Church Season: Lent

Every year, we celebrate Christmas and Easter, but seldom do we make any spiritual preparations for these two most important Christian festivals.

Lent is indeed an excellent opportunity for spiritual preparation! Believers engage in self-reflection, practice repentance and faith, enter into the rhythm of the season, and rediscover the healing and salvation of Christ.

The term "Lent" comes from Old English and means "spring time”. In the second century, believers only observed a few days of fasting before Easter. It wasn't until the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD that the fasting period was officially set at forty days, hence the name "Lent" or “Quadragesima”: derived from the Latin word for “fortieth”, and “gesima” meaning days.

Since every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ, fasting is considered inappropriate on these days. Therefore, each Sunday breaks the spiritual rhythm of Lent, celebrating the resurrection event. Hence, in modern calculations, Lent extends for 40 days (forty) + 6 Sundays  (celebrations), totaling 46 days.

In the early church, there was a tradition of conducting baptisms on Easter. They would use the Lenten period to prepare the initiates for their baptismal journey, including teaching doctrines and the Christian life standards in a baptismal class (called "baptism" because the immersion process involves immersing a person’s entire body in water). This is similar to our "Knowing Him" classes, along with a series of practices such as repentance, fasting, prayer, and alms giving, to prepare them with a clean heart for the baptism at Easter.

Lent is a season of practicing resistance against the temptations of sin. By entering into the rhythm of dying to sin and living to God in Christ, we resist Satan's temptations through the power of repentance and fasting, just as Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. We are determined to spend more time walking with God than usual, deepening our personal relationship with Him, promoting the growth of our spiritual lives, and not forgetting our neighbours in need, practicing generosity, and anticipating the coming of Christ's resurrection in the midst of darkness.

Invitation:

In the 40 days of Lent, explore the meaning of being in the wilderness, discovering the hidden growth and grace within it. At the same time, prepare to embrace the mission of "transforming generations" and ready yourself for a life that can carry out His calling.

教会节期：预苦期 (大斋期)

我们每年都会庆祝圣诞节和复活节，但甚少会为这两个基督教最重要的节日做任何灵性准备。

预苦期 (或称大斋期) 正是灵性预备的良好时机! 信徒透过生命反省，操练悔改与归信，进入节期节奏，重新体会基督的医治和拯救。

预苦期的英文是 Lent，源自盎格鲁 - 撒克逊语，意思是「春天」。第二世纪的信徒只在复活节前进行数天的禁食，直至公元325 年，尼西亚会议Council of Nicaea 将禁食时间定为四十天，故预苦期又名「四旬期」： 「一旬」相等10 天「四旬」即40 天。

由于每个主日都是庆祝基督复活的日子，因此禁食被认为是不合适，所以每个主日都会放下预苦期的灵性节奏，庆祝基督复活事件；因此，现代历法计算预苦期至复活节为40 天(四旬) + 6 个主日(庆典)，共46 天。

初代教会有在复活节为慕道者施行洗礼的习惯，他们会利用预苦期这段时间，准备慕道者的洗礼之旅，包括教授教义及基督徒生活标准的浸礼班(用「浸礼」因为施浸过程要将慕道者整个人浸没在水里) ，类似我们的《认识祂》，以及一系列的忏罪、禁食、祈祷及施舍的操练，让他们以清洁的心迎接复活节的洗礼。

预苦期是操练对抗罪引诱的节期，透过进入向罪死、在基督里向神活的节奏，以悔罪回转、禁食祷告的力量抵挡撒旦，就像耶稣在旷野40 天禁食一样，我们决意花比平时更多的时间与神同行，增进个人与祂的关系，促进我们属灵生命的成长，同时不忘身边有需要的邻舍，践行施舍，在黑暗中期待基督复活的到临。

邀请你：

在预苦期的 40 天，探索置身旷野的意义，来发现旷野中暗藏的成长与主恩；同时预备迎向「转化世代」的使命，为神预备能承载祂召呼的生命。