Messianic Jewish Holidays and Celebrations

September 20, 2021

We usually think of joy and happiness as emotions that come to us as a result of pleasant circumstances or good news. But God’s instructions for the Feast of Sukkot reveal that we are more than passive recipients of joy. The fact that He commands Israel to rejoice shows us that joy can be our choice (Leviticus 23:40). Sukkot is a seven-day festival where God commands the Jewish people to do no work on the first day and come together for a sacred assembly. Synagogue services today include wav...

September 16, 2021

Are you missing out? If you read only the New Testament, chances are you are missing the richness of the New Testament visible by understanding its Jewish roots, the very foundation upon which it was laid. God sent His promised Messiah, Jesus, to Earth to live among us within the context of Jewish faith and history found in the Old Testament. Jesus was Jewish. He lived a Jewish life and taught with authority from the Old Testament as the One fulfilling its prophecies. He did not come to star...

September 08, 2021

This is an especially meaningful time in the Jewish year. We are in the middle of commemorating the biblical Fall Feasts. It started with Yom Teruah — also known as Rosh Hashanah — the start of the Jewish new year, which we just celebrated. Now, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, is upon us. It’s the annual Day of Atonement when God covered and removed the sin of Israel. It’s the perfect reminder that Jesus our Messiah became our complete atonement through His death and resurrect...

September 01, 2021

How often do we meet with God in prayer and let Him set the agenda for our time with Him? We quickly come to the Lord when we have a need or experience trouble. We pour out our hearts to Him, bringing our burdens and praying for others. These are all right and valid reasons to draw near to God, and Scripture directs us to do so. (See Hebrews 4:16, James 5:13, Psalm 31:9, Psalm 62:8, Matthew 11:28, 1 Peter 5:7, James 5:16.) But what about when God wants to direct the conversation? It’s exc...

August 23, 2021

Rosh Hashanah, the first of the Jewish Fall Feasts, begins September 6 at sunset. This feast is widely celebrated among the Jewish people as the Jewish New Year. It is also called the Feast of Trumpets, where the blowing of the shofar signifies a wake-up call for repentance and restoring our relationship with God. After Rosh Hashanah, there are other important Jewish Feasts on the calendar: Yom Kippur: The holiest day on the Jewish calendar — a day of somber reflection in which we seek ato...

August 03, 2021

What is Elul? Elul is a month on the Jewish calendar preceding the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These holidays are about repentance and right standing with the Holy God of Israel, and one doesn’t enter such a season lightly. Engaging well with the Lord on these matters requires preparation. That’s how Jewish people and Messianic Jews spend the Hebrew month of Elul. Elul sits on the calendar between the time of year when Israel committed two of her great sins against the Lor...

June 21, 2021

What’s the saddest day on the Jewish calendar? It’s Tisha B’Av, and this year, it begins at sunset on Saturday, July 17 and ends at sundown on July 18. Tisha B’Av is an important Jewish holiday. Here are nine things to know about Tisha B’Av. 1.Tisha B’Av means the ninth of Av. Av is the name of a summer month on the Hebrew calendar, and the ninth day falls either in July or August. 2.Tisha B’Av is the most sorrowful day of the Jewish year because it commemorates a surprising number of trag...

April 23, 2021

Shavuot 2021 is May 17 and starts at sundown the evening before. When God called Israel out of Egypt to be a people unto Him, He commanded they observe annual “appointed times” before Him. Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, is one of them. It’s a commemoration of receiving, offering and thanksgiving. The gift of bread In ancient Israel, Shavuot was an agricultural feast. Every man physically able was to bring the first of his wheat crop to the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord...

December 23, 2020

We’ve come to our last “Prayer Points” for 2020, and we are ending the year with some wonderful praises. After having to cancel or postpone several Outreaches and congregational trips in 2020, we were finally able to visit both Ethiopia and Zimbabwe in the last months of the year. What a blessing it was to minister in person! Please join us in these celebrations and ongoing prayer requests: Medical Clinic in Dawro, Ethiopia This small Medical Clinic was like a family reunion as our U...