Enjoy this devotional for the whole family on each Sunday of Advent.

 

Week 1 | November 27

Why did God send his son, Jesus, to earth? To fight a snake?!

At the beginning of the world Adam and Eve were tempted by a snake to do something wrong. They were tempted to eat a special fruit from a special tree. They were not allowed to do that, but they did. The snake who tricked them was the devil. So, God said that one day he would send someone to stomp on the snake. That person was Jesus. He didn’t stomp on a real snake because who was the snake? It was the devil. When we say Jesus stomped on the devil, we mean he had a big fight with the devil, and he won!

Bible Verse: Genesis 3:15 | One day a child in Eve’s family (that’s Jesus) will squish the snake (that’s the devil)

Activity: Let’s pretend our floor is full of snakes and stomp on them!

 

Week 2 | December 4

How did Jesus win the fight against the snake? He died and came back to life!

Jesus won the fight against the devil in many ways! One way was to not make any bad choices. In his whole life. Ever! Can you believe that? Jesus never gave in to the devil’s temptation. Jesus also helped people to live a life free of the devil’s power. Perhaps most of all Jesus let himself be killed and came back to life. When he did this, it showed that the devil – and even death – couldn’t stop Jesus. He was the winner in the fight with the devil.

Bible Verse: Colossians 2:15 | He took away the weapons of the powers and authorities. He made a public show of them. He won the battle over them by dying on the cross.

Activity: Make an easter egg.  Put the egg in a special place. Does it remind you of Easter when Jesus died and came back to life? That’s one way he stomped on the snake the devil.

 

Week 3 | December 11

Why did Jesus have to die? To save us!

Jesus came to rescue the whole world and that means us too! Jesus fought the devil and his bad choices. But we all make bad choices. It’s ok if we mess up and make a bad choice because Jesus will forgive us. Jesus died and came back to life to forgive us. Remember “we are only human; we all make bad choices, but God forgives us because of Jesus.”

Bible Verse: Matthew 20:28 | The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Activity: To remind us that Jesus died for our sins and to win a fight with the devil, let’s find a cross and put it in our nativity scene or on our Christmas tree to remind us that Jesus died for us.

 

Week 4 | December 18

What happens after Jesus stomps on the snake? He builds a kingdom!

Jesus is building a kingdom and he wants you to be in it. We don’t have a king in America, we have a president. But Kings and Queens are cool too. They are the boss of everyone in their kingdom. Jesus wants a kingdom of people from all the countries and guess who should be the king of Jesus’s kingdom? Do you think God should be the king of Jesus’ kingdom? Jesus is still making his kingdom. His kingdom comes when we live how Jesus wants us to and make good choices for him. The snake or the devil will try to fight God’s kingdom. Even though he lost his main fight, he still is gonna try fight the good choices we make. But he will never win.

Bible Verse: Matthew 16:18 | I will build my church. The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it.

Activity: Make a crown out of paper and markers, use scissors if your parents will let you.

 

Week 5 | December 25

Can we help Jesus’ stomp on the snake? Yes, we can!

When we listen to what Jesus teaches us to do and do it, we are helping Jesus to build his kingdom. Jesus said the most important thing we can do is to love God and to love others. Especially we should love people who we don’t think about loving, like prisoners, people in the hospital, and people who are left out. God wants us to love him by loving people who are hard to love. Sometimes our friends and family are hard to love too. When we do this, we are helping stomp the devil under our feet!

Bible Verse: Romans 16:20 | The God who gives peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Activity: Which person who is left out and in need can your family show love to this Christmas? How will you do it?