Mary Poppins was my favorite movie when I was a young girl. I loved the music, the hats, the umbrellas,and most of all I loved a very big word: supercalifragilisticexbealidoshas. I quickly learned and memorized this huge word and recited it often to my family, my friends and any other person who became my captive audience. I loved how this very big word rolled off my tongue. Saying this big word made me sound much older than I was, but I soon discovered that this huge word had no real meaning. It couldn’t be placed in a real sentence and it served no purpose other than tickling my tongue or impressing those who heard it. This isn’t true about the small word I’ve been asked to define today. My question: Explain the meaning and significance of the trinity, requires me to expose a very small word. (small when compared to supercalifragilistic) but a word that has significant meaning for the Christian church. I’ll start by defining the word, then I’ll show how this word come to life in scripture, and finally we examine how this very small word has a great deal of significance for the Christian church.
Supercalif… isn’t found in any dictionary but Trinity is… Websters dictionary defines Trinity as:
A set of three, the union of Father, Son, and Holy spirit in one God head.
• Use umbrella analogy to describe a simple analogy
• Then elaborate further pointing out the weakness of the umbrella analogy is substituting th 1x1x1 equation as a better illustration.
Discuss where the word Trinity is referenced in the Bible: NOT
• Genesis 1:26 Let us make God in OUR image…
• Deuteronomy 6:4: The Lord our God, the Lord is one
• Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore into all the nations.. baptizing in the name of ..
• John 15:26: When the counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth, who goes out form the father, he will testify about me.
So what? Why is this significant for the Christian Church?
• It sets us apart from other faiths
• It is foundational to our belief system.
• It provides understanding for who we are worshiping
Conclusion, I’ve taken my very brief 6 minutes to introduce you to impress you with a big word… supercalifrag… and to expose a small word that has a great deal of significance for the Christian faith. I challenge you to further study this word and understand how it could further impact you and your faith.
