4 June 2023

Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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Bible readings for today

• Genesis 1:1-2:4a
• Psalm 8
• 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
• Matthew 28:16-20

Collect

Almighty God, 
by your grace alone 
we are accepted and called to your service; 
strengthen us by your Holy Spirit and empower our calling; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

E te Atua kaha rawa, mā tōu aroha noa anake
e whakaae i a mātou hei kaimahi māu;
mā tōu Wairua Tapu hoki mātou e whakakaha,
e whakamana i tāu i karanga i a mātou.
Ko Īhu Karaiti tō mātou Ariki. 
Āmine.

Trinity Sunday

Introduction

Today is called Trinity Sunday -- you could take some time thinking about the trinity and what this shows us about God. It can be a big theological concept for kids to grapple (we adults often find it hard!) but knowing that they have Father who loves them, that Jesus came to earth to show us who God is, and that the Holy Spirit lives inside us to help, encourage, empower and lead us. God will never leave us and forget about us. We may not understand everything, but we can know that we are more loved that we can ever know.

Quick Questions

• What is the Trinity?
• Why do you think that one word isn’t enough to describe God?
• What is your favourite word for God and why?
• Why is it important that we know that the Holy Spirit, and Jesus are also God?

Visio Lectio

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Gospel Conversations

Trinity Sunday! As Damon reminds us today, it's the one Sunday of the year dedicated to a doctrine - which may be why preachers sometimes dread it! But our panel today of Damon, Nicki and Richard join Michael to ponder not what some might see as a dry doctrine, but a God of relationships, of love, of welcome, of mystery: a God who asks us not to keep that love to ourselves, but to go out to make disciples of Love in our world.

Map footprints

What you need:

• Maps, printed out
• Pens
• scissors
• glue
• a3 Paper with "Take me where Your love is needed"

What you do:

• Print out maps of your local area -- either the city you live in, your country or just your suburb. 
• Children take off their shoes and socks, and draw around their feet using a marker pen so that they have two footprint templates on their map
• Cut out the footprints, and stick onto the A3 sheet
• Encourage the to stick in on their door or a place they can see when they leave their room or home.
• Talk about what it means to ask God to lead us to where His love is needed. 
• God has planted us in a school, family, region that he wants us to love and serve. He wants us to 'go and make disciples' -- he wants us to love the people we have in our lives, and wants us to share His love with them. 
• Pray for courage to love God and serve him in the places we live

Another name for...

What you need: a list of words, paper and pens for each team. Oh, and a dictionary/thesaurus

Preparation: the list of words should be names, places, or describing words. (you might like to include GOD, JESUS and HOLY SPIRIT in your list of words!!!

What to do: 

• Divide the children into two teams. Tell them that you will read out a word. They them have 1 minute in their teams to come up with as many other words that mean the same as the one you read out. 
• Repeat this for at least 5 words.
• At the end, check both teams’ lists and see how well they did!​
• This game is a good lead into a discussion about the Trinity.

Go now, to love and serve the Lord!

At the end of our church services in the Anglican Dioceses in New Zealand, many of our congregations finish with "Go now, to love and serve the Lord. Go in peace!" to which the response is, "Amen! We go in the name of Christ!"

Remind the congregation and children of these words, and how they reflect the words of today's passage in Matthew 28. In the same way Jesus sends out his disciples into the world, we are sent too -- empowered by His same spirit. 
​
You might like to use the words of Matthew 28 to be your dismissal for today. 

Exit banner

Make a banner for the back of church, so that the whole congregation sees it as they leave church. 

On large printers paper, write out the words "Go now to love and serve the Lord!" You might like to add the words, "Amen, we go in the name of Christ" underneath -- or depending on how long your banner is! 
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Decorate with collage materials (tissue paper, coloured paper, newsprint, fabric, ribbons, pens and crayons). If you want to do this activity in advance, you could use paint, but it would not be ready in time to hang up that morning. 

Praying for Ukraine

Source: Sun Hat and Wellie Boots

Talking to kids about bad news

This week, Jesus commissions the disciples to go and make him known to everyone, everywhere! You can find this story in Matthew 28:16-20. That’s a pretty big challenge for those who who travelled by primarily by foot or small boat. How is it different for us today? 

These are many upsides to our globally connected world, but one of the downsides is increased exposure to a myriad of bad news. Kids are vulnerable to being overwhelmed by terrible news and we need to be careful what and how much we share with them. If you want to talk with your kids about some of the things happening around our world, or if they come home with info from school or friends - here are some things I have found helpful.

• Limit visual exposure. Kids are incredibly visual. It is less traumatic for them to hear or read about it, than to watch it in full colour on the evening news. They have active imaginations so they don’t need all the gory details. Keep it simple and non-graphic.
• Remember that kids are excellent observers but terrible interpreters. They need your help to understand what is happening and why. Keep it simple and age appropriate.
• God and faith conversations need to be present in bad stuff as well as good. God had a plan for a perfect world where no bad stuff happened, but now because people want to do things their own way, we live in a broken world with broken people where bad things happen. Nonetheless God’s plan is still for good, he is with us even in the darkest hours, and we are called to work with him to bring his light and healing and wholeness to our broken world.
• Notice the helpers. No matter how bad the event, there are always people working to make a difference. Look for and focus on those who are actively seeking to help and bring light in dark places.
• Show your kids that they can be light bringers too. The hardest thing is feeling helpless in the face of bad news. What can your family do to be a force for good in this situation? What can you do that will make a difference?
• Listen to any fears or anxieties they have about the situations. This may be enough to help them subside. If not you may need to help them find tools to cope with these feelings - a verse or prayer to use as a reminder that God is close, breathing exercises to help them stay calm, practical ways they can be a part of the solution. Sometimes though and always as a first step - deep listening is all they need.
• Finally, look for, and share good and inspiring news as well. Try this site http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/uplift/kids/ or search “good news 2016” on youtube (make sure you preview before showing your kids to check you are happy with the stories shown).​

From Rev. Teri Johnson-Frow, from Johnsonville Anglicans

What is the trinity?

Psalm 8

"O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!" Psalm 8:1. This psalm just bursts out with praise and adoration at God's creation.