Jungschar Retreat Session 1

Everything that begins to exist has a cause

The universe began to exist

Therefore, the universe must have a cause

Everything that begins to exist has a cause

Who, or what company, do you think made these things?

iPhone

Book

Chair

Food

House you are in

All of these things are desgined, therefore they must have a designer!

The universe began to exist

We know this is true, because we live in it!

We see evidence of it

Therefore, the universe must have a cause

If everything that begin to exist has a cause, then that must mean that the universe has a cause.

What do we know about this “cause?” In school, they will call it the Big Bang

Big Bang

Since the school’s teach it, let’s assume that the Big Bang happened.

There was nothing nothing nothing and then BOOM. Something! Ok, very well.

What can we know about the cause of the Big Bang?

They tell us that that matter, which everything is made from, came into being from the Big Bang. So, whatever caused the Big Bang to happen must be immaterial. It must not be made of matter.

Uh oh, that’s strange. That doesn’t quite fit into evolution’s theory. Ok, let’s keep going.

Whatever caused the Big Bang must have been really, really powerful!

Whatever caused the Big Bang to happen created the whole universe! That sounds like a pretty powerful Force to me!

Whatever this Force is, the cause of the Big Bang, it needed to be outside of time, since time and space came into being with the Big Bang. So whatever caused the Big Bang must be timeless.

Finally, whatever caused the Big Bang must have had a will.

They must have chosen to do it for some reason, since they were not acted on by anything else. You cannot act on something timeless and immaterial. This is what we call an agent. Not like a secret agent, although those are pretty cool too. An agent here means that something is like a person.

So let’s take a look at what we have so far.

Many people believe that the Big Bang started the universe, time, space, and matter. Everything was created by this Big Bang.

We also know that:

Everything that begins to exist has a cause

The universe began to exist

Therefore, the universe must have a cause.

…So we have to ask? What, or Who, caused the Big Bang?

Well, for the reasons listed above, since matter began to exist only after the Big Bang, the cause, or the reason for the Big Bang, was immaterial. Not made of matter.

It was (is) timeless, since time began with the Big Bang. If time existed before Big Bang, and if this thing caused this Big Bang, then it is outside of time and therefore timeless.

It was super powerful, only something incredibly powerful could have created the universe.

It had a will, because this thing must have been in existence for all eternity, and nothing can act on an eternal being.

Do you have any idea who this person could be? Does it sound like anybody you’ve ever heard of before?

This thing, or Person, is omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, and a Person with a will. Does that maybe sound like… God?

And maybe, instead of saying the Big Bang, we could say that this was the moment that God decided to create the world and everything in it?

We believe that God is the only explanation for the created world around us. Not just of creation, but of man’s purpose, man’s destination, morality, logic, reason, everything. Christianity gives us a full and rich understanding of who we are, why we are here, what our purpose is, and what true happiness, what true flourishing is.

We believe in Christianity for so, so many reasons! Philosophy, logic, reason, morality, science, history, archeology, all point to God!

But what is even more important than knowing all of these reasons, is simply knowing who God is by reading about Him in the Bible. You see, you can have all the reasons in the world to believe in God, but if you don’t know who He is or what He has done for you, it’s all pointless.

Genesis 1:1

Ephesians 2:10

Romans 3:23

Romans 6:23

John 3:16

Romans 10:11

This is what God has done for you.

Gospel message, summarizing these 5 verses.