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    The Christmas Candle
    The Christmas Candle
    The Christmas Candle
    Ebook127 pages1 hour

    The Christmas Candle

    By Max Lucado

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    About this ebook

    From New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado comes a timeless message that will warm your heart.

    “The Christmas Candle shines with a radiant insight. Written with Max Lucado’s signature style of sincerity and spiritual perception, this story will warm the reader’s heart with the wonders of God’s love and mercy.” —In the Library Reviews

    Imagine a Victorian England village in the Cotswolds where very little out of the ordinary ever happens . . . except at Christmas time.

    This year, Edward Haddington, a lowly candle maker, is visited by a mysterious angel. That angel silently imparts a precious gift—a gift that’s bungled and subsequently lost. The candle maker and his wife, Bea, struggle to find the gift.

    And when they do, they have to make a difficult choice. Who among their community is most in need of a Christmas miracle?

    Join inspirational author Max Lucado and experience anew the joy of Christmas.

    “A powerful reminder of the true meaning of faith and community, The Christmas Candle is a welcome respite from the harried commercialism of the holiday season.” —BookPage

    “Fans of Charles Dickens and Jan Karon, you’re in for treat! Max Lucado has penned a wholly original Christmas story complete with cobblestone streets, quirky characters, and a supernatural visit you’ll never forget.” —John C. Maxwell, New York Times bestselling author on The Christmas Candle

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateOct 1, 2013
    ISBN9781418587543
    Author

    Max Lucado

    Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as the teaching minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is the recipient of the 2021 ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding contribution to the publishing industry and society at large. He is America's bestselling inspirational author with more than 150 million products in print. Visit his website at MaxLucado.com Facebook.com/MaxLucado Instagram.com/MaxLucado Twitter.com/MaxLucado Youtube.com/MaxLucadoOfficial The Max Lucado Encouraging Word Podcast

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    Reviews for The Christmas Candle

    4/5

    8 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Great book. Movie will be release in December 2013
    • 3/5
      The story pulled me in for the first chapter but became rather dull until about the end of the book. Luckily it was a quick read and had a happy ending. The ending made me want to read another one of Max Lucado's angel books. I would recommend this Christmas story if you enjoy happy endings and believe in the power of forgivness and the promise of miracles.
    • 2/5
      The first chapter was intriguing and hopeful. Read half the book and just couldn't stay with it.
    • 4/5
      This short novel tells the story of a candlemaker who recieves a visit from an angel. He blesses one of the candlemaker's candles and then disappears. The candlemaker gives the blessed candle to a struggling neighbor and tells him to light the candle and pray about his problems. The neighbor does so and is miraculously relieved of his burdens. So begins a tradition that occurs in the village every so many years, until one year when a new preacher arrives to replace the previous one. This new preacher is skeptical of the candle story, and even though it is the year when the angel is supposed to bless a new candle, refuses to sanction the practice. For what happens next you'll have to read the book.Lucado is a very descriptive writer, as you may know from his non-fiction, and this novella has a rich sweet feeling. You feel like you are there, and of course there is a lot of heart felt emotion in the story pulling at your heartstrings. Pick this up when you are in a sentimental mood for a good story--whether it's Christmas or not.
    • 4/5
      Is it the candle itself that creates the miracle or the fact that the one who's given the candle prays and has faith that God will act? For many years, the villagers have felt the candle touched by an angel was necessary for the miracle. Now they are all vying for the one candle the angel touches every 25 years. The chandler is torn about who should receive it. A stumble means no way of knowing which candle is the correct one. Yet all who received a candle report blessings and the new reverend, who was skeptical of the candle's tale, is even convinced.

    Book preview

    The Christmas Candle - Max Lucado

    Fans of Charles Dickens and Jan Karon’s Mitford series, you’re in for a treat! Max Lucado has penned a wholly original Christmas story complete with cobblestone streets, quirky characters, and a supernatural visit that you’ll never forget. I never miss the opportunity to read a new Max Lucado book and neither should you.

    —JOHN C. MAXWELL

    Best-selling author and Founder of

    INJOY Stewardship Services and EQUIP

    "The Christmas Candle is a beautiful story of hope and miracles. Max paints the characters with such richness that they truly become alive in your mind. Expect to be moved and inspired as you read this wonderful depiction of the power of believing.

    —JOYCE MEYER

    "A powerful reminder of the true meaning of faith and community, The Christmas Candle is a welcome respite from the harried commercialism of the holiday season."

    —BOOK PAGE

    "The Christmas Candle shines with a radiant insight. Written with Max Lucado’s signature style of sincerity and spiritual perception, this story will warm the reader’s heart with the wonders of God’s love and mercy."

    —IN THE LIBRARY REVIEWS

    The

    CHRISTMAS CANDLE

    MAX LUCADO

    Christmas_Candle_TXT_0005_001

    Copyright © 2006 by Max Lucado

    All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

    Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

    Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

    Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

    978-1-40168-994-0 (2013 Repackage)

    ISBN 978-1-41858-754-3 (eBook)

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

    Lucado, Max.

    The Christmas candle / Max Lucado.

    p. cm.

    ISBN: 978-1-59554-147-5 (regular edition)

    ISBN: 978-1-59554-278-6 (SE)

    1. Christmas stories. I. Title.

    PS3562.U225C45 2006

    813'.54—dc22

    2006000706

    For Greg and Susan Ligon:

    Celebrating the lumination

    you bring to so many

    CONTENTS

    PROLOGUE

    CHAPTER 1 AFTERNOON

    CHAPTER 2 EVENING

    CHAPTER 3 FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

    CHAPTER 4 MONDAY

    CHAPTER 5 SATURDAY EVENING

    CHAPTER 6 LATE SATURDAY NIGHT

    CHAPTER 7 SUNDAY

    CHAPTER 8 MONDAY

    CHAPTER 9 CHRISTMAS EVE

    CHAPTER 10 MIDNIGHT

    EPILOGUE

    EXCERPT FROM BECAUSE OF BETHLEHEM

    1. I LOVE CHRISTMAS

    2. GOD HAS A FACE

    3. SAVED FROM OURSELVES

    AN EXCERPT FROM MIRACLE AT THE HIGHER GROUNDS CAFE

    PROLOGUE

    December 1664

    Light exploded in the small house, making midnight seem as daylight. The bearded candle maker and his wife popped up in bed.

    Wh-wh-what is it? she said, trembling.

    Don’t move!

    But the children?

    They’re sleeping. Stay where you are!

    The wife pulled the blanket up to her chin and took a quick look around the shad-owless room: children asleep on the floor, the table and chairs resting near the hearth, tools piled in the corner.

    The candle maker never shifted his wide-eyed gaze. The figure wore a singular flame: a heatless tongue stretching from ceiling to floor. His form moved within the blaze: a torso, head, and two arms. He reached out of the radiance and extended a finger toward a rack of hanging candles. When he did, the couple squeezed together and slid farther back in the bed.

    The husband mustered a question: Are you going to hurt us?

    The visitor gave no reply. He waited, as if to ensure the couple was watching, touched one of the candles, and then vanished.

    The room darkened, and the just-touched candle glowed. The man instinctively reached for it, stepping quickly out of bed and across the room, grabbing the candle just as the light diminished.

    He looked at his wife. She gulped.

    What just happened? she asked.

    I don’t know.

    He moved to the table and sat. She hurried to do the same.

    An angel? she wondered aloud.

    Must be.

    He placed the candle on the table, and both stared at it. Neither knew what to say or to think.

    The next morning found them still sitting. Still staring.

    Their children awoke, so they ate breakfast, dressed warmly, and walked the half mile up Bristol Lane to St. Mark’s Church for the celebration of the final Sunday of Advent.

    The candle maker gave the rector extra candles for the Advent service but kept the angel-touched candle in his coat pocket. He started to mention the visitation to the reverend but stopped short. He won’t believe me.

    The couple tried to concentrate on the sermon but couldn’t. Their minds kept reliving the light, the angel, and the glowing candle.

    They shared a pew with a young mother and her two children, all three disheveled and dirty. The couple knew her, knew how her husband, a servant to a baron, had died a month before in a hunt.

    After the service the widow described her plight to them. We have little food left. Enough for a few days.

    The chandler’s wife reached into her husband’s coat pocket for a coin. When she did, she felt the candle. She handed both to the young mother, inviting, Light this and pray. As the young mother turned to leave, the wife looked at her husband and shrugged as if to say, What harm?

    He nodded.

    They spoke some about the candle over the next few days but not much. Both were willing to dismiss it as a dream, perhaps a vision.

    The Christmas Eve service changed that. It began with a time of blessing-sharing. Anyone in the congregation who wanted to give public thanks to God could do so. When the rector asked for volunteers, the young mother stood up. The same woman who, days earlier, had appeared unkempt and hungry. This night she beamed. She told the congregation how a wealthy uncle in a nearby county had given her a farm as a gift. The farm was a godsend. She could live in the house and lease the land and support her family. She looked straight at the candle maker and his wife as she said, I prayed. I lit the candle and prayed.

    The couple looked at each other. They suspected a connection between the candle and the answered prayer, but who knew for sure?

    CHAPTER 1

    AFTERNOON

    May 4, 1864

    I just think it odd that Oxford would assign its top student to a village like Gladstone, Edward Haddington said to his wife, Bea. A broad-shouldered man with a brilliant set of dark eyes and full, gray eyebrows, he wrestled to button the waistcoat over his rotund belly.

    Equally plump Bea was having troubles of her own. How long since I wore this dress? she wondered aloud. Must I let it out again? Then louder, "Edward, hurry.

    He’s due within the hour."

    Don’t you think it odd?

    I don’t know what to think, dear. But I know we need to leave now if we don’t want to be late. He arrives at half-past one.

    The couple hurried out of the small gabled house and scurried the half mile south on Bristol

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