Three Great Advent Devotionals For The Christmas Season
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
-Isaiah 9:6
In the spirit of celebrating the greatest gift we have been given, the Lord Jesus Christ, here are three Advent devotionals to choose from for your daily time with God this Christmas season. You can follow along with any of these 3 devotionals personally or with your family as you prepare your heart to celebrate Christmas by looking back and remembering Jesus’ first coming and looking forward in hope and anticipation of his glorious return.
1) Good News of Great Joy - 25 Devotional Readings for Advent by John Piper
This Advent Devotional by Pastor John is available for free from Desiring God here.
From the Desiring God website:
“Come, let us adore him. This beloved Advent refrain captures the heart of the season. Advent is for adoring Jesus. It is a season of preparation to ready our hearts for the glory of Christmas Day as we celebrate the coming of the eternal God in our frail humanity. These twenty-five short devotional readings from John Piper aim to help you keep Christ at the center of the Advent season.”
This is a straightforward, no-frills devotional. There is a daily scripture reading followed by a short reflection by Pastor John. It’s biblically rich and theologically deep; it’s some of Pastor John’s most classic devotional writing. As always, he will challenge you, encourage you, help you see things you didn’t notice in the text before, and ask questions you hadn’t previously pondered.
2) The Weary World Rejoices by The Gospel Coalition Staff
Link to get it for free here.
From The Gospel Coalition’s website:
“This devotional is:
Written by TGC’s editorial staff—Winfree Brisley, Courtney Doctor, Melissa Kruger, Collin Hansen, Megan Hill, Betsy Childs Howard, Brett McCracken, Ivan Mesa, Matt Smethurst, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, and more.
Structured around traditional Advent themes—hope, peace, joy, love, and faith.
Designed to help you focus your heart and mind on Christ during the month of December.
If you want to be reminded of the light of Christ at this time of year, sign up below and we’ll send you an email devotional each day of December leading up to Christmas Day.”
This daily devotional starts off with a scripture reading, followed by a short reflection, then a question for response and a takeaway to contemplate. As with all the other resources from TGC, it is solid, biblical and encouraging.
3) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: A Liturgy for Daily Worship from Advent to Epiphany by Jonathan Gibson
This is a 40-Day Devotional Liturgy for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, and it is by far the most dense and structured of the three options. This daily liturgy is essentially a structured mini-worship service that you can use with others or alone. It is a fantastic resource and can really enrich your time with God. It is available for purchase from Amazon here.
From the Crossway website:
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by Jonathan Gibson presents a 40-day devotional liturgy guiding readers through Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany—helping them keep their eyes fixed on Christ. Designed as a resource for the holiday season, each reading includes a guided meditation, applicable Scripture readings, hymns, prayers, creeds, and prompts for petition and confession. For individuals and families, this devotional will help Christians focus on Jesus and meditate on the mystery of his incarnation.”
I have personally really enjoyed Jonathan Gibson’s other daily liturgy for worship called Be Thou My Vision, and I was greatly helped by the daily structure of Call to worship / Adoration & Praise / Confession of sin / Assurance of pardon / Church creed / Prayer of illumination / Scripture reading / Prayer of intercession. I found that the rhythm is not stifling in any way, but the variety of readings that inhabit the same daily structure keeps it very fresh and engaging.
I encourage you this Advent season to not let busyness drown out God’s voice in your life. Be intentional about your time with God and use one of these devotionals to stir your faith and help you draw closer to Jesus during this season.
Fady Ghobrial is a Ministry Fellow with Christian Union Gloria, serving and equipping Harvard Students since 2017 with Bible teaching, coaching and discipleship.
