From time to time, I will be inserting magic tricks that have been used by the mighty Alfonsey to spread the word, into this website.Please use them with my blessing in your children's time/homily. While the tricks are all common magic illusions, the patter and the presentation offered here are my own and therefore copyright. They may not be reprinted or distributed or offered electronically, or in any other form without the permission of the copyright owner.

Magic Water Colour Change: copyright 1997, by The Rev. Dennis Dolloff
Equipment needed:
2 identical clear glasses with rather heavy (thick) bases
a small bottle of food colouring, (red works best), that can be dispensed in single drops.
less than 1/3 of a cup of chlorine bleach
a stir stick or popsicle stick (just in case)

Theme: God loves us and takes away our sin.

The Illusion: A glass of water that has been deliberately coloured by food colouring, becomes crystal clear. This is easily accomplished by the bleach, and if done properly, will amaze your audience. In fact, I can't imagine messing this illusion up. It is completely self-working. You start with one of the glasses filled with water, and the other with about 1/4 inch of bleach covering the bottom. (Don't let anyone see you covering the bottom of this glass. Once it is done, the clear bleach will look like the bottom of the glass. Two or three drops of food colouring in the glass of water will colour it nicely, and add a translucent colour effect. You then pour the coloured water into the glass with the bleach, and presto! the colour disappears. (note: be sure to experiment a few times, and try this trick to be sure you how much bleach you need to make the colour disappear quickly. If you are adventurous, ask a child to add the drops of food colour, but make sure they understand... only a few drops!)

The Patter:
Today, I'd like to talk with you about how much God loves us. Has any one here ever been sinful? Well, maybe I might ask if anyone here has ever been bad? (see if anyone responds... you might even put your own hand up.) The bible calls being bad sin. And of course there are many kinds of sin, but I don't want to talk about the kinds of sin, I want to talk about how to fix it.

You see, we are all rather like this drink of water. (point to it, or lift it up) Without sin, we are clean and clear. But when we sin, it changes our lives! Sin is like adding this food colouring. (put in a few drops, and stir) You see, the whole thing changes with just a few drops. I used red colour today, and that is pretty, but sin is not! God doesn't want us to take our clear lives and hearts, and mess them up with sin. But we have a great magic in the love of God.

The best thing about God, is that God loves us dearly. God even sent his son Jesus to earth because he loves us so much. Even though God doesn't want us to mess our lives up with sin, he gives us a way to fix our lives and make them clean again if we do sin. You may not know this, but if we love God, and ask God to forgive us, and we really mean it, He will forgive us. And then our lives become clean and new again.... just likethis water will now become clear again. (Pour the water from the one glass in on top of the bleach. It's colour should disappear immediately. The effect is great!)
God loves us so much that he sent his Son into the world, that we might be forgiven for our sins!