19 Advent Devotionals & Books to Celebrate Christ This Season

This new Christmas devotional gives a daily thought encouraging Christians to pause and focus on Jesus from December 1 through December 25. It begins with thoughts from the Old Testament and progresses to the New Testament, with clear action steps and prayers provided each day. 

In the video below, author Mark Yarbrough answers “Why do people need Christmas devotionals in the first place, and what sets yours apart?”

Hide God’s word in your heart—by way of your imagination—by reading these 25 reflections narrating anew the greatest story ever told.

One reviewer said, “Put this book in your hands and feel loved.” Another wrote, “Ramsey deftly retells the story of Jesus with a pastor’s heart and an artist’s touch. In this book, real people sigh and cry, tremble, and rejoice. It captured my heart. My family will treasure it for years to come.”

Bestselling author Paul Tripp has published Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do, Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry, and several others. Now he brings readers along to reflect on Advent.

In the introduction, he writes,

Max Lucado’s heartwarming reflections on the season focus on the hope of Christmas. Relatable stories include his struggle to avoid a leaning Christmas tree and waking up at 2:30 to relive a meeting from the previous day—but every story ties back to Jesus.

The bonus content, An Angel’s Story: The First Christmas from Heaven’s View, takes us on an imaginative journey to Advent through the eyes of Gabriel.

Take a journey—a devotional journey through the days and weeks of December toward the manger. Images, incidents, impressions, and items from the daily news are woven together to form a rich and rewarding tapestry . . . an open door into the quiet places of the soul.

Destination Bethlehem also helps pastors and worship leaders find creative language and imagery to tell the old story in a new and inviting way.

Take your small group on a journey through Advent with this four-week study:

• Week 1, “The Straightened and Level Highway”
• Week 2, “The Highway of Reversal”
• Week 3, “The Highway in Between”
• Week 4, “The Highway of Enthusiasm”

Finally, travel “The Highway of Merriment” at Christmas. Questions for reflection and discussion, a brief prayer, and a focus for the week make it easy to dig deeper with less prep time than you might normally spend for small group.

In these relatable stories for the Christmas season, you’ll find an arthritic dog, an impending hurricane, and “paying it forward.”

Stories like “Waking from Sleep,” “The Gift of the Maggies,” “Everybody’s Got an Angle or Everybody’s Got an Angel,” and twelve others are at times funny and at times thought-provoking, but they all point to Christ.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we remember Christ’s first Advent and prepare for his second, celebrating both events.

This devotional helps guide families through Advent with themes of preparation, anticipation, joy, and incarnation. After each reading, you can ask the included discussion questions to help your children better understand and apply biblical truth during Advent and throughout the year.

Every day through Christmas, you’ll find an Advent thought for you—and one for your kids.

This thought for children is from day one:

On the opening page, Hibbard recounts how she realized she’d lost her joy in Christmas. The first paragraph reads,

Archbishop John Sentamu says of Advent for Everyone: A Journey through Matthew, “If you do nothing else in your preparation for Christmas, read this book!” 

That’s just one of the volumes included. In Advent for Everyone: A Journey through Luke and Advent for Everyone: A Journey with the Apostles, N. T. Wright leads readers toward the wonder and joy of Christmas. Each volume focuses on particular themes from the respective biblical book with meditation, reflection, and insightful commentary.

The introduction invites readers to:

Come on a voyage of discovery. Bring your imagination and your curiosity. Gaze at a Star. Meet dignitaries from the east seeking a special child and a cruel old monarch bent on killing him.

For the eastern dignitaries, the celestial sign meant the child was king of the Jews. The old ruler feared the Star showed a rival for his throne. The evangelist Matthew believed the Star showed the child would bring the present world order to an end, and usher in the kingdom of God. 

The Star of Bethlehem illuminates this key biblical event through studying modern scientific understanding of stellar phenomena—and gives a fascinating account of ancient astronomy and history. 

“Advent,” says Fleming Rutledge, “is definitely not for sissies.” As the midnight of the Christian year, Advent is rife with dark, gritty realities. In this book, Rutledge spotlights the rich significance of the Advent season not just as transitional but as vibrant and profound in its own right.

My not-so-secret hope is that Fleming Rutledge’s Advent would become required reading in our seminaries and the focus of vestry book clubs, elder retreats, and worship leader workshops. Because that would give me hope for an apocalyptic renewal in the church—that we would learn again how to live as an Advent people, hoping in a God who acts and is making all things new. Taking this book to heart would teach us how to live wisely, faithfully, and prophetically in the Time Between.

—James K. A. Smith, Calvin College; author of Awaiting the King and You Are What You Love

Every year, we sing songs like “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” and “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus,” but how often do we meditate on them? This book makes that easy.

Reflect on Advent and Christmas with short daily readings exploring some of Charles Wesley’s most beloved hymns. This devotional is ideal for starting or ending each day of Advent alone or with the family. 

The Advent season reminds us of the wonderful mystery of Christ’s incarnation. You can explore the concept more in Modern Studies on the Incarnation. Titles include:

• The God-Man: An Enquiry into the Character and Evidences of the Christian Incarnation by T. L. Townsend
• The Creative Christ: A Study of the Incarnation in Terms of Modern Thought by Edward S. Drown
• A Present Christ: Daily Ten Minutes’ Readings for Four Weeks on the Incarnation By J. Hasloch Potter
• The Holy Christ-Child: A Devotional Study of the Incarnation of the Son of God by Archibald Campbell Knowles
• The Principal Heresies Relating to Our Lord’s Incarnation: A Treatise by H. H. Wyatt
• The collection’s 8,000 pages pave the way for a greater understanding on the union of divinity with humanity in Jesus Christ.

See what other reviewers are saying.

John Piper brings readers to revel in indestructible joy with daily readings, starting with “The Search-and-Save Mission” and ending with “Grace: The Dominant Note of Christmas.” The sermon “A Savior Is Born! God Gets the Glory: You Get the Peace” serves as a thought-provoking, praise-producing conclusion.  

As we walk the road of Advent, Jesus reminds us the invitation is not to escape this world to an elevated heaven somewhere else but to bring heaven down. “God with us” is Jesus, humbling himself by coming to earth as one of us. Find biblical encouragement for yourself or others in this practical, fresh look at Advent. Each devotional offers Scripture and reflection on Jesus as “God with us,” meeting us on the ground. 

In the foreword, the authors explain, “The wonder of the incarnation deserves a lifetime of thought, and this book is a faithful resource to prompt deeper reflection on the foundation of our salvation.”⁴ It’s meant to help you slow down and go deeper.

Aimed at stirring your affections for Jesus, it leads readers on a step-by-step journey through the Gospels’ birth narratives, clearing away common misconceptions, making messianic connections, and setting the stage for Jesus’ later life and ministry.