"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
To Ponder:
Christmas celebrates the most amazing miracle: God didn't just visit us—he moved in. The Word became flesh and "made his dwelling among us." The Greek word John uses literally means "pitched his tent" or "tabernacled" with us. God set up camp in our neighbourhood.
The beauty of the Jesus coming is that it wasn't temporary. When the Word became flesh, it wasn't a brief holiday appearance. Jesus didn't un-become human after his birth. He remained Emmanuel—God with us—through dusty roads and fishing boats, through teaching and healing, through the cross and the empty tomb, and even now at the Father's right hand.
John says, "We have seen his glory." Not "we saw" but "we have seen"—past action with present implications. The glory revealed in Bethlehem still shines. The grace and truth that took on flesh still dwell among us through his Spirit, his Word, and his body, the church.
After Christmas, Jesus hasn't gone anywhere. He's still dwelling with us, still full of grace for our failures and truth for our wandering. The question is whether we're living like he's still here—or whether we've mentally packed him away until next December.
Prayer:
Father, thank you that Jesus didn't just visit us but became one of us. Thank you that he didn't come and go, but came and stayed dwelling among us, revealing your glory, bringing grace and truth into our everyday lives. Help us to live aware of your abiding presence. Keep our eyes open to the Word who dwells with us still. Amen.
Today’s Devotion written by Pr Nich Kitchen, LifeWay Epping
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
To Ponder:
The decorations come down. The guests go home. The excitement fades. And we might find ourselves asking: Where is Jesus now that Christmas is over?
Mary and Joseph asked a similar question when they lost track of twelve-year-old Jesus on their journey home from Jerusalem. After three frantic days of searching, they found him in the temple—not lost at all, but exactly where he needed to be: in his Father's house, engaged in his Father's work.
Jesus' response reveals something profound: he wasn't wandering aimlessly. He was living with purpose, already about the mission that would define his life.
As the Christmas season ends, we face the same question those worried parents did: Where is Jesus? The answer remains unchanged—he is in his Father's house, among his Father's people, doing his Father's work. The question isn't really where Jesus is, but where we are. Are we going about our routines as if the Savior we celebrated has been packed away with the ornaments? Or are we seeking him where he promises to be found—in prayer, in Scripture, in worship, in service to others?
The Christmas story doesn't end when we take down the tree. The child in the manger grew into a boy who knew his purpose, and then into a man who fulfilled it. He is still present, still active, still inviting us to join him in his Father's house and his Father's mission.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive us for the times we've lost track of you once the celebration ends. Help us to seek you intentionally—not just during the Christmas season, but every day of the year. Like you in the temple, may we be found faithfully in our Father's house, engaged in our Father's work. Give us eyes to see where you are moving and hearts willing to follow. Amen
Today’s Devotion written by Pr Nich, LifeWay Epping.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
TO PONDER
We began the week with a Reading from the opening chapter of John's gospel in which John refers to Jesus as 'the Word made Flesh" about whom he goes on to say, "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind."
Now in Matthew's gospel in Jesus first major address to the crowds who had begun to follow him, Jesus says, "You are the light of the world... Let your light shine before others"
This is also another reason that Christmas is every day. If that first Christmas was the Light coming into the world, then since his arrival, he has placed that light in all who would follow and believe in him and now that light shines in us... or at least it should.
We all know there are days, and times when we do obscure that light and we don't look much like the 'light of the world' That's why we have to keep the miracle of Christmas in our hearts every day of the year. We cannot shine the light ourselves because we are not 'the Son'. Just like the 'Sun' is what gives physical light to the world, so too is Jesus the only source of spiritual light and life. the best we can do is be like the moon and reflect the light of the Son/Sun, the best we can, but it happens every day.
Just like the waxing and waning of the moon, there are times when we reflect more of Jesus than we do at other times, but the wonderful thing about it is that every day, the Sun/Son rises and the ways in which we might have failed to really show Jesus to others are brought into that light of Christ and we are made new and sent out to bear his light all over again. It's just another one of those ways that the world God has created also tells us the story of God's interaction with us every day.
So Keep you eyes open as you go about your day, and the rest of 2026 - You will see God at work in surprising ways if you don't pack Christmas away in a box and instead, you pay attention to all the ways he is showing his love, care, and presence with us every moment of every day!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I ask you today to help me to see. Please help me to see the ways you are at work in the world and the people around me and how you are calling me to be a part of that ongoing work. Please help me to actively seek and engage with the opportunities you have for me to be a part of your work in the world. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
TO PONDER
From time to time, I run a night with our youth in Newcastle where I invite them to come with questions about God, Faith, or Christianity. The subject of these verses is a regularly recurring question... "How can Jesus be 100% God and 100% human?"
It's a good question and a lot hinges on how you answer it. There are all sorts of ways people have tried to explain it throughout history, each captures something of the truth but not really the whole truth. There is something about this 100% + 100% = 100% equation that out human logic doesn't have capacity for or language to adequately explain.
But here's the crazy thing about Jesus and one of the reasons that Christmas is everyday. In John 17:20-22 Jesus prays a prayer for all those who would believe in him (that's you and me). Here's what he said,
“My prayer is not for them [the 12 disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity."
I don't know the 'how' but Jesus prays that we might have the same 'oneness' with him, as he had/has with God the Father, in order that we may have complete unity with Him and with one another. This is why Jesus was born in the first place, so that in being one with us, we might also be welcomed into the same kind of complete unity that exists within the triune Godhead.
Maybe that's a bit too much to take in on only the second day of the year... I guess that's the point, we have the rest of eternity to work it all out! Like we said, Christmas is everyday!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I'm not sure how all this 'oneness' and unity thing works, but I do know that my life only makes sense with you in it. So, today I pray, as you did, that I may be drawn deeper into oneness with you, just as you and the Father are one, and also that I may be in greater unity with those in my community, who you also want to be drawn into oneness with you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
TO PONDER
Happy New Year! What better way to be reminded that Christmas is everyday than this passage from Galatians. I know it sounds a bit "Easter-ish" talking about Christ's death already, only a week after we got busy celebrating his birth, but the two things really do have to go together is we are going to appreciate the fulness of what each of them mean for us on a daily basis.
Christmas is the beginning of the story of God's personal intervention to deal with the problem of our sin and the distance it created between us and Himself. When the apostle Paul writes, "I have been crucified with Christ", he is saying that his own life now means nothing unless it is lived in and for Jesus. This is also true for us. All the New Years resolutions, all the good intentions in the world, all the plans for an early retirement or financial security mean nothing if they are not achieved 'In Christ".
What does "In Christ" really mean, well there are probably as many ways to interpret that phrase as there are people in the world. However, I think that at the very least it means that our life from Christmas onwards finds its meaning only in Christ. In serving Him, loving Him and following Him. It doesn't mean you can't go on that overseas holiday or around the world cruise that you might have organised for this year, but it means taking that trip, looking for ways to live Jesus love and share his hope with the people you encounter while you are away. The meaning is not in the holiday itself, but how Christ is at work in and through you on the holiday.
That's how, in practical terms, Christmas is every day. It's learning to live each day not out of your own plans and strength but out of Christ's plans and his love for you. This is the gift that God freely makes available to us each day. This is what makes Christmas every day. So, how is Christ's presence with you going to inform how you live today and every other day of 2026?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Please help me to live and plan for my year out of the life you have given me in Christ Jesus. Help me to live not for myself, but so that others might come to know you and see you at work in and through my life. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
TO PONDER
The loose theme for all our verses this week is supposed to be the idea that 'Christmas is everyday', not just one day on the calendar. When I made that claim at church this week, one of the young children in attendance asked their mum, "If Christmas is everyday then why don't I get presents every day?" Let me take this moment to apologise to that parent.
However, the question isn't a bad one, the problem with it is that we sometimes fail to recognise the gifts God gives us each day. A new start by his mercy and grace, is a gift we receive every morning. and because we are made new and right with God each day, we also have the wonderful blessing of being able to help others recognise the new life that God offers to them in Christ as well.
Too often we view evangelism and witnessing to Jesus as the 'difficult' or 'burdensome' part of being a follower of Jesus. And look, there are times when our efforts in that direction are meet with opposition or rejection. However, they cannot change our standing with God. Each day we get a fresh start. Each day the failures and disappointments of the day before are taken away and we are made new.
This is perhaps never more exciting than on the eve of a New Year. We often use this time as a symbolic opportunity to put the past behind us and to step into a new year with all it's new hopes, dreams, and potential. To make a new start and change certain things about the way we live and the voices we make on a daily basis. However, the reality is that a New Year's Eve is really no different than any other day in the life of a Christian. Every day is a chance to let the God of creation make you new. So why not make your new years resolution to live each day as a new creation in Christ and to bring the reconciliation Jesus has established between you and the Father to those who are part of your life.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Thanks you for new years, new days and new starts. Thank you that in Christ you even make me new. Please help me, by your Holy Spirit, to live each day as a new creation and to be a minister of your reconciliation to all those that come into my life in 2026. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
TO PONDER
As a parent, Summer holidays always leave me feeling a deeper sense of respect and admiration for my own parents. There are days and times when the lack of thoughtfulness my children display towards each other, and even towards their mother and I is simply astounding - I thought we raised them better than that.
The lack of gratitude they express, particularly with a pile of new Christmas presents still waiting to be packed away neatly, is also pretty upsetting.
The expectation that Elise and I would be their constant source of entertainment for every moment of the Summer, when they have each other, a cupboard full of board games, a backyard, bikes to ride, video games to play and various books to read and craft activities to do is simply mind-blowing to me. If I was like that for my own parents, I have only one thing to say - Sorry Mum and Dad!
And yet, when I reflect on this experience in light of today's reading, it reminds me somewhat of the dynamic of my relationship with God. I often go to him in prayer demanding that he fix my problems or make my life more the way I want it to be. I often go to him expecting a loving response, while I myself have been acting appallingly towards someone else and not been loving at all. I'm sure I have regularly asked for more from God without taking a moment to recognise and be grateful for all he has already given me. Then I realise the scope of his love for me and how I'm supposed to love my kids.
The love we get from God is not based on anything we do or don't do. Just like a parent's love for their children isn't based on what they do. it is simply based on who they are, they are your kids and so you love them - even when they might be frustrating you to pieces. God loves us because we are his children. Nothing you do will change that. Remembering what God has done through Jesus, to demonstrate that love to you, is a great story to tell others and a great way to inspire a greater and deeper love for others within yourself.
PRAYER:Heavenly Father, I am sorry for when I must make it hard for you to love me, but I know that you still do. Thank you for everything you have done to demonstrate that love, and to let me know that I am your child. Please help me to help others to know that too by sharing the story of all you have done for me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
TO PONDER
Have you ever met someone with some level of fame or renown who has exceeded all your expectations of them as a person? I did once.
While studying for ministry at Australian Lutheran College in Adelaide, I had to get involved in one of the local church youth groups as part of my practical field work. This particular group had a tradition of having their end of year event at a place in Glenelg called ' the Beachouse'. It was a combination of amusement arcade and water park, and to be honest, It was a lot of fun.
More importantly though, on that night it was also the same place that Eddie Betts (a well known AFL player who had just finished an outstanding season for the Adelaide Crows) had decided to take his children. Now I'm not a huge AFL fan, but my family are and the Adelaide Crows are what they live and breath. I knew I would be such a hero if I could ell them I had met Eddie Betts - but he was having a night out with his kids, and I was supposed to be supervising the kids from our youth group - I didn't think I should impose myself on him and interrupt his family time.
Well, he must have seen me looking at him, because he nodded at me at one point and I took that as an invitation. I introduced myself and told him how much we had all enjoyed watching him play for the Crows that year (he had only just been traded from Carlton). He was very gracious, accepted my praise and adulation patiently and I went home that night and some of the Eddie Betts "glory" must have rubbed off on me because I was so excited to tell my family that I had meet him, that I didn't really get the chance before they asked me what had happened, because I could not wipe the grin off my face.
I often wonder why so many Christians don't display the same kind of joy I obviously did when I met Eddie? So often Christians are so busy complaining about the state of the world, or bemoaning the dropping weekly attendance at their local church that they can sometimes be the most miserable people getting around.
But we know Jesus, we have seen his glory and know that he loves us, and welcomes us, and accepts us. He is full of grace and truth and that grace and truth is now ours because of his death and resurrection. Why then is it often so hard for people to encounter or see Christ in us?
Maybe, as you go about the rest of your summer and this week of 'holidays' between Christmas and New Year, you might take some time with Jesus so that you might bear something of his likeness, his glory, his grace, and his truth wherever you go and others might actually encounter a Christian who is excited that they know Jesus!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you that I have come to know you and your glory, grace and truth in my life. Please help me to remember the significance of all you have done and to not lose sight of how exciting it is to now be alive in you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
TO PONDER
As we draw closer to the end of another year and the joy, food, and presents of another Christmas start to fade away behind us, we an't help but get nostalgic and reflective.
Every free to air television network will be airing their own '2025 in review' retrospective and we will all be forced to look back over the year that was and be reminded of some of the highlights, and challenges, of the year that was.
As I try to do that in the midst of writing this devotion, I can't help but have the 'negative' parts of the year come to mind. Continuing war and conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and most of the rest of the Middle East, and more recently Political violence and assassinations in Tanzania and the escalating tension between Thailand and Cambodia. Once again there have been multiple natural disasters that many people around the world have had to deal with, earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, volcanoes, floods, droughts, bushfires. The dissolving of social cohesion around the world and the multiple examples from around the world of events similar to those we saw play out in Bondi recently. You look back on a year like that and you might very well decide it's all to hard.
But without wanting to downplay the seriousness of any of those things, those of us who follow Jesu and have faith in God can look back and still give thanks for a God who is in control. I don't know what your circumstances have been like this year, but if you are reading this devotion, you have access to the internet in one form or another. It probably means you have a smart phone, tablet or laptop computer. Estimates in early 2024 suggest that at that time over one third of the world's population still didn't have reliable access to the internet. The World Health Organisation estimates similar figures for people with reliable access to safe drinking water. If you are still reading this devotion, it means you also have air in your lungs and also have a basic level of literacy. When you look at things this way, even in the midst of some chaotic times, there is still an awful lot to give thanks to God for on a daily basis.
So can I encourage you, as you inevitably find yourself watching those 'year in review' shows this week, to remember that among the chaos is a God who dwells with us in the mess and is at work both in us and through us making all things new. And that is something to be grateful for and something we should be busy pointing out to others.
PRAYER:Heavenly Father, when I try to look at the bigger picture, it can all seem to big, too hard, too hopeless. But when I stop and reflect on all the ways you have blessed me this year I have to admit that there are many things to be grateful for. I pray that you might help me to identify all the ways you bless me each day and help me to share those blessings and declare your praise for all that you have done for me, even when I may not see how everything all fits together in your big picture. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWy Newcastle.