Brendon encapsulates the key elements of the three most brilliant footballers to grace a football pitch in the Sixties. Accept the reality of our One God in three persons and enjoy the blessings of the Trinitarian Presence. I think much of our fear and stumbling here comes with a misunderstanding of what the Christian gospel is all about. As I grappled and hummed, my four-year-old kept listing off question after question—none for which I had an answer.

I have been teaching children’s church for 24 years, and the concept of the Trinity has been the most challenging lesson I have tried to teach. On top of that, she was named Miss Sarasota and will be competing in the Miss Florida USA pageant later this year.Each loop is made of the same ‘material’ (a line or string) and we talked about how each member of the Trinity is made up of the same ‘God material’ too. On one side is the heresy of Sabellius, who taught that God is one in nature and in person, that the Father and the Son are the same person in different manifestations at different times. The Spirit shares the triune life of God by bringing God’s children into the mutual delight of the Father and the Son—and there we become like our God: fruitful and life-giving. Nor did I know that many years later this profound, but simple song would surface as an opening sentence for a blog on The Trinity.

Young children tend to believe their parents are all-knowing and all-powerful, and they feel a sense of safety in that belief. While not the most pious offering, I was thinking of these words the other day and how, to a certain extent, they are true in the spiritual life.For our group, explaining Christ as the fully human fully Divine Son of God is not so difficult, as each of the regulars in our class has a parent who is Japanese and a parent from a different background. A tree by nature roots itself into the soil, grows a thick section in the middle (a trunk), and smaller branches from that trunk. But we can’t wrap the same gift, in exactly the same way, at exactly the same time, because we are two different people. What’s amazing is that Lawonna was a working mom, and often Trinity was with babysitters and nannies growing up. As believers, we enjoy this same intimate relationship with God because he is our Redeemer, and he has adopted us in Christ (Galatians 4:6-7).

One way I’ve seen the impact parents have is in our young adult small group, where we have a space for each person share their life story, a 30 minute to 1 hr long telling of their journey. But Jesus tells us there’s something about a child’s way of believing that ought to be true of all of us. John sets his terms very clearly from his opening sentence: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). He tell us this in John 5 that the Father and the Son do the same, identical work: “Jesus responded to them, ‘My Father is still working, and I am working also’” (5:17). And as someone who serves in youth group and is relatively young, parents often come and ask me to talk to their kids about something because they feel that they are unable to.That God created the cosmos and covenanted with his creation, and told his people his name: Yahweh, the LORD. The city is emerging from its dark industrial past and a new life, for Manchester and for me, is starting. I need that ideal parent who loves me no matter what, who believes in my ability to be who He asks me to be, and who stands with and behind me as I walk the journey of this life. And so the immigrant family in america is isolated, without a social safety net, and second gen kids grow up without seeing other close family members or adult role models. They were pictures teaching theological concepts reflecting the acceptance of the reality of mystery.

She has a BA in English from the University of Texas, a Masters in Christian Education from Dallas Seminary and a D Min in Spiritual Formation from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In fact, my daughter, Lawonna, grew up feeling abandoned by me, and the two of us recently had a candid conversation on a previous episode about that very thing. Augustine points out two historic dangers of the sea-voyage of Christian faith and the doctrine of the Trinity. He spent over 5 years being a full-time caretaker for his parents, while raising kids and while his wife supported the family financially.

This is true when I expound the Bible to our church, because the Trinity stars as the main character in every part of the Bible. the triangular space created at the middle of the knot ] God invites us to live with Him, surrounded by and filled will all His love.