High Holidays approaching

I had the opportunity to attend a Rosh Hashanah celebration years ago. The one thing that made me want to leap from my chair, raise my hands as high as Heaven to be grasped by my Beloved Jesus was hearing the Shofar blow. How wonderfully exciting that was. It is so thrilling that it raises goose bumps and you must latch onto your chair to stay seated. There is nothing like it!

You can hear it for yourself here. But, nothing compares to what it is like to be in a room full of people and this sound comes from behind you.

I received this missive from my friends at Chosen People. I thought you might like to see.

Jesus is the Jewel of the High Holidays...

Shalom!
Thanks for taking a few minutes to read this note. The fall is a time of new beginnings, and our ministries across the globe are gearing up for a new season of outreach. Not only are our workers busy on campuses where we will have the opportunity to reach tens of thousands of Jewish students, but our worldwide staff members are also preparing for the High Holiday season.

We will host dozens of Messianic High Holiday services in our congregations, centers and branches. We need your prayers, as we expect many Jewish people who are not yet followers of Jesus to attend these services.

When I think about the High Holidays, I often think of a diamond ring, which consists of both a setting and a jewel. The diamond by itself might be stunning, but it becomes all the more magnificent once it is placed in a setting crafted by a master
jeweler. The festivals of Israel outlined in Leviticus 23 provide us with the
perfect setting for Yeshua (Jesus), who is the shining jewel. Reading the book
of Hebrews and appreciating the sacrifice of Jesus our Messiah is much easier
when you understand something about the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). On that day once a year, the priest was to take the blood of the appointed sacrifices and sprinkle it on the Mercy Seat inside the Holy of Holies for the forgiveness of Israel’s sins (Leviticus 16).

These sacrifices never took away the guilt and shame of our sin – they were merely preparatory – the setting for the jewel. When Jesus died for our sins, He died once and for all, and you and I can rest in the knowledge that our sins are forgiven.
One meaningful verse during the High Holidays is Romans 5:8, where Paul writes,
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As an observant Jew, the apostle Paul understood the magnificence of this statement.

No longer do we need the sacrifices of bulls and goats. Our salvation does not depend upon our efforts (which were always doomed to failure). Instead, God sent his only Son to pave the way to heaven through His sacrifice. A number of our staff members who are bringing the message of Yeshua to His own people – are furthering their training at our Charles Feinberg Center for Messianic Jewish Studies. One of our goals is to help these current and future leaders graduate from their studies without debt, so that they can go immediately to the mission field and share the glorious message of Jesus our Redeemer with our Jewish people.

This month, you can be of tremendous help! Victor and Julia B. are Israelis studying at the Feinberg Center and are completely dependent upon us in the United States for their financial support. They led a congregation in Jerusalem for more than 15 years but never had the opportunity to be theologically trained. Once Victor completes his studies, they will return to Israel and hope to plant a new congregation in Jerusalem. Your generous support can enable Victor and Julia and their two young sons – and other families like them – to continue studying and ministering in New York City.

There is so much more to learn about the High Holidays, and we have some wonderful information on our website – visit www.chosenpeople.com/highholidays
to learn more. If you would like to attend one of our High Holiday services –
and hopefully bring a Jewish friend who does not yet know the Messiah – please
call us at 212-223-2252 to find out if there is a service near you.

Thanks so much for sharing our vision for the future of Jewish ministry.
Your brother
in the Messiah,
Mitch Glaser

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