Hi All: I am working on a "Doubting Thomas" Gospel magic routine which I should post here under this heading by next Tuesday night. It would not shock me if similar routines were written in the past on this particular passage from the book of John- you may know of some already. But I don't at least. I will give it a go anyway and post my routine here as soon as can. It uses standard props that are widely available. I will actually "perform" it for the first time before or after this Easter for our Lighthouse Kids! Sunday School. The 2017 "Lenten" season has now begun, a special time of the year for Christians worldwide.

Love your Routines Roger - I do hope you post it!

Thanks Jamie, I am going to post my routine in the next post below. Just some generic overall comments first: I put in my Google search box "Doubting Thomas Kids Story" and I was amazed how much material came up for free that can be printed out including a "Just Us Little Guys Easter Series-Lesson 6" on how to make "Jesus is Alive! No Doubt!" bookmarks; Another great lesson at www.pursueGod.org (Lesson 1 of 3 in the No Doubt About it! kid's series); And "Doubting Thomas" from April 11, 2012 from "Children's Sermons Today"; among a ton of others. So the basic story can be expanded out into many areas of discussion for the kids to think about, you could easily use this trick as part of an entire Sunday School lesson. Since I don't want to blow up The Magic Café' detailing word for word an entire long Gospel magic routine, I will post below a basic outline so readers can get the basic gist of it and expand on it more on their own.

Tricks needed (available at many fine magic dealers and not limited to www.PenguinMagic.com and/or www.AmazeKids.com ):

"Crystal Thief" by Vernet Magic; "Always Empty Always Full" by Vernet Magic. I believe these two tricks are now available as well combined as "Jumper" by Vernet Magic. See "Jumper" demonstrated on the Penguin Magic site or Danny Orleans demonstrates it on the Amaze Kids site. This will show you the basic trick handling itself for the following Gospel routine. "Jumper" comes with two solid red silks. I will not describe the trick itself in detail below, you can watch it performed online to see what it looks like without the Gospel patter. You can also view it on www.youtube.com by putting "Jumper by Vernet Magic- Trick" in the search box.

Also needed: TWO 6 inch "Jesus" silks for magic tricks (see them sold at but not limited to www.silkmagictricks.com ) I prefer these to the red silks and they are extremely reasonable in price. I think these silks are produced by Magic by Gosh. It is harder to find these smaller sized silks, the larger ones are widely available.

Plus you will need either some thick white tissue paper or regular white paper to cover the "Crystal Thief". All the items for this Gospel illustration are very moderately priced and you need very little table or magic stand space to hold these small yet visual props.

As my custom for my kids Sunday School class, I will first call up three kids and each have them read off a poster board the Scripture for the trick. The three passages to be read (New International Version) are: John 20: verses 19-22; John 20: 24-25; and John 20:26-29.

After each kid reads his portion out loud, I will have them sit down (so I will be the only left on the platform when doing the trick). I prefer the way Danny Orleans performs Jumper rather than in the Vernet/youtube presentation where two people are on each side of the magician basically nodding their heads in amazement for no apparent reason.

Your comments to improve on this Gospel routine below would be appreciated! I also want to credit my Pastor (Doug Swink) for the "nickname" for Jesus idea:

THE ROUTINE BASICS:

"When I was a student at The University of Michigan way back when, the football coach's name was Bo Schembechler, maybe some of you have heard of him. When he was asked a question in an interview about just anything, especially when talking about the team Michigan would be playing next, he'd always say something like "They are a great team, no doubt about it!" or "He's a great opposing quarterback, no doubt about it!" or "We better be ready to play or we are going to get beat, no doubt about it!" Bo did not want his players to doubt his warnings to play hard every time."

"Do you know of any sports players who are known by a "nickname"?- like Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, the great Tiger baseball pitcher. Or "Babe" Ruth, also known as "The Great Bambino" or "The Sultan of Swat." "Air Jordan" is Michael Jordan. Another baseball pitcher was Jim "Catfish" Hunter. Maybe you've heard of the civil war commander "Stonewall" Jackson. Or "Honest Abe" for President Abraham Lincoln. Or what about "Buffalo Bill" or "Billy The Kid" from the Old West? Can you think of any others? (wait for ideas). Did you know that Jesus was called something too, he has sort of a nickname as well: He was called the "Friend of sinners". (Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34) What a great nickname- that is what I hope everyone calls us- you __________ (give a kids name) are a "friend of sinners", or you ________, or me, "Roger, friend of sinners", just like Jesus is still today- bringing joy and hope and compassion to all those in need."

"Today we are going to learn about another disciple that obtained from this Bible story a very very famous nickname, one that sticks even today. When you get home today or after church, ask an adult if they know the nickname for Thomas in the Bible- and they most likely will say "Doubting Thomas!". How did he ever get that name? And this story has a happy ending- what we already learned from the Bible verses that were first read- Thomas is no longer a doubter, praise God!"

"Let's review this fantastic Bible story in its entirety. We know that the disciples met in a room all by themselves- it was first very empty- Jesus was not hiding behind a chair or something. Since I can't pick up an entire room to show you, I will show you this empty black tube- everyone see that it is empty? And after everyone when into the room (take your fingers and pretend you are placing invisible little disciples into the tube, clicking your tongue each time you "drop" another disciple into the room- do it 10 times)- "I know you can't see these disciples- they are teeny tiny- but pretend they are all going into the room- and then the Bible says they locked the doors behind them for fear of the Jewish leaders that might be after them as Christ believers. So I am going to put these two solid caps on each end of the tube to lock the disciples in there".

"As you already know, on the Friday before this, Jesus was placed in a tomb(show 6" Jesus silk and put it into the Vernet Crystal Thief which you have previously also shown completely to be empty)and wrapped in a burial cloth" (wrap the tube in the white paper or tissue). "So Jesus was dead in the tomb, and some of the disciples were the room over here (placed on your table), and they never talked together again, The End." (the kids will say wrong, no, etc.). That's correct, you are smart kids and so right, the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead and when Mary Magdalene came to the tomb on Sunday morning, what did she find?" "An empty tomb!" (show the empty crystal thief after tearing off/removing the white paper).

"The the Bible tells us that Sunday night of what we call Easter now, Jesus appeared to the disciples and said "Peace be with you!" And they were very sad. No!, that's not right, they were overjoyed and incredibly happy!"

"But one disciple was not present- and his name was Harry. No? Sammy? Jimmy? (kids yell out)- No- it was Thomas the Train! No, just the disciple Thomas. But he was about to get an nickname that would stick with him for thousands of years since."

"When the disciples in the room who had already seen Jesus (pick up the black Vernet Always Empty Always Full tube) told Thomas they had seen Jesus- Thomas doubted they were all telling him the truth! Thomas said that unless he could see the nail marks in Jesus' hands and put his hand in Jesus' side, he would not believe. Ouch! He did not believe Jesus ever appeared to them in that locked room! Those words really sting, don't they?" And because of what Thomas said right then, he is known even today by his nickname "Doubting Thomas, Doubting Thomas."

"But we continue... The Bible says a week later the disciples including Thomas this time were locked in a room again (show again the black tube with the caps on it), and then Jesus came and stood with them again and said "Peace be with you!" Let's now open back up the little doors of our room here and see if Jesus actually appeared with them in the room?" (Take off cap and pull out the 6 inch Jesus silk)- Wow, He did!" (put black tube back on the table).

"And know, Jesus (continue displaying both sides of the silk) did not try to belittle Thomas for his doubts by saying "Surprise, Surprise Surprise" (like Gomer Pyle would say it) or Boo! Scared You! like Casper the Friendly Ghost. Instead he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side." "And my guess is Jesus said the next sentence very gently to Thomas: "Stop doubting and believe."

"And what does Thomas say, does anyone know? (wait for suggested answers). No way Hosea? No, that's not right. I must be dreaming! No, that's not right either. Instead, Thomas proclaimed to Him- "My Lord an my God!". And I betcha Jesus and all the rest of the disciples then had a big smile on their faces. What a great joyous moment of belief when they knew their friend Thomas believed in the risen Jesus as well."

"Then Jesus said something to Thomas that was really meant for each boy and girl sitting here today and to all the teachers and to me: "Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed; BLESSED are those who have not seen and yet have believed." "Can we see Jesus standing here right now in front of us? No, as the Bible said Jesus later ascended into heaven where He is today, awaiting to come back here to Earth. But we are still incredibly blessed as boys and girls, moms and dads, because even though we can't physically see Jesus like Doubting Thomas did, we can be blessed today by believing on and trusting in Jesus as our Savior. Isn't that wonderful, Yes it is! No Doubt About It! (put silk away)."

We will probably close out with the kids praise or worship song with motions like the "Lord I Lift Your Name on High". I use the motions posted on the Northgate Church videos on youtube (Northgate is in Pittsburgh). These fun song motions are very easy for the kids (and me too) to learn.

OT: You can hear my wonderful Pastor Doug Swink at www.Lighthouseon11th.com Click on "Media" and then videos/podcasts and Doug's sermons can be listened to free online where I "cribbed" the "Friend of Sinners" famous nick names theme for the above routine.

Doug brought me up the platform to say a few words last Sunday February 26- I must have muttered something but in what particular order I could not really say now- I kinda want to listen to that podcast as soon as it is posted to double check if I was half way coherent

As you can tell, Pastor Doug is an enthusiastic Christ follower leading a growing church which is very exciting. He has also been very supportive of our Lighthouse Kids! where my wife and I can serve almost every Sunday morning leading kids worship, doing Gospel magic, watching video snippets, teaching Bible lessons and making neato crafts for the kids to take home.

If you do not have a church home in your area, I would encourage you to find one! My own encouraging experience at Lighthouse (and I am sure there are thousands like it all around the world) is such ongoing blessing and really is needed for me to stay growing in faith and enjoying fellowship and outreach with others.

Psalm 67 everyone, hope to read some more comments/additional ideas below for the above "Doubting Thomas" initial Gospel magic routine... If you have any Gospel routines on any subject, I'd encourage you to share them here as you really have no idea who might enjoy using some or all of them.

This is awesome!

I did the above routine "Doubting Thomas" for Lighthouse Kids! for the first time last Sunday. These same kids see me do "Gospel Magic" almost every Sunday, some for years now. Some routines go much better than others.

The "Doubting Thomas" routine above got a great reaction- the kids were really into the story- and then at the end they were happily amazed. We started out have three kids read the verses, and then throughout the routine I referred back to what was already read.

One little PreK girl at the end said right out loud words to this effect: "Jesus went right from where He was into the other room!".

Anyway, thought I would tell you this routine seemed to really connect with this PreK through 4th graders Sunday School group (who were sitting close enough to see the tubes clearly and see the Jesus silks clearly).

The 6 inch Jesus silks worked perfectly, and the kids really liked it when I clicked with my tongue (and we counted out 11) the invisible 11 disciples going into the "room" (black tube I was holding in my hand) before I locked it by putting the doors (the end caps) onto the "room." Kids have great imaginations and they picked up the story exactly using these simple Vernet props (which also worked perfectly).

OT FYI: I will be posting soon under a new heading my Gospel magic routine for kids entitled something like "Why We Go To Church".

Have a fantastic Palm Sunday this Sunday, Good Friday next week and Happy Easter! everybody. This is a great meaningful "church" time of the year for sure.

The old joke is that on Easter be sure to wish some people "Merry Christmas" as that for many is the next time you'll see them in church again.

I decided to skip posting a separate full routine on "Why We Go To Church". Basically it involved reading three different verses from the Bible on what the Church is and the importance of it is: Christ is the Head of the Church (read verse); The importance of regular fellowship/gathering together for meals and teaching (read verse); and finally the the importance of the Church in being involved in service to widows, orphans and all those with need (read verse).

I used the "Hidden Church Magic Trick Prop" from www.silkmagictricks.com - a dealer which has always had for me fast and excellent service.

You can produce a 6 inch Jesus silk from the empty shown rectangular wooden tube (e.g. from the Hidden Church trick -after the verse is read), then sugar packets (for "fellowship"- often involving coffee!) and a small spring flower production for the "service" portion (e.g. bringing flowers to someone in the hospital to cheer them).

Then at the end- "As a reminder?- what are we talking about again? Why we should go to what? Why do we go to what? - That's right!- CHURCH! And here it is!(lift up outer shell revealing the church which I placed a larger cross on it).

Please note the load chamber for "Hidden Church" is relatively small- you cannot produce out of it a large spring bouquet or more than a few small silks...