Calvary Family Devotion
The Gospel of John and the Advent Season
November 27 – December 24, 2022
(Click here for a PDF version of this blog and reading plan.)
During the Christmas season, we want to continue realigning with the ways and words of Jesus. Together, we will seek to connect with the Lord and to hear what God is saying through The Gospel of John. We will also read and reflect upon other verses associated with the First and Second Coming of Christ. Our salvation is rooted in the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and return of the Lord Jesus.
In this Calvary Family Devotion, we will explore God’s Word together through:
- Reading the Bible on a daily basis
- Memorizing Scripture (let the Lord highlight to you a few verses for you to memorize)
- Using questions to help us reflect on what God is saying to us
Doing these activities as a church family allows the Holy Spirit to speak to us corporately. We believe that God speaks to us in many ways. Our part is to make room, to cultivate the capacity to let the seed of God’s Word find good soil in our hearts. The challenge before us is to give God time in our schedules, room in our minds, and access to our hearts through intentionally devoting ourselves to God’s Word. Let’s press into the presence of the Lord by encountering God in his Holy Word.
The Challenge
We will use a daily reading plan that covers The Gospel of John and other verses associated with the Advent of Christ.
The Schedule
Our reading and reflecting upon God’s word together will go from November 27 – December 24.
The Gospel of John
In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God is presented as speaking the creation into existence. God speaks the word and it happens: heaven and earth, ocean and stream, trees and grass, birds and fish, animals and humans. Everything, seen and unseen, called into being by God’s spoken word.
In deliberate parallel to the opening words of Genesis, John presents God as speaking salvation into existence. This time God’s word takes on human form and enters history in the person of Jesus. Jesus speaks the word and it happens: forgiveness and judgment, healing and illumination, mercy and grace, joy and love, freedom and resurrection. Everything broken and fallen, sinful and diseased, called into salvation by God’s spoken word.
Somewhere along the line things went wrong (Genesis tells that story, too) and are in desperate need of fixing. The fixing is all accomplished by speaking—God speaking salvation into being in the person of Jesus. Jesus, in this account, not only speaks the word of God; he is the Word of God.
Keeping company with these words, we begin to realize that our words are more important than we ever supposed. Saying “I believe,” for instance, marks the difference between life and death. Our words accrue dignity and gravity in conversations with Jesus. For Jesus doesn’t impose salvation as a solution; he narrates salvation into being through leisurely conversation, intimate personal relationships, compassionate responses, passionate prayer, and—putting it all together—a sacrificial death. We don’t casually walk away from words like that (Eugene H. Peterson, The Message).
The Advent Season
Advent comes from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming.” Many churches observe a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Jesus at Christmas. The Latin word adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, which references Christ’s Second Coming. Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a reminder that Christ has come and that he will come again. Advent for 2022 begins on Sunday, November 27.
Reflection Questions for Dialogue or Journaling
- Preparation: Come to God’s Word with a listening, attentive, and attuned ear and heart. Ask the Lord to meet with you and speak to you as you spend time with him in his Word.
- As you read the Gospel of John, what is God revealing about himself to you?
- What are you learning or discovering as you spend time reading The Gospel of John?
- What is getting stirred up in you as you read? Share or journal what you are thinking or feeling.
- What is the Holy Spirit asking you to do or how are you feeling led to respond as you read?
- Where is your love for Christ manifesting in obedience? Where are you falling short through disobedience? Don’t just think in moral terms. Think, too, in missional terms. What has God asked you to do or say that you are disobeying habitually? Ask God for forgiveness. Identify and make intentional efforts to do what the Lord is asking you to do.
Scripture Reading Plan for the Gospel of John and Advent Scriptures
Date Read Additional verses
11/27/22 John 1 Hope: Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 1:26-38; Isaiah 7:10-14; Matthew 1:18-24
11/28/22 John 2
11/29/22 John 3
11/30/22 John 4
12/1/22 John 5
12/2/22 John 6
12/3/22 John 7
12/4/22 John 8 Peace: Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11; Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 3:1-6
12/5/22 John 9
12/6/22 John 10
12/7/22 John 11
12/8/22 John 12
12/9/22 John 13
12/10/22 John 14
12/11/22 John 15 Joy: Isaiah 9:6-7; John 1:19-34; Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; Philippians 2:1-11
12/12/22 John 16
12/13/22 John 17
12/14/22 John 18
12/15/22 John 19
12/16/22 John 20
12/17/22 John 21
12/18/22 Matt. 1:18-24 Love: Malachi 3:1-5; Romans 8:18-25; Isaiah 52:7-10; Revelation 21:1-14
12/19/22 Matt. 2
12/20/22 Luke 1:1-25
12/21/22 Luke 1:26-56
12/22/22 Luke 1:57-80
12/23/22 Luke 2:1-40
12/24/22 Isaiah 9:1-7 Light: Isaiah 9:1-7; John 1:1-18; Titus 2:11-14
