Monthly Archives: December 2021

Believe and Church

We want to take a moment and examine two words, two concepts about which there seems to be some confusion in the Body today. We also always want to keep in mind that the purpose of all Scripture is to point us to The Messiah Who in turn makes the way for us to be restored to our Heavenly Father.

The Scriptures repeat over and over again the importance and necessity and preeminence of ‘believing’ in The One Who is Worthy to be believed.

“For in the volume of the Book it is written of Me.” Hebrews 10:7

“And beginning with Moses and the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27

“Yeshua said – “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; No one comes to the Father except through Me.”” John 14:6

Now, let’s begin . . .

The English word ‘believe’ appears over 170 times in the Scripture (we’re using the NKJV)  –  with at least 25 of those occurrences in the Tanakh or Old Testament. Without exception, each of those occurrences is a translation of the Hebrew word ‘aman’ (Strong’s #0539 and the source of the English word ‘amen’) which means ‘to support, confirm, be faithful to, to rely upon, to entrust.’

In the remaining 145+ appearances of ‘believe’ in the Apostolic Writings/New Testament, some are in the positive – believing – and some are in the negative or ‘not believing’. But all forms of the word stem from the same root – Strong’s #2982 – which, when simply put, means ‘persuaded’.

“For this reason I (Paul) also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have BELIEVED and am PERSUADED that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day.” (2Tim 1:12)

Belief – in both ends of The Bible – means simply what it says – ‘to be persuaded, to be faithful to, to entrust to, to rely upon’. Belief in Messiah Yeshua is the only separation between difference heaven and hell.

Now, let’s talk about the ‘church’, or ‘circus’ as some might phrase it. And yes, sometimes the congregation can look like a circus with folks singing and dancing, praising and praying, especially when The Holy Spirit chooses to move on and among the people!

But again, let’s look at the word ‘church’. There are at least two primary schools of thought as to the etymology of the word ‘church’. One trail leads backward from the old English ‘cirice’ through the German ‘kirika’ to the Greek ‘kuriake’ which means ‘of or pertaining to the Lord’ and is related to the Greek word ‘kurios’ (translated most often in the NT as Lord) and refers to ‘Master’ or ‘Him to Whom it belongs.

The other school of thought on this matter states that the word ‘church’ has it’s roots in the Anglo-Saxon ‘kirke’ which hails from the latin ‘circus’, a Romanized version of the Greek word ‘kirkos’ which simply means ‘ ring or circle’. There is evidence to support the fact that early assemblies would at times gather in a circle, much like what we see today in groups both large and small.

Both schools of thought on this matter (whether they realize it or not) seem to wind up at the same place – a circle or ring of believers that trust in The One To Whom It All Belongs.

There ARE so-called ‘congregations’ that push the limits of behavior beyond what would be considered Scripturally acceptable, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

So whether it’s ecclesia or congregation or assembly or kahal or edah or sode or church or, even at times perhaps a circus, it’s all about Him. Shabbat Shalom

Projected Feast/Holy Day dates for 2022 will posted here no later than January 15th. This information will be available on the static page in this site entitled

‘UPCOMING FEAST DATES 2022’

“and having begun from Moses, and from all the prophets, He was expounding to them in all the Writings the things about Himself.”As we read and study Scripture, we should always ask two questions – “where is Messiah Yeshua in this” and “how can I apply this to make me more like Him”.

As we continue to do the work the Creator has called us to – to prepare people and prepare for people in regards to the days in which we live and the days to come – we ask that you would consider supporting us in that work as you contemplate your end-of-year giving.

You can find all our contact information at the link listed below. Thank You.

Shalom U’Vrachot B’Shem Yeshua – Peace & Blessings in Jesus’ Name

S

And (The Comforter), when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;” (John 16:8-9)

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (Joh 3:14-18)

Then (Yeshua) said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” ²⁸ And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” ³⁰ And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (Joh 20:27-31)

 “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus the Christ, and we too have believed in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus the Christ, that we might be justified by faith in Messiah and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. (Gal 2:16)

 “In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the LORD their God. ⁵ They shall ask the way to Zion, With their faces toward it, saying,`Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD In a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten.’ ⁶ “For My people (Israel and Judah) have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place. (Jer 50:4-6)

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

“Again he said to them: “I am going away; you will look for me and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come. “” (John 8:21)

 “I have told you already: You will die in your sins. Yes, if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”  (John 8:24)

 “It is written in the prophets,`And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. (John 6:45)