50 Days of Omer

At Restoration, we have made it a priority to seek God first in prayer. During this season of counting of the Omer, we have decided to do this collectively as a congregation in the days leading up to Shavuot. Together, we want to trust in His power to impact our lives, our congregation, our city, and our world. The counting begins at sundown on Saturday, March 31 and will end at sundown on Saturday, May 19. Follow along in the News section of the Restoration app or on the Happy Rabbi blog. There will be a new post at 8pm PST each night during the 50 days.

The last 10 days we will encourage a corporate time of fasting and prayer, which starts the evening of May 9 and ends the evening of May 19. The conclusion of this season of prayer will culminate in a congregational picnic on the 50th day, the day of Shavuot - Sunday, May 20 at noon.

Last Chance for Passover Tickets

The last chance to buy tickets for our passover seder is Wednesday, April 5th. That means if you are hoping to buy them in person this Saturday (Not an April fools joke) is your last chance!

You can get your tickets online anytime until end of day on Wednesday, April 5th here: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/restoration-a-messianic-synagogue-3492160195

Or, you can call the office today (Thursday) or next week (Monday-Wednesday) and Emily Kennedy can help you purchase tickets over the phone. 

Don’t miss out and take this last opportunity to donate a ticket for someone who cannot afford to come. 

This will be the 3rd best seder of all time because the best is yet to come!

Passover Celebration (Two Nights)!

This year we are having two seders. The first is Monday, April 10 at 6:30pm. The second is Tuesday, April 11 at 6:30pm. They are the same event so choose which one you would like to attend and register! Please make sure you are on the night that you would like to register for.

Tickets are available through Eventbrite with the link at the bottom of this event post. Tickets will also be on sale at our Shabbat gatherings every Saturday until tickets are sold out.

Every year we celebrate Passover together with a full sit-down meal. We go through the order of service (Seder) and celebrate all that God has done for His people, Israel, and for everyone from every nation that calls on the name of Yeshua (Jesus).

Passover is the celebration of God freeing our people Israel from slavery in Egypt. As a Messianic Synagogue, we also celebrate the death and resurrection of Yeshua our Messiah (both events took place during Passover). There is so much to celebrate because the God of Israel is not only awesome but He is also the Only God!

So, join us this year. If you are able to buy a donation ticket for someone who cannot afford one, that would be wonderful! We do our best to keep the price low for the event so an offering box will be at the check-in table if you are able to help us meet our cost to put on these events.

This is going to be the best Passover ever! Don’t miss out on one of the best events of the year. This is a +1 event, so buy a friend a ticket and invite them to join us!

Buy tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/restoration-a-messianic-synagogue-3492160195

Passover: The Season of Our Freedom

It's about that time again.  Spring is coming.  New life springs up.  Flowers bloom. The sun shines (only for a few days in Seattle).  And Passover arrives.  It has always been my favorite time of year (except when Passover falls on my birthday and I can't have cake)!  Of course Passover is the retelling of Israel's exodus from Egypt; it is about freedom from slavery and oppression. Passover is also a reminder every year that God's promise to never leave or forsake His people, Israel, remains intact. 

One of the traditional names for Passover in the Hagaddah is z’man cheruteinu, the “season of our freedom.”  I love the word "our".  Judaism is very much about "us" not "I". It is about "we" not "me".  What God does for one, He does for all.  What God offers His people, He offers to Kalal Yisrael (all of Israel).  The focus is on the corporate experience of the people and the God we call "Our God".  Traditionally we are encouraged to treat Passover and the exodus from Egypt as our having personally been there.  For us, it is not just something that happened in the past.  But it is about freedom that we have been given and that has been experienced by "us", together.  As we left Egypt together, we also followed the very presence of God, a cloud by day and fire by night, through the wilderness, together.  

This season of freedom is a concept heard in Exodus 6:6-8 when God promises to free us from Egyptian slavery:

6 “Therefore, say to the people of Isra’el: ‘I am Adonai. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Adonai your God, who freed you from the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov — I will give it to you as your inheritance. I am Adonai.’” (CJB)

During our seder (meal/celebration) we say a blessing over four different cups (one cup, filled four times).  The four cups come from verses six and seven:

• The Cup of Sanctification – based on, “I will free you”
• The Cup of Plagues (Deliverance) - based on, “I will rescue you”
• The Cup of Redemption – based on, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm”
• The Cup of Praise – based on God’s statement, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” 

As a Messianic Rabbi and Jewish follower of Yeshua (Jesus), these four statements are seen with deeper significance in light of all that Yeshua did during Passover when He was thirty-three years old.  As an observant Jew Himself, Yeshua was in Jerusalem for Passover.  It is during this "season of our freedom" that Yeshua has a meal with His disciples (a Passover seder). He is betrayed, arrested, put on trial, sentenced, put to death, and rises from the dead.  All of this is during the preparation for and the celebration of Passover! 

Of course, none of this is a replacement of the original context of Passover; rather it is an amplification of how awesome the God of Israel is!  God is so invested in our freedom and in giving us new life that He has done everything He can to clear the way for us.  It is why God's name receives an addition following the story of Passover.  In the giving of the ten commandments at Mt Sinai (exodus 20:1), the first commandment is "I am Adonai your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery."  God freeing us from physical slavery and bondage becomes a part of His actual name.  In the rest of the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures), God refers to Himself as "The God who brought you out of the land of Egypt." What He did becomes a part of Who He is or at least how His people recognize Him.  

In the same way, John says of Yeshua, "Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes:

"6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Cor. 5:6-8, NIV)

In Yeshua, Who God is and what He has done are one in the same.  During this awesome season of freedom God has given us the opportunity to be free from sin and death itself.  And this not just for the Jewish people, but it is for everyone and anyone who calls on the name of Yeshua our Messiah.  For Yeshua, our Passover Lamb, offered Himself freely as a sacrifice so that we can live with Him forever -- even past this life on earth and into the rest of eternity.  That is a free gift that should not be passed over!

Chag Pesach Sameach! (Happy Passover!) May you come to know the One who formed you in your mother’s womb so that you could experience the freedom that only knowing Him brings!

Two Recent Articles: Passover & Grassroots

I wrote two recent articles.

The first, talks about Passover and the wonderful time of year we are approaching called "the season of freedom"!  The article was written for the MJAA (Messianic Jewish Alliance of America) website.  Click here read it.

My second article is about an event that took place in Seattle in March. The event was Grassroots. Over 80 young people from all over the country came to celebrate Yeshua and build intentional relationships.  This article was written for the website of the Messianic Times. Click here to read it.

What the Heck is an Omer and Why Count 50 Days of Them?

The Days of the Omer (omer is a biblical measurement of grain) are so awesome but so many followers of Yeshua seem unaware of this awesomeness. Perhaps they are unaware because they have never heard of the Days of the Omer. Perhaps they are unaware because they include these days in their theology that teaches these things have been replaced by something new.  Perhaps they are unaware because they have never noticed these days in their Bibles.  

The Days of the Omer are commanded in the Torah as a period of fifty days that we count between Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot (Pentecost).  In Leviticus 23:15-22 we find one of several places that give instruction for these important days.  They are a part of the harvest celebrations which include Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles in the Fall).  Each of these holidays celebrate different parts of the harvest that God has given His people.   Most followers of Yeshua have heard of Passover and have participated in some kind of Passover Seder but many have never heard of Shavuot or Sukkot.  It is an interesting phenomenon because all three are so important in Scripture.  

Often it is said that Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the most important day on the Jewish calendar but this is simply not true.  The most important day on the Jewish calendar happens to fall once a week and is called Shabbat.  Following Shabbat the three harvest festivals are the only holy days which require a visit to Jerusalem to bring an offering of thanks to the Lord.  Then comes Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur.

The importance of Pesach and Shavuot is underscored by all that God has done for His people during these days.  Pesach is all about freedom: freedom from Egypt -- freedom from sin and death.  In the Torah, the exodus of Israel from Egypt takes place during Pesach. In the New Testament, the death and resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus) takes place during Pesach. 

Following Pesach and during the counting of the Days of the Omer, there are so many wonderful events: the parting of the sea of reeds, the giving of manna from heaven and the providing of quail from the East. Yeshua appears resurrected to His disciples during these same days. He appears to Peter, Thomas, John and over 500 witnesses that saw Him alive after He was put to death (a period of forty days, Acts 1:3).  One of the most important days on the Jewish calendar (and most unrecognized) is the fortieth day of Omer. This is the day that our Messiah Yeshua ascended into heaven to take His place at the right hand of God! This is the day that Yeshua, Who humbled Himself by coming lower than the angels and in a human body, takes His sacrifice to the real Holy of Holies. The real Holy of Holies that the Tabernacle and Temple were only copies or "shadows" of.  This is the day that Yeshua took His place as victor over sin and death, as King of Kings and as Lord of Lords.  The fortieth day of Omer is an awesome day!

All through the fifty days of Omer all of Judaism prepares itself for the receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai on Shavuot.  As a Messianic community we are also preparing for the receiving of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) given on the very same day, Shavuot, as recorded in Acts 2. What is typically understood as the start of the "church" is actually a bunch of Jewish people following the commandment to be in Jerusalem to bring free will offerings to the Temple on Shavuot thanking God for all that He has done! 

When I have attended churches and listen to Pastors preach through podcasts, so many say things like "we need to focus on Jesus" and "we need to be more like Jesus".  It seems to me that the fastest way to be like Jesus is to do what He did: to not ignore these days but celebrate them just like He did; to recognize all the awesome things God has done during these important days because He wants relationship with us and to give Him the glory that only He deserves because He is awesome!

There is no greater time on the calendar to celebrate all that God has done for His people than during Pesach, the fifty days of Omer, and Shavuot! These days are awesome because the God of Israel is awesome.  These days are awesome because we need reminders in our lives that there is no one as awesome as our God!  These days are awesome because they remind us of the awesomeness of Who God is and the awesomeness of all that He has done for those who call on His name!


For more on Shavuot read: Why I Don't Eat Dairy on Shavuot!

Will and Kate

Just Kidding.  This is not really about Will and Kate although I did enjoy their wedding (even dvr'd it so we could watch it later).  The Gospel was certainly preached and apparently around 2 billion people saw and heard.  That's pretty cool!

We are in the days of the counting of the Omer (Day 11, 12 at sundown if your keeping track).  Leviticus 23 tells us to count the fifty days that fall between Pesach and Shavuot.  During Passover we had three services and a seder in one week.  A week later I am still pretty tired.  Don't get me wrong, I love Passover and it makes me sad every year that so many Jewish people (and the rest of the world) are aware of Passover but so many have never even heard about the 50 days or Shavuot (aka Pentecost).

Together these three events on the Jewish calendar are called the season of freedom.  The God of Israel accomplished many things during this season.  At Passover God gave us freedom from slavery in Egypt and freedom from sin and death with the death and resurrection of Yeshua.  During the days of Omer we traveled from Egypt to Sinai in fifty days and Yeshua appeared resurrected to His disciples for the first forty and ascended into heaven.  On Shavuot God gave us the Torah and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) many years apart but on the same day.  Awesome!  These are the best fifty days on the Jewish calendar!

These are such amazing days for Israel, the nations and for all of creation.  The God who created us set these events in motion to call us to remember that not only is He real but He is intimately involved in His creation.

So much attention for a really great wedding and a reminder in that wedding of all that God has done for you and me!  Embrace the season of freedom and the one, Yeshua your Messiah, who has set you free for freedom (Galatians 5).

Facebook & self-loathing

my birthday I kept checking my facebook all morning to see if anyone had said "happy birthday" to me.  I was severely disappointed to find that no one did all day.  I began thinking to myself, "did I do something wrong?  I try to say happy birthday to everyone, but maybe no one cares."  Then, I realized that my birthday was not viewable on my profile.  About an hour after I made my birthday viewable about 30 people wrote on my wall, and by the end of the day it was around 90.

Isn't funny how fast we go into self loathing?  I say "we" because I think you do, too.  We are so wrapped up in how much other people respond to us that when they don't we get sad.  I know, some of you are way above these problems, but for the rest of us we need to learn that our self-worth should be rooted in God's love for us and how He views us.
Peter wrote:

"But you are a chosen people, the King’s cohanim, a holy nation, a people for God to possess! Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; before, you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:19-20).

 we approach Pesach this week remember that the God that freed us from Egypt has made a way for you  into His presence through the blood of our Pesach lamb, Yeshua our Messiah.  Don't worry about people and what they think about you, or if they remember you.  Know that the God of all creation has great plans for you and loves you with an incomparable love!

Chag Sameach!

Moving passover

This is the second time we have moved during Passover in the last two years. It makes for a very crazy two weeks. We move this Wednesday (into Seattle proper! what?! what?!) and then a few days later come all of the Passover festivities. And we have a lot. Shabbat service (16th). First day service (19th). Seder (21st). Shabbat service (23rd). Last day service (25th). Board Meeting (27th). Shabbat service (30th). Yikes! (Want to join us? Check out www.beitmessiah.com!)

Moving is stressful, especially at such an important and busy time of year. At the same time it is a great reminder of the first Passover. They must have been stressed out! Pharaoh said they could leave ten times and changed his mind ten times. We have had time to prepare and pack. The children of Israel were packed for a long time and ready to go for a long time. When the time came they ran. Pharaoh followed. What a stressful time. Plus, they didn't even know where they were moving (and definitely did not realize they would walk in circles for forty years).

So, is moving stressful? Yes! But there is also excitement for new things (some of which we are entirely unaware). The trick it seems is trusting that God has good plans for us. And God has a good plan for you!

Trust.

Don't stress.

The Creator of the universe has got your back.

But He also wants your trust. And if you put your trust in Him, He will never leave you or forsake you! Passover is the first time that we see that promise fulfilled for the whole nation of Israel. It's also the time that Yeshua offers Himself as our Passover lamb proving that His desire is to never leave us!

This is a great season of freedom (from Pesach to Shavuot and the fifty days in between). Have you found freedom yet? It's free. And that is exactly what God gives us freedom for: to be free!