Advent Bible Reading Plan

I am SO excited to share with you my new Advent Bible Reading Plan called “The Promised Messiah.” This reading plan consists of 25 days of readings taking you through the grand narrative of scripture from creation to the birth of Jesus. As you travel through the big picture story of redemption, my hope and prayer is to build an anticipation for the coming Messiah, and to point to the need for Jesus’ coming. As you read about the faithfulness of God and the brokenness of humanity, I pray that you will see God’s promises all throughout scripture as God’s people eagerly await the Savior who will come to bring good news of great joy to all peoples of the earth. All of the story points us to this Savior, Jesus the Messiah!

But first let’s have a look at why we would celebrate advent in this way and consider how we might do this individually and as families!

Why is advent so special?

While advent is a special season, there is nothing particularly special about advent in and of itself. It is not commanded that we celebrate advent for a certain amount of days nor is it something we must partake in, but it is an incredible opportunity to “remember” as we are so often told to do all throughout scripture. It is a chance to pause and be filled with wonder and awe at all God has done.

You don’t have to look far to see how many times God tells the people of Israel to remember. He does mighty things and then tells them to put into place remembrances, memorials, festivals, and other things so that they don’t forget how good and faithful He is. You will even see it throughout the reading plan. Take Day 12 in Joshua 3-4 for example. Here you get to see God do a mighty act of bringing the people of Israel across the Jordan River on dry ground as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. Immediately after, God commands the people to set up a memorial so that they will remember and “know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:24

Advent is a season to look back and remember God’s faithfulness to His promises, and to build anticipation for what’s to come through the Messiah. It causes us to pause, dwell on and rejoice in God’s goodness, and remember the big picture story of redemption through Christ that we are a part of as God’s people. I am so thankful for these reminders as we pass by each season of the year whether it’s Christmas or Easter or the time in between, to stop and remember the goodness and faithfulness of our great God!

What are advent readings and why are they important?

These readings that you will find in my Advent Bible Reading Plan are selected with the hope to do just that: to help you to look back and remember the big picture narrative of scripture and to build anticipation for the coming Messiah as we get closer to our Christmas celebrations on December 25. As you steep yourself in the story of the Old Testament, you will see God’s faithfulness to a people who desperately need a Savior, and you will see a people who are longing for the redemption God promises as they struggle with the daily affects of sin on all of God’s creation. These readings are built to give you a longing, anticipation, and excitement that leads to the birth of Jesus, the One who will save His people from their sins.

The readings in this plan can be done individually, in a group, or as a family. It would be great to find someone to do this with as we celebrate together as God’s people during the advent season!

Family Advent Devotions

Let me tell you a little bit more about how to use this advent Bible reading plan for families. The entire idea of this plan came to me because we have always celebrated advent as a family. Over the years, we have used a children’s Bible such as the Jesus Storybook Bible during advent to present the grand narrative of scripture to our children and to point us all to the need for Jesus to come. We have LOVED doing this in this way and have used various resources to do so over the years. (Check out a great example of that here! This is great for younger kids!) It has become a wonderful opportunity as a family to see God’s promise for Jesus to come throughout the Bible as we read together each night during the month of December.

As our children have grown, we have begun to read together in our family Bible time out of the Bible instead of a children’s storybook Bible, so I decided it was time to adjust our advent family traditions as well. This is where the idea to build this reading plan came from.

I have created a printable resource to use with children to help them engage with each story and remember the story of Scripture as you go. Each day has a corresponding printable card with a picture relating to that day’s story. These could be cut out and used as ornaments, could be cut into cards and used to practice putting them in chronological order, or could be strung together as a banner in your home to use as you read each night.

Note: if you think it may be a bit much to get through something like this each day, start earlier than December! Make it last two months or however long suits you and your family. Or start and just go until you finish, not worrying whether you get to Jesus’ birth exactly on Christmas Day.

Getting Started with the Advent Bible Reading Plan

Watch The Bible Project Video Below:

Before you get started, it may be helpful to watch The Bible Project‘s helpful video called “Messiah.” This will help you to see the big picture of where you will be going as you read and may help to fill in some of the gaps if you aren’t familiar with certain parts of the story of the Bible. They do a great job of following the promise of the Messiah in Genesis to His actual coming in Jesus!

Print your own reading plan and printables!

See below to get your own Advent Bible Reading Plan printable and to also get the printable cards to go along with each day. *Note: The printables are only available for free when you subscribe to my monthly discipleship newsletter, but the reading plan is also listed below! But I would recommend the fun printables!

Ask someone to join you!

Ask someone to join you in doing this advent study, whether that is a friend, a spouse, someone you are discipling, a neighbor, or talk about doing it as a family. Celebrate the coming of the Messiah together with others!

Pray!

Lastly, pray for God to work in you and others. Ask Him to build an anticipation and excitement as you celebrate the birth of Jesus. Ask Him to give you (and others) eyes to see who He is and His big plan of redemption in Jesus throughout the grand narrative of scripture.

Advent Bible Reading Plan:

God’s Good Creation and the Brokenness of Humanity:

1. Creation: Genesis 1-2, John 1:1-14

2. Fall: Genesis 3

3. The Flood: Genesis 6, 8:13-9:17

4. Tower of Babel: Genesis 11

God’s Promise to Bless All Nations Through His People:

5. Abraham: Genesis 12:1-9; 15; 17:1-13

6. Isaac: Genesis 17:15-21; 21:1-7

7. Sacrifice of Isaac: Genesis 22, Galatians 3:6-14, 29

8. Jacob: Genesis 28, 35:1-15

9. Joseph: Genesis 37, 50

God’s Covenant with Israel:

10. Passover: Exodus 12

11. 10 Commandments: Deuteronomy 5-6, Matthew 22:34-40

12. Joshua: Joshua 3-4

Israel’s Broken Kingdom: Kings and Prophets:

13. David Anointed: Judges 2:16-23, 1 Samuel 8:4-22; 16:1-13

14. King David: 2 Samuel 5, 7

15. Solomon: 1 Kings 8-9

16. Elijah: 1 Kings 18

17. Micah: Micah 5, 7

18: Isaiah: Isaiah 9:1-7, Isaiah 11:1-11, Jeremiah 31:27-40

19: Suffering Servant: Isaiah 52-53

20. Exile: 2 Chronicles 36:15-21; Zechariah 9:9-17

21. Daniel: Daniel 6-7

Promised One Fulfilled in Jesus:

22. Jesus’ birth foretold: Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 1

23. Jesus’ birth: Luke 2:1-38, Matthew 2:1-12

24. King Jesus: Hebrews 1, Colossians 1:15-20

25. Follow King Jesus: Hebrews 11-12:3

Christmas Advent Printables

Here are a few previews to the printables available for this advent plan! With the printables, you will also get questions to ask as you read the passages as well as a memory verse to memorize and meditate on throughout the month!

To get the printable Bible reading plan and cards to go along with each reading, click below:

I pray you are blessed, encouraged, and drawn to praise Jesus through this Bible reading plan! Merry Christmas!

*Special thanks to my dear friend, Allison for helping me edit and make the finishing touches on this reading plan to help it tell us the big story of scripture!*