What We Do In Advent

Provides children and adults with a meaningful devotional experience at Christmas time now with a new cover!"

What is Advent? Why are the Advent candles different colors? What's a Jesse Tree? And¿what's that yummy smell coming from the oven?That's what young Joan, Joe, Emmanuel, and Gianna want to know. Join the kids as their family celebrates Advent as a time of prayerful waiting and expectation, full of fun traditions and treats! Excerpts from the Scripture readings for Advent and Christmas are keyed to the main text throughout the book, helping little ones make connections between the story and what they hear at Mass.When you're finished reading, bless your Advent wreath using the child-friendly blessing in the back of the book.

Providing a break from the commercialization frenzy of the season, these daily Advent readings invite readers to examine the deepest meaning of Christmas.

Offers guidance for taking part in the Advent tradition of the Jesse Tree, with scriptural passages, devotions, and activities intended to apply their themes.

Danny Hodges became the senior pastor of a young church fellowship known as Calvary Chapel in St. Petersburg, Florida, in April of 1984. Three years later when he was introduced to Pastor Chuck Smith and the Calvary Chapel movement, he felt an immediate sense of being at home and was grateful to God for leading him to this network of churches that upheld a simple, biblical philosophy of ministry and well-balanced doctrine. Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg soon became a fellowship of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, and since that time God has steadily grown the ministry from a handful of mostly young single adults to a large church full of families. It has been exciting to see God's Spirit bring many to salvation through Jesus Christ, see lives change and mature in the Lord, see relationships bloom and grow, see ministries evolve and prosper, see a hunger for the Word of God and see a passionate desire to win the lost to Jesus. Pastor Danny and his wife, Wendy, consider it an honor to serve this growing body of believers together with their four children, Tanner, Hayden, Jairus and Audra.

"God With Us" is designed to make the celebration of Advent simple, memorable, and gospel-focused for the entire family. Daily readings corresponding with twenty-five symbols from the Old and New Testaments, short prayers, and extension activities provide a flexible and engaging approach to celebrating Advent for children ages 4-14, and the adults who love them. The Jesse Tree is a Christmas tradition that traditionally takes place during the Advent season. In the days leading up to Christmas, a tree, banner, or branch is decorated with ornaments depicting symbols from stories in the Bible that point ahead to the lineage and birth of Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. This book uses the Jesse Tree format to celebrate God's enduring faithfulness to His people through the sending of His Son to earth that first Christmas night. Simple yet beautiful images of hand embroidered felt ornaments accompany each day's reading, drawing in children and adults alike to the story of God's love as shown in the birth of Jesus. Appendices at the back of the book list the verses referenced for each reading in full, as well as images of each day's ornament or symbol that can be photocopied and made into ornaments. Gather your family to recount what God has done, who He has been, and who He still is to His people. As one generation "commends your works to another" (Ps. 145:4), you will find your attention rightly focused on God's magnificent gift to His people at Christmas - Jesus Christ, God with us.

Celebrate a Season of Wonder and Waiting Though the holidays are often jam-packed with busyness, the weeks leading up to Yuletide are still a time to reflect on the miracle of Jesus’s birth. Shadow and Light is a concise and customizable guide for the Advent season to help you rediscover your childlike wonder and contemplate the sacred gift we celebrate in the Christmas season. From bestselling author Tsh Oxenreider, Shadow and Light is a rich yet approachable experience that invites you to explore the historical meaning of Advent. Drawing from liturgical tradition, Tsh provides fresh insights for new and longtime believers alike. Each day includes Scripture, a reflection, a question, and a simple activity to engage the senses, such as lighting candles, listening to music, and viewing artwork both old and new. Let yourself break away from the hustle and bustle of crafts, cookies, and Christmas parties, and receive your invitation to remember the quiet focus of our celebration. Shadow and Light will help you reclaim the holiday season as a time to remember Jesus’s first coming, and to long for his one-day return.

A fun-filled activity book for kids is a great way to focus on the true meaning of Advent and Christmas. Includes how to make an Advent wreath, plus mazes, crossword puzzles, connect-the-dots, and word searches.

Every day of December brings a delightful new Christmas tradition in this unique advent book. Each day features a festive activity to countdown towards Christmas. It might be a recipe for a delicious homemade treat, instructions for a cozy craft, a game to play, a carol to sing, or a beautifully illustrated story to read with the whole family. This inviting twist on the traditional advent calendar is perfect for families who love to put their own spin on celebrating the holidays • Offers fun-filled activity based advent calendar for families • Designed to be shared together year after year • Beautifully illustrated with accessible and stylish images Fans of Once Upon a Magic Book and Cookie Advent Cookbook will love this book. This book is perfect for: • Anyone who celebrates Christmas • Families who love holiday traditions • Parents, grandparents, and gift givers

If you've been wondering how to bring the rich traditions of the Catholic Church's liturgical year into your home and into your family, this is the book for you. If you have no idea what the liturgical calendar is, this still might be the book for you, if you are looking for ways to bring your faith home from Sunday Mass, in every season, all year long. Catholic blogger and mother of many, Kendra Tierney shares how her family incorporates traditional Catholic practices into today's family life throughout the Church year--from Advent and Christmas, through Lent and Easter, to Pentecost and beyond. She provides ideas for stories, decorations, activities, and foods that will help you to celebrate your Catholic faith with your family and friends without expertise or much advance planning. She also offers tips and tricks from her fifteen years in the Catholic mommy trenches on things like surviving bringing young children to Mass and saying a family Rosary. Whether you're a convert or a revert, an expert theologian or a brand-new Catholic, a member of a big family or a little one, a stay-at-home or a working parent, you're sure to find ways to make your Catholic faith a memorable and meaningful part of your busy family life. And have fun doing it!

Beginning with Creation, The Advent Storybook invites your family on a beautiful, chronological journey through ancient stories, tracing God’s faithful promise to send a Rescuer—Jesus. Each of the 25 Bible stories begins with a key verse and ends with a thoughtful question, helping you and your children think and talk about the reason we celebrate Jesus’ birth. This year, begin a new Christmas tradition. Create memories your family will cherish. Sit down together and remember how much we need a Rescuer—and how amazing it is that He came!

The Refugee from Heaven is the greatest story ever known. Cora Evans recounts the life of Jesus Christ as an eyewitness, beginning with the first meeting between Jesus and Peter, on the shores of Mount Carmel Bay. With vivid detail and dialogue, this unique account breathes new life into well-known figures of the Gospels. Readers gain startling insights into Mary of Magdala's conversion, Herod's ferocious personality, and John the Baptist's courage. Experience the awe of the disciples in the Upper Room at the Last Supper, and stand in the holy sepulcher at the moment of the Resurrection. With a book that is sure to renew appreciation for the loving Heart of Jesus, the author has created an enduring masterpiece.

Celebrate the Advent season with a new family tradition with this beautiful and heartwarming collection of devotions and stories from beloved, bestselling author Glenys Nellist, told in the style of the classic ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. ‘Twas the Season of Advent is a 25-day devotional that will inspire your family as you eagerly await the arrival of Christ’s birth! ‘Twas the season of Advent, when all through the earth, People were pausing to ponder Christ’s birth. The bright lights were hung ‘round the doorframes with care In hopes that Christmastime soon would be there… Prepare the way for the LORD. Isaiah 40:3 Written in both prose and poetry, ‘Twas the Season of Advent will engage children and adults alike and become a new holiday tradition for families everywhere! From the bestselling author of the holiday favorites ‘Twas the Evening of Christmas and ‘Twas the Morning of Easter, ‘Twas the Season of Advent: Delivers prose and poetry that will appeal to all ages, especially 4-8 year-olds Brings Advent to life through 25 devotions featuring stories from the Old and New Testaments Features beautiful artwork by celebrated illustrator Elena Selivanova Serves as the perfect gift for the family as you prepare for the Christmas season Presents portions written in the familiar rhyme scheme of Clement C. Moore’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Showcases a beautiful cover you’ll want to display on your coffee table all Advent and holiday season Join Glenys and families around the world as you and your family wait, prepare for, and look forward to the arrival of God’s son, Jesus. Look for additional inspirational children’s picture books from Glenys: ‘Twas the Morning of Easter 'Twas the Evening of Christmas Snuggle Time series Love Letters from God series

One of the themes of the Advent season is to prepare for Christ, the Prince of Peace, who is coming again at a time of which we do not know. We are called to remember, to be reminded, and surprised along this journey as we live into the realized eschatology of Christ entering in our lives. Using the lens (literally and metaphorically) of Christ’s call to live a radical lifestyle by living into our baptismal covenant, the meaning making of Advent will awaken our hearts and eyes to the “Second Coming” of Christ. This book will offer a new look at Advent by seeing the four weeks through the lens of morning, mid-day, late afternoon and evening, and night. What images, energies, awakenings occur for us during those moments of the day and night? What hopes, work, resting, and dreams will inform our spirits and prepare for a new birth, new life within us? Advent points us back, quickens our senses and imaginations for the present moments, and fuels our anticipations of what might come next. Throughout the book there will be photographs, stories, and perspectives to enrich our travel and invite us to other dimensions of experience all to see Advent not only as a season but also as a resource in our daily living. Advent is a time of preparation, of patience, of remembering what grounds and sustains us. The function of Advent is to remind us who God is and who we are meant to be, as well. This book will serve as a devotional for individuals and small groups for the Advent season, with a particular focus on the Year C gospel readings from Luke.

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy for families to forget the true meaning of the season. In this new book of faith practices for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, parents, grandparents, Sunday School teachers, pastors, and anyone who cares about kids will find 100 easy, fun, and meaningful ideas for bringing the sacred back into the season. Divided into three sections of prayers, practices, and lessons, with pages decorated with whimsical Christmas doodles from the cover, Faithful Families for Advent and Christmas will delight kids and adults alike and offers families an abundance of ideas for making the Christmas season sparkle with faith and spirit.

Ready-to-use worship resources for the four Sundays of Advent, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Epiphany.

In four compelling sessions, Advent Conspiracy invites individuals, families, groups, and entire churches to substitute compassion for consumerism by practicing four simple but powerful countercultural concepts.

Advent, says Fleming Rutledge, is not for the faint of heart. As the midnight of the Christian year, the season of Advent is rife with dark, gritty realities. In this book, with her trademark wit and wisdom, Rutledge explores Advent as a time of rich paradoxes, a season celebrating at once Christ’s incarnation and his second coming, and she masterfully unfolds the ethical and future-oriented significance of Advent for the church.

Keep Christ in Christmas this year by turning to this slim volume of daily Advent meditations by Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, one of the greatest homilists in the history of the Church. Carefully selected to lift your soul to God in those hectic days that stretch from Thanksgiving to Christmas, these forty daily meditations will keep you mindful of the real meaning of Christmas while affording you an admirable distillation of the doctrines and piety of our Holy Catholic Church. With the help of Bishop Bossuet and the sense of God's grandeur and love that permeates his every word all through the rush toward Christmas you'll stay mindful of the holy words of Isaiah foretelling the birth of our savior; you'll find yourself marveling at the Annunciation and the Visitation; you'll rejoice in anticipation of the coming birth of Jesus; and, finally, you ll look forward to kneeling with St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin in silent adoration of the incarnate Son of God. This year, you won't (as so often happens) arrive at Midnight Mass distracted, exhausted, and frazzled, having neglected your Advent devotions and your ordinary prayers, too. Instead, you'll find yourself stepping lightly into church, ready and eager to adore the newborn King, your soul what it should be: a fit dwelling place for the Redeemer. Don't waste another Advent! Let Meditations for Advent keep you prayerful amidst the worst distractions of the holiday season. Let it draw you daily closer to Jesus, whose birth the season celebrates, and whose birth your soul yearns to celebrate, too.

Lift the flaps to discover the story of Advent.