Worship at home -  Revd John Howard-Norman

Sunday 31st May 2026 — Trinity Sunday

Welcome friend. 

Wherever you are right now — beside a familiar window, settled in your usual chair, or sitting at the kitchen table, you are not alone. This space is set apart: quiet, unhurried, and held in the love of God. Today is Trinity Sunday. We come not to explain a mystery, but to be drawn a little deeper into it.

Hymn: Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Holy, holy, holy — the ancient song rises again today, as it has risen from countless voices across the centuries. We add our own to it, Lord: not because we are worthy, but because you are. You are the source of all that is good, all that is beautiful, all that endures. In your threefold holiness, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are perfect love: complete in yourself, yet endlessly outpouring and inviting us to be one with you.

Forgive us, Lord, when we have treated you as a distant power rather than a present love. Forgive us when we have taken your mercy for granted; when we have closed our hearts to those around us; when our lives have fallen short of the love you show us. You alone are holy; we come before you as we are. Receive our adoration and our penitence, and hold us in your grace. Amen.

Bible Reading: Matthew 28:16–20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Responding to the reading

The disciples gather on a mountain in Galilee. This is where Jesus has told them to go.

This is where something new is about to begin.

Matthew tells us something wonderfully honest: “When they saw him, they worshipped

him; but some doubted.”

Even here, even at this pivotal moment, faith and doubt exist side by side, and Jesus does

not turn them away. Instead, he comes closer. He speaks not to perfect believers, but to a

community that is still figuring things out. And what he gives them is not a set of rigid

instructions, but a mission rooted in relationship:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”This is one of the few places where we hear this threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. On Trinity Sunday, we pause to reflect on what this means. It is not a puzzle to solve, nor a formula to master. Rather, it is a glimpse into the very nature of God: relationship, connection, love flowing between persons.

The Trinity reminds us that at the heart of reality is not isolation, but community. Not

control, but mutuality. Not hierarchy, but shared life. And into that life, we are invited.

Discipleship, then, is not about recruiting people into an institution or forcing belief. It is

about welcoming others into a way of life shaped by love, a love we see in Jesus, a love

that is sustained by the Spirit, a love that draws us into the heart of God. And then comes

the promise that anchors everything: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Not just when we feel certain, not just when we get it right, but all the time.

For those of us navigating faith with openness and honesty, this passage is deeply

reassuring. Doubt does not disqualify us. Questions do not exclude us. We are still called.

Still sent. Still accompanied.

So today, reflect on this:

- What does it mean for you to be part of a faith rooted in relationship rather than

certainty?

- Where are you being called to share love, not as pressure, but as invitation?

- How might you live more deeply aware that you are always held within the presence

of God?

The Great Commission is not just a task, it is a way of being. A life shaped by connection,

courage, and compassion. May you go into the world not alone, but accompanied—living

out the love of the Trinity in all you do.

With grateful acknowledgement to The Vine at Home and Twelve Baskets.

Hymn: All praise to our redeeming Lord

Prayers of Intercession

God of compassion, we bring you our prayers for your world. A world that is beautiful, yet broken, hopeful, yet afraid. We pray for those whose days are riven by fear and conflict, who wake without the safety most of us take for granted, and we ask for your mercy to reach where we cannot. We pray for your Church, that in our hesitancy and doubt, your Spirit would strengthen our faith and help us always to persevere. We pray that the church might, even in small ways, be the community of love you call us to be. We pray for our streets and neighbourhoods, and for those who are struggling in ways that may never be known, and for all who offer care quietly and without reward. We pray for those who are ill, those who are grieving, and those for whom the days feel long. And we hold before you all who feel lost or afraid. May they know, in this moment, that they are not forgotten. Hear us, Lord. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Triune God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Is calling us. Calling you and calling me. To serve him in the cause of love. We listen now to the words of the hymn, I the Lord of sea and Sky.  

Hymn: I, the Lord of sea and sky

Go gently into the week ahead,

held by the love of the Three-in-One. 

May God the Father ground you in goodness;

may Christ the Son walk beside you in every moment; 

and may the Holy Spirit kindle within you a flame of love that does not fail. 

Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.

Amen.