Download and print Advent (Jesse) Tree Devotions to use with the whole family!
What are Advent devotions?
The Advent season is almost here – my favorite time of the year! Children add so much joy to Christmas, but I don’t want my children’s joy to come merely from presents. The gifts are fun, but I want to be intentional to lead my boys to the greatest gift of all – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate. For the past three years, we have done an Advent (or Jesse) tree during the month of December. The idea of a Jesse tree is to remember not just the story of Christ’s birth, but the promise of a Messiah in the book of Genesis and the unfolding of that promise throughout all of Scripture. I enjoyed the devotions that we were using, but some of the Bible stories came across as unconnected to coming of Christ. For a long time I have been wanting to create my own Advent devotions, and this year I decided to take the plunge and do it!
The Advent devotions are comprised of a scripture reading, a short lesson to go with each reading, a prayer idea, and a ornament symbol for each day. The lessons serve to explain what was read in language that children can understand and to synthesize larger portions of scripture than what would be practical to read in one month so that important connections in the story of the Messiah are made.
I thoroughly enjoyed studying the big picture of Scripture, and I pray that your family will be blessed by these devotions. I am in awe of God’s grace, His love, and His sovereignty in weaving together such a beautiful story of redemption for sinful people who don’t deserve it. Thanks be to God for His grace!
Advent/Jesse Tree Tips:
- For the tree, you can use a small Christmas tree, or your regular Christmas tree, or something else! I will be pinning ornament ideas to my Advent Tree Pinterest board, so be sure to check that out if you plan to do a tree. Keep in mind that the symbols vary depending on which devotions you are using. One year, we made Advent books and simply drew the symbol of the day on a page of the book. Last year, I made a flat tree on a piece of foam board. I drew 25 circles for the days of Advent, and then we filled in each circle with the symbol drawn on paper. This was by far my favorite method because it kept the symbols in chronological order and because it was easy! We stuck to this method the best and finished the tree at the right time! (We might have done a couple days after Christmas to catch up, but we were really close!)
- Don’t worry about falling behind! It’s going to happen, especially in a busy season like Christmas. Catch up when you can, and if you miss some days altogether, it’s not the end of the world. Note: There are 24 days in the Advent devotions. We never get to it on Christmas day, so I thought that it would probably work better for most families to wrap up on Christmas Eve.
- These devotions will be best suited to your family if your oldest child is at least five years old. If you have only preschoolers, I would do something simpler. That being said, our 4 year old and almost 2 year old will be participating with the older boys. They won’t catch it all, but they will learn! (And probably learn more than I thought they would!)
- I will also be pinning ideas for crafts, activities, and even songs to complement the Advent lessons. Don’t feel like you have to add in extras, but know that that Advent Tree Pinterest board will be there for inspiration if you’re feeling crafty!
Download the Devotions by Clicking Here: ADVENT TREE DEVOTIONS
Here is a sample of what you will be downloading:
December 14th
Prophecy of the Shoot from the Stump of Jesse
Scripture reading: Isaiah 11:1-5
Do you remember the promise that God made to David that we read about yesterday? Well, after David died some very sad things happened. David’s son Solomon reigned after him, and Solomon made several sinful choices. God sent the prophet Ahijah to Solomon, and Ahijah delivered a very sad message. Because of Solomon’s sin, God would tear 10 tribes away from the hand of his son. Solomon’s son would rule over only the tribe of Judah. God did not take the kingdom completely away from Solomon’s son because of the promise that God made to David.
Then, many years later, the nation of Assyria took over the 10 tribes of Israel, and the Babylonians finished the job by taking Judah. It seemed as though any hopes of David’s kingdom enduring forever were shattered.
Isaiah wrote this prophecy during the time of the Assyrian captivity – a really ugly time in Israel’s history. God gave him a message of hope for Israel. God had not abandoned his people! A shoot would come from the stump of Jesse! A branch from his roots would bear fruit! It would be the Messiah, come to redeem His people.
What were the 3 things that God promised to David? They were a house, throne, and kingdom. Listen to what the angel told Mary in Luke 1:32-33. All of those things were fulfilled in Jesus, who was indeed a descendant of David.
“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
Prayer: Praise God for His faithfulness throughout history. Praise Him that He is always at work, even when we might not see it.
Ornament Symbol: Stump with a new branch growing
16 Comments
Ruth Nov 27, 2013
Thank you for doing this...I just purchased the devotional and it looks very much like what I have been hoping to do with my three (ages 9, 8, and 6)...I appreciate the work you must have put into it!!
I'll also be following along with your pinterest board, as I'm not the craftiest person and need help in this area - I think doing something like this every day will further cement the scriptural overview. Would you be able to post your pinterest ideas now already, so that I have time to figure out what I need to purchase/organize ahead of time? Also, it would be great if, along with your pinterest postings, you would be able to make a note as to which day the craft/activity would be appropriate for. I'm sorry if this is asking a lot - it might be too much!
Anyway, thank you for the devotional - I'm very much looking forward to using it with the kids!
Blessings,
Ruth
Sarah Nov 27, 2013
Ruth,
Yes, I am adding things to the Pinterest board now as I find them. I will label the pins with the day that they go with in the description box. Some of them would also fit with more than one day. I hope that helps!
Sarah
Heidi Nov 27, 2013
These look good. Just curious though, why did I get a link to mormon.com at the end of the sample devotional? Was that intentional? We are not Mormon.
Sarah Nov 27, 2013
That is an ad, and I don't have control over what displays in the ad box. I will look into it, though! Thanks for letting me know!
Heidi Nov 30, 2013
That makes sense. The next time I saw the post, a different ad was there. I was just curious!
Naomi Nov 27, 2013
Thanks Sarah.
We are moving on the 19th and I can't do any of my christmas stuff this year :( so i'm using this on my Jesse tree (a bare branch with coloured disks with the pics on them) and your devotion and an advent wreath only.
I appreciate the work you did on it. I hope stick to it daily.
God Bless
Naomi
Heidi Nov 30, 2013
By the way, my oldest son (12) just walked by my computer and said, YEAH! FRUGAL FUN FOR BOYS! We all like your site and ideas! Thanks!
Dawn Dec 3, 2013
I paid, but don't see where to download...?
Sarah Dec 3, 2013
The download should be on the page after you paid. I'm not sure what happened - you are the first to report this problem. I'll look into it! If you can't get it to work, let me know and I'll e-mail you the file.
Philippa Dec 3, 2013
These are brilliant Sarah, thank you so much for enriching our advent this year! The language is perfect for younger kids, really your efforts are very much appreciated.
PS. We're avid followers of your activities and have made many of your creations - the blow guns were a big hit recently :)
Joanna Dec 7, 2013
Thank you, this is really lovely! I just downloaded the set :)
Jessica Nov 2, 2014
Hi, I was wondering if the symbols used in your devotional are the same as in the book "The Advent Jesse Tree: Devotions for Children and Adults to Prepare for the Coming of the Christ Child at Christmas." Thank you!
Sarah Nov 2, 2014
Jessica,
I don't own that book, but I'm thinking that there is likely quite a bit of overlap but not 100% the same ornament symbols. When I wrote the devotions, I found some variation in the devotions available out there, so I just wrote them the way I wanted to. :-)
Jessica Nov 2, 2014
By symbols, I meant ornaments. :)
Sher Nov 12, 2014
What are the symbols your devotion uses? I was part of an Jesse Tree ornament exchange and can't find a devotion that goes with the ornaments I already have.
Thanks and have a blessed day,
Sher
Theresa @ My Jesse Tree Nov 20, 2014
I absolutely love that you wrote your own book for making a Jesse Tree with your family!! My hubbie and I did the same think last year :) Ours was for younger kids with lots of pictures, our son will just be turning two.
I really loved your reasons for writing the book... wanting to make sure that all the stories connected to Jesus. That was our same goal too... we didn't like how some of the stories just seemed like great individual stories, but you didn't see how that moment and character related to Jesus.
I hope you have a wonderful Advent with your family and Jesse Tree. I know we can't wait to start Advent over at our house :)
[email protected] better way to homeschool Nov 23, 2014
How have I never heard of a Jesse tree before? I am so excited to do this with my boys this year!
Lybbe Nov 25, 2014
I paid for the Advent Jesse calendar (0.99) but didn't get the page to download. How do I get it?
thanks!
Lybbe
lana Nov 28, 2014
Hi,
I also just paid for the download and didn't see anywhere to download the devotions.
Thanks!
Lana
Sarah Nov 29, 2014
Lana,
After you paid you should have received an e-mail with the link to download the devotions. Let me know if you can't get it to work!
Sarah
Heather Dec 1, 2014
I clicked to pay through paypal and keep getting stuck on that page. The order won't go through. Any ideas why?
Carrie Altman Oct 23, 2015
Sarah,
I would love to send out this Jesse Tree devotion link to our church families. Will it still work this year? Thank you for your thoughtful resource.
Carrie Altman
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