Family Advent Reading Guide – Day 2

It’s time for the next nightly reading as we look forward to the coming of our Messiah. As you read with your children, invite them to notice how each passage shows us who God is and how the whole story of Scripture points toward Jesus.

A great question to ask each night is:

“Who did Jesus come for?”

The answer is “everyone,” of course—but encourage your children to take it one step further:

“Jesus came for me.”

 Help them see that God’s rescue plan is big enough for the whole world, yet personal enough to reach each individual heart.

Tonight’s Reading:

Genesis 12:1–8, Genesis 11:30, Matthew 1:1–17

Family Devotional Thought:

In these passages, God promises Abram that through his family, He will bless every family on earth. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise—the blessing who brings God’s love to the whole world.

Abram was a real, complicated human being, just like all of us. As you read, take time to talk with your kids about the obedience it took for Abram to leave everything familiar and trust a promise that didn’t make sense at the time. At 75 years old, he had no children (Read Gen. 11:30), yet God told him his descendants would become a great nation.

Help your kids see that Abram likely learned obedience in small steps long before this moment. Those everyday moments of listening to God trained his heart for bigger acts of faith. You can remind your children that our big steps of obedience usually grow out of smaller, everyday choices to trust God.

Also, talk about the honest truth: Abram didn’t always trust God perfectly. Sometimes he tried to find his own way instead of waiting for God’s. Yet even knowing Abram’s weaknesses, God still kept His promise.

 This helps kids understand:

• God is faithful even when we struggle.
• God keeps His promises.
• God’s rescue plan was never fragile—it was always secure in His hands.
• Jesus was always the plan.

Looking Ahead to Matthew 1:1–17

As you finish tonight’s reading, take a moment to look ahead with your children to Matthew 1:1–17. Matthew wrote his Gospel to show the Jewish people that Jesus truly is the promised Messiah. One way he does this is by giving Jesus’ genealogy—His family line.

Help your kids notice that this list represents 42 generations of waiting. God’s promise to Abram didn’t come true immediately, but it did come true exactly the way God said it would.

Talk about how God told Abram He would make his name great. Today, we know him as Abraham, the name God gave him—and he is still known around the world thousands of years later. This shows our children that when God makes a promise, He keeps it in ways far bigger and better than we could imagine.

End with this reminder for your family:

We can trust every promise God makes.

We can trust God.

Family Discussion Questions

• Why do you think God sometimes takes a long time to fulfill His promises? What can we learn while we wait?
• How does seeing Jesus’ genealogy help you trust that God keeps His word, even across many generations?
• Abram was told he would be a blessing to others. How can our family be a blessing to others this season?