An Apple for Trinity

This is Trinity Sunday, a day we set aside every year to celebrate our wonderful 3 in 1 God. The Trinity cannot be completely explained by me (or really by anyone else), because we don’t totally understand it. It is a bit of a mystery, so I’ll do the best I can, but remember that this comparison doesn’t explain everything about God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although the word “trinity” does not appear in Scripture, it is taught in Matthew 28:18-19. Some people think God is a very big idea to understand, and God is, but we don’t need to understand everything about the mysteries of God to love God and to serve God with our hearts, our minds and our whole bodies. God loves us. Because of that love, God shows God’s self to us in different ways. Trinity means 3, just like a triangle has 3 sides.

I don’t want you thinking God is like an egg or water or an apple. God made all these things; they are part of his creation. God is greater than this similarity, but it’s the best I can do to help you understand the concept of the Trinity. Does that make sense?

Have you ever eaten an apple? Of course you have. Look at this apple. It is one of God’s creations. It can help us understand that there is still only one God. Have the children name the three parts of the apple, the skin, the flesh and the core. All the parts are uniquely different, but they are all one apple.

There are basically three parts - the skin, the flesh, and the core. All the parts are still one apple, yet they are all uniquely different. Each part of the apple – the peel, flesh, core – have different functions, yet are all “apple” and nothing else. The Trinity [three parts] of God – Father, Son Jesus, Holy Spirit – are all God in different forms. Just as the peel protects the apple – God the Father protects humankind, an apple has flesh – Jesus was God made flesh and the core of the apple, like the Holy Spirit, contains the seeds. Just as seeds of apple trees grow in fertile, watered and cared for ground; seeds of faith will sprout, grow and flourish. The seeds of faith are just that – faith – in God. We Christians need to nurture and care for one another to keep the seeds of faith alive.

Prayer: Dear God, help us to know your love through Jesus, to feel your power in the Holy Spirit, and to praise your splendor in creation. Amen.