For families looking for a resource to help them focus on the true meaning of the Christmas season, best-selling author Marty Machowski has released a new family devotional. Promises Made Promises Kept shows families how the birth and life of Jesus fulfilled God’s Old Testament promises of a Savior.
Written for families with preschool and grade school children, Machowski weaves scriptural promises and fulfillments together into one harmonized story that will deepen the family’s faith in God’s power and control over all of history and their lives too. Each story also includes questions for the family to discuss together. This beautiful hardback book, illustrated by Phil Schorr, is sure to become a treasured family favorite to be used every Christmas as a reminder of how God keeps his promises to his people.
In this interview, we talk to Marty more about his new Christmas release.
Q: Promises Made Promises Kept is for families to read together around Christmas. Tell us more about the unique format and how it is intended to be used.
Promises Made Promises Kept is an illustrated family Bible study that shows families how God’s Old Testament promises for a Savior were fulfilled in the birth and life of Jesus in the New Testament.
Families will begin the week before Christmas (on December 18th) with the first side of the book, Promises Made, which contains seven stories that explore the Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah. On Christmas Day, they will flip the book over and continue by reading Promises Kept,which contains seven more biblical stories that vividly illustrate how Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection and the establishment of the church fulfill God’s promises.
I suggest families start a tradition of reading the first half together and positioning the book prominently in their home with the Promises Made cover showing. After reading “The Greatest Sign of All Time” (the final story in Promises Made) on Christmas Eve, early Christmas morning, set the book with the Promises Kept cover face up, on a white cloth (representing God’s forgiveness). If you wish, surround it with treats and baked goods to celebrate Christmas. Your children will wake up to the wonderful surprise, and you can begin by reading “The Waiting Is Over” (the first story in Promises Kept). Then read a new story every day for the next week.
Q: This is actually your second upside-down book, following the format of your popular Easter devotional, Darkest Night Brightest Day. How did the idea come about to create an upside down and backward book?
The idea for Darkest Night Brightest Day was based on when the apostle Paul shared the gospel story with the Jews in Thessalonica, saying, “that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead” (Acts 17:3 ESV), some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas. But others became upset and formed a mob and accused Paul and his followers with these words, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also” (Acts 17:6).
The gospel message happily turns upside down the life of anyone who believes. Sin is flipped for righteousness, judgment for mercy, and condemnation for forgiveness.
Darkest Night Brightest Day became a popular book for families to use in celebrating Easter together, so I wanted to write something that could be used at Christmastime as well. The same gospel message runs throughout the Bible, so the upside-down message is in Promises Made Promises Kept.
Q: What are some of the promises of the Old Testament that are kept in the New Testament?
After Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, God gave them a promise that a future son would crush the head of the serpent and he covered their shame by sacrificing animals to cover their nakedness. Jesus is the future son born in the line of Adam.
God promised Abraham that kings would come from his family line and God promised David a son to sit on an everlasting throne. Jesus, the infant king, born in the line of Abraham and David, whom the wise men came to bring tribute is the fulfillment of those promises.
Q: How long does it take to read each devotional? Does the time commitment vary based on the age of the kids in the family?
Promises Made Promises Kept is targeted at families with preschool and grade school-aged children. Still, those who make reading this Christmas devotional a tradition with their family can use it all the way through the teen years, as the meat of the book is the retelling the story of the gospel in a way that both children and adults can enjoy.
The individual devotions in Promises Made Promises Kept are short and easy to read in a few minutes. Families can easily complete a devotion in ten minutes. I’ve found the best time for family devotions is after dinner, before dessert. Other families read just before bed or gather in the morning before their day begins.
Q: In addition to reading the devotional each day, are there ways to extend the conversation and go deeper, especially with older children?
Each devotional includes the Scripture references for where the day’s story originated, so the family can read those passages together. At the end of each reading there are also several discussion questions for the family to talk about together.
Q: Why is it so important to use family devotionals such as Promises Made Promises Kept regularly within the home?
Parents worry about the spiritual condition of their children’s souls and desperately want them to follow Christ. The reality, though, is that only God can change a heart. But he has given us a tool in the gospel that allows us to participate in the miraculous work of salvation.
The gospel is the seed we plant in the heart of our children, and our prayers are the water over that seed. Paul said it is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Charles Spurgeon said the gospel is “meat for men, but it is also milk for babes.”
I’ve written Promises Made Promises Keptas well as other resources to provide parents with tools that will help them share the life-transforming gospel with their children.
Q: Do you have any other tips for families trying to keep the focus on Jesus during the busy Christmas season?
When parents are driving around and see decorations adorning homes, they can ask their children why we celebrate Christmas. That provides an opening to remind them that Christmas commemorates the birth of God’s Son. Who is the greatest Christmas Light? Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Who gave the greatest Christmas Gift? The answer of course is that God the Father gave his only Son, that whoever believes might have eternal life (John 3:16).
Q: Tell us a little bit about your new series for middle grade readers that would also make a great Christmas gift this year.
I am always looking for creative ways to promote the gospel to children. The idea for the Redemption Tales series came to me one morning as I was brainstorming, asking myself the question, What retelling of the gospel hasn’t been done before? That eventually led me to ask the question, If the animals could talk, what would they say?
I started writing an account of the creation and fall from the perspective of the first two created badgers. That is where The Redemption Tales were born.
The Redemption Tales series for readers ages 8–12, offers a creative presentation of the gospel message. The first installment, The Shadow and the Promise, followed the tales of the animals as the events of Genesis and Exodus up to the Passover unfolded before them. In this second release, The Prophecy and the Hope, the adventures continue through the end of the Old Testament. Young readers will not only join the oxen at the Red Sea but will meet mountain goats at Mount Sinai, Rahab’s pets in Jericho, horses watching as David faces Goliath, the Queen of Sheba’s camels, ravens with Elijah, and mice in Isaiah’s house. As their stories progress, the animals begin to gather the prophetic hints of the redemption to come with the help of an ever-present dove named Daniel.
The third and fourth books in the series will be releasing in 2025.
Promises made Promises Kept
Start a new family tradition for the Christmas season by reading this “upside-down” from Marty Machowski. Begin the week before Christmas with the first side, Promises Made which has seven stories that explore the Old Testament prophecies of the coming Messiah. On Christmas Day, flip the book over and continue by reading Promises Kept with seven more stories that vividly illustrate how Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection and the beginning of the church fulfill God’s promises.
