RockChurch went to three morning services Sunday to make room for growth and the result was three evenly filled services that saw 501 people come through our doors. The new format only allows 70 minutes and I must say we began and ended on time in each service and each transition was smooth. This is a compliment to our amazing team of staff and volunteers. #Booyah
The Songs:
- Breath
- Rain Down
- 40
- Surrender
During worship we had a moment of silence to remember all the lives lost and effected by the events that took place on 9/11 ten years ago.
This is our first week to replace live announcements with video announcements. Here’s the LINK to view this week’s RC News.
Rock Steady (Part 1) – The Trinity
*This sermon is inspired by and constructed from Mark Driscoll’s book Doctrine.
The Gist: God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God. Three persons. While the word Trinity does not appear in Scripture, the One-who-is-Three concept very clearly does. In the following message I will answered two questions: 1. What is the Trinitarian God of the Bible like? 2. What are the practical implications of the Trinity?
“If you deny the trinity you lose your soul, if you try to explain it you lose your mind.” ~Augustine
Key Scripture: Matthew 3:16-17 (NLT)
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven (Father) said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
Definition: The Trinity is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who are each fully and equally God in eternal relation with each other.
Where did the word Trinity come from? The word was first used by the early church father Tertullian (Tertillian) who lived 155 to 220 AD. This word was used to summarize the totality of biblical teaching regarding who God is.
How Mark Driscoll explains the Trinity: The Trinity is one God – monotheism, one God who eternally exists. There was never a time that the Father, Son, and Spirit didn’t exist. By persons I mean they think, they speak, they feel, they act. We’re not talking about human persons. God is not a man, God became a man (The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ). But the Spirit of God is not a person insofar as a human being, but he’s a person insofar as he thinks, he acts, he feels, he speaks. God is a person, not an impersonal force.
Three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Spirit who are each fully – meaning they share all the divine attributes of all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present – and equally – not one more God than the other – God.
Illustration: I used a rope with three strands to illutrate the Trinity: Three strand rope = three distinct ropes tied together = ONE rope. Another illustration we used in H2O. Steam, liquid, ice = H2O. I also explained to use a hardboiled egg (like I used to) to illustrate the Trinity is incorrect. Egg = three parts of one egg. The Trinity is NOT three parts of one God. The Trinity is three persons who are all God…ONE God.
The doctrine of the Trinity brings together 3 equally essential biblical truths:
- There is only one true God.
- The Father, Son, and Spirit are equally declared throughout Scripture to be God.
- Though one God, the Father, Son, and Spirit are distinct persons.
Question 1: What is the Trinitarian God of the Bible Like?
Answer: He is a God of LOVE
1 John 4:8 (NLT) says, But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
The description of the Trinity reveals 9 truths:
- Yawheh rules over all other gods.
- Yawheh is a person who has a name and wants to relate.
- Yawheh is compassionate to hurting and suffering people.
- Yawheh is helpful and is at work for us.
- Yawheh is slow to anger.
- Yawheh is lovingly faithful
- Yawheh is dependable and truthful.
- Yawheh is forgiving.
- Yawheh is just.
Question 2: What are the Practical Implications of the Trinity?
Answer: Trinitarian life is…
- Humble
- Loving
- Worshipful
- Relational
- Unified and Diverse
- Submissive
- Joyful
Click HERE to listen to the podcast of this teaching.
