Reflecting God's Nature: The Trinity in Our Lives
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "Research shows over and over again. Let me give you some examples of this. So for instance, say you're checking out the website of that company. Suppose just 45 minutes ago, you were surfing on the web generally, and you happen to click on a link to a sad story, like of a gorilla dying. 45 minutes later, you turn to the website of the company. Research shows you're going to have much lower impressions, you're going to have a much more negative impression of that organization. You're not even going to be aware of that. But what happens is it's called emotional priming. So the emotions that you experience from that sad story of the gorilla, they taint the whole experience and transfer over onto that organization." [21:09]
2. "It's the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army is built all around interdependence. When you join the Army, how you live, eat, drink, breathe, is dependent on someone else in the Army. And in fact, especially in combat, they instill a deep sense that your life, very life, depends on the soldier next to you. And soldiers who experience that interdependence through the Army in combat will report it is the most powerful spiritual bond they have ever experienced with another human being. That's why they say there are no atheists in a foxhole. It's a spiritual experience. They may not consciously attribute it to God, but the power of that experience ultimately draws its source from the triune interdependence with God." [40:36]
3. "Sports teams are a powerful image of the combination of friendship and shared purpose. Because in sports, you have a very clear shared purpose. Win the championship. Right? And everybody shares that and they become friends with one another. Really great teams become friends with one another. And then when they accomplish that shared purpose it is a powerful image of friendship and shared purpose. That is why I love watching championship celebrations. I don't care what sport it is. It could be like rugby or cricket. I don't even care. I'll still watch the championship celebration because it is this exuberant display of friends hugging one another and shouting and kissing and embracing one another because they have accomplished a shared purpose." [44:12]
4. "Well, let me ask you, does nature have any awareness of the Trinity or of God or does a building itself even conscious of God? Is it artwork or even an infant profess any allegiance to Jesus? No. Images do not need to be even conscious or aware to serve their function as images. They don't even need to believe who they're imaging to. They can still image the ultimate source. And so too with secular organizations. That secular organizations also are meant to share in this imaging function of the Triune God." [37:20]
5. "If you want to get to know an individual, sure, pay attention to how that individual makes sense. It makes you feel. But really, what you need to go deeper into is, what are the relationships of that individual, their internal relationships in their family, family of origin, their spouse, their kids? That will reveal who that person truly is. Or their friendships, the quality and nature of their friendships." [24:17]
### Quotes for Members
1. "The real code that you should use to figure out these relationships, it's H-W-T-T-R-T-E-O. How would the Trinity relate to each other? That's actually the genetic code that should govern our behavior and our actions and even our structure of our family, our friendship, and our church. Because we were designed in our human relationships to image the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and how they relate to one another." [35:11]
2. "The relationships within the Trinity. And he will describe some of the key characteristics. of this relationship. Three in particular stand out. The first is there's great interdependence within the Trinity. In fact, we see this in this passage already in John, in the passage where Jesus says, do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? We are completely interdependent, interdependence. A second key characteristic will be the sense that there's a shared purpose between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Again, we see this in the passage from John 13, where Jesus says, the words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, on my own purposes, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. We completely share the same purpose. A third characteristic that Jesus will go throughout, again, drawing in the Holy Spirit at multiple times, is overflowing love. Overflowing love between the Father and the Son and the Spirit recurs over and over in this teaching." [17:32]
3. "Jesus recognizes that the world, human beings, they need some image. They need the, so that if you describe God as Father, Son, and Spirit, human beings may be like, well, what is that like? And they need the image to see how they're like, oh, the Father and the Son and the Spirit. They're like that. They're like that image. And that's what Jesus is saying, is that the human relationships are meant to be that image so that people can say, oh, I get it." [33:10]
4. "And it was God's purpose and his design for relationships to serve as those images so that, that in fact is the purpose of the design, the genetic code, if you will, that God has for these key relationships of family, of friend, and of church. They were meant to image to the world, oh, God is like that." [34:23]
5. "Jesus' purpose was to reconcile to himself all of these things basically to restore all of these images to serve their proper function as imaging and pointing to him that's what it means for him to reconcile all things to restore all of these images back to their connection to Jesus pointing to the triune relationships and notice then Jesus says he is the head that Jesus is the head of the body the church so how will this reconciling work be implemented in the work." [49:11]
6. "And this is why Jesus wanted that night to take his disciples off from their own impressions and feelings and commitments and desires and give them visibility into the internal relations of God, the true source of it all. This is why, in this passage, Jesus says, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. That it's this relationship that is actually the basis of our subjective experiences. But he doesn't say, look, as you have experienced my love, so I have loved you. Or as you have loved me, so I have loved you. Jesus says, no, it goes back to the Trinity. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now abide in my love. Now you are welcome into this love that overflows out to you." [29:12]
7. "And so the church is saying, well, what does that mean? How are we supposed to image God? How is our life supposed to match the gospel of Christ? He says, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith And this is a clear sign to them of their destruction of your salvation and that from God. You've studied this passage, we studied this as a church in our river retreat and Brad has preached on this. You will know Paul is drawing out an image here. This is the image of the Roman army, how the Roman army would lock shields side by side and advance upon their opponents. And then when that happened, when the Roman army formed up like that, it was a sure sign of victory and destruction for the opposition. And this passage works because Paul is appealing to his listeners and say, God is like that." [41:49]
Ask a question about this sermon
1. "Research shows over and over again. Let me give you some examples of this. So for instance, say you're checking out the website of that company. Suppose just 45 minutes ago, you were surfing on the web generally, and you happen to click on a link to a sad story, like of a gorilla dying. 45 minutes later, you turn to the website of the company. Research shows you're going to have much lower impressions, you're going to have a much more negative impression of that organization. You're not even going to be aware of that. But what happens is it's called emotional priming. So the emotions that you experience from that sad story of the gorilla, they taint the whole experience and transfer over onto that organization." [21:09]
2. "It's the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army is built all around interdependence. When you join the Army, how you live, eat, drink, breathe, is dependent on someone else in the Army. And in fact, especially in combat, they instill a deep sense that your life, very life, depends on the soldier next to you. And soldiers who experience that interdependence through the Army in combat will report it is the most powerful spiritual bond they have ever experienced with another human being. That's why they say there are no atheists in a foxhole. It's a spiritual experience. They may not consciously attribute it to God, but the power of that experience ultimately draws its source from the triune interdependence with God." [40:36]
3. "Sports teams are a powerful image of the combination of friendship and shared purpose. Because in sports, you have a very clear shared purpose. Win the championship. Right? And everybody shares that and they become friends with one another. Really great teams become friends with one another. And then when they accomplish that shared purpose it is a powerful image of friendship and shared purpose. That is why I love watching championship celebrations. I don't care what sport it is. It could be like rugby or cricket. I don't even care. I'll still watch the championship celebration because it is this exuberant display of friends hugging one another and shouting and kissing and embracing one another because they have accomplished a shared purpose." [44:12]
4. "Well, let me ask you, does nature have any awareness of the Trinity or of God or does a building itself even conscious of God? Is it artwork or even an infant profess any allegiance to Jesus? No. Images do not need to be even conscious or aware to serve their function as images. They don't even need to believe who they're imaging to. They can still image the ultimate source. And so too with secular organizations. That secular organizations also are meant to share in this imaging function of the Triune God." [37:20]
5. "If you want to get to know an individual, sure, pay attention to how that individual makes sense. It makes you feel. But really, what you need to go deeper into is, what are the relationships of that individual, their internal relationships in their family, family of origin, their spouse, their kids? That will reveal who that person truly is. Or their friendships, the quality and nature of their friendships." [24:17]
### Quotes for Members
1. "The real code that you should use to figure out these relationships, it's H-W-T-T-R-T-E-O. How would the Trinity relate to each other? That's actually the genetic code that should govern our behavior and our actions and even our structure of our family, our friendship, and our church. Because we were designed in our human relationships to image the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and how they relate to one another." [35:11]
2. "The relationships within the Trinity. And he will describe some of the key characteristics. of this relationship. Three in particular stand out. The first is there's great interdependence within the Trinity. In fact, we see this in this passage already in John, in the passage where Jesus says, do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? We are completely interdependent, interdependence. A second key characteristic will be the sense that there's a shared purpose between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Again, we see this in the passage from John 13, where Jesus says, the words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, on my own purposes, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. We completely share the same purpose. A third characteristic that Jesus will go throughout, again, drawing in the Holy Spirit at multiple times, is overflowing love. Overflowing love between the Father and the Son and the Spirit recurs over and over in this teaching." [17:32]
3. "Jesus recognizes that the world, human beings, they need some image. They need the, so that if you describe God as Father, Son, and Spirit, human beings may be like, well, what is that like? And they need the image to see how they're like, oh, the Father and the Son and the Spirit. They're like that. They're like that image. And that's what Jesus is saying, is that the human relationships are meant to be that image so that people can say, oh, I get it." [33:10]
4. "And it was God's purpose and his design for relationships to serve as those images so that, that in fact is the purpose of the design, the genetic code, if you will, that God has for these key relationships of family, of friend, and of church. They were meant to image to the world, oh, God is like that." [34:23]
5. "Jesus' purpose was to reconcile to himself all of these things basically to restore all of these images to serve their proper function as imaging and pointing to him that's what it means for him to reconcile all things to restore all of these images back to their connection to Jesus pointing to the triune relationships and notice then Jesus says he is the head that Jesus is the head of the body the church so how will this reconciling work be implemented in the work." [49:11]
6. "And this is why Jesus wanted that night to take his disciples off from their own impressions and feelings and commitments and desires and give them visibility into the internal relations of God, the true source of it all. This is why, in this passage, Jesus says, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. That it's this relationship that is actually the basis of our subjective experiences. But he doesn't say, look, as you have experienced my love, so I have loved you. Or as you have loved me, so I have loved you. Jesus says, no, it goes back to the Trinity. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now abide in my love. Now you are welcome into this love that overflows out to you." [29:12]
7. "And so the church is saying, well, what does that mean? How are we supposed to image God? How is our life supposed to match the gospel of Christ? He says, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith And this is a clear sign to them of their destruction of your salvation and that from God. You've studied this passage, we studied this as a church in our river retreat and Brad has preached on this. You will know Paul is drawing out an image here. This is the image of the Roman army, how the Roman army would lock shields side by side and advance upon their opponents. And then when that happened, when the Roman army formed up like that, it was a sure sign of victory and destruction for the opposition. And this passage works because Paul is appealing to his listeners and say, God is like that." [41:49]
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