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For those of you who are Christ followers, the wonders of God’s creation, personal experiences with God, the truth of the Bible and the example of Christ are enough to settle the issue of God’s existence. We take Genesis 1:1 seriously and believe it wholeheartedly: "In the beginning God…" But what would you say to your co-worker who has no religious background and doesn’t believe the Bible is God’s Word? How would you respond if your co-worker made the following comment?

"I just don’t believe that God exists. If God does exist, he (or she or it) exists only in the minds of weak people who desperately need something greater than them to believe in and to lean on as a psychological crutch."

What would you say? If you were like 95 percent of Americans who believe in God (in some form), you’d probably say something like, "You’ll just have to take it by faith that God is really there." To which your atheist co-worker would probably say, "So you’re asking me to close my eyes and just take a leap of blind faith? You’ll have to do better than that."

Well, is it possible to do better than that? Yes, I believe it’s possible to provide reasonable and logical evidence to believe in God’s existence that goes beyond pretty pictures, Jesus Christ and the claims of the Bible? This morning, I’d like to make an honest attempt to summarize some of the conclusions of philosophers, scientists, and theologians as to God’s existence.

First, let me lay out a couple of ground rules. 1. You can’t prove God’s existence with absolute certainty. We know very little in our world with absolute certainty. But this does not mean that there isn’t good, logical, reasonable evidence or arguments for God’s existence.

Ground rule 2. You can’t prove God existence by normal scientific methods either. If something is beyond your five senses, you cannot use science to prove or disprove it. But just because something can’t be proved scientifically doesn’t mean it’s not real. How many of you have seen wind or radio waves? But you know they exist. How many of you have touched love or smelled freedom? Yet you know these things are real because you’ve experienced them.

Even though God can’t be proved with absolute certainty or by scientific methods, I believe it’s very probable that God exists. In fact, there is no shortage of good arguments for God’s existence. In my research this week, I found over 24 convincing reasons to believe God exists.

Here are four of those logical reasons or arguments that support God’s existence. 1. The cause/effect argument. Simply put: everything has a cause. Here’s the logic—whatever begins to exist must have a cause. The universe began to exist. Therefore, the universe had to have a cause. Everything has a cause. Atheists would say that the universe is eternal and never had a beginning. Unfortunately for the atheist, science doesn’t even believe that anymore.

For instance, in 1929 astronomer Edwin Hubble revolutionized science with his discovery that the universe is expanding. Galaxies are moving away from each other like dots on an expanding balloon. If the universe is expanding, it had to start from some point. Scientists have also discovered the second law of thermodynamics that states the universe is running out of steam or usable energy. If the universe is winding down slowly, then it must have had a starting point when it first got all wound up. If this is so, the universe can’t be eternal.

So who or what was the first cause of the universe? Who or what pulled the trigger? Either the cause was personal or impersonal. A personal cause would imply a someone with a will and an intellect who decided to start the universe out of nothing. An impersonal cause would mean nothing produced something, which is impossible and violates all known principles of science.

One scientist said, "It’s more logical to say that someone caused something out of nothing, rather than nothing caused something out of nothing. Someone decided to bring together the conditions and elements necessary for the universe to begin. This first cause by definition is God." Simply put, God is the best explanation for the beginning of the universe.

2. The Design Argument. This argument states that the complexity of our universe requires a deliberate designer who not only created it, but sustains it. Could the universe have happened by chance? Distinguished astronomer Fred Hoyle discredited the possibility of chance and gave validity to a designer/creator with the following analogy. "What are the chances that a tornado might blow through a junkyard, containing all the parts of a 747, accidentally assemble them into a plane, and leave it ready for take-off? Design always points to a designer.

Take a look at Mt. Rushmore. Could this have happened by chance? Even it there was infinite wind, time, rain, and over-active gophers, it’s too big a stretch to believe something historical like this was randomly formed in the side of a mountain. Was this chance or design? Design!

A camera, watch and computer require a designer-manufacturer. Yet what is a camera in comparison to the human eye—a watch in comparison to the universe that keeps perfect time—a computer modeled after the human brain? All these complex machines have order, design and require a designer. Since our complex universe has order and design, it requires a designer. That intelligent designer is, by definition, God. Next week, we’ll look at the heated battle between creation and evolution.

3. The Moral Argument. Have you ever wondered why there is right and wrong? Why are there at least some things that are universally wrong? If someone kidnaps and kills an innocent child, there is rage and a demand for justice, regardless of the culture. Even a thief gets angry when someone steals from him. Why? There is a universal feeling of wrongness—a moral DNA that can’t be explained by biology or the physical world. Right and wrong implies a higher standard or law that requires some kind of personal lawgiver—which by definition is God.

Some have argued with me that God doesn’t exist because evil exists. But think about it. If there is evil, then there must be something called good as well. Good and evil can’t exist unless there is some objective moral standard to define them. So in that sense, the presence of evil argues in favor of the existence of God.

4. The Experience Argument. Throughout history, in all cultures of the world, people have been convinced there is a god. Could billions of people who represent diverse backgrounds and cultures be mistaken? Every culture in history has believed in a god. Even though this may be the weakest of all the arguments because religious experiences can be subjective, the instinctive urge to worship a god argues for a divine being. Why is this so? Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."

So when you add up the evidence, can you definitely prove the existence of God? NO! You see in the final analysis, believing in the existence of God still requires faith-trust. In fact, that’s what the Bible says…Hebrews 11:3 tells us, "By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen."

There is no absolute truth for God’s existence, but there is good evidence for it that makes this belief very reasonable. You see everyone believes something about God. The atheist believes that God doesn’t exist. The Agnostic believes that you can’t know if God exists. The Theist believes that God, as you define him, does exist and can be known. The Christ follower believes that God exists and can be known through His Son Jesus Christ.

Everybody believes in something. This week as I prepared to fly down to Dallas, I didn’t have absolute certainty that I’d return safely, but I "believed" I would. I was forced to trust a bunch of people I had never met. I had to trust pilots to be competent and sober—even though one looked 14; I had to trust the ground crew to put in the right fuel; the mechanics to make the right repairs; and the air traffic controllers to keep the planes separated. I trusted them with my life. My faith in them was not absolute, nor was it an irrational blind leap when I climbed aboard. It was based on reasonable evidence, FAA standards and rules, and my past experiences. That’s the same kind of faith it takes to believe in God’s existence.

An astronomer was lecturing a group in France, and declared: "I have swept the universe with my telescope, and I find no God." A musician reacted to the astronomer, "Your statement, sir, is as unreasonable as it is for me to say that I have taken my violin apart, have carefully examined each part with a microscope, and have found no music." It takes someone to make music, just as it takes someone to make our world.

Why has God done all of this, creating a world for us to live in? Bottom line: he wants a personal relationship with you. Most of you in this room know of God, but some of you don’t know him personally, yet. In Jeremiah 29:13, God says, "If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me." Weigh the evidence, do a God-search through the Bible and I am convinced with all my heart, you will find Him and discover His overarching message for you: "you matter to Me." God went to great lengths to secure our relationship with Him by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins so that we could have a right relationship with Him.

Twenty-sixth President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, lived at Sagamore Hill, New York. Regularly, he would invite his guests to stand outside and look up into the night sky where he would point out constellations for them. He was known to say, "That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one billion suns, each larger than our sun." Then he would look at his guests and say, "Now I think we’re small enough! Let’s go to bed."

What a thought—insignificant little you and me are known by and cared for by God. We just need to stay small enough to allow God, the creator, to run our lives. Sadly there are times we live as though we’re bigger than God—choosing to direct our own lives rather than allowing the God of the universe to run it. How big are you in comparison to God? Who’s running your life?