Once upon a time in the town of Chester, a firehouse was buzzing with activity. The firefighters were busy planning a great celebration–75 years of service to the community. They had prepared the tables and chairs in the hall above the fire station garage. They had washed and shined the fire engines and other equipment in the firehouse. They had even cleaned out all the cobwebs in the corners. Flyers had been passed out to the local population, and the radio station announced the celebration over the airwaves.

Fire Chief Andrew had prepared a speech, and the firefighters’ band was ready to march and play their favorite songs. The local supermarket had even donated drinks for the celebration: juice and sodas for the children, and beer and wine for the adults. Everything was ready. Everything except the big chocolate raisin cake.

The firefighters wanted a big cake to feed the many people who would attend the celebration. What should they do? They had no money left to spend on the celebration. As the firefighters discussed the problem, the red emergency telephone that hung on the firehouse wall gave out a strong ring.

“TRRING-TRRINGG!”

“Quick! There has been an accident on Beachfront Drive!” the caller explained. Apparently, the driver of a delivery truck to the local supermarket had lost control of his truck and had slammed into the curb, and the truck overturned.

The firefighters quickly put on their gear and slid down the firepole and loaded into the fire engine. The paramedics likewise jumped into the ambulance, and off they roared, sounding the alarm as they went.

“WAAAAAHHHH, WIU-WIU-WIU-WIU!”

Little did they know what awaited them.

Inside the delivery truck there had been flour, sugar, baking powder, raisins, cocoa powder, oil, milk, and eggs. All the ingredients necessary for a big chocolate raisin cake.

Mr. Benjamin, the driver of the truck, wasn’t being careful as a driver should be when the accident occurred. In fact, he had been lighting a cigarette when the accident took place.

As the truck swerved this way and that, the ingredients in the back of the truck broke open and were mixed together by the movement of the swerving vehicle.

Finally, when the truck overturned, gasoline poured out of the truck’s fuel tank. When the driver dropped his cigarette, a fire exploded. BOOM!

The firefighters arrived just in the nick of time to put out the fire and save Mr. Benjamin. But lo and behold, when they opened the back of the delivery truck, to their great surprise there stood a gigantic chocolate raisin cake!

The swerving and falling of the truck had mixed all the ingredients together just perfectly. The fire had acted like an oven and had cooked the mixture just perfectly. It was miraculous! The firefighters’ celebration would now be complete with the chocolate raisin cake. All the firefighters yelled “HURRAH!”

Children, do you think that could happen? Do you think an accident by a delivery truck could result in a cake being made inside of it? Do you think all the ingredients could be mixed just right? Would an accidental fire cook a cake just right? Read on to find out what really happened.

After the accident, the owner of the supermarket that was to receive the delivery, Mr. Jorge, decided to donate all the ingredients the firefighters needed from the back of the damaged truck.

Next, a firefighter’s wife offered to make use of these ingredients and bake a cake for the celebration. She carefully measured just the right amount of each ingredient: just the right amount of flour, just the right amount of sugar, just the right amount of eggs, milk, oil, baking powder, raisins, and chocolate.

She then carefully mixed together the ingredients to prepare the batter. She carefully heated the oven to exactly the correct temperature. Finally, she poured the batter into the pan and placed it in the oven and then baked the batter for just the right amount of time, checking carefully that the cake was just right, not undercooked and not overcooked.

Children, things like a chocolate raisin cake for a firefighters’ celebration do not just happen from an accident by a delivery truck that took a curve too fast. A chocolate raisin cake is the result of careful thinking, planning, organizing, and doing. And the same is true of your house, your school, your town, and your country. They are all a result of much thinking, planning, organizing, and doing.

Our everyday experiences teach us that all things made by man, like a chocolate raisin cake, have a designer or planner or engineer. They do not happen by accident.

Even so, we can conclude that the great orderly universe and our solar system of sun and planets, which run like a giant clock, did not happen by accident. They were designed by an intelligent planner, designer, or engineer.

Sir Isaac Newton, a very smart and famous scientist from the 1700s, said, “When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at just the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amount of heat and light. This did not happen by accident.”

Just like the baking of a chocolate raisin cake for a firefighters’ celebration could not happen as the result of an accident but was the result of the work and planning of a skilled baker; even so the great universe and the world we live in could not happen by accident. It had to have a Great Designer or Great Planner. We call that planner, that designer, God.

Doesn’t it make you feel good to know that God made the world and all that is in it and that it is not the result of some big accident? Accident or plan? I think we should agree with Sir Isaac Newton: the world and all that is within it is not just an accident. It was planned, just like the firefighters’ chocolate raisin cake.