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.

My Thoughts

Before Christmas by Bill Crowder is a small, but powerful book. It’s written in a style that’s easy to follow; not overly deep, but very thorough. I gained new insights and appreciated all that there is to reflect upon. Whether you’re a seasoned Christian, a new believer, or even a seeker, Before Christmas is a great resource for personal study leading up to Christmas, or any time of the year for that matter.

This Christmas backstory focuses on all that leads up to the manger, from before Creation and throughout the Old Testament, making the Christmas celebration even more rich in meaning. The six chapters focus on Jesus in these specific ways …

His Character as God

His Relationship with the Father

His Preparation for the Cross

His Role as Creator

His Appearances in the Old Testament

His Announced Arrival

The extent of Christ’s activity in the Old Testament wasn’t something I learned of until more in depth study as an adult, so this chapter was especially appealing to me. The author’s illustrations are helpful in leading into each topic, and references to original Greek words aid in understanding. Focusing on all that Jesus left or gave up to come to us was also meaningful …

This sacrifice did not begin on the cross or even at

Bethlehem. Christ began that sacrifice by willingly

giving up what was His so He could take hold of us.

I highly recommend Before Christmas for personal reading or study.

I received a copy of this book through Celebrate Lit. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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