Science And The Bible
Children's sermon
Ping-Pong Words
And 30 More Children's Sermons
Object:
Scripture References
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth....
-- Isaiah 40:22a
He stretches out Zaphon over the void, and hangs the earth upon nothing.
-- Job 26:7
Genesis 1
Materials Needed
Nine pieces of card stock printed with:
Isaiah 40:22a and verse
Job 26:7 and verse
Genesis 1:1 -- astrophysics
Genesis 1:6 -- meteorology
Genesis 1:9 -- oceanography and geology
Genesis 1:11 -- botany
Genesis 1:20 -- ichthyology (study of fish) and ornithology (study of birds)
Genesis 1:24 -- mammalogy (study of mammals), entomology (study of insects), herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians)
Genesis 1:26 -- anatomy, medicine, psychology
Magnifying glasses, inexpensive, one per child (optional)
Telling The Story
Once upon a time, a young girl sat in her fifth-grade science class. The teacher talked about evolution, a theory (or guess made after studying) of how everything around us came to be. The teacher told the students that rocks and chemicals floating in space exploded and then spread out, and that some of them came to life. After a while, these living cells changed and became larger animals. The larger animals changed and became other animals that were larger still. The creatures kept changing and changing, until some of them became human beings. The teacher told the students that she knew this was so because science had proven it.
The little girl was confused. So she gathered up all her courage, raised her hand, and when called on, asked, "Ma'am? I thought that God made the world."
The teacher looked over her glasses and responded, "Yes. That's what you talk about at church. That's your religion, but here at school, we have to talk about what really happened."
If you had been in that classroom, you might have felt a little confused, too. Science books and television shows about science usually talk about evolution as if it were fact. When you hear your teachers and people on television say such things, it's easy to think that maybe science and the Bible don't go together. In fact, you might even think that Christians shouldn't study science because science goes against God.
The truth is very different, however. The Bible is a scientifically accurate book. For example, people -- even the brightest of scientists -- used to think that the earth is flat, but thousands of years before Christopher Columbus sailed, the Bible told us, in Isaiah 40:22a that the world is round. Remember that the a means that I'm just reading the first part of the verse. (Show the card stock printed with Isaiah 40:22a and read the verse.) "It is he who sits above the circle of the earth" -- the earth is round!
A long time ago, many people believed that the earth was floating on a giant ocean or sitting on the back of a giant turtle. What did the Bible say? (Show the card stock printed with Job 26:7 and read the verse.) "He stretches out Zaphon over the void, and hangs the earth upon nothing." Our planet isn't floating on an ocean or sitting on a giant turtle. It's floating in outer space where there isn't any water or air. Thousands of years after Job was written, human astronauts took pictures of Earth, and now we can see that it is hanging on nothing, just as Job said.
Human scientists made these mistakes but eventually discovered that what the Bible had already said was true. Why was the Bible able to report what human scientists didn't know? And why is studying science a good thing for Christians to do? (Let the children give some answers.) The reason is because God invented science.
That's right. God created everything, including science. Sociologists and archeologists know that you can learn a lot about someone by studying what he made. That's true for God, too. When we study science -- something invented by God -- we can learn not only about science, but about God himself, too.
So what kinds of science did God invent? Some of them are listed in the very first chapter of the Bible -- Genesis, chapter 1. Let's read some of the verses. (As you read each verse, ask a child to hold up the corresponding card. Have the children line up in front of the congregation so that all can see the cards.)
(Read Genesis 1:1.) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...." The heavens and the earth? That's astrophysics, the study of the characteristics and movements of heavenly bodies. God was the very first astrophysicist because God invented astrophysics.
(Read Genesis 1:6.) "And God said, 'Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' " When God created the world, he created water on the ground and water in the atmosphere. The study of the atmosphere is called meteorology, and yes, that's what the weatherman on television studies. God invented the weather, and God invented meteorology.
(Read Genesis 1:9.) "And God said, 'Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so." That's oceanography, the study of the oceans and everything inside, and geology, the study of rock and land formations. God invented oceanography and geology.
(Read Genesis 1:11.) "Then God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.' And it was so." Does anyone know what the study of plants is called? It's called botany. God was the very first botanist, or plant scientist.
(Read Genesis 1:20.) "And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.' " Here are some new words. The study of fish is called ichthyology. Try saying that word: ick- (rhymes with sick), thee- (with a soft th) AH-low-gee. Ichthyology -- the study of fish. And ornithology, the study of birds. Let's try saying that word: or-ni- (short I) THAH- (soft th) low-gee. God invented fish and birds, and God invented ichthyology and ornithology.
(Read Genesis 1:24.) "And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.' And it was so." God invented three branches of science in this verse. He invented mammalogy, which is the study of mammals, or animals with hair. He invented entomology, the study of insects. He also invented herpetology, which is the study of reptiles and amphibians. God created all of those animals, and he also created the sciences that study them.
(Read Genesis 1:26.) "Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' " God created human beings. When he did that, he made us special and complex, and so he created many branches of science including anatomy, medicine, and psychology.
God created the world and all the rocks and minerals and plants and animals. He created the human beings, too. When we study what God created, we can learn about him, too. So, remember next time you're studying science at school: you're studying about God. And who knows? Maybe you'll be the next scientist who discovers something that the Bible says is true.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you so much for this wonderful, amazing, and complex world you created. Please help us to be observant as we study and to discover the clues about you in what you made. Please help the people who don't know about you to discover you, too, as they meet us and as they study your creation.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Optional: Give each child a small magnifying glass to help them study what God has made.
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth....
-- Isaiah 40:22a
He stretches out Zaphon over the void, and hangs the earth upon nothing.
-- Job 26:7
Genesis 1
Materials Needed
Nine pieces of card stock printed with:
Isaiah 40:22a and verse
Job 26:7 and verse
Genesis 1:1 -- astrophysics
Genesis 1:6 -- meteorology
Genesis 1:9 -- oceanography and geology
Genesis 1:11 -- botany
Genesis 1:20 -- ichthyology (study of fish) and ornithology (study of birds)
Genesis 1:24 -- mammalogy (study of mammals), entomology (study of insects), herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians)
Genesis 1:26 -- anatomy, medicine, psychology
Magnifying glasses, inexpensive, one per child (optional)
Telling The Story
Once upon a time, a young girl sat in her fifth-grade science class. The teacher talked about evolution, a theory (or guess made after studying) of how everything around us came to be. The teacher told the students that rocks and chemicals floating in space exploded and then spread out, and that some of them came to life. After a while, these living cells changed and became larger animals. The larger animals changed and became other animals that were larger still. The creatures kept changing and changing, until some of them became human beings. The teacher told the students that she knew this was so because science had proven it.
The little girl was confused. So she gathered up all her courage, raised her hand, and when called on, asked, "Ma'am? I thought that God made the world."
The teacher looked over her glasses and responded, "Yes. That's what you talk about at church. That's your religion, but here at school, we have to talk about what really happened."
If you had been in that classroom, you might have felt a little confused, too. Science books and television shows about science usually talk about evolution as if it were fact. When you hear your teachers and people on television say such things, it's easy to think that maybe science and the Bible don't go together. In fact, you might even think that Christians shouldn't study science because science goes against God.
The truth is very different, however. The Bible is a scientifically accurate book. For example, people -- even the brightest of scientists -- used to think that the earth is flat, but thousands of years before Christopher Columbus sailed, the Bible told us, in Isaiah 40:22a that the world is round. Remember that the a means that I'm just reading the first part of the verse. (Show the card stock printed with Isaiah 40:22a and read the verse.) "It is he who sits above the circle of the earth" -- the earth is round!
A long time ago, many people believed that the earth was floating on a giant ocean or sitting on the back of a giant turtle. What did the Bible say? (Show the card stock printed with Job 26:7 and read the verse.) "He stretches out Zaphon over the void, and hangs the earth upon nothing." Our planet isn't floating on an ocean or sitting on a giant turtle. It's floating in outer space where there isn't any water or air. Thousands of years after Job was written, human astronauts took pictures of Earth, and now we can see that it is hanging on nothing, just as Job said.
Human scientists made these mistakes but eventually discovered that what the Bible had already said was true. Why was the Bible able to report what human scientists didn't know? And why is studying science a good thing for Christians to do? (Let the children give some answers.) The reason is because God invented science.
That's right. God created everything, including science. Sociologists and archeologists know that you can learn a lot about someone by studying what he made. That's true for God, too. When we study science -- something invented by God -- we can learn not only about science, but about God himself, too.
So what kinds of science did God invent? Some of them are listed in the very first chapter of the Bible -- Genesis, chapter 1. Let's read some of the verses. (As you read each verse, ask a child to hold up the corresponding card. Have the children line up in front of the congregation so that all can see the cards.)
(Read Genesis 1:1.) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...." The heavens and the earth? That's astrophysics, the study of the characteristics and movements of heavenly bodies. God was the very first astrophysicist because God invented astrophysics.
(Read Genesis 1:6.) "And God said, 'Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' " When God created the world, he created water on the ground and water in the atmosphere. The study of the atmosphere is called meteorology, and yes, that's what the weatherman on television studies. God invented the weather, and God invented meteorology.
(Read Genesis 1:9.) "And God said, 'Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so." That's oceanography, the study of the oceans and everything inside, and geology, the study of rock and land formations. God invented oceanography and geology.
(Read Genesis 1:11.) "Then God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.' And it was so." Does anyone know what the study of plants is called? It's called botany. God was the very first botanist, or plant scientist.
(Read Genesis 1:20.) "And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.' " Here are some new words. The study of fish is called ichthyology. Try saying that word: ick- (rhymes with sick), thee- (with a soft th) AH-low-gee. Ichthyology -- the study of fish. And ornithology, the study of birds. Let's try saying that word: or-ni- (short I) THAH- (soft th) low-gee. God invented fish and birds, and God invented ichthyology and ornithology.
(Read Genesis 1:24.) "And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.' And it was so." God invented three branches of science in this verse. He invented mammalogy, which is the study of mammals, or animals with hair. He invented entomology, the study of insects. He also invented herpetology, which is the study of reptiles and amphibians. God created all of those animals, and he also created the sciences that study them.
(Read Genesis 1:26.) "Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' " God created human beings. When he did that, he made us special and complex, and so he created many branches of science including anatomy, medicine, and psychology.
God created the world and all the rocks and minerals and plants and animals. He created the human beings, too. When we study what God created, we can learn about him, too. So, remember next time you're studying science at school: you're studying about God. And who knows? Maybe you'll be the next scientist who discovers something that the Bible says is true.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you so much for this wonderful, amazing, and complex world you created. Please help us to be observant as we study and to discover the clues about you in what you made. Please help the people who don't know about you to discover you, too, as they meet us and as they study your creation.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Optional: Give each child a small magnifying glass to help them study what God has made.
