Monday, November 4, 2019

About the Book

Book: Before Christmas

Author: Bill Crowder

Genre: RELIGION / Holidays/Christmas & Advent

Release Date: October, 2019

Embrace the majesty of the Messiah

Bill Crowder invites you to explore the backstory of the first advent. He brings you on a journey into the very heart of God, to a greater understanding of what it means that “the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

Walk through Scripture to see and know Jesus in a richer way. Examine His character as God, His relationship with the Father, His appearances in the Old Testament, and more. Understand how these pre-Bethlehem truths lead into the Savior’s birth and the events of that first Christmas—and, most importantly, how it all comes together in God’s great story of redemption and rescue.

You’ll embrace the majesty of the Messiah and celebrate Christ’s birth with renewed joy and wonder.

Click here to get your copy.

About the Author

Bill Crowder, who spent over twenty years in the pastorate, is vice president of ministry content at Our Daily Bread Ministries. He is a contributor to Our Daily Bread and the author of nine books, including My Hope Is in You, Seeing the Heart of Christ, and For This He Came. He and his wife, Marlene, have five children.

More from Bill

During my years as a pastor, I found Christmas and Easter to be challenging. Certainly I love those seasons (for very different reasons), but finding creative ways to retell these important stories was often difficult. But, at one such season I realized that the story we tell at Christmas is not really the whole story. By entering the story at Nazareth or Bethlehem, we enter too late. We can’t simply start with the Baby in the manger—we need to go back. Before time began. To the eternal Christ. Unless we seek to understand Him, we’ll never fully appreciate who He was and why He came. That is the Christmas story. – Bill Crowder

The book was not exactly what I was expecting. I guess I thought the author was going to talk specifically about Christ's birth and the importance of what Christmas was really about. He does do that later in the book, but he lays the foundation of what was to come. I was intrigues that the author took us on a journey explaining how Jesus impacted many lives. He explains the relationship between God and Jesus in a way that was easy to understand.

I liked the chapter about Jesus' path to the cross. Everything he had done up to that point was to prepare Him and the people for His destiny. I remember watching a movie several years ago where Jesus was put on the cross. It was graphic and I cried as I saw Him suffer for us. Jesus, without hesitation took His place on the cross to save us. I get chills just thinking about that.

The part in the book where the author talks about the birth of Christ was very eye opening. It still amazes me that a young girl was chosen to be the mother of Jesus. Can you imagine being told that you were going to be the mother of Jesus? It was destiny that brought Mary to this place in her life. We mustn't overlook the importance that Joseph had in this upcoming birth. The woman he loved was pregnant and instead of walking away, God chose Him to be the father of Jesus. Joseph would go on to teach his son many things but he never forgot that God trusted him with the greatest gift to the world.

As the book concludes the author takes us to the birth of Christ. I liked how he said "it was an eternity in the making." The author gives us a look back at Jesus as he prepares us for the birth of Christ. This year as the holiday draws near, I reflect on what is most important . A child was born to save us and give us life for eternity.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.