Explore our Advent Devotionals for your family! This week’s theme is Hope. Learn more about how you can prepare for the Christmas season.
Explore our Advent Devotionals for your family! Within each day of the Advent Devotions, your family can read through specific excerpts from the Bible. Then, your family can engage in meaningful discussion with our questions and conversation starters.
During the first week of Advent, focus on the theme of Hope. Keep reading to learn more about how you can prepare for the Christmas season.
The Christmas story is not only what happened near the manger one night in Bethlehem. Jesus’ birth and arrival is part of larger story that stretches all the way to the beginning of time when God created the world.
The Advent and Christmas season makes up God’s larger story. Within this story, we see that God loves us and has a plan to rescue us from our sin and disobedience. Throughout the whole story, we are invited to see Jesus as the Savior of the world who came to Earth as a baby. Christmas is a time to focus on Christ and meditate on the story of God’s love for us.
Were you aware that the story of Christmas begins at the very beginning of the Bible? At the very beginning, God created everything. God created the heavens, the earth, animals, oceans, and plants. Then, God created humans when He said, “Let us make man in our image.”
God created us to be like Himself in so many ways. And the most important way He made us was to enjoy relationships. Specifically, the most important relationship for us is to enjoy a relationship with God! But we needed someone to help us build that relationship. And that’s where Jesus’ birth at Christmas comes into the picture.
Read: John 18:37; Hebrews 1:1-4
Though red and green are the customary colors of Christmas, the traditional color for Advent season is purple. In many churches, this is reflected in the decorations and design.
During the time of Christ, purple was a royal color, worn mostly by kings and rulers. Have your children search for something they own that is purple. The color reminds us that the birth of Christ was a royal entrance. Discuss how Jesus came into the world humbly as a baby, even though He was the King.
Imagine being in God’s place when Adam and Even sinned. In today’s scripture passage, we see how Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Because of their decisions, sin entered the previously perfect world.
The consequence of their sin? Adam and Eve had to leave the garden that God created. They could no longer be in perfect relationship with God. The takeaway though? There was a way for them to be in relationship with God once again. However, it would take the greatest sacrifice the world has ever seen. Can you make a guess at what that sacrifice is?
After Adam and Eve left the garden, generation after generation went through cycles of disobeying and obeying God. Eventually, God formed a relationship with a man named Abram, who eventually was renamed Abraham.
God created a unique promise with Abraham that he would soon become the father of many nations. The catch? Abraham and his wife Sarah were super old, like great-grandparent old. And they didn’t have any kids yet. But God keeps His promises and always has a plan.
Thousands of years later, a little baby would be born in a manger. Little did everyone know is that this little baby was a generational grandson of Abraham. If God is powerful enough to overcome Abraham’s doubts, how much more is he able to overcome our own doubts!
Read: Luke 1:26-38; Matthew 1:18-24
Giving and receiving gifts are an important part of the Christmas season. For Advent, prepare a small gift for each of your children. Hide the gifts in relatively easy places to find throughout your home. Have your children take turns searching for a gift, but stall for a moment before letting the youngest child go first.
Younger children may feel as if they have waited a long time, even if they haven’t. While each child is waiting for his or her turn, talk about the excitement of waiting. It can be difficult to wait for something even as small as this little gift, so imagine how exciting it is to wait for and anticipate the gift of Jesus. When all the gifts are found, remind your children that you gave these gifts out of love – how much more must God love us to give us His Son, Jesus!
Read: Hebrews 11:1; Psalm 27:14, 130:5
Advent season is full of traditions. As you continue conversations about Advent, talk about other Christmas traditions that your family has. Perhaps you decorate with red and green, which originally came from the evergreens and holly used in older European traditions. They were used to represent ongoing life and hope that Christ’s birth brought to the world.
After you’ve discussed your family’s traditions, do one of them together today. If you don’t have one, start one. Maybe you want to make apple cider, talk about past Christmases, or even share one story about what you did at Christmas as a child. Traditions help us remember things in the past as we celebrate those things today.
Check out our Advent Family Devotionals for each week of the Advent season. Learn about the hope of Jesus’ birth and return.
For Christians, the Advent season reminds us not only of Jesus’ birth, but of His eternal presence and eventual second coming.
Jackson Greer is a Special Projects Manager for Focus on the Family. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Clara. They love feeding birds, debating whether or not to get a cat, and reading William Carlos Williams’ poetry together. Also, he is a former high school English teacher and a defender of the Post Office.
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