Sacred Roots Workshop

Ses s i on 7: L i v i ng i n the Way

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IV. The Edification of the Church Year

The church is conscious that it must celebrate the saving work of the divine Bridegroom by devoutly recalling it on certain days through- out the course of the year. Every week, on the day which the Church has called the Lord’s Day, it keeps the memory of the Lord’s resurrec- tion, which it also celebrates once in the year, together with his blessed passion, in the most solemn festival of Easter. Within the cycle of a year, moreover, the Church unfolds the whole mystery of Christ, from his incarnation and birth until his ascension, the day of Pentecost, and the expectation of blessed hope and of the Lord’s return. Recalling thus the mysteries of redemption, the Church opens to the faithful the riches of the Lord’s powers and merits, so that these are in some way made present in every age in order that the faithful may lay hold on them and be filled with saving grace.

~ Robert Webber. The Services of the Christian Year . Nashville: Star Song Pub. Group, 1994. p. 79.

A. It is based on Scripture: It grounds believers in biblical salvation history.

1. The Church Year covers literally from the promise of God of a seed who would crush the serpent’s head in Genesis 3.15, to the coming of the risen and glorified Christ spoken of in Revelation 19.

2. The Church Year is designed to remember and participate in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in real time: The Church Year ensures that the key events of the life and ministry of Christ are remembered, reflected upon, celebrated, and integrated in our spiritual journeys each year!

3. An obsession with trying to make each teaching, worship service, and emphasis unique can lead to a misuse of Scripture, i.e., torn from its historical context.

a. The “mad search for relevance and freshness” can result in the very worship of novelty itself, and the race for one new, hip fad after another.