Clean Water for All God’s Children
Today’s focus: the growing need for clean water; water is a gift
Props: water jug with gift ribbon around the top
Welcome and Singing
Leader:
Hello again, Mr. Clean Water and Billy Bramble!
Mr. W:
Good morning, Billy.
BB:
Good morning, Mr. Water. What’s the word for today?
Mr. W:
Well, I have a question for you, Billy. Do you know how many people there
are in the whole world?
BB:
Gee, no, I don’t know that. Lots of ‘em, I think!
Mr. W:
There are over 6 billion people in the world, Billy. That’s almost more than
we can even imagine! You know, if that many people stood next to each
other, it would make a line of people from here to XXXXX and back!
(insert
a place that is about 1,500 miles from you – e.g., if you are in Mississippi, the
line would go to California and back)
But every year, there are more and
more, and in a few decades there will be over
7
billion people, then a few
more decades, and there will be over
8
billion.....
BB:
Whoa, stop! I get the picture. So, what’s the problem?
Mr. W:
Well, there are more and more people all the time, but there’s just
the same
amount of water
! See the problem. More people that need water, but the
same amount of water.....
BB:
Oh, I get it. That means that someday there will be even less clean water for
each person than there is today.
Mr. W:
Exactly! (aside: he’s smarter than he looks, isn’t he!) So we’d better learn to
take better care of our water, don’t you think? Water is a great gift. (hold out
water jug with bow)
BB:
Oh, I like gifts! (takes jug)
Mr. W:
Good, because today’s Bible story is about one of the best gifts ever – the gift
of God’s love. Billy, do you remember when you were baptized?
BB:
Heck, no! I was just a baby!
Mr. W:
Oh, that’s right! Well, today we’ll learn about the day that Jesus was baptized,
and God showed Jesus how much God loved him.
BB:
I’m ready, Mr. Water! Let’s get to it!
Leader:
Say, Billy, you look pretty clean today! Billy Bramble has learned a
lot
about
water this week, hasn’t he? And so have we! We’ve learned about how
important it is to have clean water, and not to
waste
water, and to wash our
hands a lot to keep germs away. Water is
soooo
important! I have a question
for you, boys and girls: how many gallons of water does it take to make a
hamburger? 1? 5? 10? 100? Believe it or not, it takes over 1000 gallons of
water to make one hamburger! Think of it, 1,000 gallons! That’s 200 of
these 5-gallon bottles (hold up bottle)! Why, that’s enough to fill up five
Opening Assembly: Day 4
Water as Sign and Gift