “bear the unbearable” alone.
Accept the invitation and take YOUR place at the table. Join with God The Father, God The Son, and God the Holy Spirit each and every day.
I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMINE>
Pause and Reflect
Just take a moment now to pause. Bow your head, close your eyes.
Allow these words of Holy Scripture and this interpretation of them today to speak to you.
An Affirmation of Our Faith
Let us affirm our faith by saying aloud, and together, "The Apostles Creed":
... and now let us pray for the Church, the World, and Ourselves, giving thanks for God's goodness.
Let us pray aloud, and together:
Let us pray to our God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Father God, all-powerful, whose Spirit helps us in our weakness and guides us to Your Son in our prayers, we pray for faith communities and for the world.
<longer silence for personal reflection>
One God, three Persons, be near to the people of the world formed in Your image, close to the world Your love brings to life.
We remember all who bear the responsibility of leadership, for heads of state, ambassadors and political advisers; let Your will for our world be accomplished through the decisions they make and give them a vision of peace and reconciliation for you lord can find a way when men and women are lost.
<short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
One God, three Persons, help us to be gentle, with others and with ourselves.
Give us, we pray, the calm that makes for consideration and the respect for others that makes us courteous. Take from us hard words and the cynical look.
Let us be to others as we would wish them to be to us when we fail, forgive us and when they fail, heal us.
<short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
One God, three Persons, comfort through your Holy Spirit all who are in sorrow or need, sickness or adversity.
Give the song of joy to all who are now on the road to recovery and recuperation and the song of thanks to all who helped them on that road.
We especially raise before You now all those who have asked for our prayers from around the world … those we know in New Zealand, in Singapore, in Argentina, in France, in Australia, in the US, in Canada, in Austria, in Ukraine, in China, in Germany, in the Czech Republic, and any others we now name aloud, or in the silence of our hearts, and those who are known only by You.
<short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
One God, three Persons, Your love reaches beyond the grave. At the end of our days on earth be with us and with those we love and with those whom we love and have gone before us.
We pray now for those who have recently died and those bereaved by their passing.
We pray for all the faithful departed, may they now rest in eternal peace as they most surely have risen in glory.
Our merciful Father, Your grace and goodness are ever-present in our lives. Today we mourn the sudden loss of our friend and brother, Brian Overton. As Bronwyn, family, and friends mourn the loss of a much loved husband, father and friend, we ask for You to send them comfort. Nourish their spirits with Your word and the peace found therein. Send them peace through the Prince of Peace.
Dry their tears and help them to find emotional fortitude in this trying time. Warm their hearts and soothe their aches. We ask you to grant them the knowledge that they are not alone.
We have witnessed Your grace and comfort in our own lives countless times, and we now graciously ask for that same power in the lives of our friends. Grant us Your comfort and strength in this trying time.
We give you thanks for a faithful life that was so well lived and for the memories we have.
Welcome Brian into Your ever-loving, eternal arms and grant him rest, spending eternity with You, gazing upon the face of The Risen Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
<Short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
One God, three persons, in a moment of silence we pray for ourselves, our families, friends, for all whom we love and for our personal ministries.
Make us worthy of the sacrifice and resurrection of Your Son.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
One God, three Persons, we ask You to lead us into the coming week, help us to believe that You are close by us, keep us from making mistakes and help us never to disappoint You.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Forth in the peace of Christ we go; Christ to the world with joy we bring; Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips, Christ in our hearts, the world’s true King.
Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Remembering that we are confident to pray this day, and every day, because Jesus Christ continues to teach us:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Let us conclude our prayers by praying together and aloud:
God of mercy,
you have given us grace to pray with one heart and one voice,
and have promised to hear the prayers
of two or three who agree in your name,
fulfil now, we pray,
the prayers and longings of your people
as may be best for us and for your kingdom.
Grant us in this world to know your truth,
and in the world to come to see your glory. Amen.
The Blessing
May The Risen Lord Christ turn His face towards each and every one of you.
May He cause His light to shine upon you, and
may He grant you His peace, and
The blessing of Almighty God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you and all of those whom you love,
on this day and forever more.
A Closing Hymn:
Let us conclude our worship today by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we unite in another hymn our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
The Dismissal
Go now, go out into the world
to love and serve The Lord.
Go in peace.
AMEN, we go in the name of Christ.
