I have been asked to present a gospel magic trick at a Sunday service where the theme will be 'Water into Wine'. After giving this some thought, I decided that I did not want to turn water into wine! That is what will be expected, but I thought it would be more of a surprise to perform 'Tricky Bottles' because of the do-as-I-do routine, tying in with Mary's "Do whatever He tells you" part of the scripture.

Any thoughts about how 'Tricky Bottles' might be adapted to highlight the application? PM if necessary.

My question to you is did you discuss your change with the Pastor? How will he/she feel about your change or do you have the leeway to do as you want.

I know that if I asked somebody to do a Children's Message, or any other type of message on a topic and then they changed without consulting me I would not be happy and they probably would not have the opportunity to do so again. However, if you were simply asked to present a message, that is an entirely different thing.

I am just trying to make sure that things go well for you.

When Mary told the servants to do what they were told, they did it and had a successful result. In most tricky bottles routines the volunteer is made to look unsuccessful, so I don't think the standard routine would edify the scripture. If you were to start the presentation with your routine, have a few laughs and then talk about how following Jesus' instructions is important, that might be OK.

If your goal is to marry the presentation to the message, use a different routine where the volunteer follows the instructions and is successful. Spinning plates is a good example. If the child holds the stick correctly (follows instructions) and then you place the spinning plate on top of the stick, it's very easy for them to be successful.

I am given a leeway to do whatever I choose, although the theme is 'Water into Wine'.

I like the idea of a 'do as I do' type of trick, and I understand that 'Tricky Bottles' always ends in failure for the assistant. It might be agood idea to do the trick before going into the message, perhaps even ending with a you do as I do with cards (where there is a success).

Of course, I could always use 'Tricky Bottles' where I demonstrate that following what I say to do will only result in failure, which is why we should only follow Jesus and His example if we want to get things right!

I like the way you are thinking. If you have the time, follow it up with a success routine that uses instructions found in the Bible.

Hi Joff, sometimes we may change some tricks or routines, to fit whenever necessary.
Have you thought in joining both tricks somehow, or simple get two pairs of what you need to do the water to wine, and change it somehow?
just a thought.

I've done that several times, and the results are realy great.

But Jesus didn't have a problem with it. Not only that, but his wine was better than the other wine.