Sermon Illustrations for Trinity Sunday (2012)
Illustration
Isaiah 6:1-8
In the early 1800s the Sisters of Mercy were organized in Ireland. Up until this time all nuns who belonged to religious orders lived cloistered in monasteries. The Sisters of Mercy broke with this tradition when they left the convent and began works of mercy and service to those residing in the community. For this reason they were called the Walking Sisters.
When Isaiah spoke the words, "Here am I, send me!" he was speaking for all Christians and our willingness to be servants of the Lord. In speaking those words all of us become Walking Sisters.
Ron L.
Isaiah 6:1-8 Isaiah's call. We make a big deal of responding to God's call. It is odd. We do not make a big deal of responding to a telephone call. The phone rings, and we answer. We get an email from friends or a facebook entry from them, and we respond. If these technologies have their way with us, drive us to act, why should it surprise us that God's call would evoke a response? We give ourselves little credit for answering the phone, for responding to emails and facebook entries. Why do we want to take credit for answering God's call? In all these cases, the importance of the caller and the means used, prod us to respond, make us do the caller's thing.
Mark E.
Romans 8:12-17
Paul writes to the Romans: "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption" (Romans 8:15).
Leonard Sweet in his book, Jesus' Prescription for a Healthy Life, argues that the problem for many people is not the reality of God in the world but rather the reality of God in the church. Citing C.S. Lewis who claimed that it was more difficult to convert the bored than the wicked, Sweet asks how many people leave home for Sunday worship with their hearts singing, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord' " (Psalm 122:1). C.S. Lewis once wrote: "It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can."
Many people reject the Christian faith not because they have problems with Jesus but because they have problems with his followers who do not seem to reflect the joy, confidence, and enthusiasm they profess to have.
Richard H.
John 3:1-17
In 1901, President William B. McKinley visited Niagara Falls. Encouraged by his entourage, he agreed to walk across the bridge connecting the United States with Canada. Great excitement prevailed, until he suddenly halted near the center of the bridge and returned home. McKinley explained that he did not want to be the first president to leave the boundaries of the United States while still in office.
Nicodemus once walked that bridge, in the darkness of night. He too could not pass over the center point, realizing as a leading Pharisee and as a member of the Sanhedrin, he had too much to lose.
Ron L.
John 3:1-17
Why does God so love the world (v. 16)? The Triune God knows no other way. Love is part of his nature. To believe in the Trinity is to know a God who knows no other way than love. Ancient African theologian Augustine reminds of us that the Trinity is all about love and is held together by love. According to him, in eternity the Son loves the Father and the Father (who is of the same substance) is filled with love for the Son. And the Holy Spirit is the love who makes them one (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 3, p.100). Two become one (Ephesians 5:31). If human love can love two into one in a marriage, no surprise that God can love his three persons into one! A divine love like that can't help but spill out of God and onto the world and us.
Mark E.
In the early 1800s the Sisters of Mercy were organized in Ireland. Up until this time all nuns who belonged to religious orders lived cloistered in monasteries. The Sisters of Mercy broke with this tradition when they left the convent and began works of mercy and service to those residing in the community. For this reason they were called the Walking Sisters.
When Isaiah spoke the words, "Here am I, send me!" he was speaking for all Christians and our willingness to be servants of the Lord. In speaking those words all of us become Walking Sisters.
Ron L.
Isaiah 6:1-8 Isaiah's call. We make a big deal of responding to God's call. It is odd. We do not make a big deal of responding to a telephone call. The phone rings, and we answer. We get an email from friends or a facebook entry from them, and we respond. If these technologies have their way with us, drive us to act, why should it surprise us that God's call would evoke a response? We give ourselves little credit for answering the phone, for responding to emails and facebook entries. Why do we want to take credit for answering God's call? In all these cases, the importance of the caller and the means used, prod us to respond, make us do the caller's thing.
Mark E.
Romans 8:12-17
Paul writes to the Romans: "For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption" (Romans 8:15).
Leonard Sweet in his book, Jesus' Prescription for a Healthy Life, argues that the problem for many people is not the reality of God in the world but rather the reality of God in the church. Citing C.S. Lewis who claimed that it was more difficult to convert the bored than the wicked, Sweet asks how many people leave home for Sunday worship with their hearts singing, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord' " (Psalm 122:1). C.S. Lewis once wrote: "It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can."
Many people reject the Christian faith not because they have problems with Jesus but because they have problems with his followers who do not seem to reflect the joy, confidence, and enthusiasm they profess to have.
Richard H.
John 3:1-17
In 1901, President William B. McKinley visited Niagara Falls. Encouraged by his entourage, he agreed to walk across the bridge connecting the United States with Canada. Great excitement prevailed, until he suddenly halted near the center of the bridge and returned home. McKinley explained that he did not want to be the first president to leave the boundaries of the United States while still in office.
Nicodemus once walked that bridge, in the darkness of night. He too could not pass over the center point, realizing as a leading Pharisee and as a member of the Sanhedrin, he had too much to lose.
Ron L.
John 3:1-17
Why does God so love the world (v. 16)? The Triune God knows no other way. Love is part of his nature. To believe in the Trinity is to know a God who knows no other way than love. Ancient African theologian Augustine reminds of us that the Trinity is all about love and is held together by love. According to him, in eternity the Son loves the Father and the Father (who is of the same substance) is filled with love for the Son. And the Holy Spirit is the love who makes them one (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 3, p.100). Two become one (Ephesians 5:31). If human love can love two into one in a marriage, no surprise that God can love his three persons into one! A divine love like that can't help but spill out of God and onto the world and us.
Mark E.
