Becoming a Community of Disciples

Resources for Application

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and would reset after a nineteen-year cycle. Our modern calendars are based on the solar year. The earth turns on a regular rhythm around the sun every 365 days to complete one solar year. The sun itself rotates around the center of the Milky Way galaxy in a “cosmic year” lasting some two hundred and fifty million solar years at the sun’s current speed. Everything in creation follows rhythms. Just as disciples are intentional about daily, weekly, and monthly/quarterly rhythms, so we are intentional about annual rhythms. Many forget that the English word “holiday” originates from the combination of “Holy” and “Day.” The annual events one commemorates—either with days of fasting or feasting—reveal a great deal about core values and cherished priorities. In the Old Testament, God asked his “Holy Nation,” Israel, to plan annual celebrations to remind themselves about God’s saving activities. Three times a year the whole community gathered for a family retreat at Jerusalem to celebrate God’s great salvation actions (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles). There was also a time for the whole community to fast on particular days. The early church followed the example of ancient Israel when they identified particular days and seasons to focus attention on the great saving activities in the life of Christ. The Christian Year is an annual calendar aimed at keeping the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, together with the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, continually before the eyes of God’s people in a repeating rhythm. Using the table below, underline the annual holy days you or your church community currently commemorate. Circle any that you are interested in celebrating in the next year.