Guided by the Star: Beginning the Year with Light

Devotional

Day 1: God moves into the neighborhood right now

God doesn’t wait for a polished version of you. In Jesus, God moved into the neighborhood—pitching a tent right where you actually live, with your mix of hope, grief, and questions. Some messages require presence, and God chooses to show up in person, close enough to be held. This is how the year truly begins: not with a checklist you must finish, but with God beside you. Let this nearness lower your shoulders and steady your breath. Welcome the One who has already come close. [40:34]

John 1:1–5, 14: Before anything began, God’s living Word was there, face-to-face with God, and what God is, the Word shares. Everything came into being through Him; apart from Him, nothing exists. In Him was life, and that life lights up humanity. The light keeps shining in the dark, and the darkness doesn’t have the power to smother it. Then the Word took on our flesh and settled among us, and we saw the radiance of God’s own heart.

Reflection: Where in your daily rhythm will you make room to notice and welcome God’s nearness—at the kitchen table, on a walk, or during your commute?

Day 2: Start as you mean to go on

Beginnings shape us. Instead of trying to fix everything at once, choose where to point your life. Start as you mean to go on: with intentional presence before God and patient love toward others. Let a simple practice—a daily prayer, a quiet pause, a star-word taped to your mirror—set your direction. The goal isn’t doing more, but aligning your steps with the Light who guides you in 2026. You can begin small and faithful today. [38:48]

Matthew 2:9–11: The travelers from the east followed the star until it stopped right over the place where the child was; seeing this, joy overflowed. They went into the house, saw the child with Mary, knelt in reverence, and opened their treasures—offering gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Reflection: What is one small, repeatable practice you’ll adopt this week to “start as you mean to go on,” and where will it live in your schedule?

Day 3: Light the darkness cannot put out

The year ahead may be unpredictable, but the Light of Christ does not rise and fall with headlines or moods. God’s light shows up anyway, steady and sure, and the darkness cannot choke it. Ask where you most need light—inside your thoughts, your relationships, your decisions—and turn that place toward Jesus. Remember, you aren’t the source; you are a reflector, like the moon catching the sun. Let His light meet you where you are and lead you one step at a time. [43:19]

John 1:5: The light keeps on shining in the dark, and the dark cannot seize it, master it, or shut it down.

Reflection: Name one shadowed corner of your life; what simple step will help you turn it toward the Light—a conversation, a boundary, or a brief nightly prayer?

Day 4: Some messages require presence, not distance

We live with constant communication, yet the most important moments still need a face and a hand. God did not send a message from far away; God came close in a baby so we wouldn’t be afraid. Presence is love’s language, and incarnation is God’s way. Consider how you might “pitch a tent” in someone’s life this week with a visit, a meal, or unhurried attention. As you show up, trust Christ to be there already, working before you arrive. [45:39]

Matthew 1:23: “They will call him Immanuel,” which means “God is with us”—God here, among us, not distant or delayed.

Reflection: Who comes to mind as someone who needs your embodied presence this week, and what is one concrete way you can be with them rather than just sending a message?

Day 5: Carry the star, reflect God’s light

The star you carry is not a resolution or a scorecard; it’s a gift to guide your attention. Place it where you’ll see it, and let it teach your eyes to look for God’s steady light each day. You are not the sun—you are a window that catches and colors the light for others. As you move through 2026, keep aiming your life toward the Light and trust grace to do the brightening. Start small, stay steady, and let your life point to Jesus. [50:31]

Matthew 5:14–16: You are meant to shine like a city on a hill. No one lights a lamp to hide it; they put it where it gives light to everyone around. In the same way, let the goodness of your life be visible so people are drawn to honor your Father in heaven.

Reflection: Where will you place your star word, and what brief daily rhythm will you practice to pray it—lighting a candle, a one-sentence prayer, or a quiet pause before bed?

Sermon Summary

Epiphany names a beginning shaped by presence. Not a list to fix life, but a witness that the Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood—God pitching a tent right where people actually live: hopeful, grieving, tired, joyful, often all at once. That beginning tells the truth about what is trusted. It says God does not wait for a cleaned-up version of anyone, or a calmer year, or a better world; God arrives in the very year being stepped into.

John’s prologue anchors the hope: light blazes in the darkness and the darkness cannot put it out. The reliability of that light does not depend on circumstances, leaders, or predictability. Light is light. The question, then, is not, “How can everything be fixed?” but, “Where is light most needed?” Some messages require presence, and the gospel is one of them. God does not send instructions from a distance, but comes in person—so near as to be held—so that fear loosens its grip. Jesus comes not to grade last year, but to dwell with people in the year ahead.

This beginning asks for a posture more than a program: start as you mean to go on. Intentional presence over grand resolutions. Aim the heart toward the One who has already come close. A practical way to live this is to receive a star-word for the year—one word to pray, ponder, wrestle with, and let shape attention and decisions. It is not a goal; it is a gift. Like the star that guided the Magi, this word quietly points the way when everything else clamors for attention.

All of this reframes identity and vocation. People are not the source of the light; they are its reflection—like moon to sun, stained glass to daylight, star to travelers. The task is not to shine harder but to turn toward the Light, to let it fall on ordinary life, and to carry that reflection into neighborhoods, tables, and daily routines. Beginning faithfully looks like letting God pitch a tent in real schedules and real emotions, trusting that the Light will guide step by step—through Epiphany, into Christmas, and beyond.

Key Takeaways

1. God pitches a tent next door God’s presence is not theoretical or distant; it’s neighborly and near. The Incarnation is God choosing a tent over a palace, a front yard over a fortress. Expect God to meet you in the ordinary geography of your life—the commute, the kitchen, the quiet room—and to ask your name. Nearness is the strategy. [41:15]
2. Light that darkness cannot overcome John does not say the darkness might fail; he says it cannot overcome the light. This means your hope does not rise and fall with headlines or moods. Faith is learning to locate that steady light and to live by it when visibility is low. Courage grows when you trust what the dark cannot do. [42:24]
3. Start as you mean to go on Resolutions often fixate on performance; beginnings shape posture. Choose a beginning that tells the truth about what you trust—presence over perfection, formation over frantic fixing. Small, faithful steps often outlast big promises because they align with grace rather than willpower alone. [51:45]
4. Receive a star-word, not resolutions A star-word is a gift to hold, not a task to finish. Let it interrogate your habits, comfort your fears, and shape your attention over time. When circumstances change, let the word mature with you—guiding, correcting, and consoling without the pressure of achievement. [49:24]
5. Presence matters; God comes close Some messages must be delivered face to face. God chose vulnerability—a baby held in human arms—so people would not be afraid and could finally hear love without distortion. Make your own presence a sacrament: show up where pain is, stay long enough to listen, and let mercy be specific. [45:39]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[21:28] - Community prayers and intercessions
[26:16] - Name tags and offering explained
[33:56] - Devotional journey invitation
[35:39] - Epiphany and the Magi
[36:40] - Entering the new year honest
[38:48] - Beginnings over resolutions
[41:15] - God pitches a tent nearby
[42:24] - Light darkness cannot overcome
[45:24] - Some messages require presence
[47:19] - Receive a guiding star word
[50:10] - Reflecting, not sourcing, the light
[51:45] - Start as you mean to go on
[53:57] - Confession and open communion
[75:10] - Potluck and group photo

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- John 1:1-5,14

Observation questions

In John 1, what is said about the Light and the darkness—what can the darkness not do?
John 1:14 says the Word became flesh and “dwelt” among us. The image shared was that God “pitched a tent” next door. What everyday picture does that give of God’s nearness? [41:15]
What practice is offered for the new year in place of big resolutions, and how are we invited to receive it? [49:24]
What is the difference named between trying to fix everything with resolutions and choosing a beginning that tells the truth about what we trust? [38:48]

Interpretation questions

If God shows up in the very year people are actually stepping into—not the one they wish for—what does that imply about bringing mixed joy, grief, and uncertainty to God? [40:57]
If Light simply is Light and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5), how could hope be anchored when headlines or moods swing?
If some messages require presence, why might embodied nearness be more trustworthy than distant instructions in matters of love, grief, or hard news? [45:24]
If people are reflectors—not sources—of the Light, how might that reframe expectations about productivity, image, and “shining harder” in ordinary life? [50:10]

Application questions

Where do you most need Light right now—home, body, relationships, work? Name one specific place and why. [43:19]
Start as you mean to go on: what is one small, faithful practice of presence you will begin this week, and where exactly will it live in your daily schedule (time/place)? [51:45]
If you received a star-word, where will you put it so you see it often, and how will you engage it this month (pray it daily, journal weekly, share it with a friend)? [48:56]
Who needs you to show up in person this week—no texts or quick emojis—and how will you make space to listen without hurrying? [45:24]
Imagine God has pitched a tent in your front yard. Which part of your real routine—commute, mealtime, bedtime, errands—will you consciously invite God into, and what will that look like? [41:15]
In what area are you trying to “shine harder”? What would it look like to stop striving and instead turn toward the Light so you can reflect it there? Be concrete. [50:10]
The inflow of information is constant. What is one boundary you can set with your phone or media this week so you can notice and follow the Light more clearly? [44:01]

Sermon Clips

So, we're in Epiphany. Epiphany is is a celebration of Jesus coming to the world. Epiphany is a time when when we see where god is showing up. It's it's a celebration of when the the wise guys show up. When the wise men make their way to the house where Jesus was and despite the fact that we display it here frequently in our nativities with the camel with the the sheep shepherds and all the things. [00:35:31] (41 seconds) #EpiphanyMoment

And sometimes when we're starting into a new year, we start out by saying, how do I fix everything in my life that feels wrong? How do I fix everything in my world? I mean, how many of us thought about New Year's resolutions this this week. How many of us thought about things that we wanted to do different in the New Year? How many of us thought about things that we wanted to change? We thought, oh, I want to eat healthier. I want to go to the gym more. I want to ride my bike more. I want to, maybe I'm just talking to me. Maybe that's just my list. [00:37:40] (40 seconds) #BeyondResolutions

I love that imagery of god moving into the neighborhood. Imagine with me that somebody moves in next door to you. Right? What do you do when somebody moves in next door? I go and hey. I'm Gail. Who are you? What's your name? How can I help you? What's going on? Where'd you move from? Who's your family? All the questions, right? Because I want to get to know them. [00:39:49] (32 seconds) #GodMovesNextDoor

And I think on New Year's Day, that matters. I think that as we think about New Year's, as we think about the epiphany, as we think about what we're doing new in 2026, it matters how we begin. God doesn't wait for a better version of us. God doesn't wait for our clarity or for our organization or our certainty. God moves right in right where we are right now. [00:40:37] (31 seconds) #GodShowsUpNow

And it reminds me of the way that god traveled with Israel through the wilderness in a tent. In the tabernacle, god chose to dwell with the people and they carried around a tent to to have a place where god could be. God chooses to dwell with us in our wilderness. God chooses to dwell with us in flesh and blood. God doesn't choose to show up in the year that we wish we were having or maybe the world that we wish was happening around us. To where we wish that god where we wish we were in the world today, god shows up in the year that we're actually stepping into. [00:41:29] (55 seconds) #GodDwellsWithUs

But even though we we communicate constantly, we still know that there are some things that we must do in person. None of us are gonna propose marriage by a text message. Thinking if you got it that way, you're probably saying no. You don't send hard news with an emoji. You know, you send them some crying eyes, and they're like, what? What am I crying about? Some messages require presence. [00:44:49] (35 seconds) #PresenceMatters

Wanna remind us that we are not the source of the light. We are the reflection. It's not the light in us. It's the way we're reflecting the god light into the world that matters. Like the moon reflects the sun, like stained glass windows catch light and turn it into color, like a star catches our attention in the sky pointing the way. This star is to help guide you through 2026. [00:49:58] (40 seconds) #ReflectTheLight

When you get your star, I hope that you will reflect on what kind of light you hope this star word will help you reflect into the new year. Meditate on it. Pray on it. Think on it. And it may change from the beginning of this year to the end of the year. It may morph and it may meander and it may be all kinds of different ways for you throughout throughout the year. That's okay. Let it guide you. [00:50:39] (33 seconds) #StarWordGuide

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Guided by the Star: Beginning the Year with Light

Devotional

Day 1: God moves into the neighborhood right now

Day 2: Start as you mean to go on

Day 3: Light the darkness cannot put out

Day 4: Some messages require presence, not distance

Day 5: Carry the star, reflect God’s light

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Guided by the Star: Beginning the Year with Light

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