The Wonder of Creation To reflect on the wonder of there being a world at all To give examples of how the world is perfectly designed for human life To evaluate whether this means that the earth was designed by God

Imagine you travel back in time to the moment of creation, when the universe and the earth came into being. Write down one word answers to the questions as they appear.

Is the existence of the world, all a plan or an accident?

Were we “planned” to exist, out of love, or just by random luck ?

Can something come from nothing? Could we have been made out of nothing?

Can a big random explosion like the Big Bang, organise itself into a beautiful complex world by itself? Or did something help it to develop in the right way?

Do living things have a reason for existing, or are they “just there”” ?

Who can tell you what really happened at the beginning ? Can science discover what was “before” anything existed? Or is it just guesswork?

Share your answers with your partner 1.Is the existence of the world, all a plan or an accident? 2.Can something come from nothing ? Did “nothing” make us ? 3.Can a big random explosion like the Big Bang, make a beautiful complex world by itself? Or did someone “design” it to be that way?

Tell your something that would be a “description” Tell your partner something, that would be an “explanation” Tell your partner something, that has changed the way you behave, or the way you see things

It looks like the world is specifically made for life, in all sorts of ways. This is very surprising. Why?

Imagine a pack of cards falling to the floor. Would you expect it to fall by itself to make a house? Imagine a bomb exploding. Would you expect all the “bits” in the bomb to put themselves together, and make a world?

The Big Bang 1.Choose 2 of the things that make our world a place where we can live. Explain why life couldn’t exist without them. 2.Do you think the world is like this, by accident, or by God’s plan? Why? **What could a Christian say to a scientist, who said that the Big Bang made the world? The world started with a big bang. Watch the video, and tick off in order all the things that happened after the Big Bang, to make the world a place where we can live. Do you think it all happened this way by accident? 1.The earth is the right distance from sun: if it was closer, we would burn; if it was further away, water would freeze and we would die 2.The right size of the earth means it has enough gravitational pull to hold onto Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide, essential for life 3.The Tilt of the earth as it goes round the sun makes summers and winters the right temperature – otherwise half the earth would be totally cold and dark, while the other side, too hot and dry. 4.The moon is large enough to cause tides: without tides, the oceans would be still, and water would stagnate and smell. No fish! 5.The earth is the right size to have heavy elements like iron and carbon – without them, no life forms. 6.The earth is the right temperature for water to exist in liquid form so there can be life. 7.The earth is in the right position in the milky way – any further out, or closer in, and radiation from space would frazzle us up. 8.The earth spins fast enough to create a magnetic shield around it to protect us from radiation from the sun’s rays

Could it have happened by accident? Could all the things that make the world a place where we can live – could that have happened by chance? How likely would it be? As likely as if you gave a group of normal, untrained monkeys a laptop… and by chance they ended up tapping out the complete works of Shakespeare...! Does this example make you think it is more or less likely that the world could be like this, by chance?? If it is by chance, it is very very incredible! More incredible than believing in God!