Sunday, November 25, 2012

New Advent Helps


Please note the All Things Advent index below the tabs above. Eventually, I may create an Advent Page.

Here are a few of the things I've found this year. I'd love to hear what you've found. 

Advent Bible Study - from Good Morning Girls. This is free. It's meant to be done with your family, but you could do it alone. There are Scripture readings, S.O.A.P. pages, suggested family activities. It begins 26 Nov and ends 21 Dec with a Christmas Morning devo included.

Jesse Tree Advent Family Devotional - Ann Voskamp. This is the same package she offered last year. Also Free. These 25 daily readings trace prophecies pointing to the advent of Jesus, the Messiah. You will start in the Genesis and work through the Bible. There are readings, family devos (though you may want to summarize if your family is young), and a great set of colored ornaments to hang on your very own Jesse Tree.  In our family we tend to choose ONE devotional to do and then talk about these ornaments and hang them.....there were years we suffered from Advent Devotional Overload.....simplify. ::grin::  This is written to be used from 29 Nov to 25 Dec - but you can summarize passages and double up as needed if you want to follow the church's liturgical calendar with Advent beginning on 2 Dec this year.

Everyday Emmanuel - from the Buck Denver/What's in the Bible Folks. The same creator as Veggie Tales. We love the series.....this year they've produced a booklet you can purchase for $9.99. There are also combo deals where you can get this and the video below for $15.  This book has readings, activities, devotionals....but it takes a much more relaxed pace....it may take 3 days a week instead of 7.  Very doable for a busy family.

Why Do We Call it Christmas - We discovered this $9.99 DVD last year. It's 60 min long and covers lots of traditions and Scriptures about Christmas.

12 Questions of Christmas - links to these are included in Everyday Emmanuel, but you can find them on youtube.  Each quick clip has Clive and Ian (brothers from What's in the Bible series) covering one commonly asked question about Christmas. I'm downloading these to use in our PCOC programs at chapel. They would also be quick and fun to use at home for family circle time.

Family Inductive Bible Study  - FREE. We used this for years and it is great for older kids. There ARE coloring sheets for younger kids. Some years I've had the older kids do the reading assignments on their own and then the younger kids color the pages (making an Advent coloring book) while we all discuss the passages in our family circle. I find this to be a lot of work and some years it has been discouraging as we all fell behind...but it is a GREAT free study if you want to do it on your own, with a ladies study group, or in your family.

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...