“Y” Does It Matter? – Origins and “Purple” Dinos

GodSpeak for the Week of November 10

We continue this week with our series looking at the “forks”/the “Ys” we come to (and, take) in the “road of faith.”  Does it really matter which forks we take?  Does it really matter what we believe? 

This week we build off of what we’ve learned about worldviews – and, now we begin applying what we’ve learned.  How do we share a biblical worldview?  To do so, we start: “In the beginning…”

Day 1…Read Genesis 1:1-4 (esp., v. 2)

  • Consider this – science has been able to theorize that:
    • …at 10-35 seconds after the “Big Bang” the universe was first empty and then was inflating;
    • …at 10-32 seconds – quarks began to form;
    • …at 10-9 seconds – “natural laws” began to materialize.
  • Consider this – the first words from the Bible note that “In the beginning…” the earth was “…formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (v. 2)
  • Answer this – how does this description from Scripture compare/match what science theorizes was happening less than a split-second after the beginning of all things?

Day 2…Read Genesis 1:1-4 (again)

  • Consider this – the closest science can get to what happened BEFORE the “Big Bang” is about 10-35 seconds AFTER it occurred.
  • Answer this – why can’t science explain to us what happened BEFORE the Big Bang?

Day 3…Read Genesis 1:1, 6

  • Consider this – in a video describing the Big Bang, the producers note: “How can something come from nothing?  Let’s explore what we know.”
    • They then proceed to describe what your read for Days 1 and 2 of this devotion.
  • Consider this – when trying to explain what happened BEFORE the Big Bang, the producers humbly admit: “We don’t know at all what happened here.  At this point, our tools [of scientific explanation] break down.”
  • Consider this – as we have discussed during this series, any worldview must offer an answer to how things got here.
    • To date, WE have proven incapable of understanding, comprehending or explaining with our human reason how things got here
  • Answer this – and where our human reason FAILS us, how does our worldview explain the origin of all things?

Day 4…Read Genesis 1:1-2:3

  • Consider this – one thing science has shown us is that things go from ORDER to DISORDER.
    • Science’s explanation of what happened in the milliseconds after the Big Bang show that Creation moved into existence in an orderly fashion.
  • Now, as we experience the world, we see plenty of decay all around.
  • Answer this – how does this compare to what is recorded in this passage from Genesis (a recording, mind you, that was written thousands of years ago…before the blessings of modern day science!)
  • Note – when it comes to sharing our Christian worldview, the FIRST thing we are wise to do is to find COMMONALITY with other worldviews, as we’re able to do here.

Day 5…Read Acts 17:16-28

  • Consider this – when it comes to sharing our Christian worldview, the SECOND thing we are wise to do is to CONNECT our faith with the REAL WORLD.
  • Answer this – how does Paul CONNECT his Christian faith with both the REAL WORLD and in COMMONALITY to the things folks in Athens valued and used for worship?
    • Hint – pay close attention to what he says in vv. 22 & 23!

Day 6…Read Acts 8:26-39 & Luke 10:25-37

  • Consider this – a final step for us to share our Christian worldview is to LEAD with LOGIC, then SUPPORT with SCRIPTURE.
  • Answer this – how does Philip LEAD with LOGIC in this passage?  What question does he begin by asking the Ethiopian BEFORE he says anything about Scripture?
  • Consider this – another part of this final step is to show people the CONFLICT of what they already know to be true, then SUPPORT with Scripture.
  • Answer this – how does the Lord employ this practice with the expert in the Law? (hint – focus on vv. 30 and forward)

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