Advent Family Devotions: Keeping Christ in Christmas

By Marilyn Williams

What does Christmas mean to you and your family? Do you look forward to it with great anticipation and joy, or with dread at the thought of crowded shopping malls, depleted bank accounts and a jam-packed calendar? In todays commercial culture, its easy to see how Jesus has gotten lost in the frenzy of the Christmas Season. Our families desperately need a refreshed perspective.

Advent Family Devotions will help you and your family to keep Christ at the center of your Christmas. Advent Family Devotions are simple yet significantly life-changing, connecting your familys Christmas season with biblical past and future prophecies. In as little as five minutes your family can enhance their Christmas Season with the true gifts of the season.

Change your chaotic Christmas season into a season of joy, peace and eternal hope. By celebrating the Advent Season together, you and your family will celebrate all that God has done, and all that God is going to do. This family devotional can be used year after year as a cherished Christmas tradition for children and adults of all ages.

Every family needs tools to keep the main thing, the main thing. This power packed Christmas devotional is a must have for any family wanting to keep Christ in Christmas and their family unity nurtured.
Pam Farrel
Bestselling author of over 30 books including 10 Best Decisions a Parent Can Make

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 17, 2010
• ISBN: 9781449708221

Marilyn Williams

Marilyn Williams is a transparent author and speaker, delivering biblical application for everyday living. Marilyn’s passion for God’s Word has led to the writing of Bible studies and devotional books: She Did What She Could, Out of Our Pain and Into God’s Promises, and Advent Family Devotions-Keeping Christ in Christmas. Marilyn has completed a BA degree in Religion and Leadership at Vanguard University and is currently pursuing her Masters of Divinity at Bethel Seminary. Marilyn speaks and ministers to women around the world through an itinerate teaching ministry, www.marilynwilliams.com. . Marilyn is also the Women’s Ministry Director at Emmanuel Faith Community Church, Escondido, Ca. Marilyn and her husband Mike have raised their family for the past twenty-five years in Southern California. Responding to God’s call, Mike and Marilyn have founded and continue to direct Safe Harbor Ministries- an international ministry delivering God’s truth, love, and helps to people in need. Together they have devoted themselves to full time ministry, seeking to serve and honor God by blessing others.

Book preview

Advent Family

Devotions

Keeping Christ in Christmas

Marilyn Williams

missing image file

Copyright © 2010 Marilyn Williams

Every effort has been made to provide accurate information and proper acknowledgement to all sources of information and quotations.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

© 2001 Marilyn Williams

© 2007 SBS Publishing

© 2008 Lulu Publishing

www.safeharborministriesonline.com

www.MarilynWilliams.com

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-0823-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-0824-5 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-0822-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010940644

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/11/2010

To my precious family…

my husband Mike, my

daughter Jessica, and my son Jacob.

Thank you for a

lifetime of joyous Advent memories in celebrating the holy season

of Christmas, with or without money!

Table of Contents

Introduction

First Things First…

Preparing the Way

Ready, Set, Go…

What’s a Family To Do?

Suggestions and Instructions…

The Prophecy Candle

Long, Long, Long Ago…

The Bethlehem Candle

The House of Bread…

A Time to Celebrate…

Reflections of Him…

The Christmas Candle

A Time to Marvel…

Make It Fun,

Make It Memorable!

Nursery Style

Christmas Carols

Quiet Time Devotions

For Older Children And Adults

Christmas Carols

Sing to the Lord….

Acknowledgements

& References

Introduction

First Things First…

Greetings! I would like to introduce to you my family’s favorite holiday celebration: Advent! No matter how many resources my family has had to celebrate Christmas, we have always enjoyed celebrating Advent as a symbol of the true meaning and joy of Christmas. The study of the prophecies of the past and the promises still to come have increased our faith and deepened our understanding of our most precious gift in every Christmas season: the gift of God himself through the birth of His Son Jesus Christ! Unfortunately, this priceless gift of eternal peace so often gets overlooked during this frantic Holy Season. These priceless moments of consistently gathering together around our Advent wreath, reading the scriptures together, and singing Christmas Carols a cappella style have encouraged us in family bonding and spiritual growth while engraving life-long memories into each of our hearts.

Beginning on the Sunday four weeks before Christmas, Advent focuses on both the birth of Jesus Christ as well as His return. Advent, derived from the Latin word Adventus, literally means coming. The celebration of Advent takes you and your family back into the Old Testament, revealing the fulfilled prophecies of Christ’s birth, while propelling you forward into the promises of Christ’s future return and how this impacts you and your family today. My intent in writing this Family Advent Devotional is to equip you and your family with a simple, yet instrumental tool in keeping Christ in the center of your Christmas! Holidays are such fun opportunities to teach our children and remind ourselves of spiritual truths that can otherwise be difficult to understand, and yet need to be celebrated over and over again. I hope and pray this Family Advent Devotional will be a useful and significant tool in creating meaningful and memorable family fun during this festive time of year. - Marilyn Williams

Preparing the Way

Ready, Set, Go…

Sometime in November, before Thanksgiving, you will want to gather your supplies for the Advent Season. You will need an Advent Wreath (any type of small wreath that will hold four candles, preferably with a place to put a larger candle in the middle), four candles of the same size, three of them darker in color than the fourth, and a larger candle for the center of your wreath. You will want to think ahead about where your family will be doing your Advent Devotions together as this will help you decide upon the size and type of wreath you want. I prefer a small to medium sized wreath. The wreath makes a great centerpiece for your dining room table during the holiday season and the dining room table