Intro to Jesse Tree

Dear Park Hills family,

We are so excited to present our 2020 Advent devotional to you! This year, the devotional is centered on the idea of the Jesse Tree. The name "Jesse Tree" comes from Isaiah 11:1, "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit." This verse uses the metaphor of a shoot growing out of a tree stump to talk about the family lineage of Jesus, and that's exactly what the Jesse Tree does! It tells the story of Jesus' family line through the many different stories of the Bible. A Jesse Tree is a creative, family-friendly way to use the Advent season to learn how the entire Bible works together to tell the story of Jesus!

Many years ago, the very first Jesse Trees didn't actually look much like trees. Rather, they took the form of carved statues, woven tapestries, or stained glass windows that visually displayed the story of Christmas. They were displayed in churches and helped illiterate people understand the story of the Bible, from Creation to the Christmas Story. While the look of the Jesse Tree has changed over the years, the purpose behind it has remained the same: to understand how every story in the Bible points to Jesus.

Our Advent devotional is made up of 27 daily devotionals which you can study on your own, or with your family and friends. These devotionals are set to begin on Sunday, Nov. 29th, and end on Friday, Dec. 25th. Here comes the really fun part: each day, you will not only have a devotional reading to enjoy, but also a beautiful ornament (representative of that day's Scripture passage) that you can cut out and display somewhere around your house. We would love to see you be creative with this part of the devotional! One option would be to cut out each ornament and use a hole punch and string to display them on your family's actual Christmas tree. You could also cut out each ornament and use adhesive to create a Jesse Tree wall or window.

We pray this year's Advent devotional prepares you and your family for Christmas in a new and powerful way, and fills you with the hope and peace that can only come from knowing Jesus.