1st of December

Jesse tree readings

Today we started our Jesse tree readings again. Last year we made enough art work to fill a book, and I still have kept it all in the hope that I can make a lovely book out of all the children's lovely pictures. This year we will go back to making the decorations to hang on our tree. It is so lovely to read through the Old and New Testament together and to see Christ throughout the Old Testament, most people who have not read the Bible are not aware that the Old Testament speaks of and points to Christ and prophesies Him too, in fact the Old Testament is full of Jesus.

It is a wonderful way for us as a family to focus on the wonderful message of the Bible, and the coming of the promised Messiah.

The Story of the Jesse Tree

The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots." It is a vehicle to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history. The branch is a biblical sign of newness out of discouragement, which became a way to talk about the expected messiah (for example, Jer 23:5). It is therefore an appropriate symbol of Jesus the Christ, who is the revelation of the grace and faithfulness of God.

Our first day was learning about the creation together and reading:

Genesis 1:1-3, 27, 31
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The
earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face
of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the
waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was
very good.
John 1:1-5, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things
were made through him, and without him was not anything made


We made earth biscuits to show that God made the world, and in fact we also read in Colossians 1:16 ^- For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.
Which really shows Christ in creation.
We also contemplated that God did not just make the earth but the entire Universe - all things visible and invisible too.
A hole is left in the middle for a hard boiled sweet.
We put a green sweet in for the land(which melts in the oven) and they painted the biscuits blue with food colouring for the sea,

All ready to hang on the tree.
We also have our home made advent calendar up, and this year I filled it with Green and Blacks dark chocolate. They have to share it out between five now so one of the children get to take it out every fifth day, a good lesson in self control :-) - I do however give the others a piece of chocolate when it is not their day so they don't feel entirely left out.