Christ-Centered Advent Gifts
7July 30, 2013 by FHElessons
When my first child was born, I had the brilliant idea to make her an advent Christmas stocking. I reasoned that she would enjoy choosing a little gift each day leading up to Christmas and that when she was little I could put in toys and candy and when she was older maybe a piece of jewelry or some make-up. Unfortunately, at the time that I made this stocking, I didn’t seem to realize how expensive this tradition could get or how much work it would add to my Christmas preparations. But now that my daughter is grown she tells me that the advent stockings are one of her favorite traditions and one that she plans to carry on with her own children. In case you are interested, here are the stockings I made for each of my kids:
The stocking on the left belongs to my oldest daughter. At the time that I made it, we were in school and couldn’t afford the quilted fabric that I wanted to get. I bought the cheapest Christmas fabric I could find and quilted it myself. Her stocking has 24 pockets on the front of it, each one for holding a small advent gift. As my other children arrived, I started to get a little more creative. I used the quilted fabric that I had wanted to get for the first stocking, and the pockets became more elaborate. My second child’s stocking is a Christmas tree. The pockets make up the ornaments on the tree, the gifts underneath, and some stars above. The third stocking is a nativity scene, and each person, animal, angel, and even the stable itself is a pocket. Lastly, is the sleigh holding presents. The reindeer’s body and head are pockets, but his antlers are covered with hooks from which presents can hang. The sleigh, the presents, the snowman, and the runner are all pockets.
I suspect that many of you also have a Christmas tradition involving some sort of advent gifts, so I thought I would share with you what I did for my kids for Christmas last year. I wanted to make the advent countdown more centered on Christ, so I decided to find 24 scriptures that teach something about Christ. I chose to focus on the different names that Christ bears, so each scripture that I chose mentions one of His names. I coordinated each gift with the scripture for that day. I tried to find something that would represent the name of Christ, and if I couldn’t find that, then I chose a gift that went with a part of the scripture.
I printed out the scriptures and cut them into paper strips and then tucked the gift and the matching scripture into an advent pocket together. I didn’t specify an order for the scriptures and gifts to be chosen – the kids could pick them in any order they chose. If you would like to use my same scriptures for your advent this Christmas, you can download them HERE.
I was limited on my choice of gifts by what I could fit in the pockets, what I thought my kids would like, and by what I could find in the time I had to prepare. If your advent tradition allows you to give larger gifts or if you have more time to prepare than I did, you may be able to find better gifts to go along with the scriptures. But, just in case you need some ideas, here are the gifts I chose to go along with the scriptures:
Names of Christ Advent Christmas Gifts
(first set)
The gifts match up to these names, each of which refers to Jesus Christ:
1. Messiah
For my gift to go along with this one, I used a keychain that was a model of mini handcuffs. Because of Christ’s Redemption of us, we are no longer bound (like handcuffs bind) but are now free. We are free to choose captivity or to choose liberty and Eternal Life. |
2. Advocate / Propitiation for our Sins
I used a little heart magnet clip for the gift for advocate. Because Christ loves us, He advocates for us. When He chose to be the propitiation for the sins of the world, it was the ultimate act of love. |
3. Light of the World
I used some little finger lights to represent the Light of the World, but you could use a small flashlight, a lighted keychain, a laser pointer, or any form of light. |
4. Firstfruits
I also included the following note with the above scripture: “FYI, the Ancient Israelites were commanded to sacrifice the first and best of their flock and their harvest. The name they gave this was their ‘firstfruits’. So Jesus is the Firstfruits, not only because He was the first to be resurrected, paving the way for us, but because He is the first born son, because He is the best of all, and because He gave Himself for a sacrifice.” For Firstfruits, I chose a play on the “fruit” part of the word and gave Juicy Fruit gum. You could also do any kind of fruity candy or even real fruit. |
5. Alpha and Omega
To my girls I gave rings to represent Alpha and Omega since rings have no beginning or end and thus symbolize eternity. I couldn’t find any manly looking rings, so I gave my boys some little wind-up robot toys. I reasoned that there is a beginning and an end to watching the robot perform. |
6. Lamb of God
Do you know how hard it is to find anything shaped like a lamb at Christmas time? I finally settled on some buttons that were little lambs, but this year at Easter I bought some lamb shaped chocolates (made by Lindt) and put them in my freezer for next Christmas. I guess if you had room for bigger gifts, you could use a stuffed lamb, or maybe you could find some little plastic lambs. |
7. Redeemer
Before I thought up the Names of Jesus idea, I had purchased some mini scissors to use as advent gifts. I decided to use them for Redeemer since the scripture mentions Christ opening the prison for the bound and giving liberty to the captives. The scissors can represent cutting the prison bonds. |
8. Creator
I also thought it would be easy to find something in the shape of the Earth to represent Creator, but I had trouble finding anything. In the end, I just bought some toy tops that looked something like the Earth. |
9. Man of Sorrows
I gave both some colorful bandaids and a tube of chapstick for this one to remind the kids of the wounds that Christ suffered for our sakes and to remind them that because Christ suffered, we can be healed of our own transgressions and sorrows. |
10. Word / Messenger of Salvation
Because Christ is called the “Word”, I used a Christmas ornament that was an actual word. Pictured is the ornament that spells Peace. |
11. Good Shepherd
I used a candy cane to represent the Good Shepherd since it looks something like a shepherd’s crook. |
12. Faithful and True
I had some trouble finding something to go along with this one, but in the end I went with Warheads candy. If you read the scripture it talks about Christ making war in righteousness. |
13. Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
The heart magnet clip that I used above came in a 2-pack, and the second clip had a peace sign on it. I used it to go with the Prince of Peace. Since this scripture lists several names of Christ, you could coordinate your gift with any of the names. |
14. Lord of Lords / King of Kings
To represent the King of Kings, I bought some necklace charms in the shape of crowns and strung them onto necklaces. I tried to make them masculine enough for the boys by using black cord instead of a chain. |
15. Deliverer
Lifesavers candy could have worked for several of the Names of Christ, but I paired them with Deliverer. Christ saves our lives both physically and spiritually when He delivers us from physical death through His Resurrection and from spiritual death through His Atonement.
Names of Christ Advent Christmas Gifts (second set) |
16. Emmanuel
Another Christmas tradition we have is to give our kids a new Christmas tree ornament each year. I always make their ornament part of their advent gifts. This year I chose an ornament that pictured baby Jesus for the scripture that talks about Him coming to Earth as a baby and being called Emmanuel. |
17. Holy One of Israel
This is another one that I had a hard time with, so I went with a Toblerone bar. I know it’s a stretch, but Toblerone has the word ONE in it, and it is a candy that my kids really like. |
18. True Vine
Red vines candy are a play on the word “vine” in the True Vine, and I was lucky enough to find some in the Halloween candy clearance aisle. You could also do anything grape flavored or shaped. |
19. Chief Cornerstone
To play on the word “stone” in Chief Cornerstone, you could use Pop Rocks, a jeweled ring (a “rock”), something with a rock & roll theme, or any rock shaped candy (like those chocolates shaped like coal). I went with chocolate rocks from the Winco bulk bins and put them into a little plastic container to keep them together. |
20. Son of Man
Because this scripture speaks about Christ giving His life as a ransom, I tucked a dollar bill into the pocket as a gift. You could also use chocolate coins, which are easy to find at Christmas time. |
21. Great I Am
Since this scripture begins with the word “listen”, I gave the kids a new pair of headphones. You could also do something relating to chickens or other birds with wings, or you could give a little bag of pretzels since they were invented to symbolize arms folded in prayer. |
22. Bread of Life
I used a little pack of breadsticks and cheese to represent the Bread of Life. If you had room for a larger gift, you could use any form of bread, or you could give a coupon to Great Harvest or other bakery or even a coupon for a loaf of homemade bread from you. For a child that lives on her own, maybe a little packet of yeast and a bread recipe? |
23. Only Begotten Son
For this one, I made a mixed CD of Christmas carols that all focus on the Savior. Obviously, this wouldn’t fit in the tiny pockets on the stockings, so I folded the CD insert to slip into the pocket and just put the CD inside the stocking itself. |
24. Son of the Blessed
Here’s another one that was difficult to match with a gift. In the end, I thought cotton candy reminded me of clouds, which are mentioned in the scripture. Since the bag of cotton candy wouldn’t fit in the pocket, I attached it to a card so that it could hang from the pocket.
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I hope that reading these scriptures each day during December helped remind my children about the true reason for the season. I hope that learning all the different names of Christ and reading the scriptures which teach different aspects of His character and purpose taught my children some new concepts and helped them come to know Him better. I love all these scriptures, and I am so grateful for Jesus who condescended to come down into the world as a baby, to live a perfect life, and to sacrifice Himself so that we might live with our Heavenly Father again.
If you would like to make your Christmas more Christ-centered this year, please feel free to print out the scriptures that I used HERE and pair them with your own gifts.
I am looking forward to choosing another 24 scriptures to use for my advent gifts this year. Since one son is currently serving a mission, I will wrap his gifts in little boxes and mail them to him. For my other children who are college-aged, I usually send their stockings with them at Thanksgiving, and they bring them back when they come for Christmas. I hope to be able to teach my children more about Christ this Christmas and keep Him at the forefront of their minds throughout the season as they open their advent gifts each day. Merry Christmas (in July) to all!
Update (Oct 2013): My advent scriptures for this year teach about gifts that God has given to us. For adorable printables of these scriptures, check out 25 Gifts Christ Gives to Us.
This is fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing!!
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What a wonderful idea and great work on the stockings! I hope you don’t mind if I use the scriptures you put together to make an Advent book as a gift for my kiddos’ Sunday school teachers! I have always loved hearing the different names of Jesus!
Thank you! I think the advent book for the Sunday School teachers would be a wonderful gift. Enjoy!
I love it!!! as a Young Women leader, I was looking for something just like this to get the Giles to focus on Christ. thank you! I am so excited.
Thank you so much!! I have been searching Pinterest for hours looking for something exactly like this. We are going to do 12 days of Christmas with it!
This is such a great resource – thanks for sharing!