{"id":3335,"date":"2020-06-05T17:27:13","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T07:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3335"},"modified":"2020-06-05T17:36:47","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T07:36:47","slug":"sunday-sermon-07-06-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3335","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Sermon 07-06-2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Trinity Sunday June 7<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020 Leighmoor UC.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Possible Hymns:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 100: \u2018All creatures of our God and King<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 132: \u2018Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 478: \u2018I bind unto myself today\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 447: \u2018Lord, your almighty word\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Prayers of Adoration and Confession<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Most blessed, most holy God,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>before the brightness of your presence<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>the angels and archangels veil their faces.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We worship you,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>eternal Trinity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You are God, the Creator, God beyond us, we adore you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You have created all that has come into being.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You are the depth of all that is.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When we gaze into the universe-we marvel at your handiwork.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You are God the Son, God beside us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In you we see divine love and human greatness combined.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You mirror what human life should be\u2026what love can be.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>God the Spirit, God around us, we adore you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You draw us to the Creator, and to Christ.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You are the power within us,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>making us the people you want us to be.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Father, Son and Holy Spirit,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>we adore you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We thank you for all your gifts, great and small.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>For the gift of your nearness to us in the things that happen in our lives-and for the gift of your distance from us, in the mystery and wonder of life.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When we are tired, worn down, when our commitment has grown cold, you come and warm our hearts.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When our faith seems dry and dead, you breathe upon us and give us life.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Yet we come before you, seeking forgiveness.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We have not loved you with our whole heart,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>we have not loved our neighbour as ourselves.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Forgive us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We like things tidy and explainable,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>but you defy our understanding.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We are tempted to live closed to the spiritual world, but you touch us with dreams and visions.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When we lose faith in the goodness of creation, in the father-like love of our Creator: forgive us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When we lose faith in Jesus as the true reflection of your suffering, conquering, redeeming love: forgive us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When we lose faith in your Spirit\u2019s presence among us: forgive us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>God is love.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Through Christ our sins are forgiven<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>(<i>thanks be to God<\/i>).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Take hold of this forgiveness, and live your life in the power of the Spirit.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><i>Amen<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Bible Readings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Genesis 1: 1-2:4a<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Psalm 8<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>2 Corinthians 13: 11-13<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Matthew 28: 16-20<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Sermon: Keep your distance!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Today is Trinity Sunday<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-the first Sunday after Pentecost, when we celebrated the third person of the Trinity-the Holy Spirit.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Trinity Sunday is a transitional Sunday:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-we move out of the 50 days of the Easter Season, out of Pentecost, into the ordinary time of the Church year.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-no great feasts or celebrations, with the exception of next Saturday, which is the anniversary of the forming of the Uniting Church,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>until November 1<sup>st<\/sup>-All Saints Day.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Trinity Sunday.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The English preacher, Colin Morris, said that any preacher with good sense would call in sick on Trinity Sunday.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Last year, in my previous parish, a retired minister came up to me and thanked me for preaching-saying he had to do it most years!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>I can understand that sentiment.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-trying to get across the concept of the Trinity, the central Christian doctrine-that the One God exists in Three Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and one substance.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The notion of one God who is three persons is mystery<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Yet-it is not altogether beyond us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-we can grasp something of what \u2018Trinity\u2019 means.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In its barest outline, the doctrine contains 4 truths:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In the one divine nature, there are 3 Persons, the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Each is wholly himself<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>They are not three Gods, but one God.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>One substance, or nature. 3 in 1.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>If we asked \u2018Who are you?\u2019 each of the three would give His own answer-Father, Son or Holy Spirit.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>BUT if we asked \u2018What are you? \u2019each would answer God. Each contains the same divine nature or substance.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>1 in 3<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>3 in 1.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>If the idea of God as both 3 and 1 is confusing, Frederick Buechner suggests the following:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-look in a mirror<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>There is<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The interior life-known only to yourself and those you choose to communicate it to (the Father)<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The visible face which is some way reflects your inner life (the Son)<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The invisible power that you have in order to communicate that interior life in such a way that others do not merely know about it, but know it in the sense of its becoming part of who they are (Holy Spirit).<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Yet what you are looking at in the mirror is clearly, and unable to be divided-the one and only YOU.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Father, Son and Holy Spirit- may seem a mystery of mathematics (and most mathematics is a mystery to me!)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-we may try to explain it or understand it by looking at water<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-as water droplets, ice and steam-3 in 1-all water, but in 3 ways<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Or be like St Patrick, who used a shamrock to illustrate the 3 persons (the 3 leaves)- as being part of the whole. (the substance, or nature)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>BUT, in the end,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Trinity is about distance and closeness<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Distance, and closeness.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Trinity is the result of a debate about who God really is.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Knowing we will never know-but wrestling with that anyway.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Isn\u2019t that one reason we attend<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>church today?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We are trying to understand something of the nature of God, a God who has touched our lives-and is still active in our lives.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Let\u2019s travel back to the 4<sup>th<\/sup> century and meet two individuals who were passionate about God-and instrumental behind what is a human construct-the Trinity.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Arius: a priest in charge of twelve parishes. A persuasive preacher, a writer of verse and song,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>And Athanasius-secretary to the bishop of Alexandria.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>He is one of the giants of Christian history because of his part in defining the doctrine of the Trinity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The question they debated was, in essence, is Jesus the Christ really God or not?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>That was at the heart of the debate.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Nicene Creed states that Jesus was indeed \u2018begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father\u2026\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In other words, Christ was not made out of nothing as we are, but he was \u2018begotten\u2019, generated from the very substance of God.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>When we look at Jesus, we are looking at God.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When we look at Jesus, we are seeing as much of God as we ever hope to see because this Jew from Nazareth is \u2018of one Being with the Father.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>This was too much for Arius.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>He rejected the Creed\u2019s notion that Jesus was fully divine.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>What makes God, God? He asked.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The divine is self sufficient and he thought so exalted a being as God would not want to dirty its divine hands with the lives of his creatures-us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In a sense, Arius thought God was like a director or owner of a large company-who deals with people only through his receptionist or pa.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-not the God who, like some people in charge-walk up and down the assembly lines, or around the office floors, chatting to the workers.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The doctrine of the Trinity is the result of a debate over distance and closeness or nearness<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>(repeat)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>For Arius, the Nicene Creed and its delineation of the status of Christ and the Holy Spirit as integral, intimate natures of God-was vulgar. God is the great God on high. Who wants a God who is so weak as to need us, his creatures, for anything?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>For Arius-his whole concern was to honour God, setting God up high, lifted up, above the word of his creatures. DISTANCE and DISTANT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Then in comes Athanasius, who argued against him-the Jesus was, indeed, God-and therefore NOT distant.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We humans may well imagine that God relates to the world in the same way in which WE relate to the world.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-we don\u2019t like to depend on others (on our children as we grow older)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-we like to keep our distance!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Arius would say what kind of God would lower himself to dirty his hands in human flesh or walk the streets of Nazareth?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>There is a clue in John 16: 15:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018All that the Father has is mine.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>John 3: 35: \u2018the Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>*the decisive mark of God is that of SELF GIVING<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Between the Father and the Son there is total and mutual self- giving-so when we look at the Son, we are looking at the Father.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Jesus cried aloud: \u201cWhoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.\u2019(John 12:44)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Arius\u2019s God is static-keeps his distance from the painful world of humanity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Athanasius, on the other hand, see God as dynamic, engaged in self-giving, self-disclosing-the Father holds nothing back from the Son.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>All the glory that God has, is given to the Son who in turn gives back all glory to the Father.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Athanasius charged Arius\u2019s concept of God with being sterile, being a God who doesn\u2019t shine, doesn\u2019t talk or reveal.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>A symbol for the Trinity is 3 interlocked circles- showing love coming from and going back constantly.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Trinity is not maths: 1+1+1=1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Rather, the Trinity is a statement about what makes God, God.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>God\u2019s perfection is in God\u2019s closeness rather than in God\u2019s distance<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-in God\u2019s ability and willingness to communicate-rather than in God\u2019s silence.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When God gives (such as in the parable of the prodigal son-the father giving him everything)- he doesn\u2019t stop.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Trinity is our experience of God\u2019s extravagance.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We are often like Arius.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Our God is distant, high, lifted up-even if we have to nail him up there ourselves<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>And we did<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-we nailed him up-only to have him say \u201cAnd when I am lifted up-I will draw everyone to myself.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Here is a God who is always willing to stoop, who never stops giving<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-a God who welcomes, even seeks our prayers and praise, our good deeds and even our sins.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In Isaiah 55: 8-9, the prophet hears God say:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Then we might say-\u2018Mmm maybe Arius was right, God really is distant, far off.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We can\u2019t possibly know such a God!\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>BUT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Isaiah continues with God saying:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018Just as my rain and snow come down to the earth and water your fields, so my word shall come down and accomplish what I want from it.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>God\u2019s greatest \u2018goodness\u2019 is that God is so little like our idea of whom God ought to be.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Our God, the God of the Trinity, is unlike us in that he is so close.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-so self-giving<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Holds nothing back-offers us everything.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Trinity-the affirmation that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit-is a claim that this God stands:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Beside us<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Comes to us<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Is near to us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Amen.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Prayers of the People<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for the world.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We ask that your strength and compassion can be felt by those affected by Covid-19.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for peace in this troubled world.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>For an ending to the riots that rage throughout the United States.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray that people can honour and acknowledge one other as brother or sister-no matter their colour, race, or creed.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for strength for those on the front line.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Heroes behind perspex.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We thank you for our politicians, making decisions during these difficult, unprecedented times.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>As we celebrate some lessening of resdtrictions, may we be mindful for those anxious about these moves.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-for those who are vulnerable, due to age or illness.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>May be continue to protect others by our actions, our faith, our love in action.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In the words our Lord taught us, we are confident when we pray to say:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018Our Father in heaven\u2026\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Amen.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Blessing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>May God\u2019s extravagant love consume you,<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Christ\u2019s life and passion inspire you,<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>and the Spirit compel you to do ordinary things<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>with extraordinary love.<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Spirit be upon you and remain with you always.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Amen<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><i>(Source of Blessing: Frontier Services Sunday 2013)<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trinity Sunday June 7th, 2020 Leighmoor UC. Possible Hymns: TIS 100: \u2018All creatures of our God and King TIS 132: \u2018Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty\u2019 TIS 478: \u2018I bind unto myself today\u2019 TIS 447: \u2018Lord, your almighty word\u2019 Prayers of Adoration and Confession Most blessed, most holy God, before the brightness of your presence the angels and archangels veil their faces. We worship you, eternal Trinity. You are God, the Creator, God beyond us, we adore you. You have created all that has come into being. You are the depth of all that is. When we gaze into the universe-we marvel at your handiwork. You are God the Son, God beside us. In you we see divine love and human greatness combined. You mirror what human life should be\u2026what love can be. God the Spirit, God around us, we adore you. You draw us to the Creator, and to Christ. You are the power within us, making us the people you want us to be. Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we adore you. We thank you for all your gifts, great and small. For the gift of your nearness to us in the things that happen in our lives-and for the gift of your distance from us, in the mystery and wonder of life. When we are tired, worn down, when our commitment has grown cold, you come and warm our hearts. When our faith seems dry and dead, you breathe upon us and give us life. Yet we come before you, seeking forgiveness. We have not loved you with our whole heart, we have not loved our neighbour as ourselves. Forgive us. We like things tidy and explainable, but you defy our understanding. We are tempted to live closed to the spiritual world, but you touch us with dreams and visions. When we lose faith in the goodness of creation, in the father-like love of our Creator: forgive us. When we lose faith in Jesus as the true reflection of your suffering, conquering, redeeming love: forgive us. When we lose faith in your Spirit\u2019s presence among us: forgive us. God is love. Through Christ our sins are forgiven\u00a0 (thanks be to God). Take hold of this forgiveness, and live your life in the power of the Spirit. Amen Bible Readings Genesis 1: 1-2:4a Psalm 8 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13 Matthew 28: 16-20 Sermon: Keep your distance! Today is Trinity Sunday -the first Sunday after Pentecost, when we celebrated the third person of the Trinity-the Holy Spirit. Trinity Sunday is a transitional Sunday: -we move out of the 50 days of the Easter Season, out of Pentecost, into the ordinary time of the Church year. -no great feasts or celebrations, with the exception of next Saturday, which is the anniversary of the forming of the Uniting Church,\u00a0 until November 1st-All Saints Day. Trinity Sunday. The English preacher, Colin Morris, said that any preacher with good sense would call in sick on Trinity Sunday. Last year, in my previous parish, a retired minister came up to me and thanked me for preaching-saying he had to do it most years! I can understand that sentiment. -trying to get across the concept of the Trinity, the central Christian doctrine-that the One God exists in Three Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and one substance. The notion of one God who is three persons is mystery Yet-it is not altogether beyond us. -we can grasp something of what \u2018Trinity\u2019 means. In its barest outline, the doctrine contains 4 truths: In the one divine nature, there are 3 Persons, the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Each is wholly himself The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God They are not three Gods, but one God. One substance, or nature. 3 in 1. If we asked \u2018Who are you?\u2019 each of the three would give His own answer-Father, Son or Holy Spirit. BUT if we asked \u2018What are you? \u2019each would answer God. Each contains the same divine nature or substance. 1 in 3\u00a0 3 in 1. If the idea of God as both 3 and 1 is confusing, Frederick Buechner suggests the following: -look in a mirror There is\u00a0 The interior life-known only to yourself and those you choose to communicate it to (the Father) The visible face which is some way reflects your inner life (the Son) The invisible power that you have in order to communicate that interior life in such a way that others do not merely know about it, but know it in the sense of its becoming part of who they are (Holy Spirit). Yet what you are looking at in the mirror is clearly, and unable to be divided-the one and only YOU. Father, Son and Holy Spirit- may seem a mystery of mathematics (and most mathematics is a mystery to me!) -we may try to explain it or understand it by looking at water -as water droplets, ice and steam-3 in 1-all water, but in 3 ways Or be like St Patrick, who used a shamrock to illustrate the 3 persons (the 3 leaves)- as being part of the whole. (the substance, or nature) BUT, in the end, The Trinity is about distance and closeness Distance, and closeness. The Trinity is the result of a debate about who God really is. Knowing we will never know-but wrestling with that anyway. Isn\u2019t that one reason we attend\u00a0 church today?\u00a0 We are trying to understand something of the nature of God, a God who has touched our lives-and is still active in our lives. Let\u2019s travel back to the 4th century and meet two individuals who were passionate about God-and instrumental behind what is a human construct-the Trinity.\u00a0 Arius: a priest in charge of twelve parishes. A persuasive preacher, a writer of verse and song, And Athanasius-secretary to the bishop of Alexandria. He is one of the giants of Christian history because of his part in defining<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?cat=24\" rel=\"category\">Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Trinity Sunday June 7th, 2020 Leighmoor UC. Possible Hymns: TIS 100: \u2018All creatures of our God and King TIS 132: \u2018Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty\u2019 TIS 478: \u2018I bind unto myself today\u2019 TIS 447: \u2018Lord, your almighty word\u2019 Prayers of Adoration and Confession Most blessed, most holy God, before the brightness of your presence&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3335"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3339,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335\/revisions\/3339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}