HOW TO USE THIS BOOKLET This Advent devotional booklet is intended to be a tool to draw you and your family further into God’s Word during this special season.
This booklet draws on that tradition and especially for Advent 2 & 3 makes good use of readings from Isaiah.
Each week of Advent starts on Sunday. Since the Sunday Divine Service sets the theme for the week, the devotions in this booklet start on Monday.
Every devotion begins with the Trinitarian invocation, includes a reading from Scripture and some thoughts for discussion, and concludes with a suggested Advent hymn and blessing.
For each devotion the Scripture text itself is meant to be used as the basis for devotion, rather than a commentary on the text. Some thoughts for discussion are included with each text. In the past two thousand years since the birth of Christ, a tradition that developed for families privileged enough to own a Bible was the reading of the entire book of Isaiah during the season of Advent. Due to Isaiah’s amazing description of the Messiah and His work (some 700 years before He was born!) some have even termed the book “the Gospel according to Isaiah.”
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The father or head of the household should read the parts listed as “L” as well as the Scripture text. The rest of the household may respond with the parts listed as “A.” Also included are activities based on the seven great “O Antiphons” of Advent. These can be done 2/1 per week as noted or done on the actual day from December 17-23 that the Antiphon was meant to be read. It is the prayer of the Faith Lutheran Family Activities Committee as well as your Pastor that these devotions will help you build a habit that will last beyond Christmas so that you may always be prepared for Christ’s second Advent.