Bible Reading Guide

​Week 1 He Will Come Again in Glory
Nov. 29 Revelation 1:4–9; 19:11–16; 21:1–5, 22–27; 22:1–5
Nov. 30 Zechariah 9:9–17; Romans 5:3–5; 8:18–30
Dec. 1 John 1:1–5, 14; Revelation 22:12–13, 20
Dec. 2 Mark 13:24–37; Luke 21:25–28
Dec. 3 2 Peter 3:8–15
Dec. 4 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11
Dec. 5 1 Corinthians 1:1–9
Week 2 God’s Presence and His Promises
Dec. 6 Exodus 1:1–3:10
Dec. 7 Psalms 46, 112
Dec. 8 Isaiah 2:1–5
Dec. 9 Isaiah 40:1–11
Dec. 10 Isaiah 64:1–9
Dec. 11 Isaiah 9:2; John 1:4–5, 9
Dec. 12 Isaiah 7:14; 9:6–7
​Week 3 Immanuel: God with Us
Dec. 13 Matthew 1:1–17
Dec. 14 Luke 1:5–25
Dec. 15 Luke 1:26–38
Dec. 16 Matthew 1:18–24
Dec. 17 Luke 1:39–56
Dec. 18 Isaiah 9:2–7; 40:1–5; Luke 1:57–80; 3:1–6
Dec. 19 Luke 2:1–7
Week 4 A Savior Is Born
Dec. 20 Luke 2:8–20
Dec. 21 Luke 2:22–38
Dec. 22 Matthew 2:1–12
Dec. 23 Matthew 2:1–18; 1 John 3:8
Dec. 24 John 1:1–18
Dec. 25 Isaiah 9:6–7; Luke 2:4–7; 1 Peter 1:3–5, 13

Family Ideas

SELECT SOME OF THESE IDEAS TO ENRICH YOUR FAMILY’S JOURNEY THROUGH ADVENT.
Throughout Advent
  • With teens or preteens, read and discuss the devotions together each evening.
  • With younger kids, focus on just the Scripture passages and reflection prompts.
  • Create a hope-focused “stained-glass window” that you’ll add to throughout Advent. Use a dry-erase marker (or a colored self-adhesive note) to write the word hope in the center of a window in your home. Use a thesaurus together to find and add related words that can help us understand biblical hope. Then, throughout
  • Advent, use colored markers or notes to record words, ideas, images, symbols, or Bible verses from each day’s discussion and add them to the window.
Week 1
  • Invite teens or preteens to read “Hope: An Expectant Leap” by Jay Y. Kim, then go on a challenging hike together. As you walk, discuss Kim’s hiking story and the idea that Christian hope is something that’s gritty and determined.
  • With younger children, have fun using a joke book to tell each other silly knock-knock jokes. Afterward, talk about the idea that Jesus will one day arrive. He will come again!
  • Ask, “What are some things in life that upset you, are unfair, or make you feel angry or hopeless?” (Optional: Use newspapers or online news sites to generate ideas regarding current events.) Record on a posterboard some of the evils, injustices, and painful realities of life, like war, abuse, cancer, poverty, racism, stress, personal conflicts, and so on. Then tear up the poster together as you talk about our ultimate hope in Christ’s future reign described in Revelation 21:1–5.
Week 2
  • Find an online recipe for air-dry or no-bake salt dough, then use it to make simple Christmas tree ornaments as a family. The ornaments will need to dry for one or more days. Use the experience of waiting for the dough to harden as an opportunity to talk about Advent as a season of waiting. What were God’s people in the Old Testament waiting for? How do we see hope in their waiting?
  • Use a telescope or binoculars to look at far-off objects. Discuss how God used prophets like Isaiah to see some of what God would do in the future. Talk about some of the truths Isaiah foretold about Jesus.
  • Turn off the lights in your house (other than Christmas tree lights) to play flashlight tag or flashlight hide-and-seek. Have fun together, then read Isaiah 9:2 and John 1:4–5, 9. Discuss Christ’s identity as the light promised in Isaiah 9.
Week 3
  • Play a quiet game to see who can be silent the longest. (Or challenge everyone to be silent for a set period of time.) Use this experience to discuss what Zechariah might have thought and felt during his long period of muteness as he waited for his son’s birth and the coming of the Messiah.
  • Have an upside-down dinner as a family. Sit under the table, wear clothing backward, eat food in reverse order, and so on. Use this silly experience to talk about how Mary’s song pointed toward the upside-down nature of the kingdom. Discuss some of Jesus’ teachings and actions that turned things upside down (the first shall be last, love your enemies, and so on).
  • Go on a “choice drive” as a family to look at area Christmas lights. At each intersection, let a different family member choose if you’ll turn right, turn left, or go straight. Afterward, use this experience to talk about the choices and decisions that Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph faced. How might they have felt in these situations? What motivated their choices or responses? What can we learn from them?
Week 4
  • Reflect on the shepherds’ and Anna’s immediate response to seeing baby Jesus—telling others about him! Create a Christmas card as a family that tells about Jesus, then mail it to someone to share the Good News.
  • Gather a baby picture of each family member. (If possible, even include baby pictures of grandparents and great-grandparents.) Look at the pictures and discuss each person’s traits you may recognize even when they were babies. Use this experience to talk about how remarkable it was that Simeon and Anna recognized baby Jesus as the promised Messiah.
  • Gather around your hope-focused stained-glass window and reflect together on the entire Advent season. How has everyone’s understanding of Christian hope been enriched? What is one idea, verse, or biblical story that stands out most to each family member? How was each person’s faith impacted through this experience of observing Advent together?