Taste
WELCOME TO WEEK 3
What’s the best way to know if something tastes good? You taste it! It’s fun to taste test different foods and discover new foods we might like. Good tasting food is beset discovered by experiencing it. We can get a taste of who God is by experiencing Him and trusting him in good and bad times.
BIBLE STORY
There are many animals that God created that possess a lot of power for their size, or are just very powerful animals! Listen to these questions and see if you can guess their strength or power.
Those are amazing facts about the power God gave those animals. For as powerful as they may be, God’s power is far more amazing. This week we will see howJesus shows people a taste of God’s power. God can take one thing and turn it into something completely different and new! When Jesus was at a wedding feast they ran out of wine and they needed more. It would have been a disgrace to run out of wine to serve their guest! Jesus turn regular water into something completely new, wine! Only the power of God can make something turn into a completely different thing. Let’s see what happened in the story by reading from the Bible.
Read or listen to John 2:1-11
Where was Jesus and his disciples? (At a wedding feast)
What was the problem that occurred at the wedding? (They ran out of wine)
What did Jesus’ mother tell him? (They have no more wine)
What did Jesus reply to His mother? (My time has not yet come)
What did Jesus tell the servants to do? (Fill the jars with water then take it to the master of the banquet)
Did the master of the banquet know where the wine had come from? (No, he didn’t know but the servants knew)
What did the master say to the bridegroom? (Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then as the ceremony goes on they bring out the cheap wine when no one will notice)
BIBLE STORY ACTIVITY
Activity
What Jesus did when he turned the water into wine, was not a trick or an illusion. The servants witnessed regular water they poured into the jars turn into real wine that the master of the banquet tasted and said was better than the first wine served. The servants witnessed the miracle as they did what Jesus asked of them. Turning water into wine can only be done by the power of God. Think of some tricks you may be able to do. Show your trick to your family and see if they can figure out how you completed your trick. Then tell how your trick is different from a real miracle God can do. For example: I made this coin appear from behind your ear, but Jesus made a coin appear from the mouth of a fish. Help your child compare their trick to a real miracle if they have a hard time thinking of miracles from the Bible. Only God has the power to perform miracles, we are only able to change the appearance of things, but God can change something into a new thing.
Materials: various items for your talent/trick
Alternate
Try to turn water into wine or juice. Take a glass of water and add red or other food coloring (just a little to change the color). Ask Do you think we made juice? Let’s taste it and see if we made a wonderful juice. This really just tastes like water, we may have changed the way the water looked, but we didn’t really change it into something new. Let’s try again with another glass. How can we make some sort of juice? Discuss what it would take to make juice. We can’t turn water into juice, but we can turn fruit into juice or a smoothie by physical change. We’ve not really made something new but instead changed the form of the fruit. God can change something into a new thing, but we do not have the power to do what God can do. Let’s make juice or a smoothie from our fruit. Blend fruit with a blender to make a fruit smoothie or use a juicer if you have one.
Materials: Water, food coloring (red), variety of fruit, blender or juicer
Independent activity:
In the Bible Jesus continued to perform many more miracles throughout his ministry. Turning water to wine was the beginning of his ministry but there were even more powerful miracles performed to show people God’s power. Think of other ordinary items Jesus used to perform a miracle. Use the following activity sheet to tell of a miracle Jesus performed using that item. If you can not think of the miracle, try doing a search using an online bible.
Materials: printed activity sheet
ARTS & CAFTS
CRAFT 1
Coloring page
Materials:printed coloring sheet, crayons or other coloring utensils
Craft 2
Coloring page
Materials: printed coloring sheet, crayons
FOLLOW-UP
Read or listen to Psalm 34:8-9
Taste and see that the Lord is good is a very visual wording for discovering more about God. When we eat food, we use our sight and our taste to discover food and determine if it is good. When food is presented to us in an appealing way we are more likely to enjoy the flavors. God is tell us to taste and see that He is good. God wants us to experience Him not from a distance or just on what we hear, but to experience Him for ourselves. We can see God in every part of our lives and recognize that our blessings come from Him. God is not distant from us but near for us to be in relationship with Him. We can experience food not just for its’ taste but also because it is good for our bodies because it gives us nutrients that we need to survive. We can depend on God to be enough to supply for our needs and give us the good things He knows we need. When we trust God in the good and bad times, we are experiencing God in a closer relationship for ourselves.
Have you ever heard of a delicious new dessert or candy that you’ve never tasted?
How do you really know if that special dessert is good?
How does tasting the dessert for yourself help you know for sure if it is good or not?
Can we know God really well just from hearing others experience God?
How can we get closer to God and experience Him for ourselves?
Is it easier to trust God wants what is good for when everything is going well or when its going bad?
How can we learn to trust God when everything seems to be going wrong?
Practical Application at Home
Think of your favorite dessert or candy and taste it if you have it on hand. If not, taste another dessert that you really enjoy. Think of all the words you would use to describe this favorite food. Describe how it looks, taste, smells and how it makes you feel.
Using a sheet of paper, divide the paper in half. On one side write the name of your dessert on top then list below it all the words you thought of to describe it. On the other side of the page label it God/Jesus and then list all of the words you would use to describe your experience with God. We may not share this exact list with others, but notice the words you use to describe God, try to share who He is to you with someone you know this week.
We all experience God through our good and bad times. No ones experiences are exactly the same, but we can trust that God is the same throughout time. He is trustworthy, he is faithful, and he is just. Our lives may not always go the way we want or thought it would, but we can trust that God will be faithful through it all. Trusting and relying on God through all of our experiences will strengthen our walk with Him and bring us into a closer relationship with Him. This does not mean life will be perfect, but we can wait and trust God’s perfect plan for our lives. What He wants more than anything is for us to live in relationship with Him.
Materials: Sheet of paper folded in half
Additional Resources
Outings to Reinforce Lesson
Enjoy the cool weather and take a nature walk. Observe the things God created and how they work together in His plan. What part do each of us play in God’s plan for us?