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A Jesus Christmas: Explore God's Amazing Plan for Christmas
Get your family excited with this advent devotional offering a fresh way to prepare for Christmas. Right from the beginning, the serpent lied to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden – and he has been lying ever since. But right from the beginning, God told us his amazing plan to send Jesus. Each day's devotional looks at one of the serpent's lies from Genesis 3, and then shows how the glorious truth of Christmas beats it every time! God prepared the world for Jesus and he will prepare your heart to celebrate this Christmas in a new and lasting way.
88 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2018
33 people are currently reading
986 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Reaoch
8 books27 followersBarbara Reaoch says, "Nothing thrills me more than to see the great truths of the gospel change kids lives. I love to give adults tools to disciple the next generation. I want every parent and teacher to know that God's Word has power to enable their children to discover the joy of loving God."
Teaching cross-culturally changed Barbara’s perspective. She says, "Living overseas I learned in a new way that God's Word can reach children in every situation. No matter what reasons people think they cannot disciple their children - they can! I've seen the power of God's Word help children around the world — from Africa to Asia, India to the Alps, poor or rich. Whatever the challenge - God has given parents the privilege and power to reach their children with the transforming truth of his Word."
Barbara and her husband lived in Michigan before moving to Cape Town, South Africa, to teach Bible Study Fellowship classes. They also worked with the Rafiki Foundation to train young women in job and life skills. With her grandchildren far away, Barbara began to write Bible studies for them to bridge the distance. She drew her first two books, “Why Easter” and “Why Christmas" from those studies. Barbara’s most recent book is “A Jesus Christmas.”
After returning to the US, Barbara directed the Children’s Division of Bible Study Fellowship International. Barbara now lives in Minneapolis, MN, where she is learning to love snow again! She and her family are privileged to be a part of the wonderful body of believers at Bethlehem Baptist Church.
Teaching cross-culturally changed Barbara’s perspective. She says, "Living overseas I learned in a new way that God's Word can reach children in every situation. No matter what reasons people think they cannot disciple their children - they can! I've seen the power of God's Word help children around the world — from Africa to Asia, India to the Alps, poor or rich. Whatever the challenge - God has given parents the privilege and power to reach their children with the transforming truth of his Word."
Barbara and her husband lived in Michigan before moving to Cape Town, South Africa, to teach Bible Study Fellowship classes. They also worked with the Rafiki Foundation to train young women in job and life skills. With her grandchildren far away, Barbara began to write Bible studies for them to bridge the distance. She drew her first two books, “Why Easter” and “Why Christmas" from those studies. Barbara’s most recent book is “A Jesus Christmas.”
After returning to the US, Barbara directed the Children’s Division of Bible Study Fellowship International. Barbara now lives in Minneapolis, MN, where she is learning to love snow again! She and her family are privileged to be a part of the wonderful body of believers at Bethlehem Baptist Church.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 20 reviews
January 7, 2020
I appreciated doing this advent book with my 4 year old daughter. I loved that everyday we were reading from the Bible. The questions were labeled as questions for younger children and older children. My daughter was able to answer most of the younger children questions. The included devotional was easy to understand and theological rich and true. It pointed us to Christ as we see him pointed to in the Old Testament and the fulfillment and hope of salvation in the New Testament.
The journal pages were pretty basic so I made an activity page for each day my daughter enjoyed. The book contains no images of Jesus which can be rare in Christmas advent material for children.
The journal pages were pretty basic so I made an activity page for each day my daughter enjoyed. The book contains no images of Jesus which can be rare in Christmas advent material for children.
January 1, 2022
We read this book to our 8yo and 5yo for our bedtime devotional this month. I really liked how it walked through so much of the biblical story in little chunks and tied it all to Advent. Some of the questions were a bit hard to tell what answer they were aiming for, and we didn’t use the journaling space at all (and if you did, you can obviously only use those pages once), but overall I quite liked it. Would do it again next year.
December 27, 2023
I read this with my 2 1/4-year-old, and while most of the questions were a bit young for her, she definitely processed things from it and even connected the dots to some things she heard about during church on Sundays and to lessons in other books we have read. Most days she asked for us it to read it and would even pull it out, with her Bible, herself, to sit and read.
I like that the devotional doesn’t spend time referencing modern day Christmas traditions, since “Christmas” is about Christians celebrating that God became man. It was nice that the focus is on God’s plan for Christmas beginning when He created the world and weaving throughout Scripture. My daughter really enjoyed flipping through her Bible to find each day’s passage to read.
I think my only criticism is that since Christmas isn’t technically December 25th, it would be great if the devotional went through a full month—instead of stopping at December 25th—to talk about what happened after Jesus was born and left the disciples on earth. That would tie in well to how we can carry “Christmas” into the future until Jesus returns to earth.
Looking forward to reading this again next Christmas and for Christmases to come! I’ll update my review once I feel we are fully utilizing all aspects of the devotional as my daughter gets older.
2022 UPDATE: Same review after reading with my 3 1/2-year-old.
2023 UPDATE: Same review with my kindergartener. More questions understood and answered, but some still too deep. Also tricky with some of the pointed calls to accept salvation; she combination doesn’t understand enough and also has reservations to accepting. Interesting process.
I like that the devotional doesn’t spend time referencing modern day Christmas traditions, since “Christmas” is about Christians celebrating that God became man. It was nice that the focus is on God’s plan for Christmas beginning when He created the world and weaving throughout Scripture. My daughter really enjoyed flipping through her Bible to find each day’s passage to read.
I think my only criticism is that since Christmas isn’t technically December 25th, it would be great if the devotional went through a full month—instead of stopping at December 25th—to talk about what happened after Jesus was born and left the disciples on earth. That would tie in well to how we can carry “Christmas” into the future until Jesus returns to earth.
Looking forward to reading this again next Christmas and for Christmases to come! I’ll update my review once I feel we are fully utilizing all aspects of the devotional as my daughter gets older.
2022 UPDATE: Same review after reading with my 3 1/2-year-old.
2023 UPDATE: Same review with my kindergartener. More questions understood and answered, but some still too deep. Also tricky with some of the pointed calls to accept salvation; she combination doesn’t understand enough and also has reservations to accepting. Interesting process.
December 31, 2018
Grateful for this Resource
My wife and I recently decided to start doing daily family devotions with our four year-old (as a sort of graduation from storybook Bibles), and thought that the Christmas season would be a perfect time to begin. We wanted something that would present the Word and point to Jesus, rather than the type of devotional that provides a scriptural snippet followed by four paragraphs of reflection. The sample pages of A Jesus Christmas looked promising, so we decided to give it a try. Well, I can't tell you how glad I am that we did! Our daughter engaged in the discussion questions night after night, and loved the journaling/doodling pages. Halfway through the book, she told my wife that she wanted Jesus in her heart, and they prayed for that together (naturally, on the one evening of the week when I'm out of the house, haha). At the very end of the devotional, families are prompted to write down what they've learned about Jesus, and she said, "That Jesus is King, and he gives us life!" To Mrs. Reaoch and the folks at The Good Book Co., thank you for making this available. The Seders family has been blessed by it!
Note: for the selections of Scripture, our family turned the NIrV. The NLT would also be suitable. Whatever you choose, the important thing is that you engage the Word together!
My wife and I recently decided to start doing daily family devotions with our four year-old (as a sort of graduation from storybook Bibles), and thought that the Christmas season would be a perfect time to begin. We wanted something that would present the Word and point to Jesus, rather than the type of devotional that provides a scriptural snippet followed by four paragraphs of reflection. The sample pages of A Jesus Christmas looked promising, so we decided to give it a try. Well, I can't tell you how glad I am that we did! Our daughter engaged in the discussion questions night after night, and loved the journaling/doodling pages. Halfway through the book, she told my wife that she wanted Jesus in her heart, and they prayed for that together (naturally, on the one evening of the week when I'm out of the house, haha). At the very end of the devotional, families are prompted to write down what they've learned about Jesus, and she said, "That Jesus is King, and he gives us life!" To Mrs. Reaoch and the folks at The Good Book Co., thank you for making this available. The Seders family has been blessed by it!
Note: for the selections of Scripture, our family turned the NIrV. The NLT would also be suitable. Whatever you choose, the important thing is that you engage the Word together!
November 12, 2019
"A Jesus Christmas" by Barbara Reaoch is perfect for our little family of young children, sensitive hearts, and short attention spans! This family devotional is all about exploring God's amazing plan for Christmas. God is working in our hearts and preparing us to celebrate the beautiful truth that Jesus rescues.
I highly recommend this as a family's simple, easy to understand, Biblically based preparation for Christmas—you're going to want your own copy.
I highly recommend this as a family's simple, easy to understand, Biblically based preparation for Christmas—you're going to want your own copy.
December 24, 2018
Just finished this great family Christmas daily devotional. Very manageable to do, probably 10mins per day, in the midst of the busyness of December. Points kids to Jesus in an engaging way. Best for kids aged 6-10yrs. Thanks @thegoodbookuk
January 2, 2019
Excellent option for families to read together coming up to Christmas.
December 3, 2019
A Jesus Christmas notes that its devotions are for all ages. And that is absolutely true. I could envision a baby being held in her parents arms while they are reading the Bible and answering the questions. Grandparents can also learn and provide additional information from their maturity.
Although the book notes that it is Bible-based, and was reviewed by Baptist pastors, I used my Catholic Bible and found everything to be the correct citations and allowed for proper answers to questions. This exploration of God's amazing plan for Christmas is multi-faceted, and can teach - Religion, the Bible, reading, locating citations, etc.
Best of all, it is a great preparation for Christmas - from Adam and Eve until the Birthday of Jesus.
I won this beautiful paperback book in a Goodreads giveaway.
Although the book notes that it is Bible-based, and was reviewed by Baptist pastors, I used my Catholic Bible and found everything to be the correct citations and allowed for proper answers to questions. This exploration of God's amazing plan for Christmas is multi-faceted, and can teach - Religion, the Bible, reading, locating citations, etc.
Best of all, it is a great preparation for Christmas - from Adam and Eve until the Birthday of Jesus.
I won this beautiful paperback book in a Goodreads giveaway.
December 7, 2019
A Jesus Christmas looks like the perfect book to teach children about Jesus and to bring the whole family closer to his saving grace. Lovely read that will help many to learn and grow.
I received this book from good reads and want to say thank you. I just wish it had been available when my children were small.
I received this book from good reads and want to say thank you. I just wish it had been available when my children were small.
January 5, 2020
When I entered the contest for this book, I guess I didn’t know what a devotional was. I thought it was an activity book for kids, but it was less activity and more of a bible accompanying book to read with kids. My kids were interested, but I wasn’t into it (being more agnostic).
I passed the book along to a friend, who will get better use of it.
Note: I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I passed the book along to a friend, who will get better use of it.
Note: I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
January 1, 2024
Found this one to be a really great guided discussion. It was a touch emphatic on "God's Great Rescue" of mankind. Not that it isn't important, but I often found that there was little challenge to follow in Christ-likeness in response to the "great rescue" emphasis. BUT I loved tracing the genealogy of Jesus with my kids, and this book will grow well with them for a few years.
December 18, 2019
I won this book in the giveaway! I am not incredibly religious myself; however my niece is! This was such a fun activity book to work through with her. She is 7 and incredibly smart for her age. She absolutely loved this book! I highly recommend.
January 20, 2020
This is SUPER helpful to recognize lies we believe and how scripture combats them. Definitely written as a kids devo for families to do together but it was good for me as a 30 year old to sort through what’s true about life because of Christmas
December 24, 2018
In my opinion definitely not the best advent devotional our family has done. Aimed at younger kids.
December 9, 2019
Won this on goodreads. A beautiful book that incorporates Bible versus leading into Christmas Day. Children and adults will love this book to get them into the true meaning of Christmas
January 4, 2020
Wonderful book.
January 14, 2020
I won this on a GoodReads Giveaway. It was a wonderful way to help bring Jesus into our Christmas. My kids and I loved it! We will use it again for many years to come!
December 29, 2021
A good devotional to do with family. Each devotional gets you in the word and has good questions to ask your kids.
February 24, 2023
Excellent advent devotion for families
Displaying 1 - 19 of 20 reviews