Holy Trinity- Week of May 30, 2021

Begin your devotion time by praying this prayer: Holy God, you call us to go out and share a message of your love with other people. Remind us that we are not alone in this calling, and help us use our words and actions to walk in the way of Jesus’ love. Amen.

Reflect on the Way of Love together: This week’s practice on the Way of Love is GO. Sometimes going out and sharing God’s love with other people is scary. What fears might get in the way of people sharing God’s love?

Adult and Small Child

Read: Isaiah 6:1-8

Reflect: Isaiah volunteers in this Scripture and says, “Send me.� (Isaiah 6:8, NRSV) He is not fully aware of what he is getting himself into by volunteering. He knows that he believes and has seen God. He is willing to do whatever is asked of him. When have you helped someone? Maybe a caregiver asked you to pick up toys or help clean up the table. Can you think of a time that you volunteered or offered to help someone? What about helping God? Did you know that by helping others you are also helping God? One of my favorite hymns is “Here I Am, Lord.� This hymn talks about helping others and being willing to go where God directs us to. Do you have a favorite song? Does the song make you feel happy or remind you of someone? This song reminds me that God has a purpose for me and that I will go where God needs me.

Respond: Play “Red Light, Green Light� but with a twist! The caller who normally says, “green light� should turn towards the runners and say, “Whom shall I send.� Then the runners will take off towards the caller after responding “Send me� until the caller says stop! The first runner to reach the caller wins and gets to be the caller at the next game.

- Kelly Benz

Adult and Elementary

Read: Isaiah 6:1-8

Reflect: “Here I am; send me!� (Isaiah 6:8, NRSV) This is what Isaiah says when God asks, “Whom shall I send…?� After this God sends Isaiah to go and tell his community some hard things. Some truths that are difficult for his community to hear.

Have you ever been in a situation when you feel like you must do something? Maybe it is helping someone when they are being picked on or bullied. Maybe it is giving someone a hug when they need one or being a friend to someone who is friendless. Maybe it is just holding the door open for someone or telling someone to have a nice day.

Every day I encounter situations where I feel God is asking “Whom shall I send?� Somedays I am like Isaiah and I have the courage to say “Here I am!� I pray that we all have this courage to respond to God by going where God invites us to go.

Respond: Saying, “Here I am!� can be hard and scary. As Jesus followers, this is a daily invitation from God. Today, pay attention to how God is calling you. Where is God inviting you to show, either through words or action, that you are here and ready to go and spread the Way of Love? Try to tell or show people God’s love this week.

- Malcolm McLaurin

Adult and Youth

Read: Isaiah 6:1-8

Reflect: “Here I am; send me!� When I was younger, I was afraid saying that to God meant I might have to move far away. It took a little life experience to understand that God is trustworthy, so wherever God calls will be the adventure of a lifetime. Regardless of whether or not we’re called to lands far away, we are always “called,� in whatever situation we find ourselves, to whatever person crosses our path. We’re “sent� to whoever is next to us with the message of God’s love. I remember feeling this most profoundly was when I was first hired as a full-time youth minister. My office needed paint, and the church sent me to pick out a color. I walked into the store with the very profound sense that whatever I did in there, I was a MINISTER, and I was representing the church I worked for, and also Jesus; there were people who might need to see Jesus in me, and I was the one who got to show them! It was just Home Depot, but it’s where I was sent by God in that moment.

Respond: What’s your schedule coming up this week? That’s where God is sending you. That’s your call: to show God’s love in the store, to your family, at church, at school, at practice. The people you’ll encounter are the ones on God’s heart, the ones to whom God needs someone to go and love. Think of everyone you will encounter and the spaces you’ll be in. Is there someone God is bringing to your mind to show particular care? Are there ways to bring love into your spaces? Write some cards? Bring snacks to share? Each person you meet, that’s the one to whom you are called by God. God is sending you!

- Sally Ulrey

Adult and Adults

Read: Isaiah 6:1-8

Reflect: In this text, we read about the call of Isaiah, one of the prophets. The prophets are people called by God to share a message to God’s people. The prophets we read about in Scripture share messages with many different themes: themes of warning and judgement, of hope and liberation, of God’s love and mercy. The prophets were called and sent by God to challenge God’s people to be faithful and remind them of God’s faithfulness, even through the toughest of times.

Isaiah’s call follows the same pattern we see in the calling of other prophets. First, the prophet has an experience of God (in Isaiah’s case, it’s a vision of God in the temple.) Then, God gives the prophet a mission or message, to which the prophet denies being worthy of fulfilling. Finally, God addresses the denial and reassures the prophet that they can complete the task. Ultimately, Isaiah responds to God by saying “Here am I; send me!� (Isaiah 6:8, NRSV)

Although I’ve never experienced God through a vision like Isaiah, I have felt God’s call in my life. I have also denied being worthy of this call. But, in the midst of my self-doubt and questioning, God reminds me that I am not alone and that I am equipped to go out and share a message of God’s love with all people. I wonder to where God’s call is sending you today?

Respond: Grab a journal (or a piece of paper) and reflect by writing your answers to these questions: what are the ways I notice God calling me to share love with my community? What fears are holding me back from sharing this love with others? Where do I notice reminders that God is with me as I am sent out to live into my calling?

- Victoria Hoppes