31 May 2026 - Trinity Sunday – Year A

The Faith Action Programme would like to thank Phill Mellstrom, Worship Development Worker for the Faith Action Programme, for his thoughts on Trinity Sunday.

Introduction

At the beginning of God's creating, there was rhythm and beauty, which then continued. Some understand this creating to be God's continuous work in each moment. God spoke rhythm, life and love into being, and we are invited into the midst of this rhythm. The rhythm, the pulse, the dance that is the community of love we know as the Trinity; and into the rhythm of creating and speaking beauty and love into being, as we join God in ministering to the world. This week offers us the opportunity to consider our rhythms and think more deeply about what our faith and lived out worship and discipleship is creating in the world.

Genesis is the poem of God speaking into the void and calling forth the creative impulse and rhythm of the universe. The poetic language of this passage has inspired many great pieces of art and music which can help both you in your preparation to lead worship and help worshippers encounter God in a number of creative ways.

Psalm 8 is a song of praise and wonder. How might we express our wonder at God's craftmanship, and how might we be drawn into harmony and rhythm with the creation that glorifies the creator?

2 Corinthians is a letter to a divided community that Paul calls back into sync with God's rhythm and rule. This passage affords you the opportunity to consider where you are noticing harmony and rhythm in your communities and where is there a sense of things being out of sync. How might you creatively respond and empower others to do so also?

Matthew tells us the story of Jesus giving the Disciples the great commission. We are called with the first disciples to ‘go therefore and make'. We are to actively live out our faith as the disciples show us here – within the spectrum of worshipping and doubting – making disciples as we journey. We have not to wait until we feel ready or that our Christian living is at its peak, but to do this in the reality of life and the reality of who we are.

The dynamics between chaos and order, the swing between worship and doubt – these passages allow us to meet God in the reality of life, to consider how we know and experience God in the midst of it all and how we might find ways of joining with the rhythm and pulse of the God who continues to create life and love.

Genesis 1:1-2:4a

What does this passage show us and tell us?

God intentionally created a good and ordered universe, creating humankind in God's image and establishing the loving relationship between creation and Creator. There is also something important about the sacredness of rest to be noticed, with the seventh day being holy because God rested.

God's breathing and speaking moves the universe from chaos to order. We are shown the rhythm and order punctuating this cosmological view of creation with each and every step described as ‘good'. The repetition of this phrase should not be ignored or written off because of events later in the Garden.

For all the rhythm and order (that is good), it can be too easy to rush over the mystery and wonder of the creation story. The light and dark come before sun and moon, what does this mean? Have we been given the idea of a way of seeing that is deeper, that is spiritual rather than physical?

These words are a poem, a sonnet, a love song that brings everything into being, everything into order, everything into rhythm and harmony as God dreamt it and then spoke it into being/made it. God, without beginning and without end speaks all things into being – through God's first recorded words, we have beauty and creativity. This is the manifesto.

We would do well to consider and hold dearly that the first thing we learn of and from God, is that God creates. It is in the creating and making beauty real, that we learn our ‘way of being', that we see the image of God reflected in us when we – at our best – work within the rhythm of the God breathed, God spoken wonder of creating and then live it out day after day.

God broods, hovers, remains and moves towards and among creation – God does not abandon or vacate, staying at a distance or removed from what has been created. Perhaps there is a sense of being intertwined or woven together, as God rests in amongst all that is deemed good and worthy of savouring and considering before being added to. We see first-hand the interconnectedness and abundance of who God is.

Psalm 8

This psalm points us toward order and rhythm again. We see v1 and the final verse v9 are the same and in between we have this ebb and flow between God and humankind responding.

O God how majestic You are and in light of all that You have done, and in who You are, we get who we are! This psalm is like a divine love letter to us, but let's not let it go to our heads. This is not to throne us as central to it all, we are not created to dominate and be caretakers of extraction, no, we are tasked with faithfully making all creation flourish.

The Psalm reminds us of the far reaches of the universe and all that is made by God's handiwork – all that can be seen and perceived, reminds us to wonder and to declare that which is indescribable – how majestic God really is.

We need to wonder, not dominate. Be curious and creative rather than controlling. We need to copy the rhythm and flow of God – we take notice of all that is good and wonderful (v3) and then speak out and declare God's praise (v9). Notice that it is good, then speak out praise of God, and in all of this to remember that if we exercise some kind of governing over creation in our responsibility toward it, it ought to reflect the true nature of God, the one who gives up power and glory to love and save and heal.

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Put things in order! Be restored! Greet with a holy kiss (perhaps like Jesus' kiss/breath gave the Spirit?). Do all this and the God of all love and peace will be with you. We often cite verses about God inhabiting our praises, but when we live in harmony, with grace, lovingly working for peace, God is there. This outward facing work of living worship allows us to not become static and safe in our sanctuaries claiming God's presence for our own, but pushes us out to join God. As we do the work of peace and reconciliation, as we labour for justice and push against oppressive systems and behaviours, we realise that we are inhabiting God's domain, the Kingdom is being built – and rather than wooing God to come into our safe spaces – we join God in the toil and put our hands to the plough along with the active presence of Jesus. We ought to remember that it is not because of our doing that we invoke God to come and be among us, God is already here/there and in our acting as we were created to be, our awareness is grown and the presence of our Creator is made more figural to us.

This lectionary reading is a mere three verses of Paul signing off a letter to a divided Corinthian church community. A community out of rhythm, out of synch other and with God. This letter and these final few lines from it speak to us now, in the midst of political division, conflict, cost of living crises and communities out of sync. These few verses reach deep into our rhythms and patterns of how we think, feel and behave with each other and with the wider creation. Words that come at the end that bring together what has been mapped out in the letter and ties of the cadence. Words that are an echo of the invitation of God to come and live within the rhythm of Father, Son and Spirit.

Matthew 28:16-20

I am with you until the end of the age – Jesus brings us full circle from the first words in Genesis, showing us God in God's fullness as Creator, Christ and Spirit there in the beginning and with us now and forever more.

The Word there in the beginning and there at the end – I am reminded of the Erasmus translation of "In the beginning was the word" rendered as "In the beginning was the conversation, and the conversation became flesh that no one would have the last word" – an invitation that we would join with God in unending conversation.

Our generous Creator tasks us with continuing to make (in this case disciples) and gives us the promise of presence with us. Not a go and do this on our own, rather to come and join the making God who continues to bring rhythm to the world and rhythm to those who are willing to listen and move in sync.

There is something profoundly immediate of the call to make disciples of all nations, and we might remember that if we were to live out Jesus' teachings that forbid violence and retribution, that call us to love our neighbours rather than to dominate, dehumanise or even destroy them. We do well to remember that all authority belongs to no-one other than Jesus, who is none other than the Prince of Peace.

The command to baptise those coming into the community of the Church in the name of the loving Community of God is important and explicit mention of the Trinity expresses the dynamic diversity that exists in God and shows us the fullness and richness of a life lived in the way and rhythm of the God who made all at the beginning and is with us until the very end of the age in our commission to go and make.

Sermon ideas

Trinity Sunday celebrates and commemorates a doctrine and theology rather than a sacred historical event. As we are invited deeper into the mystery of God, who is three yet one, we are reminded of the fullness of God's character and the rhythm and rule of God – with the forthcoming move into ordinary time being the place where this rhythm can be creatively lived out.

St Augustine described the Trinity as the ‘Father who loves, the Son who is beloved, and the Spirit who is the love between them'. As we gather in the midst of ideas of rhythm, and the dynamic flow of a God who is three yet one, and one yet three, we might consider how the Trinity can be expressed within our worship. As you creatively respond to these questions and prompts below, you are encouraged to consider what creative ways space can be held for all to encounter the Maker God in worship together. There are new songs in God Welcomes All that express much of this, there are poems and works of art that have been created that explore the richness and depth of the mystery of God and much of what we experience in the lectionary passages.

The Creator God who makes, notices, declares good, who names, speaks out and generously spills out beauty into being – is also the One present in our gathering. The God who calls us to worship is also the One we glorify in all our making.

• What do you need to notice as you prepare, as you worship, and as you are sent back out into the world?
• How will you find rest in God as you prepare, as you gather in community and as you go back into a busy rhythm of life and work?
• How will you find a rhythm that glorifies God in the midst of all your making?

Jesus, who is given all authority and shows us how to live lives of fulness and Godly rhythm, commissions us to make disciples – to be part of the ongoing rhythm empowering all to live and express God's love and care in all its fulness toward all creation.

• What does that look like in reality?
• With all the demands on our time, not just of everyday life and work and family responsibilities, but in the midst of all of our church activities programs and so on, what does your disciple-making look like?
• How does it reflect the creativity and rhythm of God?

The Holy Spirit who is active in the world, is the one who empowers us to go.

• How are we ensuring that there is rhythm here, and that the wind that we feel amongst is not the wind created by our own business and hustle and bustle, but truly that of the Holy Spirit who blows as she pleases?

Who are we that God is mindful of us? Well, we do not have to get above our station as it were, but we do need reminding that in our weakness, woundedness and flawed ways of acting – God comes to us and says ‘child, you are good!'. God doesn't stop there – we are invited into the midst of the dynamic dancing community of love Trinity and further invited into Their mission.

These passages show us with rich poetic beauty who God is, a fulness of Trinity and Community of Love. The rhythm and dynamism, the ebb and flow, the call and response, all of this caused me to stop and notice and to question. It is hoped that these prompts help you in shaping a rhythm of prayer and worship.

Questions from the Genesis passage to explore:

* Where do we need to consider how our rhythms are in sync with God?

* Where might we be able to bring more of God's creativity within our being and doing?

* How are we doing with our sacred resting and noticing of what has been created? (God stops and takes in what is called forth and created, God surveys it, takes time to wonder and marvel and see full and recognise it and then expresses its goodness. Then rests!)

Questions from Matthew 28 to explore:

• What is it that makes a person a disciple?
• How might we notice God when we worship and when we doubt? How does this affect our discipleship journey?
• How might we acknowledge baptism (and the other sacraments) in meaningful ways within our worship even when we are not specifically practicing them in that gathering?

Questions that come from the Psalm to explore:

• How does the Earth and all creation reveal God to us?
• How does the ways we have treated the world and creation reflect true worship of God?
• How are we living up to the responsibility of caring for creation – is dominion confused with entitlement? If so, how might this rhythm be redressed?

Questions from the 2 Corinthians passage to explore:

• What do we need to take note of and perceive and discern in our communities as we do what Paul asked of the Corinthians – to put things in order, to bring God's rhythm into being. What might that look like for you where you are?
• How might we explore rhythms in our community that restore and refresh?
• What does living ‘in peace' look like for you, your family, your worshipping and wider community?

As you consider all of this for yourself and those gathered for worship, it is good to reflect on how are we involved in the wider rhythm of the cosmos, in the rhythms of life that are imagined, breathed, spoken and created by the ever-present community of love that is our God, Three in One, now and forever.

Prayers

CALL TO WORSHIP
O Lord our sovereign
HOW GREAT IS YOUR NAME IN ALL THE EARTH

Your glory is in all and above all
YOU MADE THE MOON AND THE STARS AND ALL LIVING THINGS

Babes and infants, young and old, all that have breath
JOIN WITH ONE VOICE TO PRAISE YOU O GOD

O lord our sovereign – Father, Son and Spirit
MEET US HERE IN OUR WORSHIP
TUNE US TO YOUR RHYTHM OF GRACE AND LOVE
(this could lead into the song ‘All Creatures of our God Most High')

THANKFULLNESS
God of all the earth and all created things,
You are Lord over the deep waters
You are Lord over chaos and over order.
Meet us in our chaos – when things are not going well
Or when we feel out of step.
In our worship and in our doubt, just like those first disciples -
we ask that You show Yourself to us.
God of light and dark,
You are never far from us.
May we know You with us
as we gather in worship
as we listen for You in prayer
as we raise our voices in adoration.
Your presence, Your voice, Your breath
creates life and love – may we sense it as we pray!

We give You thanks
For Your faithfulness – new and fresh each new day,
for Your love and compassion, provision and protection,
and for Your grace and mercy given to us all.

CONFESSION

Dear God,
Creator and Maker –
You looked upon all that You created and shaped and declared it good.
Even in our goodness, we get it wrong,
So, we confess now -
that there have been times when we distanced ourselves from Your presence,
stepped out of sync with Your grace and mercy.
In Your great love for us O God,
May we know the life-giving power of You our Maker,
The saving and healing mercy of You our Saviour,
The peaceful presence and sustaining grace of You our Comforter.
We are forgiven and loved
By the God of all the universe,
Three yet one,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
With us and loving us until the very end of the age.

PRAYERS FOR OTHERS AND THE WORLD
[As you pray, you may wish to use a spoken response or a short song after silence is held]

God of Wonder,
You imagined a universe filled with life and light and love.
You spoke it into being.
We ask for Your creativity and generosity to fill our lives and our communities.
As we bring to mind the rhythm of life that we know in our families,
in our homes and in our everyday life and work,
we bring it all before You now

[silence]

Response:
God, Maker, Redeemer, and Sustainer
MAY WHAT WE SPEAK INTO BEING
BE FILLED WITH YOUR LIFE AND LOVE.

God of grace,
You are mindful of us
making us a little lower than the angels.
We live in the midst of rhythm and chaos
often out of sync with ourselves and those we are closest to.
We recognise that in the midst of things that are good,
that there is also much that is wrong:
stories of scandal,
abuses of power,
injustice and oppression,
conflict and power mongering.
We hold before You now our hopes and dreams for our communities,
remembering those with responsibility to lead those communities,
and all who took on responsibility to govern and make decisions on our behalf.
We bring them before You now

[SILENCE AND RESPONSE]

God of mercy,
the Earth began in chaos and then You spoke order into being.
We see so many places in the world marred by chaos and conflict,
where the lust and pursuit of power and control
has led to hurt, division, oppression and conflict.
We take time now to remember and to pray
for peace and justice to be made real
for Your rhythm of life and love to bring order
for Your goodness to be true and recognisable in all places to all people -
that Your kingdom might come on Earth as in heaven.

[SILENCE THEN RESPONSE]

[You may wish to say the Lord's prayer to end.] AMEN.

PRAYER
Enfolding God,
Trinity of love,
You are our source, our goal, our life:
May we be born again in You
No more to live
Alone and unconnected,
But sharing in the Spirit's breath
And carried to Your heart;
Through Jesus Christ, Who lifts us up.

(from Steven Shakespeare's Prayers for an Inclusive Church, 2008, p61)

Sending prayer
Go now into the world,
where God the Maker tends to all that is hurt and in need of healing,
may your hands find work to do in the Creators name.

Go now into the world,
where Jesus Christ is waiting and calling us to make disciples,
may your feet walk in the paths our Saviour lays before us.
Go now into the world,
where the Spirit is living and moving,
may your life and work be in step with the rhythms of God -
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
ever loving Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen

Musical suggestions

God Welcomes All (GWA) is the new supplement to Church Hymnary Fourth Edition. This exciting new collection features over 200 hymns and songs in a wide range of styles by writers from Scotland and around the world.

The full music and words-only versions are now available; and digital resources, including the expansion of the existing Church of Scotland music website, will be published in due course, with streaming functions and further information on each song; backing tracks; and lyric videos. God Welcomes All is available to order from https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786225573/god-welcomes-all

Our online music resource is on the Church of Scotland website; you can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship. You will also find playlists for this week and liturgical seasons and themes on the Weekly Worship and Inspire Me tabs.

You can find further musical suggestions for this week in a range of styles on the Songs for Sunday blog from Trinity College Glasgow.

• GWA 9 – "All creation sings God's greatness"
• GWA 24 – "Your labour is not in vain"
• GWA 131 – "Jesus, lead us to the Father" – a song that expresses the Trinity through its 3 short verses, that can be sung at the same time as a round that interweaves and beautifully expresses the Trinity through music.
• GWA 223 – "The kingdom of God is justice and peace"
• "All creatures worship God most high" – non gendered version of a beautiful hymn Voices Together 81. All creatures, worship God most high | Hymnary.org
• CH4 4 – "How excellent in all the earth"
• CH4 5 – "O Lord, our Lord, throughout the earth" – a setting of Psalm 8 to a Scottish folk melody
• CH4 116 – "Loving creator"
• CH4 117 – "Mothering God, you gave me birth"
• CH4 122 – "Let all the world in every corner sing"
• CH4 124 – "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation"

Reflecting on our worship practice

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the way we worship has changed and we need to reflect on the changing or newly established patterns that emerged and continue to emerge as a result of the disruption.

We can facilitate worship for all by exploring imaginative approaches to inclusion, participation and our use of technologies in ways that suit our contexts. This is not an exhaustive list, but some things we could consider are:

• Framing various parts of the worship service in accessible language to help worshippers understand the character and purpose of each part. This is essential for creating worship for all (intergenerational worship) that reflects your community of faith.
• Holding spaces for reflection and encouraging prayer to be articulated in verbal and non-verbal ways, individually and in online breakout rooms.
• In online formats the effective use of the chat function and microphone settings encourages active participation in prayer, e.g. saying the Lord's Prayer together unmuted, in a moment of ‘holy chaos'.
• While singing in our congregations is still restricted, we can worship corporately by using antiphonal psalm readings, creeds and participative prayers.
• Using music and the arts as part of the worship encourages the use of imagination in place of sung or spoken words.
• Use of silence, sensory and kinaesthetic practices allow for experience and expression beyond regular audio and visual mediums.

The following questions might help you develop a habit of reflecting on how we create and deliver content and its effectiveness and impact, and then applying what we learn to develop our practice.

• How inclusive was the worship?
  Could the worship delivery and content be described as worship for all/ intergenerational?
  Was it sensitive to different "Spiritual Styles"?
• How was the balance between passive and active participation?
• How were people empowered to connect with or encounter God?
  What helped this?
  What hindered this?
• How cohesive was the worship?
  Did it function well as a whole?
  How effective was each of the individual elements in fulfilling its purpose?
• How balanced was the worship?
  What themes/topics/doctrines/areas of Christian life were included?
• How did the worship connect with your context/contemporary issues?
  Was it relevant in the everyday lives of those attending and in the wider parish/ community?
  How well did the worship connect with local and national issues?
  How well did the worship connect with world events/issues?
• What have I learned that can help me next time I plan and deliver worship?

Useful links

You can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship in our online hymnary.

You are free to download, project, print and circulate multiple copies of any of this material for use in worship services, bible studies, parish magazines, etc., but reproduction for commercial purposes is not permitted.

Please note that the views expressed in these materials are those of the individual writer and not necessarily the official view of the Church of Scotland, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly.