TRINITY a mystery, not all people who claim to follow Jesus believe in it. Essential for salvation? For life?

We live in a world that has become increasingly individualistic where we worship the un-Holy Trinity of me, myself and I. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said that the greatest poverty she ever encountered was the poverty she saw in the West, the poverty of loneliness. We need to rediscover the doctrine of the Trinity once again. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have been living in community since the beginning and they invite us to join them in community with each other. Vimeo.com Mike Pilavachi 2013

TRINITY = TRI + UNITY: God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit (“Trinity” isn’t in the bible)

Mark 12: 28-30: One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [a] Or: The Lord our God is one Lord

1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 9.James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good….

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” John 14 v 9 “I and the Father are one” John 10 v 30 “the Father is in me, and I in the Father” John 10 v 38 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” John 1 v

1 3 …. So Jesus and the Father are one, are God. What about the Holy Spirit? “It is for your good….” John 16 v 5-15 “He will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever… the Spirit of Truth” (John 14v16)

The Trinity in the beginning Creation: Genesis 1 + John 1 – the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters – Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. Jesus’ ministry started with baptism

Mark 1 v 9-11: At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Two testimonies  Reasons to be baptised  Reasons for be baptised with the Holy Spirit ….. And why not both at the same time, like Jesus?

The great commission – the beginning of the church Matthew 28v18-20: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”

The Trinity – analogy 1

The Trinity – analogy 2

The Trinity – analogy 3

John 16 John 16 v 12-15: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

John 17 John 17v20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

John 17 John 17v24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Who does what? (a small sample) FatherSonHoly Spirit Gives the Holy SpiritBreathed the Holy SpiritDescends on Jesus Showed Jesus what to doDid what he saw the Father doing (and only that) Fills us Sent the sonObedient to death, submissive, took on the nature of a servant Gives us God’s characteristics Yahweh – I am7x “I Am” statements Immanuel, God with us. Mighty God, Prince of peace, Wonderful Counsellor “Another counsellor” Gives us gifts to do what Jesus did, to be what He was, e.g. Light of the world Heals Gift of healing ProvidesShowed us the FatherVoice of God (prophecy) Receives our prayers & answers them Intercedes for usHelps us know how to pray & gift of “tongues” Gives glory to JesusGives glory to the FatherGives glory to Jesus

The Trinity – analogy 4 “Perichoresis”

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Questions Who do we say “thank you” to? Who do we say “Good morning” to? Who do we ask for things we need? Who do we worship? Who do we talk about? How do we live?

The great commission Matthew 28v18-20: Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”