Well, Welcome to Truth for Life. We're glad you've joined us on Christmas Eve.

Christmas is a holiday bursting with festive activities. We mark the season with parties and

decorations and gifts and concerts, sometimes without ever giving thought to Jesus.

Today, Alistair Begg helps us celebrate the true wonder of Christmas by taking us through Luke's

historical record of the Savior's arrival. We're in Luke chapter 2.

For the verses to which I'd like to draw your attention are verses 17, 18, 19, and 20.

And we're at the end of what has been a brief series, an Advent series that began with verse 1 of chapter 2 and now ends with verse 20. And throughout we have acknowledged the fact that Luke is providing us here with his

record of God's real entry into actual history. The entry of God, his actual entry into a history that is real.

And we began, and we end as we began, by acknowledging the fact that it is the very essence

of biblical faith to be about real historical events. Now, the adjective is important. It is the very

essence of biblical faith. There are all kinds of notions about faith in faith. What we're

talking about is the faith that emerges from a study of Scripture, from finding Christ in the Scriptures. It is the

very essence of biblical faith to be about real historical events. And so, it is important for

us to affirm the fact that when we read the New Testament, we're actually being given evidence.

We're being given information. And it is up to us as sensible

people to read this information, to consider this evidence, and determine whether we believe,

in this instance, that the one who is providing it, namely look, is actually trustworthy. And the way that we would

get to that determination is obviously, first of all, by reading what he has said. And that's why we

took time at the beginning to point out that he was very, very clear concerning his methodology

in establishing his gospel. He had done careful research,

he said, in order that he could write an orderly account so that his reader, Theophilus,

and all his readers, may have certainty concerning the things that they had been taught.

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