5 Picture Books For Christmas

Posted On: 26. 11. 12 | 10 Comments

In the Cultivating a Christ-Centered Christmas series I mentioned that we as a family have an Advent Book tradition where we daily unwrap books that relate particularly to the Christmas story. On Wednesday I will be guest posting at Redeemed Reader on the particular ways you can easily incorporate this tradition in your own family’s celebration.

Today, I would like to share five of our favorite Christmas picture books with you. Obviously we bring out and enjoy many other books during the Christmas season. Some are more silly than others (Veggie Tales comes to mind) and some are beautifully illustrated accounts of legends that drive home the Christmas message (the Legend of the Christmas Cookie for example), but our favorites are the ones that poetically and joyously celebrate the Savior himself. By filling our home with such books during this special season, we hope to drive home the focus our family strives to have on Christ during the holidays. Here are five such books which I would recommend adding to your own Christmas collection (some of them may surprise you!):

1.) Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story

by Sally Lloyd-Jones

This relatively new picture book, which focuses on the excitement preceding the incarnation of Christ was published in 2011 and is a true blessing to families everywhere. In true Sally Lloyd-Jones fashion, the story easily captures the imagination and thoughts of young children while the beautiful pictures of various animals from all different environments keep little minds engaged.

The purpose of this particular book is to breed excitement for the coming of the Light of the World. As the animals of earth repeat over and over again phrases like “It’s time! It’s time!,” “Get ready! Get ready! Be glad! Be glad!” you and your children will get caught up in the wonder of the coming incarnation until you peer down along with the animals at “God’s great gift.”

You can find Song of the Stars here.

2.) Christmas Night Fair and Bright

by Julie Stiegemeyer

This poetic telling of Jesus’ birth is perfect for the littlest of listeners as the rhythmic lines flow easily from page to page and end each time with the proclamation: “He’s Jesus, born for us.” What I find particularly helpful in this book is the emphasis given at the end of the book for what we are truly celebrating at Christmas time.

The second to last page reads:

“Born our Savior, born to cry, born to suffer, born to die. All our sins on Him will lie, on Jesus born for us.”

The last page pictures a church gathering for a candlelight service and reads:

“At Christmas gathered in this place, though we don’t see our Savior’s face, we hear God’s precious words of grace of Jesus, born for us. Christmas moon glows fair and bright shining now with Christmas light. We celebrate His birth tonight: our Jesus, born for us.” 

You can find Christmas Night Fair and Bright here for a very cheap price!

3.) The Lightlings

by R. C. Sproul

“Once upon a time, there was a great King, who was the King of Light. He made the light, and His light was so perfect and so pure that He was called ‘The King without a Shadow’ This great King of Light made a group of people, and He made them so that they could shine brightly, just as He did. He called them His little lightlings…” 

So begins the beautiful allegorical tale of the Gospel written by the much respected Dr. R. C. Sproul. The story of the lightlings and their King walks through their fall into darkness (the entrance of sin into the world) and introduces the gift of the Savior in a tiny child called the “Son of the King of Light” who will restore the light once given to these little pixy characters by their Creator. “The King has given us a child. He has given us His own Son to be the Light of the World,” the little pixies proclaim as they gaze upon the baby.

This unlikely Christmas story is told, as most of Sproul’s children’s books are, from the voice of a loving grandfather to his grandson and displays how even the most ordinary of problems a child faces (in this case the fear of the dark) can point to profound truths found in the Word of God.

Particularly noteworthy are the illustrations in this picture book which are simply gorgeous and can be appreciated by both children and adults alike.

You can find The Lightlings here.

4.) The Tale of Three Trees

by Angela Elwell Hunt

This book is well known legend about three trees who hoped to do “great” things when they grew up. One wants to be a made into a beautiful treasure chest, another wants to be a mighty ship, and the last wants to grow taller than all the other trees so that he will point people to God. Each of them is disappointed to see what they actually become as the first is used for wood to make a manger (which holds the Christ-child), the second a little boat (which carries the Lord as he calms the raging seas), and the third is cut down to be used as a cross (where the Savior hangs to pay the penalty for our sins).

The story simultaneously tells the story of the Jesus’ birth, power, death, and resurrection while teaching children that God uses the humble for his own glorious purposes.

You may be wondering why I would include this book in a list of Christmas books. While it does include a picture of the nativity and focuses briefly on the birth of Christ, the story is much broader than just the incarnation. The reason I included it is because it not only provides a context for the birth of Christ (within his life, death and resurrection), but also shows the simpleness of his birth–the unworthiness of something so gross (a manger) to hold the King of the Universe. It is a great talking point for little children.

You can find The Tale of Three Trees here.

5.) The Light of the World

by Katherine Paterson

This beautifully illustrated picture book follows the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and focuses primarily on him bringing light into the world. For this reason it is a great pairing with R.C. Sproul’s The Lightlings. This book is helpful during the Christmas season to provide a framework for who this little baby is we are celebrating. There would be no reason to celebrate this little child’s birth if he hadn’t been the Son of God and hadn’t come to die for our sins. Also beneficial in this book are the illustrations which venture away from the typical Caucasian Jesus and present darker skinned, more realistic versions of these well-known historical characters.

You can find The Light of the World here.

What are some of your favorite Christmas books? What would make your top 5? I would love to hear about them as we are always on the lookout for great books!

Imitating the Messiah During the Christmas Season

Posted On: 16. 11. 12 | 8 Comments

We have looked at many different practical traditions that you can make a part of your family’s Christmas celebration over the past week, today we are going to look at the most important ways that we can glorify and honor our Lord at Christmas time. By imitating the heart and love of our Savior we will point others to the most wonderful of Kings, the one who can give them true and lasting joy.

Don’t forget to go back through the previous posts in this series to enter all of the wonderful giveaways!

Imitate Our Messiah King

Care for the Orphans and Widows- Imitate the heart of our Savior by paying special attention to the orphans and widows around you. Consider who around you (or around the world for that matter) you can show the love of Christ to. Is there a nursing home near you? Is there an elderly, home bound member of your church you could spend time with? Can you volunteer at a shelter? Will you participate in Operation Christmas Child? Is there a needy family that you are aware of whom would be blessed by your generosity during Christmas? Look for ways to serve and give to those who are the most alone and needy this Christmas, for this is undefiled religion, this is what our Messiah loves to see his redeemed doing. Photo Credit

Care for the Church- Find special ways to honor those who serve faithfully in your church family. People who may not be recognized often are nursery workers, set up crews, sound and tech crews, small group leaders, and youth workers. Take the time to thank them for serving our Messiah King and bless them in some special way (keep in mind that a personal note of thanks is probably more appreciated than a baked good even… and more economical too).

Also remember to honor your pastors and their families during this time. They will be especially busy during this season (many will be unable to spend their Christmas with extended family as they serve the church). A practical way to serve these busy people is by offering to prepare dinner for them one night during the Christmas season as they may be too busy to come over to your home for dinner. A good meal that is already prepared is a very special blessing! Gift cards to Wal-Mart, Amazon, Target, etc… would also be excellent blessings as pastor’s families often operate on small budgets. Don’t forget those you do not see! Send Christmas cards and gifts to missionaries you have been praying for and supporting throughout the year.

Care for the Poor- Consider spending less money on gifts for your family and more on gifts that will make a lasting impact on those who have nothing. (Talk to your family about this goal before making any drastic changes to your gift buying; make it a family project!). Perhaps you will begin supporting a child through Compassion, or you will donate money to an organization that provides clean drinking water to those who are dying without it. Maybe you will buy a goat for a poor family in Asia that will provide milk for them to drink and sell. There are so many ways for us to us to help those who are truly in need! Ministries like Gospel for Asia make it incredibly easy to touch lives for God’s glory in ways we could never have dreamed of in the past. And don’t forget those who are right down the street from you at shelters, women’s centers, and even on street corners!

Care for the Persecuted Church- Look into different ways your family or you personally can encourage and strengthen the persecuted church. Check into the many opportunities that Voice of the Martyrs provides like filling an action pack for persecuted Christians, collecting blankets for Sudanese Christians, writing a letter to a Christian who has been imprisoned for his faith, or simply giving money.

Invite someone over for your Christmas Eve/Christmas day celebration who doesn’t have anywhere else to go. Let them be a part of your family and participate in your traditions. Show them that your family is different, that your family serves the Lord and not the lust for material possessions. People you might not think about are college students (especially students from other countries), elderly neighbors, and seminary students/couples.

While we were in another state for seminary we were very blessed by a family in our church who “took us in” for Christmas and allowed us to enjoy their feast with them.

Be Set Apart-  All of the traditions we have discussed throughout this series are meant to be distinctly Christian. We want the world to see that we have something incredible to celebrate, something that is beautiful and wonderful and exciting, something that they will want to partake in too. Think about Christ’s character and make it your aim to display that to the world around you this Christmas. Keep spare bills in your wallet so that you are ready and able to give to The Salvation Army, to beggars on the street, to buy your friend lunch. Be prepared to share the gospel with your coworkers, fellow students, and neighbors. Make baked goods for your neighbors to show them the love of Christ and personally deliver them. Invite people to church with you on Christmas to hear the good news. Carry your faith into every aspect of your Christmas (that includes your Black Friday shopping!).

A Giveaway for You!

Today’s giveaway will help you share the love of Christ with someone special! Perhaps a neighbor or your pastor’s family or a stranger even. One of you will win a beautiful “Jesus is the Gift” serving platter as well as a great set of nativity cookie cutters to bake up some delectable treats to fill it with! Simply fill out the form below for your chance to win.

 

Simply fill out the form below for your chance to win.

All giveaways–including this one will end Sunday the 18th at 12 a.m. and be announced the following Monday morning! (All giveaways are limited to those in the U.S., unless the prize is a book and can be offered as a Kindle version.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Practical Ways to Worship the Messiah During Christmas

Posted On: 15. 11. 12 | 44 Comments

I truly hope you have been blessed so far by the “Cultivating a Christ-Centered Christmas” series. We have two more posts filled with practical suggestions as well as two more giveaways. Today we will look at how we can cultivate an atmosphere of worship throughout the Christmas season. Be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of this post as well as to enter all of the previous giveaways in the series!

Worshipping the Messiah King

Christmas Eve Service- Make your church’s Christmas Eve Service a focal point of your Christmas tradition. If you have children, build up the excitement of going to the special Christmas service where you will worship the Messiah King with your church family. Make time for the service and plan your other activities around it, so as not to be rushed and simply adding more “activities” to your night. Candlelight Service Photo Credit

Incorporate Christmas Hymns into your family devotion times and play Christ-exalting Christmas Carols in your home throughout the Christmas season. Christmas Carols for a Kid’s Heart is a great devotional resource containing sheet music as well as an accompanying CD.

The First Gift Tradition- Wrap a box that can be used every Christmas and fill it with white index cards that read “Jesus blessed me this year by…” (or something to this effect). Fill out as many cards as you want individually and then place them in the box on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning open the box and read them out loud to one another reminding each other of the many blessings our Messiah King has bestowed on us. Offer a prayer of thanksgiving to our giving Lord for all the many gifts he has given us (including the gifts you are about to open). Pray that he would cultivate thankful and mindful hearts in each of us. Open each other’s gifts with the desire to bless others because we have been so richly blessed. 

Save the cards from each year by tying them up in ribbon and leaving them at the bottom of the box. Throughout the Christmas Season take a peak at old cards!

What we do: This is the first year we will be incorporating this tradition into our Christmas. I plan to write “Jesus I thank and worship you because…” on each of the cards so that our gift to Jesus is filled with praises to him (what he truly desires). 

Rejoice! Make Christmas morning a very special and exciting day by making a lavish breakfast lighting lots of candles and singing loud worship music to the Messiah who has “arrived.” Consider waking before your children wake up (I know…) so they can see that you are thrilled to celebrate Christ’s birth. In this way you can capture their hearts and minds before they even begin to think about presents. Burst into their rooms singing “Good Christian men, rejoice with heart and soul, and voice; Give ye heed to what we say: News! News! Jesus Christ is born today; Ox and ass before Him bow; and He is in the manger now. Christ is born today! Christ is born today!” Then lead them to your tree to give Jesus your gift of praise!

What we do: Our special Christmas song is Born is the King (It’s Christmas) by Hillsong. This upbeat celebration is perfect for our little boys and gets blasted in our home often during the Christmas season (we just can’t keep it in until Christmas morning!). 

Shepherd’s Pouches- Cultivate a giving spirit in your children’s hearts by encouraging them to collect spare change or allowance money (provide opportunities for them to earn money) during the Christmas season. Hang “Shepherd’s Pouches” rather than stockings and allow them to fill them up with money for Christ (their gifts of praise to him). Tell them that you will put all of the money together when Christmas arrives and donate it to the church, a charity, a needy family you know, or use it to send your Compassion child a special Christmas gift. Christmas Eve night, exchange the money for small trinkets that you would normally put in a stocking.

Don’t forget to have a Shepherd’s Pouch for Mom and Dad too! Let your children see your desire to worship Christ as well. Giving your money to someone or sending it off to a charity on Christmas day would be an excellent way to make the experience more realistic to younger children (even if the Post Office isn’t open you can put it in a drop box). Leather Pouch Photo Credit

Consider limiting the amount of Christmas gifts you give to your children in order to help them focus less on material things. Some use a “three gift” rule mimicking the frankincense, gold, and myrrh brought by the wise men to Jesus.

What we do: we have a one present tradition, that we hope to build on as our children grow and are able to make/buy gifts for their siblings (we also ask that extended family use temperance in their gift buying though we don’t put a number limit on them!).

Some larger families have a “Night of the Giver” for every person in their family where each person is assigned a night when they are able to give the gifts they have made/bought to each of their family members. (If you have four members in your family you have four nights of gift giving.) This helps to cultivate an attitude of giving rather than receiving. Christmas Eve and Day are then reserved to celebrate Christ, our ultimate gift and no gifts are exchanged.

Cut out Santa- I will share more on Santa during the month of December, but for now let me just say this: Allow your children to be thankful to the true Giver of Gifts rather than a fictitious person who will only distract from your worship of the Lord. Use the gifts from family and friends to teach your children about our great God who blesses us, so that we can in turn bless others.

A Giveaway for You!

Today’s giveaway revolves around music! There are so many wonderful Christmas albums out there, but I definitely have my favorites. Three different albums I truly enjoy are:

Keith and Kristyn Getty’s Joy: An Irish Christmas

Chris Tomlin’s Glory in the Highest

and Bebo Norman’s Christmas… from the Realms of Glory

Two of you will have the opportunity to win your choice of one of these albums today (your choice)! Simply fill out the form below for your chance to win! –And don’t forget to enter the four other giveaways in this series.

All giveaways–including this one will end Sunday the 18th at 12 a.m. and be announced the following Monday morning! (All giveaways are limited to those in the U.S., unless the prize is a book and can be offered as a Kindle version.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Meditating on the Messiah During Christmas

Posted On: 14. 11. 12 | 1 Comment

Today we will be looking at practical ways to meditate on the Messiah during the Christmas season. Let us cultivate a spirit of reverence this holiday season as we celebrate the most wonderful of events–the coming of the Messiah! Don’t miss out on the previous posts and giveaways in this series! (Click on these links to be taken to Monday and Tuesday’s posts.)

Meditating on The Messiah King

Names of Jesus Ornaments- Create a collection of tree ornaments that display the names of Jesus and their references. As you “trim your tree” or decorate your home read them out loud to each other and look up some of the verses they are found in. This is a wonderful exercise that allows you to remind yourself of who Christ is and to teach your children that Jesus was so much more than a little baby in a manger. It is also a wonderful way to continue to meditate on Christ throughout the Christmas season as you sit next to your tree and read through all of the wonderful descriptions of our Lord. You may also use one ornament a day to focus your personal devotions on.

What we do: We began this tradition three years ago when we decided to make our Christmas Tree our Jesse Tree. The Sunday after Thanksgiving we put up our tree and decorate it with ribbon, lights and simple names of Jesus ornaments. We made ours by writing the names on pretty ball ornaments with paint pens. Then every night we hang a new Jesse Tree ornaments (see yesterday’s post) until the tree is filled with the story of Christ. Out of all of our traditions the “Names of Jesus” tradition is my favorite. It is such a blessing to read through all of the different descriptions of Christ together as a family.

Read through a Christmas Devotional  during your personal devotions or as a married couple or as a family to help focus your heart(s) on what you are celebrating.

Suggested Devotional Resources:

Make use of Symbolism- Use deep red ribbon to decorate your Christmas tree in order to symbolize the blood that Jesus planned to shed for us even before he came to earth as the baby in the manger. As you decorate your tree with twinkly lights, remind yourself and your children that Christ came to be the Light of the World. As you decorate your home with lights, talk about how God calls us to be the light to a dark world. Just as our homes shine brightly in the darkness, we should seek to live holy lives that are different from the sinful world around us.

Further use of colors representations: Red for Jesus’ blood, Green for everlasting life, White for purity (both in Christ and in how he makes us white as snow), Gold for Christ’s Kingship. Remind yourself of these truths as you decorate and make sure to verbalize them throughout the holiday season for the benefit of your children. Meditate on a verse for each of the colors throughout the season. Decorate your home with angels who are “announcing” the coming messiah. Use a star to top your tree symbolizing the star that led to the baby Jesus in the manger. Consider waiting to place it on the top of the tree on Christmas Eve.

Gingerbread Gospel (For families with children)- There are a couple ways you can use the traditional “Gingerbread House” to focus on Christ. The first is by building a traditional house and relating it to the gospel message. Here is a way one mother does so:

“Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a life-sized gingerbread house? What would your favorite candy house be made out of? What would you use for beds, chairs, pillows, toys? (let the children offer ideas) That would almost seem like the perfect place to live, wouldn’t it? Well, the Bible tells us about a real live “perfect place to live.” It’s called Heaven. Long ago, that’s where Jesus lived. But God decided to send Jesus from His perfect house in Heaven to Earth. (John 6:38) What was the first house Jesus lived in on Earth (pause to let children answer)? It was a stable. What is a stable? (a barn) What would have it looked like? What would have been in that stable? What would it have smelled like? And Jesus’ first bed was a manger. What is a manger? (A feeding trough for animals) (Luke 2:1-7) Was it anything like the perfect place Jesus came from? Now, why do you think that God would send His own Son from a perfect house in heaven, to a dirty, smelly, cold place like a stable? (let children offer answers) Because He loves you very much! He wanted you to know Him and so He sent His Son to tell you and to show you all about God. Jesus did just that. He taught us about God, and the things that He taught are all written down for us in the Bible (John 3:16) One day, when Jesus was still a young man, He left His home on Earth. He died for all the bad things we’ve done. And now He has a new home. Do you know where that is? He wants to live in our hearts. He will come and live in our hearts if we ask Him to, and forgive us all of the wrong things we’ve done! (John 14:15-17) Now, why do you think He would want to live inside us, and forgive us of our sins? (pause for responses) He does that because He loves each one of you so much! He wants to always be close to you, and help you. Finally, the Bible says one more important thing about houses. It says that Jesus is preparing a house for each one of us in heaven! He says that one day, we can all live forever with Him there in that perfect, wonderful place! (Luke 1:31-33; John 6:38-40; John 14:1-3) Can you tell me what houses we have talked about that Jesus has lived in? (heaven, stable/earth, our hearts, and heaven again) Now, I want you to remember how much Jesus loves you every time you look at it. And I want you to remember that Jesus wants to live inside you, and to have you live with Him in Heaven someday.” Gingerbread House Photo Credit

Another way to use gingerbread to focus your children’s hearts on Christ (and your own for that matter) is to build a gingerbread nativity scene rather than a house. There are nativity cookie cutters that can be used for this and as you bake and decorate the different characters you will be presented with another opportunity to share the story of the incarnation with your children. Gingerbread Nativity Photo Credit

Christmas Cookies with a Message- Many families set aside time to bake and decorate Christmas cookies during the holiday season to give away to neighbors, family members, and coworkers, but why not make cookies that share the Gospel message with your children and those who will receive your tasty treats?

What we do: One of our Advent picture books (see yesterday’s post) is a book called The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of the Jesus’ Birth which recounts the story of a young boy learning how people used to bake and use cookies to explain Jesus’ birth to others. He and his mother then bake cookies that represent different moments in the nativity story and he is able to share the gospel with a homeless man through them. After reading this book together, we make our special nativity cookies using a cookie stamp from Rycraft to be given as gifts to family members. The cookie stamp is a simple way for little ones to participate in making adorable cookies!

Play Nativity Sets (for families with children)- use a children’s nativity set to act out the nativity story with your children over and over again during the holiday season. Let them keep the nativity in their room and play with it at will.

Suggested Nativity Sets:

Act Out the Nativity Story (for families with children)- Many families put on a little Christmas pageant of there own where each member of the family plays a role (Mary, Joseph, an Angel, etc…) reenacting the Christmas story either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Creative people can even make costumes!

Watch “The Nativity Story” as a family during the Christmas season.

We love this movie for the sole purpose of showing the reality of real people (Mary and Joseph) with real faults and fears being used by God during this miraculous event. I cry when Christ is born every time we watch it! We usually watch it on Christmas Eve.

Read the Biblical account of Jesus’ birth before opening presents. This simple tradition may have a tremendous impact on your children’s hearts as they learn to control their desire for presents and put Christ first in all things. Don’t rush through this activity and make sure that you are visibly excited to spend time with Jesus as a family on this very special morning-your enthusiasm will make a huge impact on their view of the activity.

Decorate with the Glory of God in Mind- So often we take our decorating cues from the world rather than thinking through our purpose in using such decorations. What do your decorations say about what you are celebrating? Reindeer and snowmen are not evil and can bring glory to the Lord, but they also may not be the most helpful for focusing your heart on Jesus. What’s worse, your children may grow up believing that Christmas is all about those things rather than the Holy Son of God. Let’s decorate our homes in a way that worships the the Lord! Try to make and find decorations that remind you of the miraculous event we are celebrating. (Jesus is the Gift platter from Dayspring pictured to the left)

A Giveaway for You!

Today you have the opportunity to win one of two copies of the Christmas devotional Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas. 

Not only is this an excellent resource for you to add to your personal library, but it is also The Book Club’s December read! I would love for you to join me as we seek to meditate on the Messiah this Christmas season by diving into this wonderful book! Simply fill out the form below for your chance to win it (and then make sure to go back to the previous three posts in this series to enter the giveaways there!).

All giveaways–including this one will end Sunday the 18th at 12 a.m. and be announced the following Monday morning! (All giveaways are limited to those in the U.S., unless the prize is a book and can be offered as a Kindle version.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Practical Advent Traditions for a Christ-Centered Christmas

Posted On: 13. 11. 12 | 25 Comments

Yesterday we looked at the motivation behind celebrating a Christ-centered Christmas. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to take the time to read yesterday’s post (as well as enter yesterday’s giveaway!) before moving on to these practical suggestions for Christ-centered traditions. 

Now that you are considering how you can cultivate a distinctly Christian Christmas celebration in your home, let’s look at some practical ways to do so. Keep in mind that no family should do all of these things. Trying to do too much during the holiday season, even good things, can result in a loss of the meditative spirit we are hoping to cultivate. Many of these traditions overlap and some of them cannot be done at the same time. Choose the traditions that are the most meaningful to you or use these suggestions as inspiration to create your own Christ-centered traditions.

Through sharing a wealth of ideas with you, I hope to prove that by focusing on Christ, rather than the many materialistic and mystical traditions the world focuses on, you are not giving up a joyful, meaningful, memorable Christmas. On the contrary, by focusing our hearts and minds on the Living God throughout the Christmas season, we will do lasting good to our lives, our children’s lives, and the lives of the watching world around us. Today we will start with advent activities.

Anticipating the Messiah King Through Advent

(Advent: The coming of the Messiah)

Advent Wreaths/Candles- There are many ways to use candles during advent. You can simply have 25 tea light candles which are lit one by one as the days get closer to Christmas or you can celebrate with the traditional Advent Wreath, which also makes a great centerpiece for your table!

An advent wreath is very easy to make and is a fun activity for your family to collectively participate in as you look forward to celebrating the coming of the Messiah. It consists of four candles placed in the vines of a wreath and a white “Christ” candle in the center. The four colored candles are lit each of the Sundays before Christmas one by one until they are all lit. (The first week only one candle is lit, the second week two are lit, etc…) This is meant to symbolize the coming of the Light of the World. Traditionally three of the candles are purple and one is pink (the purple symbolizes royalty and the pink symbolizes the anticipation of Christmas, thus it is a mixture of the purple and white candles). The center candle is larger and white. It is lit Christmas Eve or Christmas day to symbolize Christ entering our world. You can easily encorporate this tradition with nightly or weekly devotions that focus on the coming Messiah.  Advent Wreath Photo Credit

What we do: In the past we have only used simple advent candles around our nativity scene, and most recently we used an advent wreath that I made. I used four red candles to symbolize the bloody sacrificial system that was used up until Christ, the Lamb of God, who’s sacrifice sealed our pardon for all of eternity. We have one very large, beautiful white candle to symbolize the pure and holy Christ entering our world. Each night that we light a new candle we read a different prophesy that relates to the Messiah coming to save the world.

Advent Wreath/Candle Resources:

Advent/Jesse Tree- This tradition is typically reserved for those of us with children, but I would encourage even those without children to use the advent readings as you prepare your heart for the celebration of Christ’s birth. (Here is a sample list of readings. There are many different options online and even devotional books you can purchase.) The Jesse Tree is named after Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots.”  It is a vehicle to tell the progressive story of redemption throughout the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history. The “shoot” or “branch” coming from Jesse’s lineage is a symbol of the hope Israel had in a coming Messiah. Each ornament hung on a small tree, or in many homes a branch, or for some on a banner, represents a particular moment in salvific history. For instance the first ornament would be something like a globe symbolizing creation and then perhaps a fruit symbolizing the fall. Each night leading up to Christmas you read a section of scripture related to one particular moment in the history of Christ’s lineage and then hang a corresponding ornament. Most people make their own ornaments with their children, but you can also buy kits like the one offered in today’s giveaway at the bottom of this post! Jesse Tree Photo Credit

What we do: Our Jesse Tree is our Christmas Tree. Rather than having a separate tree that is more “spiritual” or Jesus focused, we decided to make the main purpose of our Christmas tree to celebrate the Messiah. Each night we add an ornament to our Christmas Tree and read the corresponding scriptures which takes the place of our usual family worship. This year I have finally gotten around to making my own ornaments that are a bit nicer than our previous paper ornaments. I chose artwork that featured the actual scenes or people we would be reading about rather than symbols and decoupaged them into ornament frames. I used red ribbon to hang them with to symbolize the blood of Christ which runs through all of redemptive history.

Jessie Tree Resources:

A Growing Nativity- Nativity scenes are an obvious way to decorate your home with the Gospel message. In fact, Noel Piper collects nativity scenes from their travels and fills her home with them on Christmas! Another way to build anticipation for Christ’s coming is to slowly build your nativity scene over the advent season rather than setting out the whole thing at once. You can either set it out piece by piece every couple of days (depending on how many pieces you have) or you can simply save Jesus for Christmas Eve/Day. Either way leave Jesus for last to represent the “wait” for the Messiah.

Advent Calendars (for families with children)- We are all familiar with Advent calendars, which can be a fun way for children to count down the days until Christmas. Rather than a calendar with Santa art on it, look for one that focuses on the nativity or create one of your own.

Advent Calendar Resources:

What we do: I am hoping to one day create an advent calendar with our Jesse Tree ornaments either by hanging them on a board under corresponding numbers or by hanging them in little numbered pouches over our “future fireplace.”

Advent Books (for families with children)- Let Christmas be a special time to bring out all of your Nativity centered books and books about the Christian Christmas message. As you build your collection or find new books to check out at the library wrap them like presents and mark them with numbers counting down to the days until Christmas. (If you only have three such books this year start three nights before Christmas, let the countdown get larger as your collection of books grows.) Try to find at least one new book every year to either add to the collection or replace another book once your collection is big enough. Open one book each morning as a special way to prepare your hearts for Christmas. Reserve the newest book for Christmas Day and let it be the first present you open and read together before opening all the other presents. Look for a list of books our family uses and recommends next week! Advent Books Photo Credit

A Giveaway for You!

Have you ever wanted to begin the Jesse Tree tradition with your family, but didn’t know where to start or maybe you just couldn’t get up the motivation to make your own ornaments? Well then today’s giveaway is for you! The Inspired Traditions Etsy store has donated a Jesse Tree Ornament Project Kit to be given away to one of you lucky ladies! This kit would make a great project for you and your kids to do together, and thanks to Beverly Smith (the lovely lady who runs The Inspired Traditions Etsy store), the grunt work you will have to put into it will be minimal!

This adorable ornament set comes with a devotional guide written by Beverly to direct you and your family to both Old Testament and New Testament passages that correlate with each symbol. The kit comes with everything you and your kids will need to put together adorable keepsake ornaments to be used over and over again each Christmas. (Plus it comes with a handy drawstring bag to store them in!) I would like to thank Beverly for sharing this awesome resource with Desiring Virtue’s readers!

I have had the opportunity to look over this kit and know that it will be blessing to whoever is fortunate enough to win it! Simply enter by using the form below and don’t forget to enter Sunday and  Monday’s giveaways as well!

All giveaways–including this one will end Sunday the 18th at 12 a.m. and be announced the following Monday morning! (All giveaways are limited to those in the U.S., unless the prize is a book and can be offered as a Kindle version.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tomorrow we will look at practical ways to meditate on the Messiah King!