Sunday, June 15, 2025

Sermon Notes

This week, we move beyond the Narrative Lectionary into the summer season. According to the liturgical calendar, the Sunday after Pentecost is ‘Trinity Sunday’ so that will be the theme. The Trinity is a theological concept created as a reflection on the biblical  witness through the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. For many it is a confusing concept. Ultimately, it is a way for us to make a little more sense of the divine mystery of the living God, or as Dr. Daniel Migliore puts it in his book, Faith Seeking Understanding,

The doctrine of the Trinity is the always-inadequate attempt to interpret the witness [in scripture] in the most suitable images and concepts available to the church in a particular era… It did not descend miraculously from heaven, nor was it written by God on tablets of stone. It is the product of the meditation and reflection of the church on the gospel message over many centuries. In other words, the starting point or root of trinitarian faith is the good news of the love of God in Christ that continues to work in the world by the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is the church’s effort to give coherent expression to this mystery of God’s free grace announced in the gospel and experienced in Christian faith.

The sermon will attempt to shed some light on this challenging concept, and hopefully make it a little more understandable and useful, if not less mysterious.

If you would like to do some more exploring (before or after the sermon), here are a few helpful resources:

Questions

What is your understanding of the idea of the Trinity?

Is it helpful to you?

How is the concept of God as ‘Father’ helpful or challenging for you?