Reverend David Campbell, of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, said he would look back to the first Christmas and the words used by Luke the evangelist in the Third Gospel.

Luke wrote: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests."

"I want to explore the importance of peace to people of goodwill and the goodness of God to each and every individual," Reverend Campbell said.

"We also need to make a strong connection between the Christ of the manger and the Christ of the cross. The gospels record that when Herod heard about the birth of Christ, he was troubled."

Reverend Campbell said this was because, while it was not uncommon to sentimentalise the baby Jesus, that baby became a man who took on the world, was rejected by the establishment and was slaughtered on the cross.

"But he rose again, triumphant, and the risen Christ is just as great a challenge to those who would oppress with power and violence now as he was then."

Bishop Stuart Robinson, the Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, said it was necessary to look beyond the "tinsel, trees and tinned puddings" to the full power of Christmas at a time when the world was overloaded with pain, hopelessness and despair.

"Christmas may seem anything but joyful to the scores of people walking wearily across Europe seeking haven from those who perpetrate atrocities in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka," he said.

"[It] may feel empty to those who lost mothers, fathers, daughters and sons in outrageous attacks . . . in Paris, San Bernardino or Parramatta.

"Yet Christmas has the capacity to change the world more than any weapon, program or law court yet devised."

Bishop Robinson said Christmas celebrated God made man.

"God chose not to leave us alone," he said. "By taking on flesh and blood . . . Jesus opened a way for love, hope and faith to deal with pain, hopelessness and despair. The true gift of Christmas is that love has the power to turn swords into ploughshares. Hope unites strangers irrespective of race, religion or gender."

Archbishop Christopher Prowse, the Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, said the plight of refugees both past and present was front and centre in the Christmas narrative.

"The principal Christmas biblical personalities, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, were refugees, too," he said.

"They fled to Egypt to escape persecution [in Herod's slaughter of the innocents] 2000 years ago.

"Christians see these biblical Christmas figures in the faces of present-day refugees. [The refugees] become Jesus for us today."

Archbishop Prowse said refugees were not just fleeing Syria; the world was in torment and millions were on the move, racing from tyranny and oppression across the globe.

"Let us remind ourselves of the second verse of our national anthem, 'For those who've come across the seas, we've boundless plains to share'."

He appealed tor all Australians to offer support and practical aid when refugees moved to their neighbourhoods.

"Only then will Christmas be truly Christmas; a time of hope and joy in the midst of the terrors of the night."