2015 has been a year of ups and downs for our nation. Spiritually, politically, morally. We have had victories and setbacks, but all along you have stayed with us and weathered the storms. You have laughed and wept with us. You have prayed and fasted with us. You have faithfully called for Australians to stand up for our nation's soul.

Your prayers have made a difference, and we couldn't have done this without you.

As we look to the year ahead with the challenges of a Federal Election, a plebiscite on the future legal interpretation of marriage in our nation, and many unknown challenges yet to come, we know that when the call comes, you will stand with us.

Thank you.

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Christmas is only a few days away. It is a time when everyone stops and looks at what has been, what is, and what they hope for. A time when we come together to share a meal and the blessings that we are so abundantly given in our nation. It is a time for families; those brought together by blood, by the Spirit of God, and by love.

More than anything else, it is the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God that we celebrate. We here at the Canberra Declaration are unashamedly Christian, and whilst we fight for Judaeo-Christian values, we cannot and will not shy away from recognizing publicly that Jesus is Lord.

The book of John, Chapter 1, explains it this way:

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...  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.  

It is the arrival of the Word that is Jesus, and the light that He brings, that we celebrate this Christmas. This Word is the truth that sets humanity free from bondage and slavery, and brings us into the light of a right relationship with God, the Father of all.

This truth drives us to put our trust in God, and to step out in faith, as many have before us. This includes... 

• The faith steps of Abraham, to leave the land that he knew and follow a deity that was new to him to places unknown.
• The faith steps of Joseph, the man whose future wife became pregnant with God's child, who traveled first from Nazareth to Bethlehem, then to Egypt, and back to Nazareth again, raising a son not his own.
• The faith steps of the martyrs, those who died rather than renounce the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Christians have been dying for this belief for two thousand years, and are still being killed today.

The journey of a life time begins with but a single step

May the year to come be one where each of us steps out in faith, to be obedient to the call upon our lives to speak the truth in love, and to refuse to back down from what we know is right, good, and Godly.