Trinity Sunday

31/05/2026

SENTENCE FROM SCRIPTURE:

O Lord our Governor, how excellent is your Name in all the world. (Psalm 8)

HYMN

GREETING

Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

COLLECT FOR PURITY

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.

SILENCE

God our Father,
we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

ABSOLUTION

God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.

GLORIA
sung by Dougie Byers

COLLECT

Almighty and Everlasting God,
you have given us grace
in the profession of true faith
to recognise the glory of the eternal Trinity:
keep us steadfast in this faith
and bring us to see you in your perfect and eternal unity;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen

PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD

FIRST READING:
Genesis 1.1 – 2.4a
read by David Kerr

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

3 Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6 And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ 7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9 And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14 And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.’ 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24 And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so.

25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ 29 God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.

3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

SECOND READING
2 Corinthians 13.11–13
read by Zara Ross

11 Brothers and sisters, put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. 13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

GRADUAL HYMN

GOSPEL
Matthew 28.16–20
read by the Rev Chris Wren

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew, Chapter 28, beginning at verse 16

Glory to Christ our Saviour

16 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.

SERMON

Online Reflection

Today is Trinity Sunday and, on this day in our worship, we celebrate, affirm and renew our experience of the living God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We speak of the ‘Doctrine of the Trinity’, although the Bible never uses such a phrase nor presents us with any doctrinal statement. All that came later in the story of the development and growth of the Christian Church. And the use of that phrase ‘Doctrine of the Trinity’ has, over the years and to this day, presented us with some difficulties. People ask: “Do you Christians have three Gods, then?” And we try to find illustrations, images and pictures to make sense of the doctrine.

So, we speak of water, experienced as liquid, ice and steam; always water, yet experienced in different ways. Perhaps more helpfully, we speak of the relationships with which people will be familiar; we say: ‘I am father to my children, son to my mother, husband to my wife. I am still me, but I relate differently to my children, my mother, my wife; and they relate differently to me.’

It seems to me that, if our focus is trying to understand the doctrine, then we miss the point. We have to start with God and our experience of God. The great gift of Judaism to our understanding of God is that there is but One God. And their first experience, the first story they tell of their experience of the One God, is the story of the Exodus – their experience of the God who saves, who sets them free from slavery. There is but One God, so He is not only a God who saves, but a God who creates, who has created all that is, who sits at the heart of all that is. And so, in time, long after the experience of Exodus, stories of creation are told, one of which we have read this morning. And, over time, more stories are told, prophecies are heard, poetry is written, telling of God’s relationship with our humanity, with our world, and of our relationship with Him.

For us, as Christians, just like those who lived through the experience of the Exodus, our experience of God is of a God who acts to save; of a God who loves each and all so much that He is come to us in the gift of Himself, in Jesus. We look on Jesus and see in Him all of the nature of God that could be contained within our human form. We look on Jesus and see in Him what God is like. Read John 14 vv 8 & 9 – the question of Philip to Jesus: “Lord, show us the Father …”

to which Jesus replies: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Here is the Son. And in God’s gift of Jesus, living, dying and rising, is God’s new saving act. Our humanity, our world, falls short of being the world that God desires us to be – that we can be. And we are challenged to open ourselves, to take into ourselves, to experience for ourselves the reality of God’s love for each of us which brings hope, meaning, purpose and value to our lives. And that continuing work of God – God at work in people’s lives and in the life of the world, is, I believe, the activity of the Holy Spirit.

Then, having taken into ourselves the experience of God’s saving love, we are commissioned (our Gospel reading from Matthew Ch 28) to go out into the world, offering hope to people. And we go with the assurance that we will never be alone – we journey on with Christ. We journey on with the One God of love, whom we have experienced as Father, Son and Spirit.

So, on this Trinity Sunday, may we concern ourselves less with trying to understand what the doctrine might be saying to us and more with opening ourselves to the truth of God’s love for us in Jesus, His Son, by the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Amen.

THE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYERS

Loving God, we come before you in wonder—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God in perfect community. You are the Creator, giving us the world to enjoy; the Saviour, made flesh to set us free; and the Spirit, dwelling within us to guide our steps. We praise you for your unending love and eternal majesty. In faith we bring our prayers to you; for the Church, for the world and for those whom we love, rejoicing in the certain knowledge that you will hear and answer our prayers.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Loving God, we come to worship you, like thousands of others across the world. But we know there are many people, in many places, who do not have the same privilege. We ask for your protection on those who are in real danger of persecution or imprisonment simply by declaring your name and have to worship in secrecy and fear. Fill them with hope and dignity as they faithfully serve you and may we stand alongside them as they suffer in your most holy name.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Loving God, we thank you for the beauty we see around us; the sunshine and the rain, the sounds that delight us, the taste of good food and the joy of time spent with friends and family. We pray for the men, women and children throughout the world who lack what we have in abundance.
For people who have no peace or security in their lives.
For families who have no home and who lack clean water, fresh food and adequate medical care.
For refugees living in temporary shelters who hoped to find new lives but instead feel unwelcome, unwanted and forgotten.
For volunteer medical staff who risk their lives to save and treat victims of war.
For all who work to bring peace and reconciliation into places of violent conflict.
Bring the leaders of nations to a common purpose and a desire for peace. Give them wisdom to avoid conflict while there is yet time, that all people may live in security and without fear of war.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Loving God, we thank you for your blessings on all doctors and nurses whose knowledge, skill and compassion do so much to alleviate the pain and distress of illness. We pray for all who are suffering today in body, mind or spirit. Give them courage, hope and peace, and the knowledge that you are present in their weakness, pain and suffering. We pray for all who feel helpless and oppressed, for those weighed down with addiction or mental illness. Set them free and bring to them healing and hope so that they may live life in all its fullness.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Loving God, we thank you for your gift to us of eternal life. We thank you for the lives of those who have gone before us into the fullness of your presence. We pray for those who feel the pain of grief at the loss of a loved one, whether recently or as each anniversary passes. Help us to support those who mourn both with our prayers, with words of comfort and with practical help, both this day and in the days and weeks to come. May they each feel the comfort of your loving arms around them.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Loving God, we praise you for all you have done in the past; we look forward with thankfulness for all you will do in the future, and we thank you for today and all your blessings we experience.

Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together

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.
Do not bring us
to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.

BLESSING

Christ the Son of God gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

HYMN –

DISMISSAL

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ. Amen