Greetings,
The Passover was initiated by God before the covenant at Mt. Sinai was ratified. Passover was not instituted by that covenant nor was it a part of the sacrifices instituted after the covenant was made. Those sacrifices ceased to be necessary at Christ’s death. The Passover, however, was to continue as a memorial by an everlasting ordinance (Exodus 12:14, 24). We are to “mark” or “remember” something by the continual observance of the annual Passover service.
The initial Passover focused on a lamb. That lamb was representative of the role that Christ would play when He came as a human to this earth. John the Baptist recognized Christ’s role by declaring, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Christ was the Lamb of God and as such came to be sacrificed – to offer His life as payment for the penalty of our sins. “… knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
It is through Christ’s death and our reconciliation with the Father that provides us with life. We have meaningful life in this physical existence by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and then life in the future eternal family of God. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10). “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6:8). We have life through Christ.
As we take the symbols of the bread and wine at Passover, let us be diligent to remember – “do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24, 25). We must remember what Christ’s death means for each of us individually. Without Christ’s sacrifice and the personal application of that sacrifice, we would not have life.
Observing the Passover is a profound annual reminder of our sins and a reminder that Christ paid the penalty of those sins. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). Let us remember and be thankful.
Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread:
The Passover service in the U.S. will be streamed live for the Eastern and Western time zones. The Eastern service will begin at 8:10 pm EDT (allowing for sunset times), and the Western service will begin at 8:00 pm PDT. Central and Mountain time zones will be covered by local services as well as a prerecorded service available online. For start times of local services see the pastor or local coordinator as sunset times vary. Most areas will have their own live service and the streaming is intended for scattered members or members who cannot make it to a service.
The prerecorded Passover Service can be accessed by clicking on the following link: https://thefatherscall.org/passover-service/
(If clicking the above link does not take you to the pre-recorded Passover Service, simply copy and paste the link into your browser’s address bar and click enter. This service can be accessed at any time.)
There will be one service on the first Holy Day of Unleavened Bread and that will be at the usual Sabbath service time of 11:00 am PDT.
7th Day of Unleavened Bread: The morning service for the East will originate from Houston, Texas. Houston will have a 10:00 am CDT service time which means 11:00 am EDT. The afternoon service for the Central and Eastern time zones will originate from Duarte, California – 11:00 am PDT (2:00 pm EDT).
Western time zone service times will be 11:00 am and 2:30 pm.
Warm Regards,
Brian Orchard
