Hobby Lobby proclaimed the real reason for the season this Christmas in a series of full-page newspaper ads that cited Scripture alongside a depiction of the Christ child.
The ad ran in newspapers across the United States and included a painting of an infant Jesus underneath a star with the town of Bethlehem in the background. Lying beside the baby is a lamb.
“Glory to the Newborn King,” the ad reads. “And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Egypt. Isaiah 9:6.”
The bottom of the ad includes information about salvation and obtaining a free digital Bible: “If you would like to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, visit Need Him Ministry at www.ChatAboutJesus.com. To download a free Bible for your phone, go to www.mardel.com/Bible.”
The names of Hobby Lobb and Mardel are listed at the bottom of the ad.
Hobby Lobby has purchased newspaper ads since the 1990s proclaiming the true meaning of Christmas.
“Christmas 1995, [Hobby Lobby CEO] David Green was reading the Christmas advertisements, including those for his own store, and he felt commissioned by God to do something different,” the company’s website says. “Hobby Lobby was selling all kinds of crafts that customers used to celebrate Christmas, yet David Green was struck by the lack of any testimony in newspapers regarding the meaning of the holiday.
“David Green responded to that commission in 1996 by creating a simple newspaper ad that began: As you celebrate this Christmas season in the warmth of family and home, may you be drawn to the Savior; He who left the beauty of Heaven on our behalf and became like us, that we might become like Him. If you know Jesus as your Savior, then this season already has a special meaning. If you do not, we encourage you to find a Bible-believing church in your community and to discover a relationship this Christmas with the God who loves you more than you can begin to imagine.”
Before long, “Hobby Lobby was placing beautiful full-page ads celebrating the real meaning” of the holidays.
Photo Courtesy: Hobby Lobby
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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