The best place to discover all things Jesse Tree, from definition to devotions and how your family, church, school, etc. can observe their own Jesse Tree tradition. Includes access to my books Jesse Tree Moments for Christmas time and Resurrection Moments for your family’s Easter observances.
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What is the Jesse Tree?
During Advent, my family loves to countdown to Christmas using a Jesse Tree. (Not sure what Advent is or need a quick refresher? Check out the post What Is Advent.) Doing the Jesse Tree devotions is one of my kids’ favorite Christmas activities! I first heard of the Jesse Tree when my oldest kiddos were babies. I was intrigued by the concept and thought it was something I would love to do with my kids each year.
So I began researching what a Jesse Tree was and how to go about acquiring one. Finding information was harder than I anticipated! What I discovered was that the Jesse Tree is a walk through the Bible leading up to the birth of Jesus. Each day of December, you read an assigned Scripture passage beginning with Creation and ending with the birth of Christ.
The term Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit” (ESV). Jesse was King David’s father. Basically David’s descendants had disobeyed God causing God to “cut down” the family tree. He then worked through biblical history to regrow that tree by bringing Jesus, the True King, to the world. It’s such a beautiful picture of taking something broken and plain and making it bloom and grow in God’s hand. I love it!
At the time, Jesse Trees were mostly used in churches to celebrate Advent. There were few resources for Jesse Tree devotions or materials for families. (Have you ever tried to read 12 chapters of Genesis straight from the Bible to a 3 year old? Yeah….let’s just say, it’s a little difficult.) Most of those “family-versions” that I could find were beyond my grad-student-family budget.
In typical fashion, I decided to make my own. The first year was hand drawn ornaments. The next year, I laminated them. How fancy! Fast forward a few years. I now have written kid-friendly family devotions for the Scripture readings each day and have designed and made a reusable Jesse Tree we put up each year with our Christmas decorations.
How your family or church can celebrate
I am so excited to be able to make both the book and the Jesse Tree itself available to you!
The Jesse Tree is a much-beloved tradition in our family. It is such a great and easy way to create meaningful moments. The book contains all the Scripture references, all the Bible stories, and all the Jesse Tree devotions that you will need for the whole season all in one place. It even contains special devotions for the observance of Advent!
The book is easily adapted to Sunday school, Children’s Church, chapel, circle time, and more. If you spread out the devotions to weekly rather than daily, you have 30 weeks of lessons! Throw in Resurrection Moments too and you have almost a year’s worth of Bible study. (I have some standalone Bible lessons to help fill in those extra weeks – Abraham Shows Hospitality, Jesus is a Chain Breaker, and more.) I have some Christmas programs perfect for your church, school, or small group as well.
Some people are comfortable telling Bible stories in their own words. If this is you, feel free to use the stories and discussion questions as a guide. Other people like to have everything written out for them. If this is you, the devotions are in a conversational, kid-friendly format you can read word-for-word. A schedule, an outline, and even a script take all the stress out of chasing down moments in an already-hectic Christmas season.
The book Jesse Tree Moments is available in paperback format on Amazon as well as Bookshop.org. I’m excited to say it is also available here in the Chasing Those Moments store.
If you prefer an ebook, you can purchase your Kindle version of Jesse Tree Moments here!
(If you don’t have Amazon Prime, click here for a free 30-day trial so you can have free two-day shipping and so much more!)
This beautiful, handmade Jesse Tree wall-hanging comes with 25 ornaments for use each day of the Christmas season. I’m excited to announce that it is NOW available here at Chasing Those Moments!
Advent begins before you know it! Order yours today!
More for your family or church
I also have written family devotional book for Easter called Resurrection Moments. It is similar in format to Jesse Tree Moments. There are plenty of Easter-themed activities to go along with the book available here in the post Holy Week Activities. Be sure to also check out the posts What is Advent, What is Lent, and What is Ash Wednesday.
Over in the Chasing Those Moments Shop, I have lots of resources for families, churches, and schools/homeschoolers. There are Bible lessons – Abraham Showed Hospitality to Visitors and Jesus is a Chain Breaker; educational resources – Multiplication Decoder Packet, Spanish language worksheets, and more; Christmas programs – Readers’ Theater Program for small churches and Gabriel’s Visit – and chore charts, journaling sheets, and more!
I have plenty of activities for every age group over on the Activities page. I have tested and approved kid-friendly recipes too on the Recipes page! And curriculum and book reviews on the Reviews page.
