15 June 2025

WORSHIP RESOURCES

First Sunday after Pentecost

Trinity Sunday

Romans 5:1-5

Peace with God

Additional Scriptures

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; John 16:12-15; Doctrine and Covenants 165:2d-f

Preparation

For the Focus Moment, preprint the form for the God prayer. Provide a copy for each participant and something with which to write.

Prelude

Welcome and Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Ask someone to pray over the joys and concerns expressed.

Call to Worship

How great is your name, O God, through all the earth!

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,

the moon and the stars which you arranged,

what is humanity that you should keep them in mind, that you care for them?

Yet you have made them little less than a god;

with glory and honour you crowned them,

gave them power over the works of your hand, put all things under their feet.

All of them, sheep and cattle,

yes, even the savage beasts, birds of the air,

and fish that make their way through the waters.

How great is your name, O God, through all the earth!

—Psalm 8, adapted

Opening Hymn

“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty” CCS 52

OR “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” CCS 16

OR “God of Dawn, Each Day’s Renewal” CCS 51

Invocation

Response

Prayer for Peace

Light the peace candle.

Peace Prayer

God of All,

You look with great love on all your people of whatever race, culture, and religion. We ask you to bless us this day and send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon all the diverse peoples of our world. Bless us with the Spirit of peace and justice, of understanding and reconciliation. May your Spirit help broaden the horizons and deepen the understanding of us all.

We make this our prayer through Jesus, the prince of peace. Amen.

Hymn of Peace

“The Peace of Jesus Christ” CCS 317

OR “Though the Spirit’s Gifts Are Many” CCS 334

Focus Moment

Invite worshipers to write a poem about God using this format. Print the form and have writing utensils available, or project the form and provide blank paper and writing utensils. Then invite participants to share their prayers in groups of four or five. Invite some to share their poems with the whole group. Encourage everyone to post their prayer at home where they can read it and talk with God in the coming week.

God

Two words that describe God ___________, ___________

Three words that end in “ing” to describe God _________, ________, ________

What you want to say to God today ____________________________

A name for God _______________

By [participant’s name]__________________

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-5

Ministry of Music or Congregational Hymn

“I Sought the Lord” CCS 175

OR “How Can We Name a Love” CCS 2

Message
Based on Romans 5:1-5

Disciples’ Generous Response

Scripture Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 165:2d-f

Statement

God’s generous compassion is limitless. As we open our hearts to courageously and generously share by placing money in the offering plates or through eTithing, we join the movement of God’s compassion in the world. God shares abundantly, we share faithfully, others share generously, and God’s love and compassion grow endlessly.

If you have participants joining the worship online, remind them that they can give through www.CofChrist.org/give or through eTithing at www.eTithing.org (consider displaying these URLs).

Blessing of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes

Gracious and Loving God,

We understand that you call us to be the stewards of your abundance, the caretakers of all you have entrusted to us. Help us always to use your gifts wisely and teach us to share them generously. May our faithful stewardship bear witness to the love of Christ in our lives. Amen.

Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes

Closing Hymn

“We Are One in the Spirit” CCS 359

Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.

OR “Touch Me Lord, with Thy Spirit Eternal” CCS 574

Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.

OR “Now in This Moment” CCS 96

Find French and Spanish translations at: www.HeraldHouse.org/products/newly-translated-songs-from-world-conference-2023-pdf-download?variant=45826935390481

Benediction

Sung Response

“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” CCS 53

Encourage participants to sing in a language other than their own.

Postlude

SERMON AND CLASS HELPS

Year C—Letters

First Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday (Ordinary Time)

Romans 5:1–5

Exploring the Scripture

Conversion, being born again, or being saved is summed up in two words: justification and sanctification. We must talk about both words. In the first days of Community of Christ, we received this guidance:

And we know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is just and true; and we know, also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is just and true…to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength….

—Doctrine and Covenants 17:6b–c, emphasis added

What do these two Latin-based words, justification and sanctification, mean in simple English? Think of salvation as a journey.

Beginning the journey of discipleship—this is justification: finding out for the first time that God loves you no matter what. Justification is an idea and an experience of peace, grace, and God’s love being poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Remember the first time you sensed the Holy Spirit, felt the Holy Spirit in your heart. You experienced at that moment a peace, a rest, coming home to a love greater than that of the most loving parent. You felt loved, right? You experienced grace, not condemnation.

When another Christian asks, “Are you saved?” it often is an awkward moment for many of us in Community of Christ. We know this experience well. I think our Christian friend is asking, “Do you understand and know justification, this beginning moment of justification, grace, forgiveness, peace?”

Today’s passage is about the wonderful beginning of the journey of salvation. Salvation has a glorious beginning. We realize deep forgiveness. Perhaps later, we understand this is deeply connected with the cross.

The second part of the journey of salvation is sanctification. This word is not used in this passage, but the idea focuses on developing a Christian character through the continuing journey of following Jesus, even through suffering.

Sanctification means change on life’s journey as a disciple, letting God’s love change you. Love releases the power to love. This is sanctification, the progressive change of our character from sinner to saint and the continuing healing of our soul, so we become more like Jesus. (For Bible passages about sanctification, see 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Galatians 5:22–23). Sanctification happens through the difficulties of this life, but hope grows in our souls. Baptism is part of this journey.

It also is helpful to look up salvation in the church’s Basic Beliefs. It begins with these words:

The gospel is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ: forgiveness of sin, healing from separation, brokenness, and the power of violence and death. This healing is for individuals, human societies, and all creation.

We believe in God’s big salvation, summarized by the “cause of Zion.” God’s salvation and healing are more than individual salvation. They include the healing of societies and all creation.

God is committed to this great process of salvation: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, and Presence. We affirm God as Trinity.

Central Ideas

Romans 5:1–5 is a masterful summary by the Apostle Paul of Christian salvation that begins with justification and continues with sanctification.
Justification is the first encounter with God’s love.
Sanctification is the continuing change of character possible through God’s continuing love, grace, and the work of the Holy Spirit as we follow Jesus through life’s difficulties.
Salvation is an idea and an experience to which all are invited. God’s big salvation includes people, societies, and Earth.

Questions for the Speaker

What was your first experience of the Holy Spirit, your first sense of God’s love?
Who might be in the congregation that perhaps still has to experience in a personal way this moment of being touched by God’s love and discovering God’s deep peace?
Who might be struggling, suffering, and needing encouragement that God will not let us go, even through the darkest times? Who might need assurance that a growing hope is promised?
How can I suggest through story and testimony that God’s salvation is a big salvation that includes people, our village or city, and Earth itself in the climate crisis?
How can I communicate that changed people can change the world? Is it proper to offer an invitation to baptism?

SACRED SPACE: A RESOURCE FOR SMALL-GROUP MINISTRY

Year C, Letters

Trinity Sunday

Romans 5:1–5 NRSVue

Gathering

Welcome

Trinity Sunday is observed the Sunday following Pentecost. Christian tradition celebrates the doctrine of the Trinity, God who is experienced in three persons. God is Creator (traditionally identified as the Father); Jesus Christ is the Redeemer (the Son); and the Holy Spirit is the Comforter or Sustainer.

In other words, God is one and three. From Community of Christ Basic Beliefs:

We believe in one living God who meets us in the testimony of Israel, is revealed in Jesus Christ, and moves through all creation as the Holy Spirit. We affirm the Trinity—God who is a community of three persons.

—CofChrist.org/basic-beliefs

Prayer for Peace

Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.

Light the peace candle.

Triune God, how majestic are all of your names, used around the world, as people call upon you! Just as grasping at your greatness leads us beyond simple comprehension, so, too, does grasping at peace.

How are people struggling in the world today? What actions can we offer that would facilitate peace within those struggles? How can we tangibly move toward peace?

Over and over in scripture you call us to be faithful to your many forms, to dig deep into a sense of understanding you. At the same time, you send us to all nations to act and be peace among the people who need it most. Call us today to three acts of peace Lord, just as you are the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.

Call us to walk with you as creators of peace in the broken places. Call us to point others toward you as Redeemer of a world in search of peace. Call us to generate and sustain real change to broken systems that suppress peace.

We pray for blessing in all its many forms. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Dwelling in the Word

Read aloud:

The following excerpt from the book, Revelations of Divine Love, by Julian of Norwich tries to encompass the meaning of the Trinity. Julian of Norwich was a Christian theologian who lived in the fourteenth century.

I will read the excerpt from the forty-ninth chapter aloud. As you listen, allow words, images, or phrases to come to your mind. Try not to focus on them. Let them rest in you.

After a moment of silence, I will read the excerpt a second time. As you hear it again, listen for how God’s Spirit is calling to you or capturing your attention.

And I saw no difference between God and our substance, but as it were, all God; and still my understanding accepted that our substance is in God, that God is God, and our substance is a creature in God. For the almighty truth of the Trinity is our Father, for he made us, and he keeps us in him. And the deep wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother, in whom we are enclosed. And the high goodness of the Trinity is our Lord, and in him we are enclosed and he in us. We are enclosed in the Father, and we are enclosed in the Son, and we are enclosed in the Holy Spirit. And the Father is enclosed in us, the Son is enclosed in us, and the Holy Spirit is enclosed in us, almighty, all wisdom and goodness, one God, one Lord.

Pause. Read the excerpt a second time.

Invite group members to respond to these questions:

· What words, phrases, or images came into your mind?

· How do you sense God’s Spirit calling you?

Sharing Around the Table

Romans 5:1–5 NRSVue

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Justification is when we begin our journey with Jesus. We discover that God loves us, no matter what. Justification is an idea and an experience of peace, grace, and God’s love being poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Think of the first time you sensed the Holy Spirit, felt the Holy Spirit in your heart. You experienced at that moment a peace, a rest, coming home to a love greater than that of the most loving parent. You felt loved, right? You experienced grace.

The second part of the journey is sanctification. This word is not used in the passage, but the idea is called developing a Christian character through the continuing journey of following Jesus, even in our suffering. This part of our journey includes the continuing healing of our soul, so we can become more and more like Jesus.

Today’s passage is about the wonderful beginning of the journey of salvation. God’s salvation and healing are more than individual salvation. They include the healing of societies and all creation. God is committed to this great process of salvation for all of God’s creation.

Questions

1. What was your first sense of the Holy Spirit?

2. What does divine grace mean to you? How have you seen or felt it at work?

3. How would you explain God’s salvation for all people and Earth?

Sending

Generosity Statement

Faithful disciples respond to an increasing awareness of the abundant generosity of God by sharing according to the desires of their hearts; not by commandment or constraint.

—Doctrine and Covenants 163:9

The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response. You also may give at CofChrist.org/give.

Pray with me.

Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, three who are one, may we offer our resources to you that they may be used to share loving community with those seeking respite, connection, purpose, and love. May our generosity bring blessing and further the mission of Christ. Amen.

Invitation to Next Meeting

Closing Hymn

Community of Christ Sings 145, “Restless Weaver”

Closing Prayer

Optional Additions Depending on Group

Thoughts for Children

Thoughts for Children

Say: God wants us to be one with each other in community, just as God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are one. We call this community of three the Trinity, and on this special Sunday of the Christian calendar we remember and celebrate the Trinity.

Let’s try an experiment to better understand what it means to be three in one.

Think of a word or image. Hold your hands in front of your mouth and speak the word into your hands. Could you feel your breath in your hands as you spoke the word aloud?

Your “thought” is like God, where the idea begins.

The “spoken word” is Jesus Christ.

The breath you felt in your hands is like the Holy Spirit that breathes as God’s presence in the world.

Let’s try again. Think of another word or image—something God would share with the world such as “peace, hope,” or “love.” Think the word. Say the word aloud. Feel the breath that carries your word.

God, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit are different ways we can understand God as our Creator, Jesus as our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as our Comforter.

Offer a brief prayer of thanks for God as Trinity—a community of three. Thank the children for participating.

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