Children's Addresses - River Sunday: The Secret of the Waters

(Children gather round the water feature. They may run their fingers through the flowing water. A puppet for telling this story could be called Aqua or Drip or Blue Raindrop.)

Have you ever had a swim in a running river? What was it like? (Responses) What kinds of things that God created did you find in the river? Reeds? Fish? Slippery eels? Frogs? (Responses)

What's the most important thing in the river? (Responses) The water! And what's so important about the water in the river? What's the great mystery that connects you to these waters? Did you know that one day some bits of water from that river will be in your blood?

Let me tell you my story. My name is Drip. Good morning. Say, 'Good morning, Drip'. I am a tiny bit of water called a water molecule. One day I was floating on the sea under a very warm sun. Suddenly-whoosh-I was in the air, a tiny bit of water floating on the breeze. Higher and higher I went until I reached lots of other bits of water. There were millions and millions of me! We all joined together. And what do you think that big bunch of bits like me is called? (Responses) A cloud!

Well, my cloud got bigger and bigger until one day it was very thick and dark. The wind blew my cloud over Australia, and suddenly I started falling. Down, down, down! Splash! I fell in a big drop of rain. The rain ran down the hill and ran into a river near your home.

Do you know what happened then? (Responses) I was pumped from the river all the way to your house. I was. And do you know what happened to me? (Responses) You drank me? That's right. You drank me. And now you are full of millions and millions of me! Your blood is millions and millions of me! And one day I will leave your body and start my journey all over again.

Each time I go on a journey I land in a different place and someone else drinks me or breathes me in. Where do you think I might have landed in past years? (Responses) Queensland, England, America, Palestine?

Who do you think might have drunk me in the past? (Responses) Your mother? A famous person, like Ned Kelly? What about Jesus?

Yes, that's the big mystery! Jesus drank tiny me, tiny bits of water. And now you drink me too. You go round in circles. You not only have lots of water in your blood, like Jesus did, but some of the very same bits of me that Jesus drank you also drink.

But there's another mystery. Jesus not only drank the same water that we do, but Jesus also says that when we love him it's like drinking a very special water that keeps our spirits inside us alive.

Prayer
God, we thank you for rivers
and for the bits of water we share
that keep us alive. Amen.