Watching a child leave home for the first time is a painful challenge. You want them to find their footing in Jesus, especially in a culture that keeps on changing.
To help, we’ve put together eight of our recommended books to give to students leaving the nest. Read on to find the best one for the student in your life.
Beautiful, illustrated rhyming book that tells children your greatest aspiration—that they will love and follow Jesus.
Wherever You Go, I Want You to Know is designed to help kids of all ages learn and remember your greatest dream for them as their parent, teacher or guardian—that whatever they do and wherever they go, they will love and follow Jesus. This book makes a great keepsake for students as they go through school, and a great reminder of your dreams for them as they leave the nest.
A biblical framework for living a grounded, hopeful and genuinely happy life.
Although we are united by our desire for a meaningful and fulfilling life here on earth, finding happiness as Christians can sometimes feel controversial. How are we to experience happiness without basing our hopes on earthly things?
Recovering cynic Barnabas Piper invites us to throw off both the unrealistic expectations that end in disappointment and the guilty sense that Christians are not meant to have fun. He argues that having a clear view of the gospel frees us to live a life that is happy and hopeful, this side of eternity.
Illustrated, rhyming book explaining God’s wonderful grace and forgiveness.
Much like Wherever You Go, I Want You to Know, Melissa Kruger’s rhyming book His Grace Is Enough isn’t just for young kids.
The wonderful message at the heart of this book is that Jesus is the person to run to when they mess up, something every young person needs reminding of, especially as they leave the nest.
How we came to live in a post-Christian culture and how to live for Jesus in it.
How do we share Jesus with those around us who view Christianity as not only wrong but also harmful? And how do we remain faithful in a world that claims to have a better way?
In Being the Bad Guys, Stephen McAlpine argues that the Christain life is more liberating, fulfilling and joyful than a life without Christ. He encourages believers not to be ashamed of the gospel, but to reach out to others wisely with the truth.
The book also offers an analysis of how our culture ended up this way, explains key points of tension between biblical Christianity and secular culture, and offers strategies for coping in this world.
Discover the Christian roots of the values we prize in western society.
Christianity is often seen today as the root of society’s problems, leaving many believers ashamed of their faith and pushing many outsiders further from the church.
What if the Christian message is not the enemy of our modern Western values, but the very thing that makes sense of them?
In The Air We Breathe, Glen Scrivener explains how the teachings of Jesus not only turned the ancient world upside down, but continue to underpin the way we think of life, worth, and meaning. He argues that our modern pillars of freedom, kindness, progress and equality are actually distinctly Christian ideas.
A personal journey through the challenges of adulting, revealing the difference Jesus makes
At one point or another, most of us find ourselves feeling like adult life is less than it’s cracked up to be and wondering why no one warned us ahead of time.
Rachel Jones knows what it’s like to try to keep it all together in your 20s. This funny, honest, hopeful book will show the graduate in your life the difference Jesus makes to the challenges of adulting.
In Brave by Faith, renowned Bible teacher Alistair Begg takes a look at the first seven chapters of Daniel to show readers how to live bravely, confidently, and obediently in an increasingly secular society.
This book will show students and graduates that even in the face of circumstances that appear to be prevailing against his people, we can trust God entirely. Download the free study guide to help students dig a bit deeper into the book—either individually or in a group.
What does it actually mean to "be true to yourself”, and does it really bring lasting happiness?
Drawing on a broad range of fascinating research, author Matt Fuller explores how freedom can be found by listening to our Creator and allowing ourselves to be shaped by who the Bible says we are.
Give this book to the graduate who needs help living with confidence in today's culture.
For more recommended reads for students and graduates, head to last year’s blog post full of encouraging quotes.