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It is so good to be back here at Calvary and I love coming here. So, thank you so much, Pastor Dave, for having me often.
Um, I pray for Calvary and being your missionaries. And I know that uh so many times that people come up to me and say, “Hey, we’re praying for you.” Well, I wanted you to know that I’m also praying for you guys. So, it’s mutual and it’s such a honor and a privilege to be um your extension, your missionaries to um to our Jewish people. Um also, I got to say that um it doesn’t always happen, but hopefully now it will happen more often. Um I have um my better half, my wife Dena is back there. Dina, why won’t you stand up and just wave for a second?
Dena is there. She has come with me a few times. Um, but she doesn’t always get a chance to travel with me. But now that our kids are all grown up and we just um sent our youngest to college, he just started off as a freshman. Um, now um Lord willing, Dina will be able to travel more with me. So um that’s always great. So, um, as we’re thinking about, um, what’s happening in the in the world and in the Jewish world, I want to share with you, um, for the Sunday school hour. Um, I want you to see how God is on the move among Jewish people. Okay?
But to set the scene, this is Sunday school and we’re a Bible church, right?
We love the Bible. So, if you got your Bibles, open up your Bibles real quick, and I’m going to read to us um a few verses. Um I am confident that you are familiar with those um verses. Now, Pastor Dave gave me a heads up and he told me that we’re going to have some younger folks with us here at Sunday school.
So, for all you um young folks, let me just say that this is an amazing verse for you to memorize. And maybe you’ve already memorized it. I don’t know. I’m not sure what the Sunday school curriculum is here at Calvary, but this is definitely one of those verses that you want to memorize. Okay, so are you ready for this? Okay, we’re going to be in Romans. Okay, I’m going to read to us two quick verses. Romans 1 verse 16 and 17. Okay, in verse 16, kids, that’s the one that I want to challenge you to memorize. Okay. So, Romans 1:16, for I’m not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. Amen.
Amen.
So why did I bring up this verse? Well, Jews for Jesus, the ministry that Dina and I have the privilege of serving, the privilege of serving with is a ministry that’s committed to relentlessly pursue God’s plan for the salvation of Israel, the salvation of the Jewish people. And I want to make sure we all understand this. God’s plan of salvation for the Jewish people is exactly the same plan of salvation that God has for all people. As we just saw in Romans 1:16, the apostle says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel.” Paul, why are you not ashamed? Well, because it’s the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
This gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, anybody who believes in him. And just in case there is any doubt, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, both Jewish people and non-Jewish people need the gospel to be saved. And and it’s important for all of us to understand that because there are some people who think that Jewish people have another way of being saved. And of course we reject that we say no it’s only through the faith in the Messiah of Israel, the Messiah Jesus. And our ministry is all about we want to see of course all people come to faith in the Messiah of Israel and the Messiah Jesus.
But our focus in Jews for Jesus is to reach out to Jewish people. And as you know there are Jewish people all over the world. So Jews for Jesus we have branches and offices and missionaries. I mean all those cities that you could that you see on the screen um in most major um cities um on the globe with a large Jewish population. We have a team um in that city. And of course, we should mention that um we all live in a pretty Jewish area, right? I mean, how many of you here know um Jewish people, right? It’s pretty much all of you. Why?
Because you know, New York, greater New York City area is home to the largest Jewish population in the United States of America. Okay? So, I believe that God has placed you here. am living here in this part of the country for a very strategic reason and that is so that you could be a light to the people around you and in our case it happens to be Jewish people among other people but like you like you’ve raised your hands so many of us know Jewish people and they need Jesus just like everybody else now in In case you haven’t noticed, and I’m sure you have, the world has kind of gone crazy on us a little bit, right?
And I want to say that and what I want to show you is that through all the different challenges and difficulties and that Jewish people has have faced and we’ll talk more specifically. I hope that you will see how much God is on the move right now among our Jewish people more than I’ve ever seen before. Let me show you.
So first of all um for the past eight months if you look at um January 1st to the end of August right so for the first eight months of 2025 we have seen 133 Jewish people come to faith in the Messiah of Israel through our ministry Jews for Jesus. Okay. Now, maybe you’re sitting there and you’re saying, “Well, 133, that’s not very impressive, you know, but please remember this is Jewish people, okay?
Jewish evangelism is is difficult. You know, most Jewish people aren’t open to the gospel. It’s a it’s a it’s an unreached people group. So, for us to see 133 salvations in eight months is amazing.” Now just to compare it um in the first eight months of 2024 we saw 98 Jewish people Jewish salvations in Jesus. And at that moment after the first eight months of of 24 I’ll admit it I was I was very happy. I was very impressed. I was like wow God is doing something special. But I also thought to myself, man, now we’re going to see a little bit of a decline because and you know, and we’ll talk more about it, but in October 7th, 2023, the war started in Israel, right? And and as part of that war, especially the first parts of 2024, we saw a lot of people coming to faith. But I thought that that was it, you know. So now in 2025, seeing that number rise, um, we’re really encouraged and we’re asking ourselves, wow, maybe God is is about to do something even greater. You know, we don’t use the R word lightly, but maybe maybe God will start a revival. You know, we want to be very careful when we use that word. But hey, God can do it like he did in Acts chapter 2, right?
where in one day 3,000 Jewish people came to faith. So we’re saying, “Wow, maybe maybe this will happen.” So this is some of the numbers for the first eight months. You see it on the screen.
Over 2500 new Jewish contacts, over 21,000 gospel centered conversation with Jewish people all across the the the globe. And that’s just in the first eight months of this year. So, we’re so thankful um to our gracious, awesome God for over 42,000 um total ministry engagements around the world um with um with Jewish people just since um January 1st. So, um we’re very grateful to God. And of course, um a lot of this happens um for ministry in Israel. Now you know both Dina and I and lived we lived with our kids and in Israel for over 20 years just in the past five years we moved um to the states. So most of our time in ministry has been in Israel and I know how much um Israel is near and dear to your heart and we have now seen um almost two years of war um in Israel and October 7th is approaching and that would be the two-year mark and since the beginning of the war in Israel and with all the challenges and pain and suffer suffering. I’m here to stand and to testify that through all of this, we have seen God do some amazing things and I hope um to show you some of it. So um let me begin by showing you this video that our CEO Aaron Abramson um took um just following the 12-day war that um we had with Iran. So watch I’m standing in the heart of Tel Aviv and right behind me you can see the effects of a direct missile hit.
Hundreds of families, Israeli homes have been destroyed and families have been displaced. You know, the Bible never tells us that this world was going to be easy. In fact, it tells us to expect the opposite. That the nations will rage and wars will unfold. We can’t control the chaos, but we can respond in faith.
That’s what we’re doing in Israel right now. Missiles from Iran have shattered lives. Homes have been destroyed and fear is tangible. Amidst it all, Jews for Jesus missionaries on the ground continue to serve, bringing practical help, heartfelt prayer, and gospel truth to those who need it most. We’re working alongside local ministry partners to deliver care packages of necessities for families who have lost everything. And you can help. You can equip missionaries to be present in moments of crisis and to offer spiritual care to those immobilized by fear and grief. Now is our time to act in faith. Together we can carry the message of hope that never fails.
So during the um and following um the Iran war, we saw um such a response to to the gospel to um to bringing in and we’re continuing to see that as the situation in Israel continues to be very challenging and and very uh very difficult. So um the war in Gaza continues and as the nation of Israel and people are feeling more and more frustrated and and more and more discourage and mainly more and more lacking hopelessness in Israel right now is so um so you can it’s almost like you can feel it in the hair in the air you know that’s that’s the one thing that that the people are expressing. more and more and of course in Jesus we have the hope. Amen. We have the hope of the gospel. So as we have gone out and and as you saw in the videos loved and served Jewish people in Israel seen such openness um like we’ve never seen before. So we’re very encouraged about what God is doing in Israel. Now coupled with that hopelessness, there is still um an unreachedness. People in Israel um are still mostly unreached and unengaged with the gospel. So maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait a second, I thought that Jewish people were the people of the book. I thought that Jewish people and people in Israel knew the Bible.” Well, let me show you this and um tell me what you think about um Jewish people’s knowledge of the scriptures, even the Old Testament.
Okay, watch.
But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him. And by his wounds, we are healed.
New Testament.
New Testament. New Testament. What makes you think it’s from the New Testament?
Like Jesus was like we we put our sins on him. That’s what they say, right? So, I feel like that’s more of what it’s coming at in the Old Testament. It’s like we don’t put it on Jesus. We take it for ourselves.
So, what So this is phrased from the prophet Isaiah 700 years before Jesus was born.
So it’s from the Tan. It’s from the Old Testament.
Wow.
By accident. Sorry. Wow. Amazing, huh?
Um hopefully somebody um well I’m pretty confident that somebody who goes to Sunday school here at Calvary knows that you know Isaiah 53 is in the Old Testament, right? I mean it’s basic Bible knowledge. And please note that in that video the ones that we interviewed weren’t even secular Jews. They were all the ultraorththodox Jews. You saw the guy with the black with the with the big hat and and all the those youth with like their head covered, whatever. Those are all ultraorththodox Jews. Okay? And I love showing this video to to show you the point that Jewish people, even the rabbis, even the ultraorththodox Jews do not know the Bible because that’s not what they study, right? They study the Talmud and some rabbitical writings and so on.
By the way, if you like this video and you want to watch more videos like that, you can just um take out your phones and just uh scan the QR code and that will get you to our So Be It YouTube channel, the Jews for Jesus YouTube channel called So Be It. You can subscribe. You can see a lot more videos um like that one where where where that those videos will help you to kind of understand.
They’re all done on the streets of of of Israel, different interviews. We also have their different testimonies of some Jewish people who’ve come to faith um in Jesus. But anyway, you can check it out.
But my point is that together with that hopelessness and that real um openness to the gospel that we’re seeing, we’re still battling this um you know unreached, unengaged people group. So obviously there’s a lot of teaching and a lot of um a lot of instructions that that that we need to do um you know um even some basic Bible knowledge that they don’t know. So our ministry in Israel is growing. You know, um when we started Jews for Jesus in Israel, we started um in the city of Tel Aviv. Um which is kind of like the the um the secular hub, you know, um where, you know, people say, “Hey, in Tel Aviv they party, in Jerusalem they pray.” Right?
So that’s where we started Jews for Jesus. But we’ve always wanted to expand and to grow our reach in Israel and so be it. And online you can see there some of the numbers um you know globally but that’s obviously um just an instrument right that that that that you’re able to grow and develop your reach. And as we’ve seen um our reach in Israel grow um we knew that it was time for us to branch out and and and and to move um not just in Tel Aviv but to other places as well. And what we’ve done in Israel is that we have established faith communities. Faith communities are basically third spaces um places where people can come in and can be engaged with the gospel. Now, if I would take Calvary Community Church, this building, even with all of you lovely people here, and if we were able to just take this whole building and transport it to any city in Israel, it could be Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Kyifa, wherever, right? And then we would say, “Hey, come worship with us um on Sunday morning.” I know all of you would show up, but no Israeli would most likely show up. And you say, ‘Of course they won’t. That’s because we have our services in English. Well, that’s true, maybe. But even if you would have them in Hebrew, nobody would show up because church culture and even worship cultures don’t really exist in Israel. Okay? um not on Sundays and not on Saturdays either. You know, the ultraorththodox Jews, maybe they go to the synagogues, but that’s only about 10% 7% of the population in Israel. Most Israelis secular do not have any, you know, any culture, any understanding of going to worship on the weekend, going to to uh to a church or to a synagogue or anything like that.
So, we wanted to create places that people would feel um would would would naturally come to.
Well, in Israel, just like in this country, there’s a big cafe culture, right? How many of you here love coffee?
I love coffee. You know, cafes are a great way to engage secular culture with the gospel. And that’s what we’ve seen.
And we’ve seen a great success in planting some cafes in Tel Aviv. And we have two right now. And what happens in those cafes, it’s not just about serving people a great coffee, but it’s actually an opportunity to create an eklesia, to create a community, community of faith. So as people start coming in, they notice that we have different events that happened um outside um and during um cafe open hours. What could those events be? Well, they could be lectures. They could be um knitting clubs, book clubs, public reading of scripture, different events for the community. And as people walk in and get their coffee in the morning or whatever, and as they do that regularly, they kind of say, “Oh, wow. I would like to check this out or check this out or check out this art exhibit that we would host or this lecture that we would host that would be relevant to the community.” And through that we we built community and engage people with the gospel. And this has been so successful for us in our cafe kibbuts that were able to actually plant a church right there in that coffee shop. It’s called um House of Prayer in Florentine.
Florentine is the name of the neighborhood in Tel Aviv in downtown Tel Aviv where this cafe is is is established and um we’ve seen people coming to faith being baptized and making disciples and it’s very exciting.
So we think that that’s a great model for us to do all across the country.
And so we said, “Hey, we need to be in Jerusalem, right? Jerusalem, the epicenter, the the the you know, it’s kind of like the if anybody think of of of Jewish cities and Jewish I mean Jerusalem, it’s the heart, right? Our nation capital, of course, and the city that’s mentioned mo most in our Bibles, right? You know all the history of Jerusalem. and we went there and we started a pottery studio to be that third space and to be an engagement um center. And we were praying and wanting God to open up a door for us to be able to have a building in Jerusalem.
So, let me show you what God did.
God’s answered our prayers. Aaron Abramson, CEO of Jews for Jesus. Behind me is our brand new building in Jerusalem. We are right in the center of one of the largest Jewish populations in the world. Right outside beyond these little corridors here is the market, the central market in Jerusalem, the main thoroughare. Millions and millions of Jewish people cross paths right here every year. We’re so excited because we’ve been praying that God would find a location for us, a building. As you guys know, we’ve had challenges here in Jerusalem. Jews for Jesus, it’s controversial. And yet, we want the gospel to be proclaimed here in Jerusalem. And that’s why we’ve been looking for a building. And you’ve been praying with us. I just want to say thank you for praying because when you pray, God provides. We’re going to be dreaming together about how to use this space right here. Please continue to pray for Jews for Jesus during this time. And pray for us as we move in, as we begin to figure out how to use this new space. And as we envision what God is going to do through Jews for Jesus here in Jerusalem in these coming years.
God bless you.
Yeah. Praise God. We have that building and we are starting to we’ve started to renovate it and we’re going to launch a coffee shop there as well. There’s a second floor with kind of like a multi-purpose space and we’re still kind of am thinking about and praying about what God would have us do. But we’re so grateful that um that we have that building and it’s not too far from our pottery studio as well and we’re just so grateful to God for providing this space for us. So if you want to learn a little bit more about how we’re building gospel communities in Israel, um I have them on my resource um table just in the back of the sanctuary and there there is this pamphlet called building gospel community in in Israel. Um it’s free so please pick one up. It has more information here for you and you can read more about um our gospel communities in Israel. So um you can check it out. Um but we’re really excited about what God is doing in Israel. He’s continuing to grow our work there and um we’re seeing more and more Israelis and Jewish people coming to faith. So despite the challenges of the war and the heartbreak that it is and it has been for Jewish people in Israel, but really for Jewish people all over the world, um you know, we’re seeing God on the move and we’re seeing God doing some incredible things in Israel. So let’s continue to pray. Yes, we want to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Yes, we want to pray for an end to this war and the pain and suffering. But we also want to continue to pray for God to move in the midst of those um of these challenging times um where so many of the people of Israel of the Jewish people in Israel are open to the gospel.
So let’s continue to pray for Israel.
Now from the war in Israel that’s been happening um for about two years and I want to move us to Ukraine. Ukraine. The war in Ukraine has now been happening for over three years.
Three years since Russia invaded Ukraine. Now in Ukraine there’s a large Jewish population mainly in two main cities, Odessa and Kiev. Okay, Odessa and Kiev. And we have teams in both missionary teams in both cities.
And the pain and suffering and devastation that’s been happening there is even greater than the one that we see in Israel. It’s really heartbreaking.
And unfortunately, um, we don’t hear about it much in the news. I mean, when is the last time that you’ve heard anything in the news about the war in Ukraine?
It’s been a while. It’s been a while.
for whatever reason. Um, we hear a lot about Israel and what’s happening there in the UN and all that stuff. But Ukraine, where this war continues and endless bombings in those cities in Ukraine just continue and nobody nobody reports on it. But we know that it’s not because we don’t care about it and about the people there.
I know that you do. I certainly do. Um and our um staff in Ukraine needs our prayer.
You know, um even though the the war has um has been going for three years, I am so proud and amazed by our teams of missionaries in Ukraine today. They continue to love and serve. They continue to bring food, medicine, and mainly the word of God to all those people who are in such a need for um for the gospel and for hope. Um so what have our staff been? Well, first of all, they have um they have basically joined the the chaplain core um for the Ukrainian military. And the reason why they did that is because that really gives them legitimacy and opens up doors for them to be able to travel throughout the country freely and to be able to go into hospitals and be able to go and um and minister. So um they do that on a regular basis.
um ministering to soldiers um ministering in hospitals um and um and that’s been um been a very effective way. Um on the left you see the head of our um Kiev branch um brother Tollik and of course he’s there at the hospital ministering to um to a wounded soldier um who lost his legs in the fighting.
want you to continue to pray for our um staff and teams in Ukraine. Um the the situation there continues to be very very dire and just the other day there was a massive bombings again in Kiev and especially pray for the families for the kids. Um, praise God. None have been um wounded or injured, but uh we do coveret your prayers for our um teams in Ukraine.
And with that, I also have to say that we also have a team in Moscow, you know, and our team in Moscow um they don’t support the war. Most of the church there do not support Putin and and what what he’s been doing. In fact, the church, including our staff, wrote a letter um requesting that uh Putin and the and the government um you know, stops this war. Um so they live in a in a situation where it’s very challenging for them as well. You know, the government is cracking down um less and less um accessibility to Russia and we’re facing some of those challenges.
Um, even for them to go on our email server, you know, Outlook and to be able to check emails is becoming a challenge because the government, the Russian government is is shutting down anything that that that connects Russia to the West, especially to the United States.
So, we would um coveret your prayers as well for our staff in Moscow. And many times they feel kind of like people forget about them and don’t care about them. um which of course we want to um encourage them and say no we we love you and we we know that um that you guys are on the front lines as well. So let’s pray for the church in Russia as well.
So I’ll move us to Paris.
Paris France.
And when you think of Paris I don’t know what comes to your mind. Maybe it’s the tour and you know the Eiffel Tower and Shanz de Liz and just this romantic beautiful city of lights and it certainly is all of that. But let me just say that Paris is one of the cities where the Jewish people have experienced the most anti-semitism out of any city in the world. Um, you know, you probably have heard of some of the anti-semitics attacks on college campuses, New York City, Colombia.
That’s nothing compared to what we have experienced in Paris. By we, I mean the Jewish community, including the Jews for Jesus office. the Jews for Jesus office um was was graffitied with a with an anti-semitic um graffiti um a few months ago and there continues to be such a a rise in anti-semitism in Paris.
But God is doing some amazing things among the Jewish people. We have continued to build relationships with the Jewish um community in Paris, in France. And as anti-semitism continue to rise, the door has opened up for us, even as Jews for Jesus, even as Messianic Jews, to minister um at a local synagogue in um in Paris. And that’s amazing. That’s amazing because since the book of Acts, we haven’t seen Jewish believers being welcomed in a synagogue and allowed to to openly express our faith in the Messiah of Israel, the Messiah, Jesus. So, that’s very um very encouraging for us. And um we’ve really um had the opportunity and God has been able to use us as Messianic Jews, as Jews for Jesus, as a catalyst to bring together the evangelical Christian community together with the Jewish community, showing support and and and enabling us to um speak as evangelical Christians against anti-semitism, which has really um won the hearts of the Jewish community. Now, the evangelical Christian community in Paris is very small. There aren’t that many believers in Paris. I think it’s somewhere along 1%, maybe 2%.
But the fact that the evangelical association in Paris and in France have spoken so boldly and so clearly against anti-semitism has really built a a very great bridge with the Jewish community.
So, um, we’re continuing to to catalyze on that and, um, sharing the gospel through that, including holding events with Holocaust survivors, um, to combat, um, anti-semitism.
And, um, through it, we’ve seen some transformed lives. And I want to share with you this story about Caleb. Caleb is actually from Israel. He is um, originally from Israel. He was born in Israel, but when he was pretty young, he moved with his family to Paris, France.
And he speaks very little Hebrew because most of his life he grew up in Paris.
Secular Jewish family and completely secular. And after high school and while attending university, he fell in love with a Muslim girl. Okay. to the extent that he and her that they moved in together living together and you know he’s secular Israeli so he doesn’t care much he’s a Muslim with a devout Muslim um family but then October 7th happens okay and when October 7th happens that does something um in Caleb’s um heart, you know, on the inside.
And after October 7th, that followed a wave of anti-semitic attacks all over Paris. And a lot of them and a lot of demonstrations were done, of course, by the large Muslim community there. So all those things are are, you know, in his life, he’s like, I’m I’m living here with the Muslim, but I’m Jewish. you know, he’s got all these doubts and all these questions. So, you know what he does?
He does what anybody pretty much does these days. He goes on Google, right? He goes online. When he goes online providentially and he runs into Jews for Jesus and he’s really surprised to find out that Jews for Jesus has an office right there in downtown Paris, not too far from he from where he lives. So he decides to come and visit our Jews for Jesus office. And when he when he when he enters our Jews for Jesus office, he meets um the guy on the left, Joshua. The guy in the center there is Caleb. By the way, the the young girl there on the right of Caleb is Elevia. That’s Joshua’s youngest daughter. Okay. So anyway, so Caleb meets Joshua and um you know, Caleb is got a lot of question. Jews for Jesus, what’s that all about? So, and Joshua starts studying the Bible with Caleb.
And praise God, after a few of those sessions and meetings, Caleb comes to faith in the Messiah of Israel comes to faith in Jesus. And he’s growing in his faith. You could see his baptism. A picture there, the smaller picture.
And as God is working in his life, Caleb is convicted and he recognizes that he’s living in um in an ungodly relationship, you know. So he moves out um and his girlfriend of course is very confused, not really understanding. So he moves out. But Caleb has such a heart and such a passion and a call on his life. You know what he does? He starts sharing the gospel with his girlfriend.
to the extent that he’s also because he’s already got relationship with her family and whatever and now he’s invited to family events and all he does in all those events he’s just sharing the gospel and preaches the gospel to them and I love this story and I chose to share this story with you just so that you could see what God is doing. God is now using October 7th and the rise of anti-semitism to bringing this Jewish person to faith in the Messiah of Israel, the Messiah Jesus, so that that Jewish person could share the gospel with Muslims. Isn’t that awesome? Praise God.
You know, from the beginning of of of time, you know, God called the Jewish people to be light to be a light to the nations.
And I’m so proud of Caleb. I just got to recently spend some time with him in Paris, France. I was there last um a few weeks back. And um he’s doing great and I’m so proud of what God is doing in his life.
So all of this to say and before I I I before I conclude and and turn it over to you for some questions and I want to invite you, you know, God has placed you here um at this time in this location um for such a time as this. You know, Jewish people are now um maybe afraid, maybe frustrated, maybe feel hopeless.
Um, but God has placed you and he’s placed Calvary here for such a time as this. So, I want to share with you a few resources and invite you to come and get involved with us. So, first of all, we have I have this pamphlet, free pamphlet on our table in the back. Get involved with us with Jews for Jesus and you can read all about it. See what you could do. We also have a Jewish evangelism classroom for free online for you if you want to learn more. So you can check this out. And also I have some of these pamphlets that you can give to your Jewish friends. Four reasons for Jewish faith in Jesus. And I’ve got plenty. So take as many of those as you want. Give these to your Jewish friends. And this is for you. A short pamphlet, how to share Jesus with your Jewish friends. So these are some resources um for you to check out. I want to invite you to um connect with us and partner with us. Um we are so um privileged to be your missionaries to the Jewish people. Um this is our family. Dina is here with me. We’ve got our three children in between us. And Yael is our oldest starter next to my wife Dina. Yav in the middle. He’s our freshman that just started a college. And then next to me is Eton or Ethan. He’s our um 22 year old and he’s a senior at college. So that’s us. You can uh scan the QR code to connect more with us and with our ministry. Um but I’ll turn it over to you for some questions. We have uh I see now 14 minutes for some Q&A time. So, do you have any questions?
Yes. Go ahead.
Yeah, yeah, thank you. Thank you.
That’s right. Nobody’s born a disciple, a follower of Jesus. That’s right. So, um, first your question is, what does my our, um, worship, you know, rhythm looks like? So yeah, we um we now live in Wayne, New Jersey. So it’s in northern Jersey and we have a home congregation that we’re members in and that we belong to. It’s called Grace Redeemer Church.
Um of course we um you know when when the kids are home and you know we pray together before we all turn in, you know, we try to do some Bible studies together. Of course, I’ve got my own personal um Bible studies that I am that I’m that I do and that I’m a part of. Um yeah, we are so blessed. All of our children um have committed their life to the Lord. And all of them were um were baptized as well. Um, each one of them has their own unique story, but pretty much, you know, they did it as as little children because we’ve always had our kids um in church and involved in church and uh going to first of course Sunday school and and then to um youth group and so on. And um so yeah, our our youngest um is the one that’s been really um benefited a lot from um you know, when we moved to the States, he was um he was in 8th grade. So he’s really benefited a lot from our current church and from the Christian school. So he’s um this summer he actually went with with our youth group to a missions trip to Japan, you know, which he was very excited about. Um but yeah, all of our kids are um have committed their lives to the Lord and you know ups and downs and they all struggle but um but we praise God for giving them faith.
Thank you. Yes. In the back and then we’ll come. Yeah.
So, uh you talked about 133 new believers and that’s a I think that’s a great number.
What does followup look like? How do you follow up and disciple them? Yeah. So, um I forgot to say this um and I should have so let me correct that now. So, you saw the increase that we saw from 98 to 133. That’s not by the way just Jews for Jesus. If you go and you ask other ministries that engage in Jewish evangelism and other churches and congregations in Israel, you know, everybody is seeing that increase. So my point was to try to say is that hey we’re seeing a growing um number of that and followup is always um our focus you know and where in other places um it’s a lot easier for us in Israel it’s a little bit more challenging and I’ll explain so the the the model of followup with Jews for Jesus is when somebody comes to faith in Jesus um we continue to meet with them weekly you know to study with them to disciple them and to connect them to a local church body, you know, so that becomes our missionaries focus to make sure that that person is grounded and feels comfortable in a local congregation. And until we see that, we continue in that relationship.
The problem in Israel is that there aren’t enough churches. And if you come to the to the main service, you will see a video that I will show where we talk about how um there’s only one church in Israel for every 30,000 people. One church for 30,000 people. So, um you know, we want to change that and that’s part of the reason why we’re planting those faith communities and starting a a a church planting network, if you will, in Israel um today. So, um, yeah, hopefully that answers your question.
Yeah, right here.
Yeah. Um, for me to ask this question so it makes sense.
Um, got just a few notes that I was putting down so that my question will make more sense.
When we think about the Apostle Paul, Um, and the Bible records his shift of his ministry to the Gentiles. We see that in Acts. Um, I put Acts.
I can’t read the verses to you. Look them up. It’s in Acts 13, Acts 18, and Acts 22. Um, we understand that because the Jews were rejecting Paul, um, finally decided he was no longer going to focus on them but focus on the Gentiles.
So after acts we understand that the letters that we have in the New Testament the majority of them are written by Paul and because his ministry shifted from the Jews to the Gentiles.
My question is this.
I I understand our effort on our part to use our churches to um to try to bring Jews to Christ.
But if you look at Paul’s letters and how they they his shift in his ministry and his focus on the Gentiles, why would we think that um we could use that portion of the New Testament to bring um more Jews than you um said 133. I I I just don’t It seemed to me that the 3,000 that when it mentioned 30,000, it was 3,000 were talking about people that were connected to the temple.
And um Pastor Bobby’s been going over Revelation and we understand that when the false prophet comes, the temple’s going to going to be rebuilt.
It seems to me that for the Jews, for there to truly be a conversion of Jews to Christ, we need the temple to be rebuilt again. We need the Jews to be focusing once again on scriptures in the Old Testament so that their revival and their waiting for the true for the Messiah to come to from all their enemies.
So yeah, so I understand your question.
Okay, good.
I know I know you can go on, but let me just jump in. Okay, first of all, a few things. Number one, in Acts chapter 2, when the 3,000 came to faith, it wasn’t people connected with the temple. I mean, they were, but it also mentions there that there were Jewish people that were from different places. There were even Jews there from Rome who came up to the temple to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. and then they went back to Rome. So there were Jewish people, about 3,000 of them from different places.
They came to worship in the temple and then they went back. Number two, when Paul was converted before, like what you say, he made his shift, Jesus said to him, this is in Acts chapter 9 verse 16 about Paul’s conversion on the on the road to Damascus. Jesus says to him,”For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” He’s saying it to Ananas, remember the one who’s going to go. So he says to him, “For I will show and before that he says to him, go for he is a chosen. He Paul is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Jesus is saying Ananas, hey, that’s Paul’s that’s my Paul on call on on that’s my call on Paul’s life. He’s going to be an instrument to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. So that was Paul’s call from the beginning.
Sure, he would always go first to the synagogue. Sure, Jewish people would would reject him. But also many Jewish people came to faith through his ministry like Timothy and like many others that we see in the book of Acts.
Here is my point to you. Okay? It was never just reach out to Gentiles, just reach out to Jews. It was always reach out to everybody. That’s what Paul did.
That’s what we need to do. That’s why I said, “Hey, Jews for Jesus, we’re focusing on Jewish people.” But really, we want to see all people come to faith.
And I don’t share this many times, but actually we see a lot more Gentiles coming to faith through the ministry of Jews for Jesus than we’re seeing Jewish people come to faith in the ministry of Jews for Jesus. And that’s great. You know what I mean? It shouldn’t be an eitheror.
The rebuilding of the temple and what’s going to happen in the escatan and in the end of times and all that stuff.
Well, that’s going to come after some other things happen. You know what I mean? after um you know great persecution and and and and we’re seeing all throughout Jewish people who die without knowing Jesus. So is that okay?
No. We need to share the gospel with them, you know. And God uses many books of the Bible to brings Jews to him. You know, we even have the book of Hebrews as one of those epistles, you know, but you know, he even uses some of the books that and the epistles that Paul wrote, you know, in the gospels. And so, you know, we should focus on sharing the gospel with the people that God has placed around us. And in our case here in this area where we live, there are many Jewish people. So, I don’t know.
Hopefully, that answers your question.
Actually it doesn’t I I I can see my question is not being understood and it’s only because of the sake of time.
Yeah.
I can’t really formulate.
So why don’t you come and see me afterwards and we’ll talk more about it.
Yeah. Can I just say this though is that the focus of my question was on when you presented in the video that where you were talking about altered or or men that were actually considered individuals that would be considered um people that you would expect that would know the Old Testament but yet they didn’t even know that New Testament.
That’s right.
Came from the Old Testament.
So what I was basing my question on that the fact that that Jews today are less they have less understanding of the Old Testament.
Amen. That was my point as well. That’s exactly what I was trying to say in the video. That’s exactly what we’re trying to show because many people think that Jewish people know the Bible but or or or at least the Old Testament, but they really don’t. Yes.
When evangelizing do you all go about it like how Jesus went with Nicodemus because Nicodemus was a ruler and didn’t know much about what was happen. So is that the same form you all do with Jewish people not because they don’t know the scripture and dealing with them just like how Jesus dealt with.
So we you know the way that Jesus did ministry Jesus really spoke differently to different people. He spoke differently to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 versus the way that he spoke to the Samaritan lady in John chapter 4. Right?
So Jesus contextualize the gospel and we do that as well. We have many Nicodemus like conversations in the dark when we minister to ultraorththodox Jews, the rabbis, and we have a lot of ministry to them that we do. It’s it’s in the secret. It’s a different context than when we go on an NYU campus and talking to a liberal um Jewish student, you know, versus in Brooklyn with an Orthodox rabbi. So, yeah, sometimes we have a Nicodemus like conversations, but other times and probably most times not because it’s not necessary. It’s important for us to contextualize the gospel so that it responds to the need of the person that we’re ministering to.
And different people are different, you know, and different people have different needs.
Question. I’ve been hearing a lot about um the rise of Messianic Jewish temples or synagogues um specifically from groups like chosen people and thought maybe I would I don’t know much about it, but I thought I might ask you what you thought about that and what’s about.
Well, time is up, Pastor Dave. So, I’m going to ask, is that okay if this is the last question or should we go? It’s up to you. Okay, so this will be the last one. Sorry about that. I should have given you a heads up. So, Messianic congregations are um the way that I would describe them is that I would say that there are, you know, if you think about evangelical Christians, right, there are different denominations. So, you’ve got AOG, you’ve got Southern Baptist, you know, the two largest denominations. You have Calvary Chapel, whatever. Or I can go on and on with different denominations. Each denomination would have their own denomination distinctive that’s important to them that becomes probably the center focus of their worship service. Okay. Messianic congregations, their central focus is the Jewish expression of our faith.
So if you go to visit a Messianic congregation, they’re probably not going to meet on a Sunday. They’ll meet on a Saturday, on a Friday night because that is more um culturally Jewish. And you will see that they will do a lot of Jewish rituals and Jewish things. the the the the leader of the congregation won’t call himself a pastor, call himself a rabbi, and he’ll wear Yamaki, you know, and they would do that because they see that as being um the most important expression of their faith in Yeshua, Jesus’s Hebrew name, which is how they would refer to Jesus in their services.
But here is a few fun facts about Messianic congregations. First of all, most of the people who attend Messianic congregations in this country are not ethnically Jewish people. So what does that mean? Well, I am Jewish. I’m ethnically Jewish. Why? Because my parents are Jewish. The normal definition that most people would accept is they would say, “Hey, if you have one Jewish grandparent, you are Jewish.” Okay, that’s your ethnicity. Doesn’t matter what you do, what you believe in, whatever. You have one Jewish grandparent, you’re considered Jewish.
Some people would say your mother needs to be Jewish. You know, whatever. But it’s an ethnicity. You’re born with it.
You’re stuck with it. There’s nothing you can do about it, right? Well, most of the people who attend Messianic congregations are brothers and sisters.
They they believe in in Jesus. you know, you would consider them to be within the evangelical Christian orthodoxy, you know, but they are not ethnically Jewish, you know, they’re Gentiles. And some of them might say, well, I did my DNA test and I have 5% that’s Jewish or whatever, which is great. Again, it doesn’t really matter, right? As long as you believe in the Messiah of Israel, the Messiah Jesus, that’s the most important thing. So, you’re right. There are many Messianic congregations in our area, you know, and in the United States there are a lot, but in other countries there is a lot less. Okay. Hey, I wanted to leave you all with this scripture before um I end pray for us. I hope you don’t mind just to remind all of us for we are co-workers in God’s service. You are God’s field, God’s building grace.
God has given me. I laid the foundation as a wise builder and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for your love and mercy. Thank you for your grace, God. Father, thank you so much that um you are on the move um around the world, certainly among Jewish people, Lord God, and and that’s exciting for us, Lord. And we are looking forward to um to all that um that you’ll continue to do and all that you’re doing, God. And we pray Lord that you would um reveal to us and help us know how we might um partner with what you’re doing Lord God and how you may want us to be involved.
So God thank you so much for my brothers and sisters here and for this time for our time together. We pray your blessing um on the service. May all that we do bring honor and glory to you. We love you and praise you in Jesus name. Men.