A variety of savings compete for the attention of Labor Day weekend shoppers.

There is a strong focus on pre-buys, with LifeWay Christian Stores and Berean Christian Stores seeking advance purchases of Third Day's Move, due out next month.

LifeWay has the CD available for $9.99 (regular price $13.99), with a free copy of the band's Chronology, Volume One. Berean lists the forthcoming release at $10.97 and offers a free copy of the group's latest recording, Revelation, citing the pair as a $29.98 value.

Looking further ahead, LifeWay also offers a pre-release deal for Chris Tomlin's And If Our God Is For Us, not due out until mid-November. Advance purchases at $9.99—$4 off the usual price—qualify the buyer for a free copy of the Sixsteps Records 2010 New Music Sampler.

Other LifeWay offers see Israel Houghton's Love God, Love People and Jeremy Camp's We Cry Out: The Worship Project reduced from $13.99 to $12.99 and $10 respectively.

The LifeWay emailing includes a Labor Day Weekend Sale coupon for 33% off any one full-priced item, while Berean's promotion offers $10 off any in-store purchase of $30 or more through Sept. 1. The Berean emailing also reduces Casting Crowns' Until The Whole World Hears from $13.99 to $10 and The Afters' Light Up The Sky from $15.99 to $10.

Family Christian Stores, meanwhile, goes to the movies. The chain promotes the Sept. 24 theatrical release of Like Dandelion Dust, the movie based on Karen Kingsbury's book of the same name, with an exclusive $5 behind-the-scenes documentary. It also prices the new movie edition of the book at $11.99, down from $14.99.

A separate Family emailing highlights VeggieTales' new It's a Meaningful Life, with a pre-buy price of $12.97 on the October release, twinned with a free VeggieTales Lessons for a Lifetime triple feature. The chain also promotes its Oct. 2 premiere event, when the new film will be screened in stores.

Parable Christian Stores feature Emily Colson's Dancing with Max, pricing the memoir at $14.97, down from $16.99. Mardel Christian & Education offers Max Lucado's Out Live Your Life for $17.99, $7 off the regular price, and David Platt's Radical for $10.99 instead of $14.99. Mardel also takes $10 off the new Family Reading Bible, pricing it at $29.99.

Christian retail offers for the week of Aug. 23

Award-winning Jeremy Camp's We Cry Out: The Worship Project leads the music-centered offers from three chains.

LifeWay Christian Stores and Mardel Christian & Education each price the new release at $9.99, while the CD (regular price $13.99) is available for $10.97 at Berean Christian Stores.

Berean twins its offer, however, with a pre-buy for Third Day's Move, coming Oct. 19, that prices that release at $10.97-and includes a free copy of the band's previous release, Revelation, a $29.98 value. The Berean emailing also includes a coupon for $10 off any in-store purchase of $40 or more, through Aug. 26.

LifeWay's new music promotion includes Natalie Grant's Love Revolution, down from $18.98 to $11.99 and Britt Nicole's five-track Acoustic for $5. The emailing also features a $7.99 DVD sale, with titles including Bella, Christy: A New Beginning, Where the Red Fern Grows and Mandie and the Secret Tunnel.

Other music offers from Mardel include Randy Travis' I'll Fly Away for $11.99, The Hoppers' Something's Happening for $13.99 and Love Revolution for $9.99. The chain offers Max Lucado's latest book for $17.99, reducing Outlive Your Life from $24.99.

The book is also marked down to lead LifeWay's reading offers, priced at $17.49. Similarly discounted is The Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy, while The Power of a Whisper by Bill Hybels is reduced from $22.99 to $17.24 and Stormie Omartian's The Power of a Praying Life goes down from $13.99 to $10.49.

Family Christian Stores offers 50% off select videos. Titles available include Facing the Giants, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story and The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry. Bargain DVDs offered for $6.97 each include The Genius Club, Mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls and God's Outlaw.

Christian retail offers for the week of Aug. 16

Back-to-school shoppers are a focal point again, with Mardel Christian & Education and CLC Bookcenters offering specials for students' equipment and resources.

Mardel promises "limitless style" in its e-mail promotion that includes rhinestone tees for $19.99 each, two regular "guys and girls" tees--usually priced at $21.99 each--for $30 and two pairs of jeans fro $60.

The promotion also highlights "school of rock" music titles including Hawk Nelson's Live Life Loud and Skillet's Awake for $9.99 each. "Class clown" comedy DVDs by Anita Renfroe (Big Ol' Sweet Iced Tea) and Chonda Pierce (Did I Say That Out Loud?) are $14.99 each.

CLC's back to school resource specials include Experiencing the Heart of Jesus: Student Edition Bible study by Max Lucado, reduced from $17.99 to $14.99, and the Teen Devotional Bible, NIV, priced $4 off at $23.99. Deal of the Week is VeggieTales' Sweetpea Beauty: A Girl After God's Own Heart, cut from $14.99 to $12.49.

The mailing also includes a coupon for 20% off any in-store purchase of a regularly priced item, through Sept. 6.

Love comes cheaply at Family Christian Stores, where the movies based on the popular Janette Oke books are among titles offered for $10 each. They include Love Comes Softly, Love's Abiding Joy and Love Takes Wing.

The chain also has a pre-buy offer on Amish Grace, the forthcoming movie based on the book of the same name that tells the true story of how an Amish community responded with faith and forgiveness aftyer five of their children were murdered. Those purchasing the title in advance for $19.97--down from the regular price of $22.98--also get two family Rewards cards worth a total of $10.

Mary Beth Chapman's Choosing to See leads a selection of "new books that inspire." It is priced at $17.59, down from the regular price of $21.99.

LifeWay Christian Stores' music newsletter presents the Gaither Vocal Band's Greatly Blessed and The Hoppers' Best Of collection for $11.99 each, down $2. Newsboys' Born Again is offered for $7.99, down from $13.99. Audrey Assad's The House You're Building is the same reduced price.

Another LifeWay e-mailing promotes its Bibles sale, ending Saturday. Among the specials are the NIV Adventure Bible, down from $27.99 to $13.99, and the digital Bible, Glo, available for $44.89 instead of $89.99.

Christian retail offers for the week of Aug. 9

An emphasis on Bibles sees two half-off promotions and an exclusive offer.

Family Christian Stores' 50% reduction on Bibles running through Aug. 21 includes the NIV/The Message Parallel Study Bible for $22.50, the NIV/KJV/NASB/AMP Comparative Study Bible for $25 and Revolve, the "Biblezine" for teen girls, for $8.50.

Also featured in the promotion are audio editions Inspired By...The Bible Experience: The Complete Bible for $62.50 and The Word of Promise: NKJV New Testament Audio Bible for $24.99.

At Mardel Christian & Education, the focus is on children's and student Bibles. The NIV Adventure Bible is priced at $13.99 (down from $27.99)), the compact NIV Student Bible is reduced from $39.99 to $29.99 and True Images: The Bible for Teen Girls, NIV is $10 off the regular price, at $29.99.

Berean Christian Stores introduces an exclusive offer for God's Covenant Bible Study. The standard set--including a teacher's manual and self-standing chart--is $58, while a Power Point package is available for $48 and a Value Pack costs $89.

The products are also available in Spanish, with student workbooks in English and Spanish $15.95 each.

Mardel's emailing also highlights a "Back2School" offer of rhinestone t-shirts for $19.99 ($5 off), regular tees at two for $30 and two pairs of jeans for $60.

With the new school year starting soon, teens and education supplies are a common focus, from special prices to free backpacks.

LifeWay Christian Stores' "Back to Bargains" mailing has Bible verse water bottles reduced from $9.99 to $5, while Newsboys' Born Again is priced at $7.99 instead of $13.99. In-store shoppers are also invited to buy one t-shirt and get a second for 50% off.

The chain's music newsletter majors on teen drama DVD, To Save a Life. The PG13-rated film is reduced from $24.99 to $19.99, with a free backpack offered with the purchase of a CD from a list that includes MercyMe's Mr. Lovewell and Vicky Beeching's Eternity Invades, both down to $11.99 from $15.98.

Berean Christian Stores also spotlights To Save a Life, making the movie available for $21.59. The chain's email also promotes patriotic tees, two for $10 and includes an inm0-store only coupon for 40% of any one regularly priced item.

To Save a Life appears, too, in Mardel Christian & Education's "Education Sale" offer that presents a range of $5 products including calendars, tote bag, puzzles and t-shirts.

Parable stores highlight the new VeggieTales release, Sweetpea Beauty: A Girl After God's Own Heart, reduced from $14.99 to $9.97. Tony Dungy's new The Mentor Leader is priced at $19.97 (regular price $24.99).

Family viewing is the focus of several offers, with pre-buy specials and bargain bin deals.

The latest VeggieTales offering, Sweetpea Beauty: A Girl After God's Own Heart features prominently. The July 31 release is offered for $12.97, down from $14.99, at Family Christian Stores, which will also give away a VeggieTales Girl Power! Triple Feature, worth $24.99, free while supplies last. The chain is to host a Sweetpea premiere in stores on release day.

At LifeWay Christian Stores, the Sweetpea episode is priced at $9.99 and paired with a free copy of VeggieTales' Silly Little Thing Called Love, through July 30. Parable's email promotion prices the Sweetpea release at $9.97 and includes an opportunity to download free coloring pages.

Also highlighted across different outlets is the family drama, Letters to God. At Family Christian, the film that comes out Aug. 10 is twinned with a free chain exclusive soundtrack EP. The $30.98 combined value pack is priced at $17.99. LifeWay prices the film at $14.99 (regular price, $24.99) for pre-purchase and includes a free exclusive LifeWay wrist band, value $5.

Family combines the teen drama, To Save a Life, out Aug. 10, with the movie soundtrack for $17.99. Other new releases promoted by LifeWay include the Billy Graham biopic, Billy: The Movie (reduced from $19.95 to $14.96), The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry (from $24.95 to $18.71) and comedy Angels Love Donuts (from $19.95 to $14.96).

Parable's email spotlights the new release from "Left Behind" co-author Jerry Jenkins. His The Last Operative is priced online at $11.97 (regular price $14.99) and shoppers are given the chance to read an extract. Kutless' The Beginnings, the band's first three releases bundled into one collection, is offered for $13.97, down from $18.99. There is also an online-only coupon for 15% off a purchase of $50-plus, through Saturday.

Mardel Christian & Education highlights the availability of the popular Sillybandz in its email, which also presents Kerusso's Pick Jesus bracelets and earrings for $5. Comedian Anita Renfroe's new DVD, Big Ol' Sweet Iced Tea, is priced at $14.99.