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Choose from the following children's sermons:

• The Trinity - Lessons from Family Relations
  by Rev. Randy Quinn

• The Trinity is like Ice, Water and Steam, Trinity Sunday, Romans 8:12-17
  by Rev. Randy Quinn (see below)

• Illustration of the Tripod (scroll down)

• Trinity Sundae (scroll down)

• Three Circles--in One Chain (scroll down)

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The Trinity - Lessons from Family Relations
Trinity Sunday
by Rev. Randy Quinn

Did you know that I have a sister and two brothers?  (Some do; many don’t.)  That means I am a brother to my sister and my brothers.  And we all have the same parents.  So I’m a brother and I’m a son, too.  But I’m also a father to Melissa and Mariah and Jesse.  So I’m a brother and I’m a father and I’m a son.

How can I be all three at once?  (This will be interesting to hear!)

Did you know that God is three in one?  God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – and yet God is only One.

Lots of people have tried to understand what God is like.  And while we don’t know exactly, since no one has ever seen God, we do have some clues from the scriptures.  And one of the things we have come to understand is that God is Three in One and One in Three.  We call it “the Trinity.”

And God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – are all the same, too.

It’s hard to understand completely, but it’s like one person told me this week, God is in heaven and God is in our hearts and God is all around us – all at the same time.  We don’t need to understand it to believe it.

Let’s pray:

God, we don’t always understand all there is to know about you.  We know that you created us and you saved us and you help us continue to live.  We also know that you appeared to people in the Bible, you lived on earth when Jesus was here, and you are still with us.  Help us trust you even if we don’t always understand your ways and your will.  Amen.

 

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The Trinity is like Ice, Water and Steam
a Trinity Sunday children's sermon based on Romans 8:12-17
by Rev. Randy Quinn

Props: (I will begin by setting four things in front of the children:  a bowl of water, a bowl of rice, a couple of ice cubes, and a pitcher of steaming water – though I may substitute instant oatmeal for the rice.)

I don’t know if you know it or not, but ice and water and steam are all the same – they are all forms of water.  Did you know that?  Depending upon the temperature, water comes in three forms:  ice, water, and steam.  So, how do you describe what water is to someone who has never seen it before?  What if you had to describe this stuff to a space alien like ET who had never seen it before, what would you say?

It would be hard to explain without using all three forms of water wouldn’t it?  But none of them could completely describe it by itself either.

It's also hard to explain what God is like since none of us have ever seen God.  So we talk about God in three persons:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We call it “the Trinity.”  God is all three at once.  No one of them fully describes God alone, so we talk about all three.  Just like water can be ice or steam, God can be seen in Jesus or in the Holy Spirit.  They are all the same, yet they are all different.

(The Trinity is hard to understand, so don’t worry too much if you don’t.  Lots of adults don’t understand it, either.)

But imagine, for a minute, that the steam is like the Holy Spirit and we are like this rice.  When I pour steaming water into a bowl of rice, the water disappears and the rice becomes soft and tender.  (I’ll demonstrate, though I’m not sure how effective it will be without letting the rice sit for a while and then tasting it.)

In the same way, when God begins to dwell within us, we also change.  We become something similar to what we were, but something totally different.  Like the hard dry rice that becomes soft and delicious, we change from being strangers to becoming members of God’s family.

Let’s pray: God, thank you making us part of your family.  Thank you for living in us and changing us from the inside out.  While we don’t always understand all about you, help us understand the parts we can see and especially your love that lives in us.  Amen.

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  Illustration of the Tripod
a children's sermon for Trinity Sunday
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Props: three sticks

Good morning boys and girls, who can tell me what we are celebrating today?  This is not an easy question, and the word I'm looking for isn't easy either.   Why don't I tell you?  Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday.

Trinity is a word which means "three."  The church believes that God is three ...and yet, one.  So today we celebrate our one God who is three persons in one.  What do you think are those persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I know, I know, some of you probably want to ask: how can this be? Three persons in one?  Well, you're absolutely right.  This is not easy to understand.  the Trinity of God is one of the great mysteries.

In order to understand the threeness of God a little better, there are some good illustrations from nature.  I brought this morning three sticks with me and I would like to stand them up  (build a tripod).  You see how beautiful the three sticks are standing together?  They support each other.    Just like the three persons in God support each other.

Now, do you think that two sticks propped against each other could stand up?  (let the kids try).  That doesn't seem to work very well, does it?  What about just one stick? Do you think one stick could be made to stand up straight?  Not likely.

so it is with God.  God revealed himself in three different persons and all of these persons have an important task.  God the father is our creator, Jesus is our savior (redeemer), and the Spirit is our helper and comforter.    We need God to be all three in order to stand in our faith.

Let us bow our heads and pray: "Dear God, we thank you for being a great and loving God.  We thank you Father for making us in your image; we praise you in the name of Jesus who saved us from sin and death, and in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.  Amen."

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Trinity Sundae
A children's sermon for Trinity Sunday
by Susan in San Pedro

Props: big block of Neopolitan ice cream, whipped cream in a spray can

Picture a chapel full of children. Chaplain Susan comes out of the sacristy with a big block of Neopolitan Ice Cream on a platter. "What's this?" she asks. "ICE CREAM!" they reply. "Is strawberry the same as chocolate?" "No." "Is vanilla the same as strawberry?" "No." "Are they all ice cream?" "YES!!!"

"Now, stay with me boys and girls, what do we mean when we talk about "THE TRINITY"? (Someone will get "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" ... these are bright kids.) "EXACTLY!" "Is the Father the same as the Son?" "No." "Is the Son the same as the Spirit?" "No." "Are they all God?" "YES!!!" And then -- in honor of Trinity Sunday -- you can pour chocolate syrup over the whole thing and have (TA-DA!) ... TRINITY SUNDAE!!!

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Three Circles--in One Chain
a children's sermon for Trinity Sunday
by Alex in Ohio

I was thinking of cutting out three circles and interlocking them. I think this is an ancient symbol for the trinity. I would say that sometimes there is so much to say about God that we almost don't know how to express ourselves, but we do our best.

I would then talk about the first circle, God the Creator, who created everything, and continues to create. Then I would talk about the second circle, God the Redeemer, who grants us eternal life. And then I would talk about about, God the Sustainer, who keeps sustaining us on our earthly walk. There are three circles, "three persons", but they are interlocking. There is only one God: Three-in-One.