Powerpoint Pictures: Criminal Lineup; Sporting Event; Nativity Scene

Can anyone tell me what an eyewitness is?

An eyewitness is someone who sees something happen.  Someone who is present during an event and can testify to what they saw.

Often we think of eyewitnesses are to do with a crime.  Someone may go down to the police station and pick out a criminal from a line-up, or stand up in court and give evidence about what took place.

Or someone might be an eyewitness at a sporting event.  They saw the goal with their own eyes.  Maybe a reporter writes an article on what they saw for a newspaper.

This morning you are all going to be eyewitnesses to what happened during this talk (unless you fall asleep).

Imagine that I went over to someone (could be the Headmaster if assembly or someone in congregation) and cut their tie in two (this obviously is previously arranged).  You would be an eyewitness to the event.  You saw it happen and can tell people what you saw.

At the start of Luke’s gospel, his book on the life of Jesus, he tells us how he has written the book: “…I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you…so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:3-4)

Luke is saying that he has carefully looked at all the evidence about Jesus, he’s checked out the facts.

Luke has spoken to the eyewitnesses.  Things that have been written about Jesus Luke has checked to see whether they are true.  Things people have said about him Luke has checked to see whether they are true.  Once Luke was certain that he had got the truth about Jesus he wrote it down in a book for us.

Why?  So we can know the real truth about Jesus!

This is true of the whole Bible.  We can know that the events that happened in the Bible really did take place.

All these stories we’ve heard in the Big Bible Adventure really did happen.

The Bible is true.  The story of the Bible is true.  You can be certain of this.