This year Advent and Christmas are going to be very different – but different doesn’t have to mean worse! To bring Good News and joy to our communities, we are going to be decorating our windows.
You might like to choose one of the days, or you might like to choose a part of the story.
You might want to change your window once a week throughout Advent, or you might like to organise with some local friends to do a different part each so that the story is added to in your neighbourhood. You might feel really ambitious and divide your window up into 24 squares and do one a day! Or you might have several windows you would like to decorate. However, you want to go about it, bring some joy and the Good News of Jesus to your friends and neighbours this Christmas.
Let’s shine as lights in the darkness to the Glory of God!
| Day | Title | Words | Prayer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Good news! | ‘God sent the angel Gabriel to a girl named Mary’ Luke 1:26 | Thank you God that you reach out to us |
| 2 | Don’t worry | ‘The angel said to her, ‘don’t be afraid because God is very pleased with you’ Luke 1:30 | Please God take my fear away |
| 3 | Listen! | ‘Listen! You will become pregnant and have a baby boy. You will name him Jesus’ Luke 1:31 | Help me to listen out for you |
| 4 | Son of God | ‘He will be great. People will call him ‘the son of the most high God’ Luke 1:32 | Thank you for your amazing gift! |
| 5 | She said yes! | ‘Mary said, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. Let this thing you have said happen to me’ Luke 1:38 | Help me to say yes like Mary |
| 6 | The register | ‘Caesar sent out an order that everyone’s name must be put on a list’ Luke 2:1 | Give me strength when I have to obey |
| 7 | The journey | ‘Everyone traveled to their own town to have their names put on the list’ Luke 2:3 | Protect all those on journeys today |
| 8 | Mary and Joseph | ‘So Joseph went to the town of David because he was from the family of David. Joseph registered with Mary’ Luke 2:4-5 | Bless my family |
| 9 | The baby arrives | ‘While Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have the baby. She gave birth to her first son’ Luke 2:6-7 | Be with those giving birth today |
| 10 | A strange crib | ‘There were no rooms left in the inn. So she wrapped the baby with cloths and laid him in a box where the animals are fed’ Luke 2:7 | Help those who do not have a home |
| 11 | Shepherds in the fields | ‘That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep’ Luke 2:8 | Bless those working night shifts |
| 12 | Angels shining! | ‘An angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them’ Luke 2:9 | Please shine on us today |
| 13 | Don’t be afraid | ‘The angel said to them, ‘don’t be afraid, because I am bringing you some good news!’ Luke 2:10 | Comfort us when we are afraid |
| 14 | Christ the Lord! | ‘Today your saviour was born in David’s town. He is Christ the Lord’ Luke 2:11 | Open my heart to you |
| 15 | Signposts | ‘This is how you will know him: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a feeding box’ Luke 2:12 | Open our eyes to notice you in surprising places |
| 16 | Glory all around | ‘All the angels were praising God, saying, ‘give glory to God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace to the people who please God’ Luke 2:13-14 | Please let there be peace in the world |
| 17 | First visitors | ‘So the shepherds went quickly and found Mary, Joseph and the baby’ Luke 2:16-17 | Help us to be eager to see you |
| 18 | Everything changes | ‘Then the shepherds went back to their sheep, praising God and thanking him for everything that they had seen and heard’ Luke 2:20 | Give us thankful hearts |
| 19 | Visitors from far away | ‘After Jesus was born, some wise men came from the East’ Matthew 2:1 | Thank you for wise people in my life |
| 20 | Shining star | ‘When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy’ Matthew 2:10 | Fill us with joy this day |
| 21 | Wonderful baby | ‘They went to the house...and they bowed down and they worshipped the child’ Matthew 2:11 | Bless our home |
| 22 | Treasures for a tiny King | ‘They gave him treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh’ Matthew 2:11 | Help me be generous |
| 23 | Prince of peace | ‘A child will be born to us. God will give a son to us. His name will be... prince of peace’ Isaiah 9:6 | Thank you that Jesus came to bring peace |
| 24 | God loves you! | ‘For God loved the world so much that he gave his only son. God gave his son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life’ John 3:16 | Thank you that you love me |