Third Sunday of Lent

Full to the Brim: You Are Worthy

Rev. Benjamin Van Zetten Bruins will be preaching at Trinity on March 20.
Full to the Brim: You Are Worthy” | What can one do with a fruitless fig tree? Can our worth be calculated based on our productivity? The gardener in Jesus’ parable wants to see fruit growing but knows growth always begins in the roots, under the surface. We’ll reflect on the patience of God in waiting for us to bear fruit and the hope we can hold for our loved ones who seem stuck in a season of fruitlessness.
Luke 11:1-9

SERMON RESOURCES

– Rest as a form of Social Justice An NPR interview the self-titled Nap Bishop talks about rest as a means of resisting injustice.
– Richard Rohr’s Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go talks about God’s willingness to take on the risk of our freedom and the growth of transformation is beyond our ability to control or initiate. 
– Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead is always good to return to. For this sermon, John Ames’s delight in the reality of a loved one’s existence is a luminous reminder of the way God sees worth in us all.

 

Online Service

Please use the following links for this week’s worship. You may wish to prepare your communion elements before we begin.

Order of Worship

Meeting Link

Meeting ID: 827 4872 5884

Password: 247155

In-Person Service

We begin at 10am on Sundays. We have a short fellowship time, then Second Hour programming for adults and kids after the service.

1) Masks are optional for all participants. Masks will be worn by kids program adult volunteer.

2) Physically distanced sanctuary seating (by household or group)

Elders will serve individual communion element servings at the front. (You may bring your own elements for partaking at your seat.)

TRINITY KIDS

Below are details about kids’ programs for this coming Sunday! Masks will be worn by all participants and teachers (to the best of the kids’ ability).

Worship Hour (10:00 – 11:10)

Infants – 2 Yrs old — Nursery (9:45-11:15) — Main Level

(in the church office hallway)

3Yrs old – 5th Grade — Children and Worship – Upstairs

(begin service in Sanctuary, leave together after Passing the Peace)

3’s – PreK (rm 301), K – 2nd (rm302), 3rd – 5th (rm 304)

 

Snack Time (11:15 – 11:30)

All Kids — Basement Classroom (distanced) – Lower Level

 

Second Hour (11:30 – 12:15)

Infants, Toddlers, & Preschool

– Little Lambs Rm. – Lower Level

K-2nd Grade

– Basement Classroom – Lower Level

3rd – 5th Grade

– Lounge/Library – Main Level

 

Volunteer Schedule Links

ADULT 2nd HOUR (11:30 – 12:15)

Series on Bathing by Craig Hanson

Is bathing a luxury or a necessity? In many ways, it’s both. 
Craig Hanson is adapting a course he teaches on bathing for a 3-week Second Hour series at Trinity. 
We are exploring how bathing moves between extremes: from idealized glamour to ordinary bodies that need cleaning, from ritual purity to carnal delights, and from birth to death. 
We’ll ask questions about privilege and access to clean water. 
We’ll consider the meaning of scenes such as the mass baptism in O, Brother Where Art Thou?
Come on in, the water is fine!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congregational Meeting | On April 10 after the service Trinity will have our spring congregational meeting. We’ll elect consistory members, whose names will be published soon. We’ll also invite people to brainstorm ideas for ways Trinity can live into our vision and values. Consistory is creating a new Vision & Values Implementation Team that will implement goals in order to help us live out our values and live toward our vision. 

Getting to Know Trinity | The next Getting to Know Trinity seminar (formerly known as New to Trinity) will be Sunday, April 24 from 11:30 pm to 1 pm. In this seminar, we find out more about Trinity‘s history and values, discuss Trinity’s style of worship, invite questions, and explore what membership at Trinity means. Plus there is lunch and a tour of the building, including the mysterious third floor. Please rsvp to benjamin@trinityreformedchurch.org and include any dietary restrictions or preferences.

Maundy Thursday Service | For the first time in two years we will have an in-person option for the Maundy Thursday service. This year’s service begins at 7 pm on Thursday, April 14. We’ll update our hand washing tradition to make it more hygienic and encourage people to wash one another’s hands within household units or small groups.

Updated COVID Prevention Policies | Consistory updated several of Trinity’s COVID era practices knowing that these policies can be changed again should the prevalence of the pandemic in our area change.

The goal of these changes is to be hospitable to those ready for less COVID risk mitigation while also being hospitable to those who want to continue practicing a higher level of COVID risk mitigation.

Consistory members invite your feedback about these policy changes and your suggestions about how to make Trinity more hospitable.

  1. Effective immediately, wearing masks is optional for people coming to worship and attending onsite meetings. We are still requiring masks to be worn by people serving communion, working in the nursery, or leading Children & Worship services.
  2. Effective immediately, we invite people to Pass the Peace with whatever kind of greeting the person you are greeting welcomes. We’ll need to pay attention to one another and honor all requests for a more distant greeting. A hand outstretched for a fist bump clearly means “no thank you” to arms opened wide for a hug. It may seem like extra work, but peacemaking is worth the effort!
  3. Starting in April, we will serve communion at the table with pre-sliced, gluten free bread and individual glass cups of juice. Servers will hand bread to individuals. People will be able to partake of the elements at the table.
  4. Starting on Easter Sunday, April 17 we will offer coffee/tea and snacks after the service.

Eric Verhaar Memorial Plant Sale | On May 7th the Verhaars will host their annual plant sale. You may pre-order your hanging baskets this month. Please Order by March 30th via this link.

 

PRAYERS

Send us prayer updates and requests: benjaminbruins@gmail.com  sarah@trinityreformedchurch.org.dream.website trcoffice@trinityreformedchurch.org.dream.website

Please sign up for our email list in order to receive prayer updates and requests.

 

GIVING

Don’t forget, you can send your offerings to Trinity via the “Give” link below or you can sign up for a regular automatic contribution by using the ACH Draft button.