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Joy to the World: Daily Readings for Advent
Advent is for adoring Jesus. It is a season of preparation for that special day when we mark Immanuel's arrival - the coming of our eternal God in frail, human flesh. This is the greatest wonder of history's many wonders, something too stupendous to celebrate just on one day. Advent is a way of lengthening the joy of Christmas.
These 25 brief devotional readings from John Piper begin December 1 and carry us to Christmas Day. Our prayer is that God would use these readings to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus this December and keep him as the center and greatest treasure of your Christmas season. The candles and candies have their place, but we want to make sure that in all the Christmas rush and hubbub we adore Jesus above all.
These 25 brief devotional readings from John Piper begin December 1 and carry us to Christmas Day. Our prayer is that God would use these readings to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus this December and keep him as the center and greatest treasure of your Christmas season. The candles and candies have their place, but we want to make sure that in all the Christmas rush and hubbub we adore Jesus above all.
60 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
10 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
John Piper
609 books4,636 followersJohn Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.), and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years, he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem.
John is the author of more than 50 books and more than 30 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
December 25, 2024
I enjoyed reading this devotional the last several days. I think it has helped me understand more the meaning of Christ and Christmas.
December 26, 2020
As is the case with most (if not all) devotionals of this type, there is a variability among the different days' entries: some 'hit' (and speak directly to the heart) and some 'miss' (merely seeming like words-on-a-page). This one is better than most -- The major reason for that, I believe, is that the author selects unusual passages from Scripture to discuss. I found this, on the whole, to be a valuable reading experience, one which contributed in a positive way to my Advent preparations for Christmas.
December 25, 2020
Encouraging and thought provoking.
December 26, 2023
Beautiful readings for the Advent season.
December 25, 2025
great advent book! short but hard hitting
December 25, 2025
Wonderful book of daily Advent readings (25 days). I read a passage from this book and another Christmas Devotional (Paul David Tripp), and this one by John Piper is more ligh-hearted and easy to read. It would be a great book to read as a family to younger children.
August 16, 2020
This is a great book to read for Advent. There's a page for every day in December up to Christmas day. It will definitely get you in the right headspace for remembering and celebrating our Savior's birth.
December 28, 2020
This was such an incredible Advent devotional! Each day's reading was short and focused yet bursting with timely encouragement for the season. I'll likely use this devotional again.
April 10, 2021
A great way to remind us the real reason to celebrate each year
December 26, 2021
Our Spiritual Growth Committee purchases an inexpensive book each month to hand out free of charge to our congregation or anyone else who wants one. For Advent we like to try to find A daily Advent devotional that people can use around their Advent wreath.
This year we purchased this book by John Piper. It’s worth noting, as you read what I have to say, that our church is a Methodist congregation, thus Piper is going to be quite a bit more conservative than most of us are used to.
That being said, I grew up in a Calvinist congregation and am used to reading and navigating a more conservative theology. It doesn’t bother me. I am curious to hear what others in our congregation have to say about it though.
Most of the readings and devotionals are innocuous enough. People who are more liberal theologically might find some of focus on sin and the devil a bit much for Christmas, especially in the later stages of the book.
But for the most part it is basic Christianity that I think would be meaningful for most folks during Advent and looking forward to a new year, and it can be had a pretty good price as well. We got them at christianbook.com.
This year we purchased this book by John Piper. It’s worth noting, as you read what I have to say, that our church is a Methodist congregation, thus Piper is going to be quite a bit more conservative than most of us are used to.
That being said, I grew up in a Calvinist congregation and am used to reading and navigating a more conservative theology. It doesn’t bother me. I am curious to hear what others in our congregation have to say about it though.
Most of the readings and devotionals are innocuous enough. People who are more liberal theologically might find some of focus on sin and the devil a bit much for Christmas, especially in the later stages of the book.
But for the most part it is basic Christianity that I think would be meaningful for most folks during Advent and looking forward to a new year, and it can be had a pretty good price as well. We got them at christianbook.com.
September 26, 2024
“The question is not what God could do, but what He willed to do” (Dec 5).
“The peace is for those on whom his favor rests, among those whom with he is pleased. We know that without faith it is impossible to please God, so Christmas does not bring peace to all” (Dec 6).
“By giving to you what you do not need, and what I might enjoy, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, ‘You are my treasure, not these things’” (Dec 10).
This is the second advent devo I’ve read from Piper, and I’ve come to the conclusion that he does an excellent job writing them. This was very refreshing and Christ-centered, helping me to meditate on Christ’s coming this season and see some things in a new perspective.
He covers just about everything – Old Testament prophecies fulfilled, the characters/setting from Christmastime (i.e., Mary, the star, the magi, the gifts, etc.), the cross/salvation, God’s sovereignty and character, sin, and how we are to respond. There was also a devotion for those who have experienced loss during Christmas time and I think he addressed it very well.
I especially appreciate the conclusion about humility – Christ’s humility because He put Himself in a lowly position for the sake of others. Then there’s us, who already have no grounds to boast because we are finite, fallible, and sinful, and therefore already lowly and undeserving, but we too are called to join Christ in humbling ourselves and being servants.
The appendix was also very helpful – it explained the Old Testament shadows of Christ’s coming (which was the topic for a couple of the devotions) and was backed by Scripture references.
“The peace is for those on whom his favor rests, among those whom with he is pleased. We know that without faith it is impossible to please God, so Christmas does not bring peace to all” (Dec 6).
“By giving to you what you do not need, and what I might enjoy, I am saying more earnestly and more authentically, ‘You are my treasure, not these things’” (Dec 10).
This is the second advent devo I’ve read from Piper, and I’ve come to the conclusion that he does an excellent job writing them. This was very refreshing and Christ-centered, helping me to meditate on Christ’s coming this season and see some things in a new perspective.
He covers just about everything – Old Testament prophecies fulfilled, the characters/setting from Christmastime (i.e., Mary, the star, the magi, the gifts, etc.), the cross/salvation, God’s sovereignty and character, sin, and how we are to respond. There was also a devotion for those who have experienced loss during Christmas time and I think he addressed it very well.
I especially appreciate the conclusion about humility – Christ’s humility because He put Himself in a lowly position for the sake of others. Then there’s us, who already have no grounds to boast because we are finite, fallible, and sinful, and therefore already lowly and undeserving, but we too are called to join Christ in humbling ourselves and being servants.
The appendix was also very helpful – it explained the Old Testament shadows of Christ’s coming (which was the topic for a couple of the devotions) and was backed by Scripture references.
December 12, 2024
With all that YHWH has shown us recently I really struggled with this book.
The intro, not written by Piper had me so encouraged with the admission that there is no Biblical mandate to celebrate Advent. And the first few days were good. And then he criticized those that enjoy learning about YHWH and how He might make things work, assuming they have no depth of faith. (Some don't like with all religion, but any of us do!)
A couple more good days and then comes the day where he claims Yeshua replaced the Old Testament with an index in the back. Yeshua said I did not come to abolish (replace) the Law (Old Testament) but to fulfill it! Piper uses this to declare that a man made holiday with questionable roots is to replace the perpetual statutes and Holy Days that YHWH set forth in His Word. If you read the entirety of Scripture and follow the continuity, it is evident that this cannot be!
This ruined the book for me. Most of the days are really encouraging, but I can't recommend a book that so blatantly disregards the Word to celebrate the Word (Yeshua, Jesus). It doesn't fit.
The intro, not written by Piper had me so encouraged with the admission that there is no Biblical mandate to celebrate Advent. And the first few days were good. And then he criticized those that enjoy learning about YHWH and how He might make things work, assuming they have no depth of faith. (Some don't like with all religion, but any of us do!)
A couple more good days and then comes the day where he claims Yeshua replaced the Old Testament with an index in the back. Yeshua said I did not come to abolish (replace) the Law (Old Testament) but to fulfill it! Piper uses this to declare that a man made holiday with questionable roots is to replace the perpetual statutes and Holy Days that YHWH set forth in His Word. If you read the entirety of Scripture and follow the continuity, it is evident that this cannot be!
This ruined the book for me. Most of the days are really encouraging, but I can't recommend a book that so blatantly disregards the Word to celebrate the Word (Yeshua, Jesus). It doesn't fit.
December 25, 2023
The book was not bad, but I cannot think of anything particularly good (i.e. memorable and insightful) about it either. I expected the book to be "Here are some relatively unknown insights about Advent" or "Here are some reminders about Advent"; instead, the book was more "Here is why Jesus' coming is applicable to you." The book did explain why Jesus' coming is important to us, especially in light of his death on the cross.
For new Christians and Seekers, this book might be helpful. More mature Believers may find a couple insights in the book, but, for them, this is definitely a book that you read once and don't read for another decade or so.
For new Christians and Seekers, this book might be helpful. More mature Believers may find a couple insights in the book, but, for them, this is definitely a book that you read once and don't read for another decade or so.
December 26, 2023
I decided that I would only give a Christian book 1 star if I thought it was untrue. However, I don’t think this book is worth the read, even as a 25-day advent devotional. We read it as a family, out loud each night, and Piper’s writing style made it completely incomprehensible to the ones listening, and hard to understand for the people reading. Plus, it was a little all over the place thematically. I didn’t even feel like it had to do with Christmas and the birth of Jesus. There are far better options out there.
December 27, 2024
Some days were slow - and just didn’t stir much in me and the other days, did the devotion hit. Some of it was slow, but when it was good - it was so good.
Really needed this, this season as we approach the new year. So many takeaways - especially in the last few devotions. One thing that really is sticking with me is how low of an estate Jesus chose to position himself in every way.
“His lowliness makes possible relief from our burdens. If he were not lowly, he would not have been ‘obedient unto death, even death on a cross.’ “
Really needed this, this season as we approach the new year. So many takeaways - especially in the last few devotions. One thing that really is sticking with me is how low of an estate Jesus chose to position himself in every way.
“His lowliness makes possible relief from our burdens. If he were not lowly, he would not have been ‘obedient unto death, even death on a cross.’ “
November 20, 2022
This started really well, and then became less wonderful as it went. I think the problem is that it's made up of material that was written for use elsewhere and then stuck together by editors in an effort to make a coherent whole.
Bottom line: There are way better books by Piper out there, and way better Advent devotionals.
Bottom line: There are way better books by Piper out there, and way better Advent devotionals.
December 14, 2023
Piper does a good job giving short meditations leading up to Christmas. It's a worthwhile read. It's short and meant to be read devotionally. I'm bad at devotionals, so I often read them in big chunks.
I find a lot of books like this aim for people to understand the importance of obedience with a very strong call, and though I think that's appropriate, is noticeable and can be overwhelming.
I find a lot of books like this aim for people to understand the importance of obedience with a very strong call, and though I think that's appropriate, is noticeable and can be overwhelming.
January 10, 2022
This is a good book for advent. The entries are really short, usually a page or two (tiny pages). I might bump it up a star if there were more content. But, for a low-commitment aid to observing advent, it does the job well.
December 5, 2022
Nice little book of Christmas meditations. Few speak or write about Jesus with the effusive delight of Piper. The brevity of each reading was good for family devotions although the language seemed to go a bit over the heads of the little ones.
January 1, 2025
Some parts were great, especially towards the end as they began to build upon one another.
Some parts were not so great, especially where he tends into the ethereal, mystical, and pietistic.
Typical Piper. Much respect and love for him, but from a distance.
Some parts were not so great, especially where he tends into the ethereal, mystical, and pietistic.
Typical Piper. Much respect and love for him, but from a distance.
December 26, 2025
This short book was a great read for the Advent season! The daily readings were short but helpful in reflecting over the greatest gift of Christmas- Jesus. Would recommend to anyone who wants to prepare their heart for Christmas.
December 30, 2019
Very meaningful , and excellent choice for taking turns reading aloud with 11, 13, and 15 year olds!
December 26, 2020
Great book
December 25, 2021
Excellent shorts for the advent and an amazing truth to take in. Well spent time.
December 27, 2022
Good! Not as outstanding as other Piper advent devotionals but it still got me thinking and thats the point!
January 3, 2023
Great way to prepare your heart and celebrate the Advent Season
January 7, 2023
Forgot to add this. Awesome daily advent book I read in December. Thank you Sarah Riley for this one
December 25, 2023
I think this will be one advent devotion that I will come back & read again. So many of the daily readings were exactly what I needed to read to help me prepare celebrating Jesus Christ’s birth.
December 25, 2023
Very inspiring
December 28, 2023
Excellent advent daily devotional. Well written and very inspiring.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews