Collect, Readings & Prayers for Trinity Sunday
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:
keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Readings
Isaiah 40: 12-17, 27-31.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
or as his counsellor has instructed him?
14 Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice?
Who taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as dust on the scales;
see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not provide fuel enough,
nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
27Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God’?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Final Greetings and Benediction
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.
13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
Matthew 28:16-20
The Commissioning of the Disciples
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’
Prayers
Triune God, we bring our prayers to you today— our joys and our concerns,
our sorrows and our rejoicing,
our despair and our hopes,
trusting that you listen to us
and that you care for us.
- Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
We praise and adore You, eternal God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three in One, and One in Three.
Creator, we thank You for the gift of life and Your ceaseless love.
Redeemer, we thank You for Your grace and for calling us into friendship.
Comforter, we thank You for Your presence and for guiding us in truth and peace.
Triune God, as You live in perfect unity, draw us closer to one another and to You. May Your love be the foundation of our lives, and may Your peace guard our hearts and minds today and always.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
- We look to you, Holy God,
to be a mender of our nets.
We come to you as people with
broken hearts,
broken relationships,
broken dreams.
Remind us that you, who knit us together,
are more than able to stitch us back together.
Mend our hearts;
mend our relationships;
mend our dreams.
O God, may our weaknesses become like glittering golden seams in mended clay jars
so that your glory might be made known throughout the earth.
- We look to you, Holy Jesus,
to lead us in your ways of
love,
sacrifice,
and service.
We come to you as people
who so often look to our own ways
rather than your ways.
Remind us that you,
who freely poured yourself out for the world,
are more than able to renew our minds
and unite us to your cruciform life.
O Lord, may we be one in
mind,
love,
and voice.
Amen.
- We look to you, Holy Spirit,
to be a comforter and encourager to us.
We come to you
as discouraged people,
as frustrated people,
as sorrowful people.
Remind us that you,
who was sent to us by Jesus to be our advocate,
are more than able to inspire us on our life’s journeys.
Lift our spirits,
transform our frustration into action,
and soothe our sorrows.
Holy Spirit,
may your comfort and consolation overflow in us
so that we might comfort and console all those you place in our paths. Amen
- Lord we pray for your church throughout the world, for those that are thriving and those which have lost a sense of direction.
We give thanks for our local church and its people, and gladly acknowledge all the gifts you have given us through its life. We ask you to open wide our hearts that we may welcome the stranger and share our faith with others, open wide our minds that we may receive new truth and understand your will, open wide our doors, that just as we have come into worship so we may go out with you to the service of the world, open wide our lives that through discipline and prayer we may experience your power in daily living. Amen - God our life, we thank you for the gifts of your creation. Teach us to treat earth and sea, air and water with reverence and respect. Renew those places where earth’s beauty is desecrated, its wealth exploited and its climate disrupted. Strengthen and call to account all those whose humanity is degraded by the exercise of power and greed; may corporations and their shareholders make responsible decisions about the people and resources under their control. Amen
- God, who changes not, we trust in you for our todays and tomorrows. We pray for those with responsibility for making key decisions that might change the direction of world or local events. We pray for those affected by the decisions of others, but who feel powerless in the face of forces of change. We commend to you the decisions that have to be made in your Church, and those charged with making them. Take our gifts and talents, voices and musical worship, Lord, and use them we pray in the service of your kingdom. Amen.
- Lord we pray for peace in the world, create in us a love for peace, not peace that is absent from struggle, nor peace that is blind to injustice but peace that makes whole what now is broken.
We remember those who struggle against injustice, for men and women who have to establish loves supremacy in violent and oppressive societies, and for those whom war and famine have robbed of homes, families and friends, may they be filled with your strength and wisdom and grant that where the love of man has failed your divine compassion may heal. Amen
- God in three persons, blessed Trinity, we pray for the people of the world formed in your image, that they may become more aware of your love for them. We pray for all who bear the responsibility of leadership, for heads of state, ambassadors and political advisers; let your will for our world be accomplished through the decisions they make and give them a vision of peace and reconciliation.
We pray for the countries that we personally are particularly concerned about today, be it because they are devastated by war or conflict, suffering under a tyrannical regime, enduring extreme poverty or sickness or for other reasons known to us. Give their peoples strength and courage and provide for them in their need. Amen
- Gracious God we pray for those weighed down with grief, fear or sickness. May Christ your living Word bring them comfort and healing. We especially raise before you now, those known to us and those known only to you, who are ill or in need. We also pray for those whose hearts have been saddened by the death of someone dear to them and for those whose anniversary we recall, trusting in the promise of your word of Life Eternal fulfilled through your Son Jesus Christ and the Power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
- God of pilgrimage Be with me on my journey through this life; Guard and defend me, Shelter and feed me, Challenge and inspire me, Teach me and lead me, and when my days are ended Welcome me home at last to rest in your love for ever. 'A Pilgrim's Prayer', 20th Century
- Thank you for Jesus Christ your Son
who died for us on the cross
and rose again from the dead
and who offers us
true peace and true hope.
Help us to hold on to him
and to follow him
the way, the truth and the life
as we entrust you our prayers
in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.