Children’s Sermon
The Lord be with you.
Do any of you what Sunday this is? No, well it is called Holy Trinity Sunday. Now what that means, is this Sunday is a special Sunday where we celebrate God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity.
Now every Sunday we worship God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, but today we make a point to point it out that there are three persons, but one God.
Now, there are several different ways to try and explain this, but there was a person who made the explain this concept of this simple enough for everybody to understand the three persons, but one God. That person was St. Patrick. Do any of you know who St. Patrick is? Well he has his own day way back in March on the 17th day.
Well St. Patrick came up with this explanation. You take this, a simple sweet clover sprig. More commonly called a three leaf clover. You see, St. Patrick explained it this way. You have God the Father who is one leaf, you have God the Son, Jesus Christ another, and God the Holy Spirit as another, but all on one plant. Now do you see something else on each plant. It has a white seed cap. Which can show us how pure Gods love for us is.
Now, I have here what is called a red clover plant. Do you see that it also has three laves for each little stem. What else do you see on each leaf? Do you see the white out line on each leaf? Could it be, that God wanted to show us in these leave that there is something else in them? Just as we know there is a little something else inside all of us? That God wanted to show us that with that extra white outline on each leaf represents God the Holy Spirit that outlines each of us! Think about that! What else do you see on this red clover plant? Yes, the red/purple seed head. Do you think that is to remind us of what God the Son did for us?
Isn’t God great! Making a little plant to remind us of him and what he has done for us all.
One more thing, something my mother always did. She would go out into a patch of sweet clover and look for a special stem of clover, called a four-leaf clover. I think she did this to help her feel closer to God, and when she found one, she always seemed to be in happier spirits. She never told me why she loved looking for the four-leaf stem, but my guess is, it showed the Holy Trinity with us. So, when you feel the need to feel closer to God, find a patch of clover and search for the four-leaf stem.
Let’s Pray; Dear Heavenly Father, we give you Thanks a Praise for all that you have done and do for us. We especially give you thanks for this simple clover plant, to remind us of you. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Adult Sermon
Oh Lord, may the words from my lips be from your inspiration to my heart, Amen.
The first thing I want everybody to do is take a deep breath, Ahhhh. We made it to the green season of the Church year. Time to relax and enjoy the wonders of God’s creation.
And what better way to Honor our Father in Heaven than on Fathers Day. So, on this first Sunday of the green season, we start off with the first book of the Holy Bible, the first chapter, the first verse. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God’s making of this place we all call terra firma, home.
Now, what intrigues me about this creation narrative, is how there a some people out there that thinks God did all of his creating in our earthly hours, there being only 24 hours in a day. How could God have done all that he did in just 144 hours? Now, I’m no expert by any means, but something tells me that God time is different than what us mere humans think how long a second is.
As we listen to this narrative of Creation, isn’t it amazing on the wonders of God’s handy work. Just as I told the kids, God making a plant to remind us of him. That each one of God’s creation has a purpose, just as each one of us has a purpose in our own lives. Some of us who still try to rule over the plants and animals, just as God ordained those whom he made in their image. For if it wasn’t for them, the tillers of the Earth, we would all be hungry.
Now, I do have to sit back and laugh at how man has tried to manipulate what God has made. By this I mean what the scientist have done to control weeds in the fields of crops. Made these plans resistant to certain man made chemicals. Now, if you think that God no longer cares or even that there is no God, think again! For what it has taken man several decades to make these modifications to the crop plants. God has made his own changes to the weeds to resist those same chemicals, in only a couple of years. God time!!! Got a second?
As we continue with Holy Trinity Sunday, we’ve still have two more God’s to cover, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is God’s only Son, begotten of the Father, not made, being of one substance with the Father. As we say in the Nicene Creed. So, now in our simple little minds, we have two bodies, but one God.
Jesus Christ, came down from Heaven, to become the son of man. A way for God to experience his own creation, to witness in flesh and blood, the trials and tribulation of human beings. A way to show his creation that God is always among us, even though we can’t see him. Jesus Christ gives us a way to see God first hand and why Jesus Christ became the son of man. As we hear Peter telling the crowds in our second lesson for the day. Acts Chapter 2 the 23rd verse; This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
By God’s set purpose and foreknowledge! That Jesus Christ came down from Heaven with knowing that in order to redeem the world, the ultimate sacrifice would be him. Wow! What a Glorious God we have. I guess I am glad that we have a God who keeps his Covenants’ with us. Remember, Noah and the rainbow? No more would God destroy the world with water. So God came down from Heaven to save us, not to destroy us.
So, Jesus Christ was nailed to the Cross, for the remission of our sins. So, we would be forgiven of our trespass against God the Father. In addition, God the Father did something more amazing than the Creation narrative, rose Jesus Christ up from the depths of hell. That Jesus Christ conquered death sting and arose victorious. To show us just how much Gods love is for all of us.
Which brings us to God the Holy Spirit. Do you remember in our first lesson, that formless and empty void? Well, that formless and empty void are bodies of those people who are walking among us who have embrace God the Holy Spirit and are filled with the Grace from God, or have rejected what God the Holy Spirit offered them, and are still a void; formless and empty.
Just as the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, God the Holy Spirit “hovers” over us, there are some, like us, who receive from the Holy Spirit the gift of understanding who God is, what God has done for us, and what is to come for us who trust in Gods promise. The promise that was made the first time we came in contact with the Holy Trinity, at our Baptism. The promise of everlasting life, as we were baptized in the name of the Father, and of the and of the Holy Spirit. That as we were filled with that grace from God, we became Children of God.
Then there are some people out there in the World who have either been introduced to what God has to offer and rejected it, or there are some who have never heard the story of God’s love for us. And here is where the Gospel lesson for the day comes into play.
The great commission, give to all us Christians from God the Son. As we hear in Matthew 28 the 19th and 20th verses; Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
So, as where hear in our parting words at the end of the Service; Go in Peace, serve the Lord, verse 19 tells us how and what we are to do!
Praise be to God, Amen.