What are some things people do to celebrate New Year’s Eve?
Prompts if no response: Watch the ball drop, go to a party, kiss at midnight.
Discussion Question 1:
Why does the new year start in January? Does the Bible say that the new year begins in January?
Prompts if no response: Julius Caesar set up the Julian calendar with January 1st as the new year, but the Bible says that the spring (March or April) is to be our “beginning of months.”
Discussion Question 2:
Why do we in the Church avoid celebrating New Year’s as a holiday?
Prompts if no response: Drunkenness and revelry is encouraged; January 1st is not actually God’s new year; New Year’s has ties to the pagan winter solstice celebrations and is part of the yule season of Christmas.
Discussion Question 3:
What are some differences between the Julian calendar (in which January 1st is the new year), and the Hebrew calendar (that we in the Church use to calculate the holy days)?
Prompts if no response: The Hebrew calendar is based on the moon and the Julian calendar is based on the sun; the months are different (in the Hebrew calendar, the seventh month is September/October and the first month is March/April); the solar calendar has a leap year every four years, while the Hebrew calendar has a 19-year cycle.
Hypothetical 1:
What would you think or say back if you heard this: “Are you doing anything fun to celebrate New Year’s tonight?”
Prompts if no response: “I don’t really celebrate New Year’s”; “I’m going to relax with friends.”
Hypothetical 2:
What would you say if you were asked: “Why do you follow a different calendar?”
Prompts if no response: “I believe the Hebrew calendar was designed by God and given to the Jews to preserve and calculate”; “It makes more sense to start the new year in spring than in winter.”
Closer
Why do you think God set up March and April to be the beginning of months?
Prompts if no response: Winter is over and new life is springing up; the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread begin in the spring, which are the first steps of God’s plan of salvation; it is not associated at all with the pagan yule season.
Scriptures for more study or reference
Exodus 12:1-2; Romans 3:2; Leviticus 23; 1 Samuel 20:5, 18
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