Today we are talking about water [hold up a jug of water]. In the Bible [hold up the Bible] we hear a story about Jesus talking to a woman, and he says that he can give her living water. Living water! What could that possibly mean? Where do we see water in our world? [have the children answer… out of our taps, rain, lake, swimming pool, ocean]
Water is all around us. Did you know that 71 per cent of the world is covered in water….most of the world is covered in water!!! That’s a lot of water!! Water gives us life. In the world winds move around the world and pick up water, and drop it as rain, which lets plants grow. The water moves on the ground, flowing in streams and rivers down to the lake or the ocean, where the sun and the wind picks it up again, and the whole cycle starts again. Water is always moving to give us life.
Water is also in us, in our own bodies. We have water in our eyes, which comes out as tears, we have water in our mouths, we can spit, our brains in our skulls float in water…we need water to live. We have to drink water every day to stay healthy. Did you know that around 60% of our body is made up of water. Water is in us, most of our body is made of water. Our blood is mostly water, and it moves all around our body giving us life.
We need water! we can’t live without it, we can’t live without it moving in our bodies, just as the earth can’t live without water moving.
God created this amazing world, with all this water, that brings us life. When Jesus was here on earth, he said that he was bringing living water. He was bringing us love, the love of God. Love is not something that you just hold, like package or a box. Love is like water on the earth, or in our bodies. Love is circulating, it is moving around, it brings life to people everywhere. And Jesus came to tell us that wonderful message!
One thing that you can do is share love with the people around you, and one way you can share love is by bringing them a drink of water. Jesus told us that even if you bring one cup of cold water to someone, God sees that, and says that is good. Because it’s a sign that you are caring for someone! You think, “They are thirsty, I will give them a drink.” So I am sending you home with a mission. I want you to look and see if someone you know is thirsty, and if you think they might be thirsty, you can go and give them a cup of cold water. And I want to give you each a cup of water, in case you are thirsty [hand out little paper cups of water to the children and pour water for each of them].
When we drink water this week, let’s think about how important water is in our bodies and in our world, and give thanks to Jesus for giving us living water.
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.