Synopsis:
From bestselling author, Max Lucado, comes THE CHRISTMAS CANDLE, a timeless holiday film for the entire family.
Deep in the heart of the English countryside lies the enchanting village of Gladbury. Legend has it every 25 years an angel visits the village candlemaker and touches a single candle. Whoever lights this candle receives a miracle on Christmas Eve. But in 1890, at the dawn of the electric age, this centuries old legend may come to an end.
When David Richmond (Hans Matheson), a progressive young minister, arrives in Gladbury, the villagers discover a new formula for miracles: good deeds and acts of kindness. While David’s quest to modernize Gladbury sets him at odds with the old world candlemaker, he finds an unlikely ally in the lovely skeptic, Emily Barstow (Samantha Barks). Now, the fiery candlemaker must fight to preserve the legacy of the Christmas Candle. But when the candle goes missing, the miraculous and human collide in the most astonishing Christmas the village of Gladbury has ever seen.
Review:
The Christmas Candle is a warm movie that focuses on primarily two things: faith and miracles. David Richmond is the new minister for the quaint little town of Gladbury. Shocked by what he deems superstition in the legend of a certain “Christmas candle”, he quickly tries to make the point to his congregation that our faith lies in God, not in some candle, and that it is our good deeds that shine as light for God, not miracles and wonders. Since the whole town believes in the Christmas candle, his popularity goes up and down with the congregation. He sincerely puts action behind his words and tries to care for the people of Gladbury and it makes an impressive impact on their lives.
Through a mishap, the Christmas candle gets lost and a series of events is put into action that looks like it will extinguish the town’s hopes when their prayers go unanswered, as well as crush the tiny bit of faith that David Richmond has left for the miraculous. Instead what the whole town receives, including the nearly defeated David Richmond, is a lesson in faith in God’s power in the here and now.
The point is clearly made that God answers prayer (with or without the Christmas candle), and that He is still the God of the miraculous in this day and age. One conversation said it so well when one character said that they believed God only worked in the appointed time but that now, the lame don’t walk…and the sick die. To which, another character states, “But sometimes they live.”
Another point that was made in a subtle way, was that “unto whom much is given, much is required.” The candlemaker and his wife were entrusted with major responsibility and had they handled that responsibility inappropriately, they could have lost everything. Follow the trail as you watch the film.
This is a very clean film, but there is one item to be aware of. There is an unmarried woman with child and the sin of that act is never addressed directly and it was implied and treated as if it was a blessing. If you are watching this with your children, it would be an important discussion point to address with them.
One other item for discussion if you are watching it with children is the point that the faith was not in the Christmas candle itself. While the point is made in a way that the adults can understand what happened and draw the correct conclusions, it would be important to go over the basic points with your child about faith in God.
All in all, it is a warm Christmas film filled with lessons about faith, belief, and hope in God.
