Dock
Resource Kit
Sunday sermon, 31 May 2026
Summary
This week Abie explored the Trinity, using a plant as her central analogy; roots (God the Father), flower (God the Son), scent (God the Holy Spirit), she explored how each distinct person of the Godhead invites a different response. The Father calls us to build our identity on the truth that we are lovingly made to love and be loved. The Son calls us to give ourselves away in genuine, costly kindness. The Spirit equips and propels us outward to proclaim Christ through the quality of our lives.
Key Points & Takeways
1. The Trinity is one God in three co-eternal persons, not three separate gods — The plant analogy; roots (Father), flower (Son), scent (Spirit), is an imperfect but helpful picture.
2. God the Father is the unseen foundation — Revealed through Scripture as Creator, Protector, Provider, and Judge, the Father's deepest disposition toward us is love. The fundamental truth, that we are lovingly made to love and be loved, is the root from which everything else grows.
3. Rocks, thorns, and weather make it hard to grow deep roots — The parable of the Sower names the real obstacles: trauma, broken trust, a frightening experience of fatherhood, or simply feeling accidental rather than divinely made. These things are real and God the Father meets us in them.
4. God the Son shows us what the Father looks like in flesh — "If you have known me, you have known my Father also" (John 14). Jesus models what it means to give ourselves away to others: stopping for outcasts, forgiving executioners, making miracles happen. Our task is to follow that example in genuine kindness, not merely social niceness.
5. Coincidences may be divine appointments — Theologian Lisa Harper reframes unexpected encounters not as random chance but as moments God has arranged. The person on your commute, the neighbour at the door these may be Spirit-led invitations to act with kindness today.
6. The Holy Spirit is the scent that draws people in — Just as flowers emit fragrance to attract pollinators, the Spirit produces fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22–23), others can sense before they even know why. A Spirit-shaped life is itself a form of proclamation.
7. The Great Commission sends us out in the name of the whole Trinity — Matthew 28:16–20 explicitly names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To share the good news is to share the full character of God: you are loved (Father), there is an example to follow (Son), and you are never alone in the mission (Spirit).
Dock Discussion Questions
Abie described the roots of the plant as the hidden, foundational parts of our faith the beliefs no one else can see that underpin how we live. What does the "root system" of your faith actually look like at the moment? Which aspects of God the Father's character (creator, protector, provider, judge, loving father) feel most alive to you, and which feel hardest to hold onto?
Abie distinguished between being "nice" (performative, surface-level social grace) and being genuinely "kind" (costly, deeply embodied care that sometimes involves challenge and risk). Can you think of a time when you were called to be kind rather than just nice? What made it hard and what made it worth it?
Abie introduced the idea of "divine appointments", reframing random encounters as Spirit-led opportunities to give ourselves away to others. Does that reframe feel natural or uncomfortable to you? How can you be mindful this week to try to approach seemingly random ecounters as a divine appointments?
The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) are qualities that, Abie suggested, can be sensed in a person before anyone even understands why, like a fragrance. Who do you know who has that quality? What does it look like in practice? And which fruit do you most want the Holy Spirit to cultivate more deeply in you?
Jesus' Great Commission sends the disciples out to "make disciples of all nations... in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." As a group, or as individuals, what is one concrete step you could take this week to more intentionally proclaim Christ through how you live, not just what you say?
Long-form, edited transcript
HEAVEN COME DOWN.
Trinity.
Matt 28:16 - 20
Introduction: Behind the Bar and Before the Trinity
Some of you may know that alongside working here for the last five or six years, I've also worked at a comedy club in Covent Garden — just behind the bar. It's been a really wonderful place to share my faith, because I don't work there very often. So almost every shift, someone will say, "You don't work here much — what do you do the rest of the time?" And I say, "Actually, I've been training to be a vicar." The response is only ever positive. Sometimes sheer excitement, sometimes complete bewilderment — but always positive, and always followed by questions.
A couple of months ago, I went behind the bar and two members of staff stopped me. "Abby, you'll have a good answer to this — what's the bigger sin: drinking or sex?" I said, "Well, I don't think that either of those things are intrinsically sinful in themselves, but yes, they can be used in sinful ways and in ways that cause harm and abuse." One of them said, "Oh, I didn't know you were a Christian." His colleague replied, "I'm a Muslim." And then: "So you worship God?" "Yes." "So you worship Jesus?" "Yes." "How can Christianity be a monotheistic religion if you worship two gods?"
I had a very surreal moment, finding myself behind the bar whispering "Let me tell you about the Trinity" — while Russell Howard performed on stage just a few metres away. So this morning, I am going to tell you about the Trinity.
A Necessary Disclaimer
There are many models of the Trinity, and after three years of theological study I can confidently tell you: it's complicated. Trying to comprehensively explain the nature of an omnipresent, omnipotent, all-powerful, and everlasting being is really difficult without slipping into some form of heresy — and I will be actively trying to avoid that this morning. God is complicated to explain, and I'm not sure our human imaginations can ever truly do him justice.
So with that disclaimer in mind, on this Trinity Sunday I would love to explain the Trinity in the way it was explained to me when I was a child — and to share how learning about those aspects of God's character and nature have helped to inform my faith. I'm not trying to comprehensively cover every dimension of the Trinity; I'm going to explain it by means of this plant.
The Plant: Roots, Flower, and Scent
About twenty years ago, on the clifftops in Norfolk at a beautiful Bible camp, someone explained the Trinity to me using a plant — and it has stuck with me ever since.
In this pot there are roots. I can't see them, but I know they are there, underpinning everything. I was told they are like God the Father: the bit that underpins everything.
Then we have the flower — the physical bit that we get to see, to touch, to tangibly enjoy and experience. That is like Jesus, God the Son: the bit that people got to see and experience.
And then the man explaining this to me sniffed the flower and said: "This is the scent. You can walk into a room and know that flowers are there long before you see them." Back in 2022, when the Queen died, I walked to Green Park to see the floral tributes. You could smell your way there from the tube — the fragrance of the flowers was so pungent. That scent, he said, is God the Holy Spirit: the bit that is emitted out into the world, invisible but unmistakably present.
This analogy is not without its flaws. It can imply an order — roots first, then flower, then scent — but that would be theologically wrong. In Genesis, God says "Let us make man in our image", implying the many persons of God from the very beginning. And "the Spirit of God hovered over the waters." To suggest that God made humanity, then when things went wrong sent Jesus, and then when Jesus ascended released the Holy Spirit, would be incorrect. All three persons have always been, and will always be.
There are little Easter eggs throughout Scripture that remind us of this. In Genesis, we read that God walked in the garden — an ancient understanding of a physically present God long before the Incarnation. The prophets speak of "the Spirit of the Lord" already at work in his people, long before Pentecost. The plant analogy has its limits, but I still find it helpful — and we do seem to see something of that order in the way the persons of the Trinity are introduced to humanity. The Old Testament generally follows the story of the Israelites and their relationship with God the Father. The New Testament begins with the Gospels and Jesus' time on earth. And the book of Acts tells the story of the first Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
So this morning we will consider them in that order — not because it is a perfectly accurate analogy, but because, whilst being one God intrinsically interlinked, the three persons inspire and inform us in distinct ways.
The Staff Prayer: A Framework for the Sermon
Every Tuesday our staff team meets to worship and pray together, and we always close with the same prayer — a prayer that calls upon each of the three persons to guide us through the day. That is how I am going to preach this morning: through that prayer. And at the end, we are going to say it together.
God the Father: Roots — "Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to you in every way"
Thinking first of God the Father, we turn to the roots. These are the bits of our faith life that no one sees, but that underpin how we inform our lives and what grows from us. What do the roots of your faith look like? When you call out to God the Father for help, who are you calling to — and what do you know about him? To be true to God, we must first know who he is.
For the people of the Old Testament, without the example of Jesus to follow, how did they come to know God? Genesis tells us that God is our Creator — that we are made to be like him. Exodus tells us that he is our Protector and our Provider — that we are made to be loved by him. The Prophets remind us that God is our Judge and our Ruler — that we are made to worship and obey him. And throughout it all, whether in the highs or the lows, we are reminded that we are loved, precious, and worth fighting for.
This is the character of God the Father as revealed by the Old Testament. These are the roots that our faith should be built upon. This is also the character of humanity — who we are made to be. We are lovingly made to love and be loved.
To be true to God in every way means to appreciate this not just in a shallow "okay, I guess God loves me" kind of way, but for this truth to be foundational in the way you live your life.
But sometimes it is hard to accept that truth, and it is hard to grow good roots. Jesus tells the parable of the Sower:
A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Matthew 13:3–9)
There are things in this life which will make it hard to grow good roots — and hard to come to know God as Father. Perhaps you feel more accidental than divinely inspired, and cannot imagine there being a God who created you. Or you struggle with feelings of control and have well-earned trust issues, so you cannot imagine a God who will protect and provide. Or your experience of a father figure has made you feel scared rather than secure, so the idea of a God who rules over you makes you feel defensive, not safe.
I have a toddler — a very strong-willed one. At least a couple of times a week I find myself locked in a battle with her about brushing her teeth, or eating a vegetable, or — this week — not wearing fluffy Christmas pyjamas when it is thirty-four degrees. She is screaming and fighting and resisting, and I just think: I wish you knew how much I loved you. I wish you trusted me.
And maybe, some days, God our heavenly Father looks at us with the same furrowed brow as we determinedly try to put on the Christmas pyjamas. I wonder if he looks at us and thinks: "I wish you knew how much I loved you. I wish you trusted me." Because knowing that will change your life. It will be the root and the foundation from which your faith will bloom.
We pray: Father, help me live this day to the full, being true to you in every way — because we believe that fullness of life comes from knowing him, and from knowing who we are called and created to be through him.
God the Son: The Flower — "Jesus, help me give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet"
The second line of this prayer turns us to Jesus — represented as the flower. Jesus Christ: the tangible, living, breathing, physical person of God. He says in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." And in John 14: "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know him, and have seen him."
Jesus references the fact that he is of the same nature as God the Father, but also distinct — a physical embodiment of God on earth, tangible and able to be encountered. In this analogy, the roots are what we believe and what underpins our lives; the flower is what we do, and how that plays out practically.
How do we give ourselves away to others and be kind to everyone we meet, in a way that recognises that our neighbour is not just our friends or the people who are like us, but everyone? We look to Jesus. He made the most of every opportunity: stopping for a chat with social outcasts at wells and up trees, making miracles happen even when he proclaimed "it is not yet my time", speaking up for those on the margins, leading the way of reconciliation, and forgiving his executioners in the very act of being crucified.
I recently saw a debate about the difference between being nice and being kind. Being nice can be performative — surface-level, about social graces or maintaining harmony or simply pleasing people. But to be kind is more than that. It is not about learned social behaviours. It is about genuine, deep care; deeply embodied values. And sometimes it means taking a risk — challenging our neighbours in order that they may come to know the character of Jesus.
Here is a question I would love to invite you to sit with: to what extent do you believe in coincidences? How much do you believe that things just randomly happen — when you completely randomly bump into someone you haven't seen in ages, or leave the house at the same time as your neighbour, or notice that same person on your commute who somehow stands out to you?
I fairly regularly quote an American theologian called Lisa Harper. When she was talking about this, she said she doesn't call these coincidences anymore — she calls them divine appointments. Remembering the tangible, physical example of God who walked this earth, she says:
"Maybe, just maybe, the Lord has put this person in my way today. Maybe he's calling me to do something in the life of this person — to be kind to them today. Maybe it's not a random encounter, but a divine appointment that the Lord has arranged for me."
We pray: Jesus, help me give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet — because we remember that Jesus gave himself for us and we are saved by grace and called to follow in that example, so others may also come to know him.
God the Holy Spirit: The Scent — "Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say"
Lastly, we turn to the Holy Spirit — the scent of the flower. We remember the fragrance which cannot be seen but is pungent and powerful in its effect.
Flowers create scents using tiny molecules called volatile organic compounds. Their purpose is to attract pollinators: they put out beautiful smells so that bees and insects are drawn to them, helping them to fertilise, reproduce, and spread. And perhaps the Holy Spirit was given to us in much the same way. He is an encouragement, a helper, an advocate, and a catalyst — to help us spread the word to others, so that others may see, hear, grow, and flourish.
When the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples at that first Pentecost, they did not remain in that room celebrating amongst themselves that they were right. Rather, they pulled themselves out into the streets to proclaim this to everyone else — not just in what they said, but in how they lived for the rest of the book of Acts. As 2 Timothy reminds us, it gave them a spirit of boldness, of confidence, and a determination: this must spread. Others must know. We must continue to grow.
Galatians 5:22–23 lists the fruit of the Spirit:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
These fruits grow within us. And sometimes they can be experienced and expressed through physical, tangible acts — like the ones Jesus showed us in his ministry. But sometimes they are more like the scent of a flower.
Just as you can tell there are flowers in a room before you see them, wouldn't it be wonderful if — through the fruit of the Spirit — people could sense these qualities in us before they even knew why? You know when you meet someone who just has an air of peace about them, or an air of joy, or an air of gentleness. You want to be their friend. You want to know why and how. Whether you too could be a part of this. Just like a bee following its nose to a flower, people would come to discover faith through our divinely inspired spirits of joy, gentleness, and peace.
We pray: Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say — because we know that we are never alone, and that what we proclaim in the way we live our lives is powerful and pungent, and will bring people to Christ.
The Great Commission: Go
The lectionary reading for today is the Great Commission, at the end of Matthew's gospel. It feels like a poignant passage for me to preach on today — my last Sunday here. Jesus says:
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:16–20)
Jesus is physically leaving his disciples and saying: I will be with you always, to the end of the age. Today I am physically leaving this church — but I will be with you always, to the end of the Windrush line.
Jesus' last message to his disciples is to share the good news of the Trinity. Share my character. Tell everyone about all the different parts of me. God the Father reminds us that we are lovingly made to love and be loved. God the Son reminds us that we are called by grace and called to follow in his example. And God the Holy Spirit reminds us that we are never alone in this mission.
One God. Three persons. And an eternity to get to know him better.
Closing Invitation
If you don't fully have your head around it all today, that is okay. I encourage you to pick one aspect of what has been said. If you already knew it, thank God for it. Thank God that you already know you are loved. Thank God that you already know you are not alone. And if you didn't — if any of this feels new, or distant, or hard to believe — then as we sing, I would encourage you to pray that God would reveal it to you. That he would reveal to you that you are loved, that you are known, that you are created, that you are protected. Ask God to reveal that. And then ask again tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that. Every day, getting to know him that bit more intimately.
Let us stand and pray together — to our trinitarian God, remembering all these bits of his character, and what each aspect of his person is for you:
Closing Prayer
Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to you in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.