DAYS & SEASONS
(When We Worship)


Indeed, we Christians can worship at any time, for all time has been made holy by God in the person of Jesus Christ.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ, which transforms us as a body of believers, also transforms our perception of time.  For Christians, the inauguration of a new creation in Christ has produced a new organizing principle for the calendar.  So powerful was the revelation of God in Christ that it came to be viewed as the new creation—the event from which all other events should be dated.  Thus, history has been divided into two parts—BC [before Christ] and AD [anno Domini (the year of the Lord)].   

 

 
As God's people—as a worshiping community—we worship God regularly as informed by scripture.  God set aside one day in seven to be kept holy to the Lord.  In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was understood as a day totally set aside and offered to the Lord.  In the New Testament, the first Christians observed the first day of the week—the day of resurrection—as a time when the new people of the covenant gathered to worship God in Jesus Christ.  The early Christians came to speak of this as the "Lord's Day."
 
In keeping with the traditions of the early Christians, and of most Christians all over the world today, First Presbyterian Church gathers for worship every Sunday (at 11:00 am) so that we may glorify God and enjoy God's presence forever.
 
In addition to worshiping regularly on the Lord's Day, we recognize that God has created a rhythm of time and appointed seasons for worship.  We recognize that Jesus' birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and promised return give meaning to the seasons which order the annual rhythm of worship.  And so, following this annual rhythm, we celebrate and observe the events of God's mighty acts in Jesus Christ as we gather regularly for worship.

To learn more about the days and seasons of our worship, click on the particular topic below.


THE LORD'S DAY & THE CHRISTIAN WEEK

EASTERTIDE: THE WEEK OF WEEKS

LENT: THE "FRIDAY" OF THE CHURCH YEAR

FROM RESURRECTION TO THE CHURCH: THE DAY OF PENTECOST

ASH WEDNESDAY: THE "FRIDAY" IN MID-WEEK

THE CHRISTIAN WEEK & HOLY WEEK

THE EASTER CYCLE: THE REASON FOR ALL OTHER CYCLES

CHRISTMASTIDE: THE BIRTH OF DAWNING LIGHT

ADVENT: THE END & THE BEGINNING

EPIPHANY: CHRIST REVEALED

THE EXTRA-ORDINARINESS OF ORDINARY TIME

THE COLORS OF THE SEASONS
 

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