Home For Christmas (Christmas Day)
Featuring Vineyard Worship Posted on November 9, 2016
Your Christmas Promise
This Christmas, the Word-made- flesh enters your neighborhood, where you live, and comes to stay.
Scripture
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 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” (John 1:1-14).
Devotional
It is Christmas Day, and the Light of all humankind shines brightly on us all!
In the first chapter of his Gospel, the apostle John retells in microcosm the story of Genesis, the beginning of humankind – only this time, through the lens of Christ.
John’s vision of Christ is perhaps the highest we have in the Scriptures. For John, Jesus is the everlasting “Word,” the “Word made flesh,” the One through whom “all things were made,” and the “Light of all mankind.” Later, John will call him the “Alpha and the Omega,” the “First and the Last,” and the “Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:13).
Illuminating one of the most magnificent truths of the Christian life, John writes: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
This idea of “dwelling” is then repeated over and over throughout the Gospel of John. Christ makes His dwelling among us (John 1:14). The Father has made a dwelling for us where we will forever abide in and with Him (John 14:2-4). The Father and the Son make their dwelling within us (John 14:23).
One can’t get around it. Jesus Christ is at home in your presence and mine! He is at home in the middle of our messes, of our joys, of our fears. As Eugene Peterson put it, he has “moved into the neighborhood” to be intimate with our every concern.
“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish” (John 1:14, The Message).
Your Christmas Invitation
And the follow-up to the reality that God is with us (Emmanuel) is the greatest of Christmas invitations: You are designed to be with Him – at home with Him, abiding with Him, dwelling with Him, and reveling in the love that fills your Father’s house. The Father has room for you, a place of spiritual “home” where you are provided for, sustained, given identity and direction, and invited to share in the benefits of living from a place of unconditional love. The Father is building onto His house, just as the image of the under-one-roof, growing household of the ancient Jews models for us. And in His house, you are accepted and loved for eternity.
Come Home For Christmas
Coming home for Christmas is a theme embedded in thousands of personal stories every season. But for you and me, this Christmas, coming home is about saying “Yes” again to living under the roof of your loving heavenly Father, saying “Yes” to the values and compassion that mark His household, and saying “Yes” to the invitation to become like the One who will love you to life – both in this world and the next.
Receive God’s Gift This Christmas
Jesus shows us that our Father God is no distant deity, dwelling apart from us in isolated splendor and glory. Your God, my God, revealed in Jesus Christ, is the God who draws near. Receive His presence with you now.
Act On This Devotional
Today, in your heart, come home to the house of your Father. Take out your journal, and write down all the benefits of being a part of God’s family. Take a few moments on this Christmas Day to offer thanks for this past year, looking toward the New Year with expectation. Physical resources available below.
Songs for Christmas Day
About This Devotional
This devotional is offered in cooperation with Vineyard Resources as a six-part advent series called The Heart Has A Home. The series includes readings for the four Sundays of Advent, plus Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Uniquely designed as a Christmas gift booklet for congregations and as an outreach tool for neighbors and co-workers, "The Heart Has A Home" will take every reader on a powerful devotional experience from Advent through Christmas.
Each devotional has been featured in the PraiseCharts blog, along with suggested songs for worship. Vineyard Resources is offering a beautifully designed PDF version for free. If your church would like to purchase physical copies to hand out, they are available for just $.99 ea. (for packages of 100+). You can download the eBook here, and order the physical booklets and download the additional resources here.
More From “ Heart Has A Home”
- Introduction
- Week 1: The Heart Comes Home – To Hope
- Week 2: The Heart Comes Home – To Peace
- Week 3: The Heart Comes Home – To Joy
- Week 4: The Heart Comes Home – To Love
- Christmas Eve: A Long Wandering To The Place We Call Home
- Christmas Day: Home For Christmas
- Why Should We Celebrate Advent and Christmas?
Categories: Articles, Resources
Tag: Advent Series