Every year, someone asks—sometimes sincerely, sometimes a little skeptically—
“Is it actually right for Christians to celebrate Easter?”
It’s a fair question. And in a city like Vancouver—where cultures, traditions, and beliefs overlap and intermingle—it’s an important one too because the deeper concern is: Are we mixing traditions in a way that dilutes what we believe?
We already live surrounded by blended traditions. The names of our weekdays trace back to ancient Germanic gods—Tiw, Woden, Thor, Freya—yet no one worries that booking a meeting on “Thursday” compromises our devotion to God. Why? Because we instinctively know: it’s not just the origin of something that matters—it’s what it points to now.
The same is true of Easter. At its core, Easter is not borrowed sentiment or seasonal nostalgia. It is anchored in a real moment in history—the death and resurrection of Jesus. The earliest Christians didn’t invent a spring festival; they proclaimed an empty tomb.
The word redeem means to rescue, to buy back, to restore something at cost. And that’s exactly what Christians believe happened through Jesus. Rooted in the story of Passover, Jesus took ancient symbols of deliverance and fulfilled them—offering not just a ritual, but a reality. Not just remembrance, but rescue.
And here’s the part that still matters in 2026: If God can redeem a cross—an instrument of death—into a symbol of life, He can redeem anything. Anyone.
That’s the story we want to tell.
For 7 years our church has reimagined an old German tradition—the Easter tree—right here on Baillie Street. Four trees will be filled with coloured eggs and ribbons. At first glance, they might just look beautiful (and very Instagrammable). But they’re more than decoration—they’re a quiet invitation.
Each colour tells part of the story. Together, they form a kind of visual gospel—woven into branches, catching the light, interrupting an ordinary walk or drive-by.
So come take a look. Bring a friend. Snap a photo if you’d like. But more than that, take a moment to reflect. Because behind the colours, behind the tradition, behind the questions is this good news:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3)
That hope is just as alive in Vancouver today as it was on that first Easter morning.