From world-renowned artist Greg Olsen comes a unique poem sharing the true reason for the sacred holiday season of Christmas. In this beautifully illustrated Christmas giftbook, readers will join Santa Claus as he enters a family room on Christmas Eve and discovers an ornate Nativity scene representing the birth of Jesus. With deep appreciation, Santa picks up the porcelain manger holding the Christ child and then reflects upon the many reasons...

A perfect Advent celebration guide for families! Celebrating the season of Advent keeps us focused on the most important reasons we celebrate Christmas. A Family Advent presents guided heartfelt and thought-provoking devotionals with fun facts, journeys back in time, activities, and much more. This book is a perfect way to get the whole family together for a few minutes every day to discover fun yet meaningful ways for keeping Jesus the center of...

Jan Johnson offers an innovative Advent small-group study built around a careful contextual reading of scripture combined with the imaginative reading approach introduced by St. Ignatius. The title Taste and See hints at how readers are invited to experience the stories of the season with their senses. Drawing on that experience of scripture, participants then consider how these stories speak to their own lives.

This year, millions of viewers of the Tabernacle Choir's annual Christmas concerts on PBS will be celebrating the joyous culture of Christmas in Ireland. This unique giftbook introduces the story of three Irish holiday traditions, as shared by acclaimed film and television actor, Neal McDonough. Each tradition is an opportunity to make Christmas more meaningful for ourselves and others, wherever we live and whatever our heritage. One of these...

Simply Jesus evolved from a desire to see beyond teh layers of glitz and commercialism added to the traditional Christmas story throughout the ages into an Advent sermon series, complete with a congregational chorus and a very special poem added to each chapter. This book takes a look at some things we might have forgotten about the story and some special characteristics of some familiar players. Dr. Spangler has a way of cutting through the commercial...

This book is written to bring to our minds the thoughts of Advent so that we may think and pray with Mary, who brought Christ to us. Advent, like Lent, is a time of preparation in thought and deed for a great event. Certainly, if a king or a cardinal were to come to our home as a guest, we would prepare for his advent. Should we not prepare, then, for the great King of the universe during these days? Instead of coming to our homes, however, His Advent,...

The author developed The Christmas Eve Conversation in 1980 after a conversation with her husband William. He was building a Christmas display in front of his veterinary hospital to raise money for Children's Hospital. William expressed that, while raising money proved valuable, he was uncomfortable building a display primarily focused on Santa, leaving Jesus secondary. In response to his concerns, the author wrote and displayed The Christmas Eve...

This story would change the world like no other. An unknown woman, in an unknown village would give birth to a seemingly unknown and insignificant son, but this event would interrupt time like nothing has before it and nothing has since. After 21 centuries His name is still known around the world. His influence is unmatched, and the writings surrounding his birth, his life and his message fill libraries around the world! His birth and the message...

Lights with many colors, cold, crisp air opening many gifts with people who really care but have you ever thought about how exciting the time must have been in heaven before Christ's birth Come, take an adventure with the angels as they prepare for the unveiling of the greatest gift.

This bold retelling of Luke 1—2, based on Eugene Peterson's Message translation, reads like a novel and invites readers to experience the Nativity with fresh wonder. To Eugene Peterson's The Message Bible translation, John Blase adds his own storytelling voice, exploring the familiar events from multiple first-person viewpoints. What emerges is the intimate story of unlikely people-a frightened teenaged girl, a worried carpenter, a collection of...