QUESTION: "Does your Church keep Easter, and if not, why?"

 We do not observe Easter but we do observe the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Though the King James translators added the word "Easter" in Acts 12, the Greek word ("Pascha") written in the original manuscripts meant "Passover." Jesus kept the Passover as recorded in all four gospels and instructed His disciples to continue to observe it after His death and resurrection. Jesus even said that he would eat it again after His establishes His Kingdom on the earth after His return in glory. (Matt.26:29) In 1 Corinthians Chapters 5 and 11 we see that the Apostle Paul instructed these Gentile congregations to keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Our goal as Christians is to strive for the original faith which was once and for all handed down to the Church by Christ’s Apostles. Jude wrote that we should "earnestly contend" for that faith and "remember the words of the Apostles."

    The Passover has rich meaning to those who keep it. The Bible says that Christ is our Passover. He is the Passover Lamb of God given for the sins of man. When we come together to eat the Passover, we partake of the unleavened (sinless) Body of Christ. The unleavened bread and the wine are symbols of His Body and Blood. We contemplate the suffering He endured on the Passover on which He was crucified, so it is a very serious and solemn occasion yet not without the joy of appreciation for that sacrifice. The Feast of Unleavened Bread which immediately follows lasts for seven days. The first and the last are Holy Days with appointed convocations. Paul said "Celebrate the Feast", so we celebrate with joy that our Passover has made us unleavened (without sin) before the Lord. Paul told the Church that they were in fact unleavened in Christ. (1 Cor 5) The seven annual Feasts of God picture His great plan of salvation and are centered around three harvests. These natural harvests represent three separate harvests of souls.

     On the other hand, Easter was not ordered to be kept in the Christian Church until 300 years after the resurrection. It came into the Church through the Roman Catholic Church at Rome. "Easter" is the English name for the fertility goddess Ishtar of Egypt and Eostre of Germanic roots. These goddesses are also connected with sun-worship. The customs associated with Easter observance were practiced by many pagan cultures long before the death and resurrection of Christ. Ever wonder why Easter is always the first Sunday after the Vernal Equinox? Or why the customs of sunrise services, colored eggs, rabbits and egg hunts are associated with Easter? Certainly these things have nothing to do with Christ.