Showing titles in Holidays

Ren has never fully understood the value of friendship, especially with his lifelong friend Sadie. But when the charming newcomer Ethan arrives in town, Ren is suddenly confronted with emotions he’s not ready for. Enter Arthur, a guardian angel in training tasked to help Ren understand true friendship. Arthur is more comfortable tending to heavenly gardens than dealing with human emotions.

One night. One reunion. Endless opportunities for chaos. Sophie Tanner had no intention of attending her ten-year high school reunion. After all, who wants to relive their awkward teenage years surrounded by old rivals and unmet expectations? But when her best friend, Cammie, begs for support in finally winning over her long-time crush, Sophie reluctantly agrees to go. It’s a one-night favor—what could go wrong? Everything, as it turns out. When a surprise snowstorm traps the entire class of 2014 in their old high school gym, Sophie finds herself navigating old rivalries with her ...

Anyone who laments the excesses of Christmas might consider the Puritans of colonial Massachusetts: they simply outlawed the holiday. The Puritans had their reasons, since Christmas was once an occasion for drunkenness and riot, when poor "wassailers" extorted food and drink from the well-to-do. In this intriguing and innovative work of social history, Stephen Nissenbaum rediscovers Christmas's carnival origins and shows how it was transformed, during the nineteenth century, into a festival of domesticity and consumerism.

Beginning with Jesse, the father of David, The Greatest Gift retraces the epic pageantry of mankind, from Adam to the Messiah, with each day’s reading pointing to the coming promise of Christ.

Even people who are not professing Christians think they are familiar with the story of the Nativity. Every Christmas, displays of Jesus resting in a manger populate lawns and churchyards, and songs about shepherds and angels fill the air. Yet despite the abundance of these Christian references in popular culture, how many of us have examined the hard edges of this biblical story? Timothy Keller takes listeners on an illuminating journey into the surprising background of the Nativity.

There are only two places where the powerful and great in this world lose their courage, tremble in the depths of their souls, and become truly afraid. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ. No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle of Bethlehem. And yet, all Christian theology finds its beginnings in the miracle of miracles, that God became human. These stirring words are among forty devotions that guide and inspire readers as they move thematically through the weeks of Advent and Christmas....

The wonder and awe of the Christmas season can easily get overshadowed by lights, tinsel, bows, and paper—not to mention last-minute trips to the mall and visits to the in-laws. In all the hustle and bustle, we often lose sight of what’s most important. This book of daily passages for the month of December by best-selling author Paul David Tripp will help you slow down, prepare your heart, and focus on what matters most: adoring our Savior, Jesus.

This Advent Season, let the great and prolific Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Liguori, guide you on a daily prayerful pilgrimage from the start of Advent through the birth of our Lord to the Epiphany. Drawing on Sacred Scripture and his profound saintly counsel, St. Alphonsus takes you into the details of Christ’s birth for prayerful reflection that will have your imagination placing you at the feet of our infant Lord.

Do you long for a more honest, imaginative, and Scripture-rich companion for the Advent season? A devotional willing to acknowledge the darkness of exile and the brokenness you see around and within, so you might rejoice more fully in the arrival of Jesus, the Light of the World?

Rediscovering Christmas is a modern paraphrase of the Christmas story, drawn directly from the Gospels and created to help listeners see the Father’s heart in details that are all-too-often overlooked. The result is a seamless retelling of Jesus’s birth that will fascinate new and mature believers alike.

Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the end of his career as a novelist. The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution.

On the Way to Bethlehem follows the long journey to Christmas. The story begins in Rome with a decree issued from the seat of worldly power for a census, setting into motion events leading to the birth of the Savior of the world in a town that represents the very opposite of worldly power, Bethlehem.

Is there more about the story of Christmas you wish you understood or that you have specific questions about? In this storybook of biblical truth and history, Rick Renner takes you on the magical journey of Christ's coming to earth as a baby—and the purpose of his coming—in a way you’ve probably never heard it before.

From his beginnings as a humble carpenter to his all-important role as the earthly father of Jesus Christ, Joseph's place in the nativity story is sometimes overlooked but contains valuable lessons for all of us. Join Adam Hamilton as he examines Christmas through the eyes of Joseph. Absent from much of the biblical narrative, Joseph never spoke a word, but his courageous actions were crucial to the birth of Christ and God's salvation plan for humanity.

One blizzard. One cozy guesthouse. One ridiculously oversized Santa sleigh. When my car skids off the road in the middle of a snowstorm, I'm forced to seek shelter in Devon's family guesthouse. Little did I know I'd be sharing it with the Grinch himself. Now I'm decking the halls with the guy who broke my heart, and let me tell you, his attitude is frostier than the weather outside. My mission? Transform this dusty cabin into a winter wonderland before I lose the biggest break of my design career. Oh, and try not to strangle him with tinsel in the process. But with every ornament hung and ...

Music is everywhere at Christmas - chart toppers, carols, children's tunes. Alistair Begg takes us to four songs that were sung by people at the very first Christmas (and his favorite carol). In this short, winsome book, a teenage girl, a respected priest, a group of angels, and an old man bring listeners to the heart of Christmas, showing them the joy and peace that comes from meeting a baby who lay in the food trough and changed eternity.

Join Strobel as he invites you to push past the distractions of the holiday season and come into the presence of the baby who was born to change your life and rewrite your eternal destination: the greatest gift of all.

"Silent Knight Storybook: Mother Mary Creates Holy Bread" is a charming story that teaches readers how to wish upon "the bright and morning star." **The story includes a fun secret message to discover, making it great entertainment for the jolly Christmas season. ***This lovely tale combines family love, the joy of giving, and the real meaning of Christmas, making it an ideal book for the holidays. ***The knight's story not only entertains but also inspires true kindness, just like the spirit of the season.

Not so very long ago, Yuletide was as much a chilling season of ghosts and witches as it was a festival of goodwill. In The Old Magic of Christmas, you'll rub elbows with veiled spirits, learn the true perils of elves, and discover a bestiary of enchanted creatures. Rife with the more frightful characters from folklore and the season's most petulant ghosts, this book takes you on a spooky sleigh ride from the silvered firs of a winter forest to the mirrored halls of the Snow Queen.

An Advent devotional for Christmas that will stir hope and inspire worship. As dawn broke on that first Christmas morning, the sun rose on a new era: God's king had come to Earth to bring about his kingdom. Join Sinclair Ferguson as he opens up the first two chapters of Matthew's Gospel in these daily devotions for Advent. Each day’s reflection is full of insight and application, and will help you to arrive at Christmas Day awed by God's redeeming grace and refreshed by the hope of God’s promised king.