What are we looking for?
5 minutes
Ask the group to take a pen and piece of paper. Give them a few minutes to either draw a picture or write some words that describe who God is. Ask individuals to share what they have created.
How do we know what we should be looking for?
10 minutes
Say: We often have different ideas about who God is. Affirm some of the responses from the first activity, then explain that in order to know what we’re trying to prove exists, we need to understand what the Bible says about who God is. Split your group into three and assign these verses, asking them to share what they say about God:
• Job 37:23 and Psalm 147:5 – God is very powerful and all-knowing.
• Genesis 1:2 and 1 John 4:2 – God is Spirit.
• Genesis 21:33 and Psalm 90:1-2 – God is eternal and not bound by time
KEY POINT 1
The biblical picture of God isn’t another object that sits in our universe, but rather the author of the universe who reveals himself through his creation. It is from this created universe that we can begin to work backwards to prove that God exists.
Who started it?
15 minutes
Form two teams of equal size, each making a line, joining hands and facing their opponents. At the end of the lines, place a chair with a tennis ball and stand at the other end, ready to toss a coin. You are about to play the pulse game. Toss the coin revealing it to the end player on each line. For ‘heads’, they send a pulse by squeezing the hand of the person next to them, for ‘tails’, they do nothing. If a correct pulse is sent, a team wins a point by being first to pick up the tennis ball. If a team picks up the ball by sending a pulse incorrectly, deduct points. Rotate people’s position in the lines as you go. Ask:
• Why did the person at the end of the chain pick up the ball?
• If the person next to them hadn’t squeezed their hand, would they have bothered to move?
• Who do we hold responsible for picking up the object? The person who grabbed it? The person who sent the first pulse? The referee for flicking the coin?
Point out that the person that went before in the chain was always responsible for causing the next person to move: it was a case of cause and effect. Say: the universe is clearly much larger and more complex but it works in a similar way. An argument for the existence of God, known as the cosmological argument, suggests that we as humans exist because something has caused us to exist, and that chain goes back to the first human and the start of the universe. But what caused that very first cause or movement which brought the universe and human life to begin to exist? Just like our game, it had to be something that sits outside the line of cause and effect. We call this ‘first cause’ God.
KEY POINT 2
God must have had an existence outside the universe in order to create it. If he exists outside the universe, he must be non-physical, ‘spiritual’. Alongside physical things, time also came into being when the universe began, so if God existed outside the universe, he could not be bound by time (as time didn’t exist) so he’s ‘eternal’. This fits with the Bible’s description of God.
It’s all in the design
10 minutes
Split into two groups, giving out three squares of paper and an envelope containing instructions. One group’s set of instructions will say, ‘Use the three squares to complete the task.’ The other group’s will say, ‘Use the three squares of paper to create a dog, a fish and a fox.’ This envelope will also contain simple origami instructions from premieryouthwork.com/ links. Compare the finished products from each group. Say: Another argument used to prove God exists is the ‘design’ argument. In its simplest form, it argues that everything in our universe is too complex to exist purely by chance and must therefore be designed for a purpose by a designer. Christians recognise this designer as God. The intentionally designed origami, created with a plan and purpose were much more complex than the other group’s.’ When a designer is involved, complexity follows.
KEY POINT 3
Christians believe that we, as humans, are too complex to have come about by blind chance. Our design is proof that a designer, God, exists.
How complex am I?
20 minutes
Gather amazing facts about the human body. Here are some examples:
• The liver has the ability to grow back if part of it is removed.
• About 10,000 human cells can fit on the head of a pin.
• The average human heart beats over 100,000 times per day as it pumps blood around your body.
• Your skin, the largest of your organs, regenerates itself approximately every 30 days.
As well true facts, create false, but similar, facts. Read the facts and ask your group to move to a different side of the room depending on their answer, before telling them the correct answer. As humans, these amazing facts about the human body suggest we are, as the Bible says, ‘Fearfully and wonderfully made’ - designed by something greater than chance.
Create an outline of a person on a large sheet of paper and place it in the middle of the group. Read out Psalm 139, stopping when you come across a word or phrase that reminds us how complex or special we are. Write this inside the person and write anything about who God is on the outside. Finish by praying, thanking God for choosing to design us as he has. Pray he would continue to reveal his purpose for our lives as we trust and serve him.
