Christmas Nativity

In this widely popular, exciting story for the advent season, listeners follow 10-year-old Jotham across Israel as he searches for his family. Though he faces thieves, robbers, and kidnappers, Jotham also encounters the wise men, shepherds, and innkeepers until at last he finds his way to the Savior born in Bethlehem.

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.

Every year you probably celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December. Someone may have told you that this is the day of Jesus' birth. But nobody actually knows when he was born! The Bible does not give us a date for the birth of Jesus. So early Christians took the date of important ancient festivals and placed Christmas around the same time.Before Christianity, the Romans had a winter festival called Saturnalia, which took place for one week in mid-December.

Michael Stuyvesant was dying. A wealthy, courteous, and controlled man, all he wanted was to get to Denver to visit his children for one last Christmas. But sometimes even money, good manners, and a compulsive desire for order are not enough. God, the weather, a gigantic shopping-mall Santa Claus, and a pregnant girl who called herself Cheyenne - "like the city. And a river, too. And a mountain and an Indian tribe. I looked it up" - had other plans for him.

Do you ever feel like you are too small or too ordinary? That's how Itsy and Bitsy feel. When these two charming little mice hear that a king is coming to Bethlehem, they run to find him. But they can't find the king, and other animals discourage them. "Don't even try," they say. "The king doesn't care about little ones like us." Itsy and Bitsy are just about to give up when something amazing happens.

Rediscover the Christmas story. These tales look at the real Christmas story by those who saw it. Four short stories look at the story of the birth of baby Jesus as seen by the donkey in the stable, the shepherds on a hillside, the star gazing down on the little town of Bethlehem, and the baby's mother, Mary. Based loosely on the Bible story about the arrival of the baby Jesus, these tales take a refreshing look at the nativity story at the heart of Christmas.

Jesus Calling: The Story of Christmas uniquely teaches the Christmas story to your children by starting at creation and sharing that Jesus has always been present and that God has always had a plan for Christmas.

All year long Lily and Liam look forward to Christmas on their grandparents' farm. It's always the perfect trip -- walking to the lilac library, trimming the tree, giving gifts. But this year, thanks to a white cow alone in the meadow, things will be different. This Christmas, Lily and Liam will find out the meaning of a true gift.

From Christmas music to gifts and food, as well as a look back through the country's rich and troubled history through the perspective of the festive season, this beautiful and powerful book introduces listeners to Ukraine's unique Christmas traditions. In a country where East and West meet, this is a fascinating and unmissable guide to capturing the spirit of one of the most important times of year and a powerful reminder of the strength of holding on to your culture and beliefs, even as others try to take everything from you.

The year is 1960, and, as it is every year, the Christmas pageant at St. John's Episcopal Church is a very big deal. Doug is a shepherd this year, which is better than being a "Three King", because, for one thing, you get to carry a stick.

It is opening night of Miss Patel's Nativity play. The children have been rehearsing all December, and the audience are taking their seats for this year's hilarious school performance. Mary is getting her costume on, the Star is putting on his face paint, and everyone is very excited. Wait. Who brought that live donkey into the school? Why are both ends of the cow arguing? The Star is picking his nose! Nothing else could possibly go wrong...could it?