Advent Resources

What is Advent?
Advent explained in two minutes...
 Advent Begins December 1 this year!

Want a ritual to celebrate Advent? Here are some ideas!
  • Watch LNPC's Daily Advent story video - the Christmas story, illustrated by Jon Birch, great for sharing around the meal table or watching before bed.  You could do just this, or combine this with...
  • Light one candle each day.  Keep a cake pan filled with sand on the table and have 25 candles by Christmas!) (Pick up a pack here)
  • Using an Advent wreath, light one candle every day for a week. Pick up a pack of Advent wreath candles here.
                         Week 1 - Love, (dark blue/purple),  
                         Week 2 - Peace, (blue/purple),
                         Week 3 - Joy, (pink),
                         Week 4 - Love (blue/purple). 
  • Use an Advent calendar with a treat in each door, or an activity each day (see some of the options below).
  • Nightly check-in: Share about your day and ask, Where is the gift in this? and pray for each other. (This doesn't have to be complicated!)
  • Use one of the online or printable devotionals below. 
  • Put out one piece of a nativity scene each day of Advent until the scene is complete.
  • Use a large coloring sheet, or a large puzzle, and spend a few minutes a day on it together.
 LNPC Daily Advent Story!  
Every day of Advent, come here for another video installment of the Christmas story leading up to Christmas Eve!

 Excellent Advent Books and articles- 

Forget Red and Green, Make it a Blue holiday instead, by Diana Butler Bass, Washington Post

Putting the "vent" back into Advent,  by Beth Merrill Neel 
(ONLINE ARTICLE)

Night Visions, by Jan Richardson 

The Season of the Nativity, by Sybil MacBeth

Preparing for Christmas, by Richard Rohr

Watch for the Light: Readings for Christmas and Advent, 
with excerpts from Annie Dillard, Henri Nouwen, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Day, and more.

God in the Manger: Reflections on Advent, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Unwrapping the Greatest Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas, by Ann Voscamp


Online Devotionals- 

Following the Star
Free online daily devotional with verses, music and reflections.

Adventword-  A Global Advent Calendar
Word-a-day Advent devotional. You get a word each day.

An Illuminated Advent - Jan Richardson's Online Advent retreat
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"This online retreat is not about adding one more thing to your holiday schedule! It is about helping you enter deep into this season that shimmers with mystery and possibility. Offering a space of elegant simplicity as you journey toward Christmas, the Illuminated retreat fits easily into the rhythm of your days."
Advent Conspiracy
Resources for helping Christmas and Advent be meaningful, e.g., giving more presence and less presents. See the video below and follow the link for more ideas and info.

Here's a link to their "relational gift ideas"
Downloadable Advent Calendars & Resources-

Illustrated Advent for Families
From the person who makes our big coloring sheets... some cool Advent resources to buy. Check them out.
(If you would like one of the posters we've done in church - tell Kara and she'll send you a digital file you can get printed large!)

DIY Daily Advent prayer Calendar
Mark the day-by-day journey to Christmas by praying/drawing on a blank calendar template. Pray for a person or write and meditate on an Advent word each day. Just the small amount of time it takes to fill the space with doodles and color each day can create a time of quiet, reflection, and listening to God.  Great for adults and kids!

Ideas for Living Joyfully: Forty Days of Celtic Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas 2019
Printable Activity Calendar - great for adults (and kids too)

Advent Calendar 2019
Daily Advent calendar to color with scripture.


  Activities and Practices - 

Christmas Pre-tox
The Christmas Pretox is a pre-emptive strike on stress and busyness.  To help us slow down and focus on the right things. To give us some soul space. To re-dress the balance of a Christmas season which sees us spend more, eat more, drink more and get stressed more than any other time of year. (Readings can follow date - not day - since it was designed several years ago)

Christmas by Heart
Learn the Christmas story (Luke 2:1-20) by heart in twelve days! Fun for the whole family!  There is a different video for each day, December 1 - 12, posted at faithandwonder.com to help you to learn the Christmas story for telling at home, church, or as a personal prayer practice.  Fun and fascinating way to embody the story (for all ages). (Again - designed in 2014, so ignore the year on it, it's a great resource)

Reverse Advent Calendar
An easy idea for giving and sharing in Advent