Want to know what Christians celebrate during the Easter season?

What is the Church Calendar?

We organize our lives around a seasonal calendar that’s not prescribed by God, such as quarters, semesters, months, and years. However, the church calendar orders its events surrounding the redemption in Christ. Knowing this, we encourage particular spiritual practices to train the church in godliness. The calendar is not meant to limit our celebration of the Lord’s day, sabbath, etc., but to anchor our lives in the hope of Christ’s resurrection.

What is Ash Wednesday?  

While not practiced in every Christian tradition, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten season and meant to be an outward sign of Genesis 3:19: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

The ashes placed on an individual’s head are in the shape of a cross to remind each person that the only way to escape the dust of death is the hope of Christ.

What is Lent? 

Lent is a season of 40 days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. The 40 days represent the days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan to prepare for his ministry (Matt. 4:1-11). Lent gives us the opportunity to examine our sin and brokenness in order to experience the depth of God’s love. This examination is not meant to lead to self-centeredness, but instead, to point us to our deep need for a Savior. We are to pray, as David did:

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! - Ps. 139:23-24

Lent gives us the opportunity to examine our discipleship as well as focusing our attention and affections on Christ. Are we truly following Christ wherever He leads us? (Matt. 8:18-22; Matt. 10:37) Are we relying on our own comforts to fill voids in our lives that only Christ is meant to fill? Lent gives us the opportunity to prepare our hearts to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. What have we been turning to for fulfillment instead of Christ? Lent also gives us the opportunity to “live simply,” and allocate resources to those in need. Upon the conclusion of Lent, after a season of grief, deprivation, and darkness, we celebrate Easter and are reminded of the joyous hope and new life we have through Christ’s victory over death.

What is Good Friday?

Good Friday is the day of Christ’s crucifixion and death at Calvary. On Good Friday, we celebrate that Christ willingly suffered for and died for our sake. It is “Good” because it marks the culmination of Christ’s deliverance of His people from their sins. (1 Pet. 2:24; Rom. 5:6-10; Isa. 53:3-5)

What is Easter Sunday?

Easter Sunday, also known as Resurrection Sunday, is the holiest day on the Christian calendar. The Council of Nicaea established that Easter Sunday would be the day first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox (marking the beginning of the spring). For this reason, Easter can fall on any date from March 22 through April 25. This is the day we celebrate Christ’s victory over sin and death through His bodily resurrection.