Prepare Your Heart for Advent
Tis the Season
As the Advent season approaches, make a plan to prioritize reflection on Christ and his coming. In the midst of a busy season, these resources can help you to do just that as you make space in your days to prepare your heart for the joyous reason we celebrate Christmas.
Books
Come, Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional by Paul David Tripp
The wonder and awe of the Christmas season can easily get overshadowed by lights, tinsel, bows, and paper—not to mention last-minute trips to the mall and visits to the in-laws. In all the hustle and bustle, we often lose sight of what’s most important. This book of daily readings for the month of December will help you slow down, prepare your heart, and focus on what matters most: adoring our Savior, Jesus.
The First Days of Jesus: The Story of the Incarnation by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Alexander E. Stewart
The birth of Jesus stands as a pivotal moment in the history of the world, marking a dramatic turning point in God’s plan to redeem creation from sin and death. Much to the world’s surprise, redemption had arrived . . . in the form of a lowly baby.
Aimed at stirring your affections for Jesus, this meditative book will lead you on a step-by-step journey through the Gospels’ birth narratives, clearing away common misconceptions, making messianic connections, and setting the stage for Jesus’s later life and ministry.
The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent by John Piper
The Christmas season is one of the busiest times of the year. But it is also a season of reflection and preparation for that special day when we mark Immanuel’s coming—the arrival of our eternal God in our own frail humanity. This is the greatest of history’s many wonders, something too stupendous to celebrate just on one day. Advent is a way of lengthening and intensifying the joy of Christmas.
These 25 brief devotional readings begin on December 1 and carry us to Christmas Day. Our hope is that God would use these meditations to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus and help you keep him at the center of your Christmas season.
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus edited by Nancy Guthrie
Between purchasing presents and planning travel, enjoying holiday pageants and attending parties, it is all too easy for the busyness of Christmas to crowd out a quiet anticipation of this sacred season. This anthology edited by Nancy Guthrie draws from the works and sermons of classic theologians such as George Whitefield, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, and Saint Augustine, and from leading contemporary teachers such as John Piper, Randy Alcorn, Tim Keller, and Joni Eareckson Tada to help readers enter into the wonder of Jesus’s incarnation and birth.
Tracts
Because of Bethlehem by Max Lucado
In “Because of Bethlehem,” Max Lucado calls to mind truths of the gospel that are made a reality at Christmas.
A Christmas Message by Billy Graham
Billy Graham illustrates 3 different ways to respond to the birth of Jesus Christ, and the impact of each response.
This illustrative tract presents the gospel by connecting each element of the popular Christmas candy with a related Scripture reference.
Related Articles
The story of Christmas is meant to enliven, motivate, excite, and transform you. May the glory of the best gift ever recapture our hearts this season.
How Advent Teaches Us to Wait Well
The hardest thing about waiting is not knowing when it’s going to end, if it is going to end.
Christmas is about the coming of Christ into the world.
Use these Christmas crafts to help explain the truths of the Christmas story to children in your church or family.