Hobby Lobby, the Christian company known for its arts and crafts retail shops that play Christmas music as customers shop for materials for fun family activities and creative projects, just continued a decades-long tradition and unveiled its Christmas-time ad for 2023. The ad, as always, is a powerful message about Christ and the reason for the season rather than a commercial plea to buy the company’s products.

Doing so makes sense for the massive retail chain, which has over 1000 locations across the US, as it sees its mission as “honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles” and “providing a return on the family’s investment, sharing the Lord’s blessings with our employees, and investing in our community.”

In the ad, which Hobby Lobby published as a Christmas message last week, the text reads “Glory to the Newborn King.” Underneath is a picture of baby Jesus lying in a manger as a lamb looks up at Him and the famous star shines over the town of Bethlehem, appearing in the night sky in the background.

Underneath the powerful picture is a passage from the Old Testament book of Isaiah 9:6. That passage, a prophecy of Christ’s birth declares, “And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The incredible advertisement will be published across the United States, appearing in every town in which Hobby Lobby has a store. Hobby Lobby expressed gratitude that “with the addition of social media, many more thousands of people view and share the hope-filled messages.”

Explaining the background to the powerful advertisement on its website, Hobby Lobby notes that the tradition began in 1995, saying, “Christmas 1995, David Green was reading the Christmas advertisements, including those for his own store, and he felt commissioned by God to do something different. 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.”

Continuing, the company went on to note that it was in 1996 that the first Christ-focused newspaper ad appeared, saying, “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 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.’”

Then, with that, it began decades of creating incredibly impactful newspaper ads for the Christmas season, as it noted, saying, “Before long, Hobby Lobby was placing beautiful full-page ads celebrating the real meaning of Christmas, Easter and Independence Day in newspapers across the country. The impact and relevancy of these messages is ongoing, so we post them here for your enjoyment.”