2nd Sunday after the Epiphany

16 January 2021

Bible readings for today

Collect

God of Feast and community,
Jesus blessed a wedding,
and turned water into wine.
Let our lives bless you,
and our work reveal the wine of your presence.
Through Jesus Christ our Liberator,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11)

Water into Wine

What you need

Empty jug
Serviette-paper or cloth
jug of water
red food colouring
A table to put your props on

What you do
Before your talk, put a few drops of red food colouring in the bottom of the empty jug. Wrap the serviette around the jug (you might need to tape it) so that the food colouring isn't visible. Have the full and empty jugs sitting on a table nearby as you tell the story.

Say something like: Have you ever been to a wedding? Who can tell me what happens at a wedding? Allow some answers (eg 2 people get married, there's a party, people dance, throw rice, eat and drink, walk down the aisle, etc). Do you know that in Jesus' day, they had weddings, too! And just like today they were really happy times. Everyone would party and celebrate together. The families would spend many days preparing food and bringing in lots of wine. They wanted all the guests to be very happy.

Jesus and his mother and his disciples were invited to a wedding in a place called Cana. It was a beautiful wedding. The bride and groom were so happy and everyone there wanted to celebrate with them and have a good time. Then something a bit sad happened. The host, the person giving the party, ran out of wine. This was a big deal. There weren't any bottle shops that they could just run to. There weren't any Countdown's or Pak n Save's either. Without wine people at the wedding were going to think that the bride and groom's families were cheap and didn't care about throwing a good party. The families would have felt embarrassed and upset. And it could have ruined the wedding for the bride and groom.

Jesus' mother, Mary, saw that the wine was gone and so she went and told Jesus. I don't think she knew what Jesus was going to do, but she knew that he was special and she trusted him to do something. But Jesus just looked at her lovingly and said that it wasn't the right time for everyone to find out who he was (God's Son!) That might have been enough to stop some people, but it didn't stop Mary. She just turned to the servants and told them to do whatever Jesus said! Mary had a lot of faith, and so did the servants. They decided to do what Jesus said even without understanding what was happening.

Jesus saw 6 big clay pots. They were probably this big (use your arms to demonstrate how high and wide they were-- they were big!) and they were very ordinary. No one there would have ever imagined that such regular looking pots would be able to contain a miracle! Jesus turned to the servants and told them to fill all the pots with water-- and they did! Then Jesus did something amazing (Take the jug of water and slowly pour it into the empty jug containing the drops of food colouring-- as the water rises above the level of the serviette, it will be red!).
Jesus turned the ordinary water, sitting in the ordinary clay pots into wine! And everyone had enough! They partied and laughed and enjoyed themselves.

Jesus very first miracle wasn't about healing a person, or raising someone from the dead. It wasn't something big and showy, but it was done with love. Jesus didn't want the bride and groom and their families to be embarrassed or sad. He was kind and used his ability to be loving and compassionate and to make others happy. We might not be able to do miracles the way Jesus did, but we can also use what we have, our talents, skills and resources to help and be kind to others, just like Jesus.

Small group talk

You will need

Bible or Bible story book with the story of the Wedding at Cana
Large bowl (salad bowl will do!)
Water
A large jar or jug
Optional: A protective mat under the bowl if you don't want to get water spilt!

What you do
Read the story of the Wedding at Cana from a child friendly bible, or Bible story book.

Talk about how it was a really special occasion and Jesus was there too to celebrate with the happy couple. Does anyone remember going to a wedding? What do they remember? Most people when planning a wedding will make sure they have enough food and drink for their guests, part of the celebration is offering your guests what they need. The organisers of the wedding must have been really worried when it looked like they were running out of wine as that would have been considered a big embarrassment. Jesus hadn't planned to do any miracles just yet, this was his first one – but he cared about the people involved and did something amazing to help. I bet everyone at that wedding remembered the amazing wine at the end.... Those jars that he changed from the water were really big!!

(set out a bowl in the middle of the floor and all sit around it, place the glass in the middle of it and take turns allowing the children to pour in some water to the glass til it overflows :)

Our God is a God of plenty. He gives us all we need and more but we have to be ready to share with others. Let's imagine we are this cup, we will each take a turn at pouring some water into the cup, to thank God for something, let's see if we have enough things to thank God for to make the cup over flow! (keep going till they've had enough :) If God fills us with his love, perhaps then it means we can share God's love with other people?!

You can stick with the water play if they are loving it (I suspect them will :) or stop and do a craft if that seems right for the group.

Dressing up the Bride Activity

What you need

Either toilet paper (2 rolls per team of 4 players) or newspaper (lots)-- toilet paper is less messy
Tape
Scissors

What you do

Divide the players into teams of 4.
Give each team either 2 rolls of toilet paper or a stack of newspaper.
Have each team choose one person to be the 'bride'.
Give the teams 10 minutes to create a special dress on the 'bride'.
Watch the teams and the time, if everyone is still engaged, you can extend the time.
At the end of the time period, hold a fashion show and give prizes to the teams for their great work.

Kids Talk

You will need

Instructions
Hand out the bibles, do a sword drill to see who finds the verse first then read the passage together, either line by line or select a couple of readers.

What is most striking about this miracle is not just that Jesus was able to change water into wine (after all he is the son of God) or that he wanted to help the wedding couple (we know he cared a lot about everyone) but by how much water he changed into wine. He didn't just make just the right amount for everyone to have 1 drink he was incredibly generous – he made loads! Six big water jars. (you can show the pictures of the wine, which is the equivalent amount, 670 bottles of wine!!).(show the pictures of the wine bottles, there are 650 there :) An abundance. I wonder why he did that? What does it teach us about Jesus? It tells us about what a generous God we have, who gives us more than we need. God is generous in lots of ways, nothing is too much. In the end, God gave up his Son Jesus, to show us how to live better and to save us from when we do wrong. God gives us so much there is too much. There is abundance everywhere in God's creation. There are more wonderful animals in the world than we could ever remember, far too many amazing and beautiful places that we every visit. In creation and all around us we can see God's abundance and his generous ways. In some places we see that things are going a bit wrong – but that is because across the world we haven't learnt to share properly. There is enough food in the world to feed everybody but instead, some people have too much and some have too little.

God wants us to enjoy and accept the wonderful gifts he gives us but we must also remember to share them with others and not hold onto them for our selves. Look what happens when we don't share (show pics of the wasted over produced food) and failed crops.

Our world is not equal, some people have too much and many don't have enough. We all need to learn to share better to make this world work properly! What can we share?

We have shared a little of our money to help make some other people's lives better. We can share our time, spend time doing something for soemone else.

We can also share simple things like friendship and caring! Can you think of some things you are thankful for? Some good things in your life? If we have enough of something, it is time to share it with someone else!
We have certainly been given enough love from God to feel full up and want to share that love with other people. We might be able to make someone's else's day by caring or being especially thoughtful and that inturn might help them feel so much better they help soemone else!

Hand out the paper strips and get them to write, draw or stick some things on the strip to represent something they have enough of, or blessings, or what they are thankful to God for (this can lead onto the Overflowing Cup craft)

Clay pot craft

What you need

self hardening or air dry clay— enough for about a fistful per child
plastic sheeting to cover the table
water
trays to put the clay pieces on and a place to let them dry
acrylic or tempera paint (following week)
paint brushes (following week)
water based sealant

What you do

Cover your workspace with plastic to protect it.
Work the clay in your hands to warm it a little. If it's too dry, you can add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If it gets too wet, roll the clay on a piece of newspaper (which will absorb some of the water)
Roll the clay between your palms to make a ball.
Hold the ball in the palm of one hand and and press the thumb on your other hand into the top of the ball to make a hole. It's good if your thumb goes to about the middle of the ball.
Put the ball on the table with the hole facing up. Gently pinch between the inside of the hole and the outside of the ball, working evenly all the way around the ball. This opens up the hole to form the bowl.
Shape the bowl by pinching gently between the inside and outside, thinning the sides of the bowl.
Smooth the clay by rubbing the sides gently with your fingers. Dip your fingers in water to help you smooth the clay When you're satisfied with the shape of your bowl, make it stand by adding a ring or flat circle of spare clay to the bottom or by gently pressing the bottom against your workspace to flatten it.
Allow the clay to dry; the time will vary depending upon the temperature and weather conditions, as well as the brand and type of clay that you're using. A week is a good amount of time
You can paint the clay pot. Water-based paints (eg acrylic or tempera) are typically safe for air-dry and self-hardening clays; consult your clay's instructions for more ideas and safe ways to paint the clay.
Once the paint has dried, seal the bowl with a water based sealant.

Overflowing cups

You will need

Plastic cups
Strips of paper
Other paper to decorate, and collage material, sequins, etc.
Glue
Tape
Scissors
Pens

Instructions
Let each child decorate strips of paper with words, pictures or items that represent things that they would like to thank God for. This might include people, places, natural objects, possessions- let imagination run free. Glue or sellotape one end of each paper strip to the inside of the cup and let the strip ‘overflow’ out of the cup.
Allow time for the children to share their creations with each other and to celebrate God’s gifts!

2 Corinthians 12:1-11

Power in weakness

Guiness Book of Records

What you need:
2 Corinthians 12:9 bible verse printed out in words, with some images. There are several different versions of this reading, depending on your favourite bible translation:

NIV: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"
CEV: “My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.”
Message: "My grace is enough, its all you need"

If you children are older, words should be fine, but you may like to include pictures or different colours to help kids remember the words.

What you can say:
Today we are thinking about a reading from Corinthians - this is a letter Paul wrote after Jesus had left earth. Paul was a great leader, preacher and a man of God. However, even he had his troubles and he gives us lots of ideas of how to live a good Christian life. It is an interesting snippet from his letter - who wants to read it out?
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (You can change this depending on your favourite translation, or one that you think would be better for your kids)
From this Bible reading, there is one important, very important thing I want you to take away - to remember when life is difficult, or you feel you can’t do something, God is strong. God's grace -- his love, his kindness, his forgiveness -- is enough. Its all we need.
Game:

Put the verse jumbled up at one end of the room and encourage kids to take turns running tot he end and bringing a piece back to the group. If you don't want to make it a team game, you can challenge them to try and get the order of the verse correct within a time limit.
Repeat and reduce the time allocation they have -- they should get faster with practice!

Today we are going to find out who is the weakest and who is the strongest.
Here is the test, you have to hold out these two (bottles of pop or cans of food, something fairly heavy so that it doesn’t take too long if everyone has a go! Maybe bring cans too in case the bottles of pop are too heavy :-)
Time all those who have a go (write up their times on the white board).
You could look at the Guinness Book of records for some facts about the strongest people in the world

Salt Dough - Weak, To Strong.

This Salt dough craft will take some time to make, so you might like to start your session with this activity, or bake it after the session and have the pieces ready for the following week.
You will need:

I or 2 batches of salt dough
cutters, butter knives, rolling pins, straws, etc.

What you do:

Our craft today needs some time to bake so we will start with the craft!
Explain that we are thinking about how with God, so much more is possible. “I am giving you some of this soft salt dough to make yourselves with, I want you to remember that we are soft and weak - and then we will put ‘you’ into the oven to bake (you might need to bake them some more at home) and you will see how the figure hardens up and becomes stronger - this is how we can feel stronger inside as we let God more and more into our lives to help us.
Hand out everyone a lump of salt dough and get them to make themselves.
If you have some people cutters you could bring them and some rolling pins or bottles.
Other than that they can use butter knives, cocktail sticks, straws etc to give them decorations.
When they’re ready to cook, get the kids to whisper in their figures’ ears, something they want God to help them with, or to do better.

Cornflour Slime

Why cornflour slime?!
This activity helps kids play with the idea of strength and weakness. The unusual slime can be both strong and weak!
You will need:

Cornflour
Water
Food colouring
A bowl
A tray

What you can do:
Put the cornflour in a bowl, along with a couple of drops of food colouring. Add the water in slowly, stirring gently to combine the solution. You can pour this into a tray for children to play with.
The cornflour slime will remain a solid when pressure is applied (punch, or push firmly), but also be weak when you handle it gently.
You can watch some instructions in the youtube link