John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books , including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Coronavirus and Christ

Advent is for adoring Jesus.

The Christmas season is one of the busiest times of the year. But it is also a season of reflection and preparation for that special day when we mark Immanuel’s coming — the arrival of our eternal God in our own frail humanity.

This is the greatest of history’s many wonders, something too stupendous to celebrate just on one day. Advent is a way of lengthening and intensifying the joy of Christmas.

These 25 brief devotional readings from John Piper begin on December 1 and carry us to Christmas Day. Our hope is that God would use these meditations to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus and help you keep him at the center of your Christmas season.

“The joy that Jesus came to bring is from outside this world. It is the very joy that Jesus himself has in God the Father — which he has had from all eternity and will have forever.” Twitter Tweet Share on Facebook

Table of Contents

Introduction: Praying for Fullness This Christmas (John 1:14–16)

December 1: The Search-and-Save Mission (Luke 19:10)

December 2: Prepare Your Heart for Christ (John 5:44)

December 3: Draw Near to the Savior (Heb. 13:20–21)

December 4: What Advent Is All About (Mark 10:45)

December 5: Why Christmas Happened (1 John 3:5, 8)

December 6: God’s Passion for God at Christmas (John 12:27–28)

December 7: He Comes to Bless Us (Acts 3:22–26)

December 8: God Can Be Trusted (Acts 3:22–26)

December 9: Why the Son of Man? (John 1:51)

December 10: What Christmas Came to Destroy (1 John 3:8)

December 11: The Celebration of God’s Love (John 3:16)

December 12: The Glory of the Word Made Flesh (John 1:1)

December 13: Christmas Cut History in Half (Acts 3:24)

December 14: The Mercy He Promises (Rom. 15:8–9)

December 15: Our Truest Treasure (Matt. 2:10)

December 16: Freed to Be Part of God’s Family (Mark 10:45)

December 17: He Came to Serve (Mark 10:44)

December 18: Graciously and Tenderly Frustrating (Rom. 3:25–26)

December 19: The Gift You Cannot Buy (Acts 17:24–25)

December 20: Receive His Reconciliation (Rom. 5:11)

December 21: Get Your Eyes Ready for Christmas (Matt. 16:15–17)

December 22: Something Worth Singing About (Heb. 8:4–10)

December 23: Our Deepest Need at Christmas (Mic. 5:4–5)

December 24: Enjoy All the Promises of God (Mic. 5:2–4)

December 25: Grace: The Dominant Note of Christmas (John 6:51)

Conclusion: A Savior Is Born! God Gets the Glory, You Get the Peace (Luke 2:11–14)

See also John Piper’s other Advent book of 25 daily readings, Good News of Great Joy.