Beit Simcha (“House of Joy”) Newsletter |
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When Yeshua went from town to town in the land, his theme was the good news of the kingdom. He not only told people about it, he brought it to them, up close and personal, radically transforming their lives. It was exciting stuff: demons shrieked, dead people woke up, lame people walked, crowds grew, powerful people started getting curious and worried.
Pretty soon, Yeshua had to send out his associates to announce the good news of the kingdom. It was heady stuff, but there weren’t enough laborers to bring it all in. So he prayed for more laborers, folks willing to put everything else down for a while and proclaim the good news of the kingdom.
The kingdom is near! Take a look at the full slate of special events we have planned, below. So many gifted teachers and marvelous musicians, joyful festivals and special goings-on! Surely we all have been given opportunities to proclaim the good news of the kingdom. Surely it is time to invite others to come to the banquet of Messiah. Surely it is time to pray for the laborers to bring in the harvest.
Beit Simcha is preparing for a harvest! Through recent sermons and a leadership retreat, we have clarified ministry roles, fleshed out a ten point plan of discipleship (see the sermon outlining this plan), and practiced sharing short testimonies, explaining the good news, and sealing the deal in prayer.
How about you, gentle reader? Are you preparing for the day of Messiah? Here's what you can do: 1) believe the good news, 2) pray, and 3) invite.
The good news is this: 1) God loves you and has an ultimate purpose for your life. 2) Without God, you are lost, without ultimate purpose, because sin separates you from God. (If you aren't sure about sin, check out the ten commandments—starting with last one. Have you ever coveted? If you know, how much more so does God know your heart?) 3) God came into the world as the sacrifice lamb of God, to pay the penalty of your sin. 4) If you put your trust in Yeshua as Messiah, you will find eternal life and your ultimate purpose: to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength.
Do you believe the good news in your heart? If you aren't sure, you can pray about it right now. Or you can contact us or visit us and we will pray with you.
Then you can pray with
us. Yeshua said (Matt 5:38),
"The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will
send out workers to gather in his harvest." Pray for the harvest and pray
for the workers. As we approach
Purim, pray and fast for
Then you can invite. Matt 22:3 says, “He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come.” If you are a follower of Yeshua, then you are a servant, bidden to invite others to the banquet. Check out all the invitation opportunities in this newsletter! Sometimes we need to be persistent. Many will refuse to come. That’s their choice. In that case, Matt 22:9 says, “Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” Just keep on inviting. Passover is around the corner and we can handle 210 people. And that’s just the first night of Passover. We’re going to open our homes the rest of the week! And there’s an even larger banquet coming: the wedding of the Lamb! For that one, capacity is unlimited!
In our Shabbat service, we sang “The King of Glory comes—Open the Gates!” After the singing, Ivy said that the King was in our midst and we just needed to open our eyes (ourselves) to see him. While Ivy was speaking, Conni saw a picture of the gates, but they were glued shut. The glue was a complaining spirit. The antidote to the complaining spirit which will allow the gates to open is a spirit of praise. Let us truly open the gates to the King of Glory!
As Purim approaches, when we rejoice in deliverance
from wicked Haman’s plot to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire, we
need to be aware that the current Iranian President Ahmadinejad denies
the holocaust and threatens
Our uproarious Purim “spiel” (skit) and carnival is March 3 at Wellspring (see the web site for directions). Come with friends and boo Haman and eat hamantaschen and snow cones and play games at our carnival.
Dr
Jeffrey Seif, Zola Levitt’s successor in the popular teaching ministry on
television, will visit Beth El Gibor and Beit Simcha. On March
9, 7:30PM at Beth El Gibor, Dr. Seif will speak on the role of Messianic
Judaism in the wider body of Messiah. On March 10, 10AM at Beit Simcha,
he will explore the
Ted Pearce brings a freshness and passion with music that appeals to all
ages. Featured in a new
“Lamb” album, Ted has a solo album “Zealous over
Pioneer
of the Messianic Jewish movement, author of Jewish Roots,
As
a remembrance for the release of the children of
Lura and Eddie from
Living
in
Tikkun Family “Advance”
An awesome retreat, featuring
dynamite teachers Asher Interater and Eitan Shiskoff from
If
you struggle with finances, you can benefit from a study of what the Bible
teaches about being good stewards of the resources He has given us. Get your house in order! Mark Floyd of Crown Financial
Ministries has adapted this class for us. Where: Beit Tefilah, the home of
Scott and Anita Smith,
In the past year, Beit Simcha has nominated and confirmed eleven shamashim (a.k.a. deacons or servant-leaders): Aaron and Susanita Levy, Art and Nessa Miekowski, Barbara Sitler, Stephen and Tracy Abush, Richard and Sandra Gangawere, and Scott and Anita Smith. Pray for our leaders!
Beth El Gibor, our daughter
congregation in
Elijah Powell, the adorable son of Lawrence and Heather Powell, had his brit ger (circumcision for a gentile boy whose family sojourns in commitment to the God of Israel).
Sarah and Matthew, foster children of Aaron and Susanita Levy, have been declared available for adoption! Pray that everything will be finalized for these wonderful children without further delay or difficulty.
Joni Cordero and Alfredo Caraballo are engaged, working through pre-marital counseling, and planning a wedding at Beit Simcha in April. Mazel tov!
David and April Krasner joined us a members of the congregation. Our Poconos contingent is growing and the Poconos havurah group is a vibrant mishpochah.
Please pray for Daniel
Basrawi and his family—Danny will be in
Glenn and Pamela will visit
Scott, Kimberly and Austin Breed n March. After checking out
Rabbi Glenn is a
member of Tikkun’s Advisory Board, for a year. Among other things, he plans to
contributes to the new Tikkun