Lesson: Introduction to the Spring Holy Days of God (No. CB033

Christian Churches of God

No. CB33_2

Lesson: Introduction to the Spring Holy Days of God

(Edition 1.0 20250526-20250526)

In this lesson we will review the key points of the Introduction to the Spring Holy Days of God (No. CB33) and reinforce these key concepts through activities and discussion.

Christian Churches of God

PO Box 369, WODEN ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA

E-mail: secretary@ccg.org

(Copyright © 2025 Christian Churches of God)

This paper may be freely copied and distributed provided it is copied in total with no alterations or deletions. The publisher’s name and address and the copyright notice must be included. No charge may be levied on recipients of distributed copies. Brief quotations may be embodied in critical articles and reviews without breaching copyright.

This paper is available from the World Wide Web page:
http://www.logon.org and http://www.ccg.org

Lesson: Introduction to the Spring Holy Days of God

Open with prayer.

Lesson on the Introduction to the Spring Holy Days of God

Activity associated with the lesson.

Close with prayer.

Lesson:

1. Read through the paper Introduction to the Spring Holy Days of God (No. CB33) unless it is read as a sermonette with the children present.

2. Children’s questions are in bold. This is a general review of the material covered in the paper.

Q1. Who alone do we worship?

A. God the Father.

Q2. In the Northern Hemisphere, what season is it when God’s biblical year begins?

A. God’s New Year is always in the Spring.

Q3. Is the first day of the New Year kept as a Sabbath? If so, why?

A. Yes, the first day of the New Year is a New Moon. We keep all the New Moons as a Sabbath.

Q4. What are the two Spring Feasts of God?

A. The Spring Feasts include the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which includes the Lord’s Supper, Passover meal and Wave Sheaf) and the Feast of Pentecost (also called the Feast of weeks). These are two of the three major Feasts that the Lord God has commanded us to go to each year, when we gather together out of our homes.

Q5. What do we call the first 21 days of the New Year?

A. The first 21 days of the New Year are called the 21 days of Sanctification. We begin the annual process of sanctification on the 1st day of the year and it ends on the last day of Unleavened Bread or the 21st day of the month.

Q6. Do you remember the story of the first Passover? What can you tell me about it?

A. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, God sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt. God poured out ten plagues in Egypt. The last plague was the death of the firstborn of both man and beast. The Israelites were commanded to kill a lamb and put its blood on their doorposts and lintels so that the Angel of the Lord would “pass over” their home and the firstborn of man and beast would be spared.

Q7. Do we put blood on our doorposts and lintels today?

A. No. We no longer have to have blood on our doorposts and lintels. This was only for the very first Passover and it symbolised Jesus Christ as our Passover lamb. Jesus Christ came as the Lamb of God and his sacrifice was once and for all.

Q8. On the day before he was crucified, what did Jesus Christ introduce to his disciples?

A. He introduced the annual symbols of the foot washing, eating of the bread and drinking of the wine. (Some churches call this communion and do it every week.)

Q9. Do we do this today, and if so, what do we call it?

A. Yes, every year baptised members gather together to wash each other’s feet, eat a small piece of unleavened bread and have a small bit of wine. We call this service The Lord’s Supper.

Q10. Do we commemorate the death of Jesus Christ our saviour?

A. Yes, we have a 3:00pm service on the 14th day of the first month as a memorial for the death of Jesus Christ.

Q11. When does the Feast of Unleavened Bread begin?

A. The seven days of Unleavened Bread begin on the 15th day of the first month. The first day of Unleavened Bread is a holy day and the seventh day or last day of Unleavened Bread is a holy day.

Q12. When is the Passover Meal and what types of food does it include?

A. The Passover meal takes place at the beginning of the First Day of Unleavened Bread at dark. Our Passover meal includes meat from the herd or flock, unleavened bread, bitter herbs and salt. We call this the Night of Watching.

Q13. Why do we still celebrate the Passover meal if Jesus Christ was crucified as our Passover lamb?

A. We celebrate this night as an ordinance forever. We remember the past exodus and look forward to the future exodus. We discuss the meaning of the night and symbols of the meal to all present.

Q14. Why does God ask us to eat unleavened bread for seven days?

A. We are thinking about putting sin (represented by leaven) out of our lives and replacing sin with sincerity and truth. (1Cor. 5:6-8).

1Cor. 5:6-8 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth

Q15. In the Old Testament, what happened on the Sunday during the Feast of Unleavened Bread?

A. The High Priest would wave the first of the first fruits of the harvest. We call this the Wave Sheaf.

Q16. What happened on the day of the Wave Sheaf in the New Testament?

A. On Sunday morning at 9:00am Jesus Christ ascended to his Father as the first of the firstfruits symbolizing the Wave Sheaf offering. While most people are celebrating Easter Sunday, we are celebrating the Wave Sheaf.

Q17. The next Holy Day after the Feast of Unleavened Bread is Pentecost. How do we know what day to celebrate Pentecost?

A. We count fifty days from the Wave Sheaf to Pentecost which always falls on a Sunday.

Q18. What happened on the day of Pentecost in the New Testament?

A. The Holy Spirit was given to the Church.

Activity Options:

1. Calendar Creation

Supplies - blank calendars for the months that contain the first New Moon through Pentecost. This will usually be March - May or April - June.

Activity: Have the children mark the following on their calendars:

1st New Moon, Fast for the Simple and Erroneous (on the 7th day), Lamb set aside (10th Day), Lord’s Supper (13th after dark which is the beginning of the 14th), 3pm Memorial Service (14th), Passover Meal (14th after dark which is the beginning of the 15th), 1st Holy Day (15th), 2nd Day of UB, 3rd Day of UB, 4th Day of UB, 5th Day of UB, 6th Day of UB, Last Day of UB, Wave Sheaf (Sunday during UB). After this, have them number the days until Pentecost. Wave Sheaf will be #1 and each Sabbath will be a multiple of 7. Also fill in the 2nd New Moon and 3rd New Moon. The children can use their calendars to count to Pentecost.

2. Passover Meal placemats

Supplies - Cardstock or construction paper, markers or colored pencils, clear contact paper or supplies to laminate.

Activity: Have the children draw, color or stamp the Passover meal symbols onto their paper. Symbols would include lamb, unleavened bread, wine, bitter herbs, salt, bone. (See Passover Questions and the Reasons for Our Faith (No. 051) for additional ideas.) They could also include other pictures that remind us of the Passover season including plagues, blood on the doorpost, Wave Sheaf, firstfruits, etc. Once the placemats have been made, you can use clear contact paper to laminate the placemats. Trim off the excess contact paper. Alternatively, you can laminate the placemats. Use the placemats for the Night of Watching. Store them for safekeeping and you can use them for future years which the children always enjoy.

Close with Prayer