Although I tend to be schizophrenic when it comes to traditions (my tradition is not being tied down by tradition...unless I want to be) - getting married, growing a family, and getting older has shown me the importance and value of traditions, especially within the family. Every family has traditions, even non-traditional families. The question is to what purpose do our traditions serve? Are we are slaves to our traditions, as if they exist for their own sake? Or are traditions our slaves, our tools, or old testament Ebenezers - reminders to point us to something more important and meaningful than the tradition itself? As we strive to create a Christ-centered culture in our family, we have looked to some traditions that God's people have observed throughout history and tried to incorporate those that help us keep our eyes and hearts fixed on the Gospel. Advent is one of those traditions. And that's where this book comes in.
Released this year as a free ebook, Good News of Great Joy, is a collection of short daily Advent devotionals taken from John Piper's sermons and writings. We found this to be a great resource for focusing us on the celebration of the Incarnation of God at Christmas. It's short daily readings made it more realistic that our family would find the time to actually read it and meditate on the truth it highlighted.
A great Scripture driven, Gospel-centered, Christmas resource. I think a new tradition has begun.
