Celebrating the season of Advent is a tradition in some Christian homes and churches. My family began celebrating Advent this year in order to give honor to phrases like "Jesus is the reason for the season." While historical evidence would say Christ most likely was born in the fall, Christmas is still the day we set aside to remember our Savior's birth. The weeks and days leading up to Christmas are ones we can keep in special remembrance to His time on earth.

For this season I've prepared lessons for my family to conduct as we approach Christmas Eve. If you aren't familiar with Advent and when it starts, Advent starts on the Sunday closest to November 30th, otherwise known as St. Andrews Day. If you look at a calendar, that means the latest that's possible is if November 30 is on a Thursday (if it was on Wednesday, the Sunday prior would be closest and represents the earliest, November 27th, when Advent can start) then the nearest Sunday is December 3rd. This would place Christmas Eve as the 4th Sunday of Advent, meaning there are always 4 Sundays, hence the reason there are always 4 candles in an Advent wreath with the 5th candle in the center to be lighted on Christmas Eve in celebration of Christ's birth.

Some folks, because of this, only do devotionals on the 24 days of December to include Christmas Eve. Others do every day of Advent. My family chose the latter. As a result, From November 28th to December 24th there is a devotional lesson. If you want to use the material and start on December 1st, I've indicated in the first week what appropriate lessons are to drop.

The devotionals themselves focus around 4 themes based on the 4 Sundays. Most Advent devotionals focus strictly on the birth of Christ and the prophecies and adoration given to our Savior and structure themes along these lines, if at all. I've done something similar, but for the final week (December 19th-24th) I've chosen to focus on the path to the Cross. It's important in my family, with my boys at a young age, to tie everything about Jesus to His sacrificial act for all of us. As a result, my choice of Advent devotionals is somewhat non-traditional. Here are the devotionals (broken up by weeks) and the themes:

As with all the material on the web site, you may use it freely. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

In Christ,
  Brian