TO THE JEW FIRST Reaching Jewish People with the Gospel in 2022
Shalom dear friends,
I’m communicating to you from the true holy land, Brooklyn, from the Charles Feinberg Center in the heart of Orthodox Jewish Brooklyn, much like your beautiful new centre in Caulfield. I wish I could be there with you to celebrate this new facility and to just say ‘Hi’ and hug everybody.
At least I can get to you a little bit this way through this newsletter and by video*. I hope that you’ll receive this message in a way that will be helpful and inspirational to you, particularly as we begin this new year, 2022, hoping for better things.
The basis for the priority of Jewish evangelism as we see it and as traditionally Chosen People Ministries has seen it – now we’re in our 127th year; we were founded in 1894 – is found in this passage of scripture that has been foundational for all that we do, and I hope that you’ll better understand that as I go along.
Hanukkah and the Advent of the Messiah
Shalom,
Happy Hanukkah! And soon to be, Merry Christmas. I love this season of the year… lights, joy, lots of presents, and the ability to freely focus on our faith in Yeshua: the reason for the season. When I say the reason for the season, I am including Hanukkah, not just Christmas!
There is an amazing connection between the two holidays. It is a bit hidden, but I am sure that, once you see it, you will be as thrilled about it as I am. We find this extraordinary link in John 10:30, where Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”
We know from the gospel that the events in John chapter 10 occurred during the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22–23), also called Hanukkah. The Hebrew word Hanukkah means “dedication.” It is still the most often used name for this great holiday.
Forgiven
Shalom and Happy Jewish New Year!
I am greeting you with a Happy New Year because Jewish people around the globe recently celebrated the Jewish New Year, called Rosh Hashanah. This month, we begin the Hebrew year 5782. Jewish tradition dates the new year from when creation is believed to have taken place.
We are now in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, the month of Tishrei, which is the holiest month of the year. During this month, we celebrate the Biblical feasts; the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).
A Longing Fulfilled is a Tree of Life
Dear Friends of Celebrate Messiah,
Shalom and blessings to you as we come up to the halfway point of the calendar year, and reflect on what we’ve done and look forward to what we are going to do over the next 12 months. The completion of the Messianic Centre is a significant milestone in our ministry’s 25-year history. Now we look to the future, and plan for how we are going to use the centre to draw people into a closer relationship with God, and indeed first time encounters with Messiah Yeshua. We have got to this point by prayer, hard work, and perseverance. Not just from Louise and I, but our staff, volunteers and faithful supporters such as yourselves. We are developing opportunities to make a generational change in people’s lives through an exciting range of the new ministry initiatives that I’d like to share with you, and ask you to pray for and contribute financially towards.
To the Jew First in 2021
Shalom, dear friend,
It is hard to believe that we are already in the middle of February 2021. Time is moving forward so rapidly and so much is happening all around the world, both good and bad. Last February, Celebrate Messiah celebrated our 25th birthday as a ministry dedicated to “Bringing the Message to the Original Messengers.” We looked back at the Lord’s faithfulness to our ministry, and the way He has used us in reaching our Jewish people with the message of the Messiah. We were so excited at the opportunities to serve the Lord ahead of us to reach Jewish people with the gospel, and the Celebrate Messiah staff was ready to go. But then tragedy struck, and however you feel about the virus, it has impacted all of our lives in many ways…
Let Your Light Shine
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14–16, ESV)
One day, when looking at the Caulfield Messianic Centre, we will tell our children and grandchildren, “God built this during the Worldwide Pandemic of 2020,” and that would be true! Miraculously we have seen the completion of the Caulfield Messianic Centre, the first custom-made Messianic centre and synagogue in the Southern Hemisphere, in a year with so many challenges and crisis. And it is almost debt free!
Sound the Shofar!
Dear Friend,
Shalom and greetings in the name of Yeshua our Messiah. I trust and pray that you are safe and well, and hopefully even thriving in the Lord, despite the challenges we are all facing with the COVID-19 crisis.
I am so grateful to the Lord for his continued blessing on the ministry of Celebrate Messiah, and we are so appreciative of the support and prayers we are receiving from our supporters like yourself. COVID-19 has not stopped Jewish evangelism…
We Don’t Believe in Miracles – We Depend on Them
Dear Friend,
Shalom and blessings to you in Yeshua our Passover Lamb! Very soon we will be celebrating Passover and tell the story of God’s miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.
We will also tell the complete story of God’s miraculous deliverance of all people who put their faith and trust in Yeshua, the Passover Lamb who has been sacrificed for us. Through Yeshua, all of us who believe, pass-over from death to life and from darkness to light.
Celebrating 25 Years!
Dear Friend,
Shalom and Happy New Year for 2020! Because the Lord is our Refuge and our Strength the future is looking bright and clear. What a privilege it is to be alive at this time, and I want to give thanks to the Lord for his faithfulness to Louise and I personally, and to the mission of Celebrate Messiah.
This year we are celebrating our 25 th Anniversary as a mission. We officially launched Celebrate Messiah on the 3 rd of February 1995 and our original mission remains the same 25 years later: Bringing the Message to the Original Messengers.
The Centurian’s Legacy – The Caulfield Messianic Centre
Dear Friend,
Shalom and blessings to you in Yeshua our Messiah. I would like to introduce you to a most exciting and strategic mission opportunity in the heart of the largest Jewish community in Australia: the building of the first purpose-built Messianic Centre in the Southern Hemisphere.
May 2019 – Executive Director’s Mission Report
Dear Friend of Celebrate Messiah,
Shalom and blessings to you. It gives me great joy to be able to give you a current snapshot of what your mission to the Jewish People is up to at this time. I was recently personally so encouraged by the reports that I received from our missionaries in the field, that I wanted to share these exciting stories with you.
January 2019 – 24 Years of Celebrate Messiah
Shalom and Happy New Year!
It is hard to believe that Your Mission to the Jewish People is entering its 24th year. Next year we will be celebrating 25 years of God’s faithfulness in providing for and using Celebrate Messiah in dedicated service to the Lord in bringing the gospel to the Jewish people.
November 2018 – Who Are The Haredim?
Shalom in the name of our Messiah Yeshua.
Louise and I had the pleasure of taking 80 fellow Aussies to Israel to join our partner Chosen People Ministries to host 600 fellow believers for a tour, a Bible conference, and a glorious celebration of Israel’s 70th anniversary. The fellowship was wonderful and so many of us had good opportunities to share the gospel with both Jewish Israelis and lots of Arab Muslims as well.
Our world is quickly moving further and further away from the Creator, and this is especially true in North America, Europe and Australia. Yet, this is not the whole story according to those who study the Jewish community.
July 2018 – Israel Turns 70
Shalom from Caulfield, in the heart of Jewish Melbourne! We are celebrating Israel’s 70th birthday this year, and Louise and I have just returned from a month of ministry in the Land. The State of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, and Australia was among the first countries to formally recognise the ‘new’ state, on 27 January 1949.
Justifying Australia’s position, Foreign Minister Evatt stated: Australia’s decision to give recognition to the Government of Israel was as inevitable as it was just… Australia’s one objective was to reach a fair and just solution, and I believe that objective has now been satisfactorily reached.
May 2018 – Responding to God’s Good Gifts
Shalom and blessings to you in Yeshua our Messiah. As we come to celebrate the Feast of Shavuot, also known as Pentecost in the New Testament, on Sunday 20th of May this year, I am so grateful to God for his good gifts to us through faith in Yeshua our Messiah.
At this Appointed Time we give thanks to God for two most amazing gifts in particular: the gifts of his Word and of his Spirit.
March 2018 – Did Jesus Celebrate Passover?
We are approaching the Passover/Easter season and I pray this will be a spiritually enriching time for you and your family. Hundreds of Jewish people – both believers in Jesus and seekers – will be attending Chosen People Ministries’ Passover events around the globe.
Your Mission to the Jewish People has produced two new books, which are now available. Both books cover similar material, but the longer book, Messiah in the Passover, goes into greater depth regarding Passover in the Bible, Jewish history, and even Church history. The Gospel in the Passover focuses on the way in which Jesus fulfills the festival.
January 2018 – To the Jew First?
Shalom and a happy start to 2018 to you! I pray you have had a great time of rejoicing with your family and friends over this holiday season as you reflect on all the great things God has done.
I am sure you would agree that salvation is our greatest joy. I ask myself sometimes, “Where would I be today without Yeshua?” All I can say is that as a Jewish young man, I was headed for an early grave and an eternity without the Lord. But, thankfully, God gave His Son as a perfect sacrifice for our sin. Now my life and yours are filled with goodness, love, peace, and more joy than we could ever deserve.
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