Advent Calendar With Scriptures

{This isn't ours but it shows the concept}

Advent calendars are a family tradition from Aaron's childhood. When Aaron and I were newly weds his Mother gave us a calendar to continue the tradition. We were only able to do the tradition twice during our baby free years. Now that Porter is a little older we wanted to continue this with him.

As Aaron and I talked about Christmas and what we wanted to share with Porter we really wanted the focus to be on Christ. We decided that the calendar tradition would be a great way to do this by reading a story about Christ each day. We also wanted it to be fun for Porter so we'll sing a song after each story because he loves music.

We decided this in September and I thought I'd be able to find such a thing on the internet but I was disappointed. I decided to put my own together. I thought some of you maybe interested in doing this with your families so I've shared my list below.

A few thing you may want to know:

• I tried to stick to scripture stories of Jesus that He is actually in. I wanted to keep it as concrete as possible for children. There are a few exceptions as you get to the bottom of the list and Christmas is fast approaching, I reference a few scriptures about nativity items.
• I also decided to stick to the New Testament only. If you don't have a copy I linked to an online copy of the King James version of the Bible in the previous sentence. There isn't much after the book of John in my list, however. This is because after that there's lots to learn of Christ through his apostles but I felt this was a bit too complex for my 1 year old.
  
• The first line of each entry is the main idea or principal I'd like to focus on teaching while we are studying the scriptures. Second line is the scripture reference. Third line is the song selection. I found all of my songs in the Children's Song Book. If you don't have a copy of this book I linked the book title to a web page directory of all the songs in this book. You can find the song by the page number I've listed, click on it, a copy of the music will come up and you can hit play to listen to a recording of the song as well. It's an amazing site!
• My list isn't numbered but the top entry is where you start and the last entry is Christmas Eve and the full Christmas Story.
  

I'm putting the final touches on our advent calendar and will share the final result with you, but right now my comfy bed is calling my name so it will wait. I know this is a bit late to post such a thing and if you decide to use it you'll have to rush, but I just finished it. Putting this together has been such a blessing. We have this beautiful large family bible with artwork through out it that I used while preparing this list. As I read the first half of the bible to put this together I found myself being pulled in by these wonderful words from God. I'm so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and I'm excited to share and teach Porter about Christ. I know Porter is young to remember details and stories but he's not too young to pick up on how he feels when we share our testimonies with him.

Christmas Advent Calendar Scripture List

Christ Calms the Sea
Matthew 8:24-27
Song: Tell Me the Stories of Jesus pg. 57

Christ Blesses the Children
Matthew 19:13-15
Song: Jesus Loved the Little Children pg. 59

Christ Forgives Our Sins
Mark 2:3-12
Song: How Dear to God Are Little Children pg. 180

Christ Raises A Girl From the Dead
Mark 5:39-42
Song: Did Jesus Really Live Again? pg. 64

Christ Feeds the Multitude
Mark 6:41-42
Song: Faith pg. 96

Christ Notices Our Actions
Mark 12:41-44
Song: I'm Trying to be Like Jesus pg. 78

Christ Overcame Temptation
Luke 4:1-13 (a little long- paraphrase if needed)
Song: Choose the Right Way pg. 160

Christ Knows of Our Faith
Luke 8:43-48
Song: I Know My Father Lives pg. 5

Christ Wants Us to be Kind
Luke 10: 30, 33-35
Song: Jesus Said Love Everyone pg. 61

Christ is the Good Part
Luke 10: 38-42
Song: I'll Seek the Lord Early pg. 108


Christ Heals the Lepers
Luke 17: 12-15
Song: I am Glad for Many Things pg. 151

Christ Loves Children
Luke: 18: 15-16
Song: My Heavenly Father Loves Me pg. 228

Christ is a Good Friend
Luke 19: 1-7
Song: I'll Walk With You pg. 140

Christ Forgives Our Mistakes
John 8: 3-11
Song: I am a Child of God pg. 2

Christ Gives Life After Death
John 11: 39-44
Song: Families Can Be Together Forever pg. 188

Christ Taught us to Serve by Example
John 13: 5, 12-17
Song: I am Like a Star pg. 163

Christ Died for Us
John: 19: 30
Song: I Lived in Heaven pg. 4

Christ Was Resurrected
John 20: 15-17
Song: Hosanna pg. 66

Christ Was a Child Too
Luke 2:40
Song: Jesus Once Was a Little Child pg. 55

Christ had a Mother
Luke 1:28, 30-32
Song: Mary's Lullaby pg. 44

Joseph Treated Christ Like His Son
Luke 2: 48-51 & 3: 23
Song: When Joseph Went to Bethlehem pg. 38

A Star to Tell of Christ's Birth
Matthew 2:2
Song: There Was Starlight on the Hillside pg.40a

Wise Men Came to Christ
Matthew 2: 1-11
Song: The Nativity pg. 52

Christ is Born
Luke 2:1-20
Song: Picture A Christmas pg. 50