I Wonder Week 2

What kind of ending are you into when it comes to movies, books, or TV shows? Do you like a nice wrap- up, or do you like endings that leave you wondering? In other words, how much resolution do you need? (Communicator Note: Show the last few moments of two different movies that illustrate this point. The clips should be fairly short, and one movie should show a cliffhanger while the other shows a fairytale ending.)

Raise your hand if you like a nice bow tied at the end of a story. A happily ever after? An “everyone is happy and ends up with who they should” ending?

Now, raise your hand if you prefer some mystery. Does the couple end up together? Was the sketchy neighbor the murderer? There are so many questions left when it’s all said and done, but you’re totally fine with it.

Last week, we started to talk about this idea of wondering, and we said that when it comes to science and faith, there is a lot for us to wonder about. We ask all sorts of questions about how the two go together or even if they go together. We wonder how to make sense of science and faith and what can sometimes feel like a tricky relationship between the two. And all of that wondering can sometimes create a pretty uncomfortable, uneasy, or just confusing feeling. In other words, our wonder can create tension.

TENSION

There are actually a couple of different tensions we feel.

● Maybe we experience tension because we’re told if we wonder or ask too many questions about God, it means we don’t have enough faith.

● Maybe we feel tension because all of the questions we have, don’t always feel safe to ask. It’s like you have to pick a team when it comes to science and faith, and just feeling curious about one is betraying the other.

● Maybe we feel tension because people tell us we should feel tension, but we honestly don’t!

Basically, the tension really comes down to this for many of us: There is a lot we wonder about in science and faith, and sometimes it feels more like a tug-of-war between the two. When that’s the case, it can feel like if we just had the answers to our questions—if we didn’t have to wonder as much—we could understand more, experience LESS tension, and not feel like we had to pick team Science or team Faith. Now, there are a lot of ways to talk about faith, and here’s what we mean when we say faith in this series: Faith is a confidence in who God is and how that informs the way we live.

It makes sense we feel some tension around our questions about science and faith. For some of us who’ve grown up coming to church, some of the questions asked in science classes can seem to clash with what we were taught at church. Or, if we’re new to church, there’s a chance that what we’ve been learning at church doesn’t line up with what we’ve been taught from our science textbook. Or, maybe we’ve noticed how much the world seems to be talking about science. They might not say the word science every time, but we hear things like . . .

● Fitness influencers talking about diets that can improve your muscle mass (biology)

● Weather reporters and activists talking about the climate (climatology)

● Tech companies for social media platforms changing their algorithms or making self-driving cars

(technology)

● Space travel (astronomy)

● Cryptocurrency and NFTs (computer science)

That’s all about science! And sometimes, the kind of stuff we hear on the news or read on the internet seems to raise questions about what some Christians say.

Maybe you know what I mean. Because maybe, you’ve found yourself asking questions about science and faith. Questions like . . .

● If there was a worldwide flood, why do some experts seem to say, “maybe not”?

● Why do energy, crystals, and other things that fall somewhere in between science and faith seem

to be trending now?

● Does evolutionary theory prove that God didn’t really create everything the way Genesis says?

● Do I have to pick between “having more faith” or “taking medicine for my anxiety?”

(Communicator Note: Feel free to adjust this list to match what your students might be hearing/wrestling within your local context.)

Honestly, we could keep going. Science, medicine, faith, the Bible, and how all of these things go together is something we all wonder about.

So, where do we go with our questions? What can be trusted? Who can be trusted? If we end up questioning ONE thing about science or faith, does that mean we throw out EVERYTHING we

think about those things?

Maybe most of all, we wonder . . .

Do I have to shut down my brain in order to believe in God? And do I have to shut down my faith to believe in science?

TRUTH

These questions aren’t new. People have questioned how God, the Bible, and science all work together throughout history.

Let’s break down something one of the first Christian leaders, Paul, wrote about this very idea. Paul is the guy who wrote much of the second half of the Bible. After his life was transformed by an encounter with Jesus, Paul went from wanting to stop Christianity from spreading to encouraging and inviting people to become Jesus-followers. Check it out:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:15-17 NIV).

Paul is saying that Jesus was there at the start of creation. Christians believe that Jesus is actually God in a human body. In Jesus, the whole world was created. He was behind it all and in it all. Jesus was present before everything. Not only that, He’s the one holding all of creation together today!

If that sounds confusing to you, you aren’t alone. I am not sure how that works exactly, but what Paul is saying is, “Jesus was there at the start. So, when we put our confidence and trust in Jesus—in the WHO—we are trusting Him for the details of creation from the beginning of time that we may never know.”

This isn’t about God versus science. God made science! We don’t have to decide whether to put our confidence in a scientific theory OR something the Bible says. We put our confidence in WHO is behind all of it. The stuff we know, and the stuff we don’t. The answers we have and the questions we still have. God is in it, and God is bigger than it.

See, our faith is not built on being able to prove theories about how God created the universe or whether traditional understanding of specific events is completely accurate. Instead, our faith is built on a Person, Jesus, who we believe is the Son of God and who is behind all scientific understanding. Not just someone we imagine exists, but Someone who real people saw in real life and wrote about it. And, He is Someone real people in this room have a real relationship with right now.

When we put our trust in Jesus, who was there at creation and is continuing to hold all of creation together today, and we believe that He is at the center of everything—even if we don’t have an explanation for how it works—it means that we can keep searching for answers and exploring science without having to abandon or ignore faith in Jesus.

YOU CAN TRUST SOMEONE BEFORE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING.

Many people live by this. In fact, Galileo is one of those people. He was a famous Italian scientist who lived in the 1600s. Among other things, he invented a telescope that was able to see farther into space, confirming what a few brave scientists had suggested before: that the earth was not the center of the universe. The only problem? Most Christians, especially the powerful ones, thought this went directly against what Scripture said. Galileo famously said:

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”

In other words, God made our brains, and God would want us to use our minds to better understand the world God made—even if it means rethinking old concepts as we learn more. In fact, when some pretty smart people asked Jesus what the most important commandment was,

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37 NLT).

Did you catch that? Jesus said, “with your . . . mind.” Galileo knew what I want to make sure you know, too. Our faith is built on a Person—Jesus. To put it another way, we don’t need to pick a side between God and Science because God is bigger than all of it. We don’t need to make enemies out of God and science.

When you learn something new that doesn’t necessarily line up with what you’ve read or heard in church, it doesn’t mean you have to choose one or the other. It means you turn towards the Person behind the faith you have. Take all that you are wondering and all you are questioning and bring it to God.

What challenges our faith doesn’t have to destroy our faith. The tension or discomfort we feel doesn’t have to be a disaster for us. In fact, challenges and tensions can grow our faith in a new way, because even when we don’t see the how, we can still be connected to the WHO behind it.

Think about it this way...

APPLICATION

What if I told you that I was going to give you tickets for a flight to Hawaii right now? Who would have NO problem getting on a plane? Go ahead, raise your hands.

Keep your hand up if you know the scientific explanation for exactly how an airplane, a 175,000-pound piece of metal, flies.

If you don’t have your hand raised, does that mean you’re turning down a flight to your dream vacation destination? Of course not! The reason you’d fly even without knowing the full explanation of how flight works is because your faith isn’t in an explanation; it’s in the pilot, the technology, the aircraft! You trust that the pilot knows the science behind flight and has the needed answers to get you to your destination.

Every time someone flies, they’re putting their faith in a person, not in their own knowledge of the science behind flying,

The same is true when it comes to placing your faith in Jesus.

You don’t have to know everything in order to trust Someone. We are never going to have all the answers to every question raised about what we believe. That’s okay. Wondering is okay, and not knowing the answer to something doesn’t have to keep us from knowing and trusting Someone.

In other words, you can not know and know. You can trust science and trust God. You can pursue answers and knowledge that come from science. You can also leave room for the mystery and wonder that are a part of faith. You can keep learning, keep looking for answers, and keep following God. You can rest in the fact that you don’t have to know everything in order to trust Someone.

In fact, if you don’t hear anything else today, I want you to walk away knowing that there are two key ideas you should consider as a result of everything we’re talking about:

1. You should ask questions.

Take all your wondering to God. Being a Christian isn’t about having all the explanations for everything you wonder about. Having questions and asking them does not make you less of a Christian. God is okay with your doubts, questions, and you exploring the science behind “how” God created everything. God actually created your brain; God made science. This means that the very fact that you have questions is a way to see God as a real part of your everyday life. The fact that we are curious is evidence of a God who is beyond us.

2. You can trust Jesus.

The same Jesus who Paul said was there at creation—who is in it all and holding everything together—is the One who went so far as to willingly die to show us how much we are loved and cared for. So even in our wondering where we don’t find the answers we want, even in the tensions and questions that don’t make a lot of sense, there is one thing we don’t have to wonder about. We don’t have to wonder about the God at work in everything. We can trust there is a good God involved. And when it feels like there are things that aren’t making sense, we trust the Someone behind it all because we know that Someone is GOOD. Our faith is in a Person—Jesus. and because Jesus is fully God and fully human, we can put our faith in who Jesus is and what He did.

LANDING

What if everything we’ve talked about today has the potential to change the way you think about what it means to be a Christian? Imagine if this could help you build a faith that will last through the questions and the wondering that science raises. Imagine if you’re confronted with those hard questions, and you’re able to remain confident in the Person of Jesus. This is what is possible when you put your faith in Him.

Maybe everything we’ve talked about today sounds good to you, but you still have questions as to why Jesus should be trusted. Don’t miss next week! We’re going to talk about why we can place our faith in the Person of Jesus.

When you head to groups, think about your answer to this question: What would change if your faith was built on the Person of Jesus rather than having to know everything?

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