God Is Three Persons (Matthew 3:13-17; 28:18-20)

 
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Series Setup
Sermon Slides

Food for Thought

  • Ice Breaker: What pictures, analogies, metaphors, etc. come to mind when you try to understand or explain the Trinity? Which common ones have you heard? (EX: ice / water / steam; three-leaf clover; pizza in three pieces; three ingredients [water, flour, yeast] that make bread; etc.)

    • God already spoke about himself in terms we can understand: Father, Son, and Spirit. Though we can never fully understand the Trinity, what do these word pictures uniquely communicate about our one God who exists in three persons?

    • Do your natural thoughts, feelings, experiences about fathers, sons, and spirits make those word pictures harder or easier for you to understand or relate with the Lord? Why?

  • Read Matthew 3:13-17. Where does the Trinity show up here?

    • Jesus, The Son: If he didn’t have sins to repent of, why would he choose to identify with sinners by “getting in line” with them at the river and being baptized just like them?

      • What does this say about how he identifies with you personally?

      • And what did he do so that you could identify with him in righteousness?

    • The Father: What does the Father do in this story?

      • Why does he say that? And what did Jesus do to deserve it? (…a bit of a trick question!)

      • If the Father said that about Jesus before he started his ministry and after he identified with sinners in baptism, then what can the Father say about us in Christ?

    • The Spirit: What do we see him do in this passage?

      • What did that mean or signify to Jesus and those around him?

      • If the Spirit did this before Jesus started his ministry and after Jesus identified sinners, then what does the Spirit do over (and in!) those of us in Christ?

  • Read Matthew 28:18-20. How is the Trinity involved in our baptism?

    • By extension, how are the Father, Son, and Spirit each involved in our salvation?

      • How are the needs of the world distinctly met because of each of his three persons?

    • With all of this about the Trinity in mind, what kind of relationship with God are we baptized into?

      • How can you deepen your relationship with the Lord through a renewed sense of relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit?

Reflection Questions

  • How might your life with God be missing His fullness by undervaluing the reality of the Trinity?

  • ​How does the Father’s unearned delight over Jesus rewrite your standing, your shame, and your identity?

  • ​What would it look like this week to live from the Father’s approval, through the Son, by the Spirit, rather than working for approval?

 
Core ChristianityScott O'Donohoe