I am a lifelong Baptists, and as a Baptist I was not raised in a liturgical tradition. But there is something very powerful about the Advent approach to the Christmas season.
So, here’s my wonderment for today: How many of you take part in some sort of Advent approach to Christmas? I’m not talking about the countdown where you open a fun box every day, although that is a lot of fun, too. I’m talking about a daily or weekly devotional perspective during four weeks leading up to Christmas – and possibly even the subsequent twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany.
Our family loves lighting the candles on our Advent wreath every week. We pick a theme for the season (names of Jesus, people of the Christmas story, characteristics of God, etc) and discuss four aspects of that theme as they relate to the incarnation of Christ. Then we bring them all together when we light the final candle on Christmas.
Individually, we also read an Advent devotional. There are many to choose from, and you can easily find them by searching for them. So, I’m just going to give a plug for my personal favorite:
A Journey to the Manger: The Places of Advent (Kindle)
A Journey to the Manger: The Places of Advent (Print)
I might have to admit to bias since this was written by my husband, but this really is a beautiful, whole Scripture approach to Advent. I have read it, but I look forward to slowly pondering through it this Advent season.
Not Quite Ordinary 