Shalom. Oh, you still speak Hebrew. That's good. When Jesus comes back, guess what? He's not speaking Spanish. Nor English. My wife's from Argentina. We have debates on it. This morning, I had a lesson on the fall feasts as I was driving here. Because one of the important things we'll learn about the fall festivals is that it's a season of remembrance. Because the festivals of Israel always look back to look forward. And that seems to be sort of like a Christian thing to do, isn't it? I mean, we do communion. think about the atonement, we think about what the Lord did, and Christians are oftentimes going back in order to go forward, and there's something wonderful about that, actually. God gave us our memories, and if we use them for the right thing, they could be really a wonderful thing to have. And when you get my age, you lose a little bit of it, you know? But it's a wonderful thing. So on my way here today, it's, It's Tunnel to the Towers run. And so 9-11, of course, most of us were probably here when all that happened. Pastor Eric and I were sharing a little bit about it. Last year we had a Chosen People sponsored our 20th anniversary of 9-11. We actually had 45,000 people online. And it was a meaningful event. We sort of presented the Christian, deeper story to what happened after 9-11. Because we had the people from the Southern Baptists, from Samaritan's Purse, we had local pastors, two of whom are dying of cancer right now. And as a result, we had a Jewish believer who was the forensic dentist who identified the bodies. He gave his testimony. We had an FBI agent who's on our staff who talked about everything that she experienced, digging out evidence for about six months. And then we talked about all the people that we prayed with and all the people that came to our prayer tables down at the site of 9-11 and so many different things. It was really a wonderful testimony to God's grace. So as I was driving in today, because I live in the Holy Land, you know, Brooklyn, and so it was, you thought it was Fort Lee. And so on my way in, you know, I couldn't take my normal routes. And so all the way through until I got here, you know, I was thinking about, what happened on 9-11. And God was able to use these physical events to stir my memory for good purpose. And that's what the feasts are all about. But I thought before I began this morning, maybe we would just take a moment of silent prayer, and then I'll close. And let's remember those who gave their lives, those who just lost their lives. And because I know that's meaningful to all of us. So why don't we just take a moment for silence and then I'll pray and then we'll continue. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, today we think about those we've lost. We think about the families that remain. We think about those who are still carrying burdens and trauma and illness because of it. Lord, we think of those who fought valiantly after it to preserve our freedom. Lord, we thank you because you are in the midst of it. And Lord, for some mysterious reason, we know that you do allow bad things to happen, but Lord, You're always with us each and every step of the way. And that you suffer not only for us, but you suffer with us. And so, Lord, I just pray that if there are any here this morning who have experienced loss as a result of 9-11, that you would comfort their hearts even on this 21st anniversary. And that you would help them and strengthen them. And Lord, I just pray that as we move forward, Lord, that you would give us good memories of people and places and things, companies, organizations, friends, and that you might restore our souls, restore our hearts, and most of all, give us comfort on this day. We pray in Yeshua's name, amen. Forgive me if I'm off one or two years. It's like COVID, it just takes, it's like dog years to some degree. So how many of you have been to Israel? Just curious. Okay, listen, you're all lagging. How many of you want to go to Israel? How many of you are waiting for a Jesus free ticket? I thought so. We'll get there anyway, and we won't have to pay, right? Jesus paid it all. So Israel is, I mean, it's electric right now. during these fall festivals. People come from all over the place, and everything stops dead in its tracks, and it's a very exciting place during the holidays. Make sure you do not go to Israel during the holidays. It's three times as expensive. But it's a lot of fun. I've got to tell you, I've been there many times. And so today is a day when really the Jewish world, even your secular Jewish friends, are about to have their lives changed and their schedules changed. Because part of what the festivals do is they basically are a testimony to the ways in which God invades human existence. I had a staff member at Chosen People. Our offices are on East 51st, between 2nd and 3rd. Come in and pray with us anytime. If we have a bagel, we'll share. Or you can bring us a bagel. And I had one really dedicated Gentile staff member say to me, now, and this is why we're a good place to work, they said, because you get all the holidays off. We're like the New York City school system. She said to me, Yom Kippur is on a Sunday, the Day of Atonement, and so do we get a compensatory day off? I said, you're kidding. She said, no, no, do we? It's in the manual. I said, no, you don't get a compensatory day off. I said, listen, the holidays invade us. We stop when they come. God didn't work on his calendar with us, did he? And it is a reminder that God is in control and that our days belong to him. And she did not get the compensatory day off. There is no such thing. The holidays come when the holidays come. Well, let's work our way through the holidays a little bit and see how much we can learn. And then at the end, I'm going to share with you some ways you can use the holidays to share the gospel with your friends. OK? So off we are. First PowerPoint slide. This is the new way of doing it. Instead of clicking, we point. OK. There we go. So open your Bibles, if you would. Now, I know you might be used to a PowerPoint with Bible verses, but you're gonna have to go old-fashioned. So open your Bibles to the book of Leviticus, chapter 23. Leviticus, chapter 23. I know that Leviticus might be one of your favorite books of the Old Testament, but in case you don't know, it's L-E-V-I, take notes. I loved it when I was a new believer and I was going to a nice Baptist church in Middlesex County, New Jersey, that everybody thought because I was Jewish, I was an expert on the Old Testament. I was a 19-year-old druggie, you know, hippie who was saved on the streets of San Francisco. Now, I did have a sort of an orthodox upbringing but never quite believed it. And they always came to me with Bible... Listen, I couldn't tell them what the five books were in the Torah. And so it was wonderful to learn my own faith through knowing Jesus, if you can imagine that. When I discovered Jesus was Jewish, I figured out that maybe he was a good thing to be. So let's look at Leviticus 23, verse one. The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, the Lord's appointed times, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, my appointed times are these. Now what we're going to do is we're going to kind of preach Jewish style. I did go to seminary, but it was a long time ago, so I've forgotten how to preach. And so what I'm gonna, I'm just reverting back to Jewish style. So basically, Jewish preaching is the text always comes before the sermon outline. Hey, that's not bad, is it? Nothing wrong with sermon outlines, but the text is the main thing. And so the traditional way a rabbi preaches is he starts reading through the text, and if he finds something he wants to talk about, he stops. So I will do that. So, speak to the sons of Israel and say, the Lord's appointed times, let's stop there. This is going to be a long sermon. It's a long chapter. So the Hebrew word appointed times is moed, M-O-E-D. That's an English phonetic spelling. So M-O-E-D. And in some instances, Bible translation does things that are not always quite in the text. When we argue for the inerrant, that means without error, text of scripture, we're not talking about the New American Standard. We're talking about the original, which was one was written in Hebrew, the other was written by Jews in Greek. Now, some of you are saying, wait, Luke, and I know we have a couple of doctors here, and I don't mean to offend you, but, you know, what did Luke do for a living? I mean, I know a few Gentile doctors, but honestly, you know, Luke must have been Jewish. And so this book. in its original is what we hold and cherish to be inerrant without error and coming through human beings from God without mistake, right? Now, so the word for appointed times sounds really majestic a little bit, sounds kind of biblical, but actually it's a mundane secular term that's used in the Old Testament to refer to other things, and it simply means appointment. But if they said, these are God's appointments, it doesn't sound as dramatic. But these are God's appointments. So at Mount Sinai, God gave, according to Jewish tradition, 613 do's and don'ts. I've never counted fully, but there are a lot of them. But Jewish tradition says there's 613 positive and negative commandments. But God gave the commandments through Moses. He told the Jewish people what to do, and if they did it, they'd be blessed, told them what not to do, and if they didn't do it, then they would be cursed. And then on Mount Sinai, God also gave a calendar. Can you imagine? Why would God ever give a calendar? I mean, I'm just amazed at some of these things. God gave a calendar because I believe, and this is a theory, I believe God gave a calendar because he understood the frame of sinful man. And God knew that our nature when it came to our relationship with him was to drift. And so God would call us back to himself in one way or another once a week on the Sabbath and seven times a year with the great festivals of Israel that we have in Leviticus 23. If you think of the Sabbath and you think of all the festivals of Israel as a retreat, then you'll understand it better. And they have common elements. All of them have common elements. But the nature of the festivals and the nature of the Sabbath, which is sort of the preeminent and standard for all festivals, the nature of these events was because God wanted to call us back to himself to repent and to realign our lives and our values with His. You got it? So, the Lord's appointed time, so the Lord's appointments are these, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations. There's another element to these festivals. Now, am I trying to Judaize you and trying to get you to do the festivals? Well, actually, yes. Am I trying to Judaize you? No, I wouldn't even try and Judaize myself. I'm not sure what that means, actually. Does that mean you have to eat gefilte fish and corned beef sandwiches all the time? I don't really know. But I'm not trying to be a legalist. I was raised more orthodox. God bless you if you want to keep the law. Actually, good luck, because you won't be able to. The problem's not the law. It's our nature. We're sinners. So we can't do it. So don't worry. I'm not going to Judaize you and make you do something that you're not wired to do. And neither am I. On the other hand, in one way or another, paying attention to these festivals because God gave them. These are holier than the calendar you and I usually follow. It's holier than our academic year or our fiscal year or our secular calendar. This is the calendar that God gave. Surely, we should pay attention to it. So if you go throughout your week and say, ah, it's Rosh Hashanah, or it's the Day of Atonement, or it's tabernacles, like any other day of the week. No, it's not. It's not any day of the week. From Sinai, God said, these are my appointments. They're holy. And you might say, well, I'm not Jewish. I don't need to keep them. Wait a minute. Something tells me you weren't really paying attention to what Paul wrote in Romans 11. You've been grafted in, haven't you? Now, wild, yes, is what I hear. But you've been grafted into the rich fruit of the olive tree. Doing something as a Christian for the Jewish holidays, actually the biblical holidays, is something that's a good thing. Do you get judged by God if you don't? No. But is it a positive thing? Should it become maybe part of your annual spiritual disciplines, which I understand you're studying? Why not? It's biblical. Are you going to get judged if you don't do them? No. Will you be blessed if you do something with them? Actually, yes. You will. So let's look at the Sabbath, verse 3. Let's see. Okay. I'm just looking at my PowerPoint for a second. So let's look at the Sabbath. For six days, work may be done. Okay. Now, unions in America change this. So for six days, work may be done, but on the seventh day, There's a Sabbath of complete rest. So before we learn that there's a holy convocation, that means people gather for worship like we're doing now. Secondly, people are supposed to rest, not supposed to work. And you shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings. Now, Jewish people know that the language here in this little passage is a throwback to creation. And so on the Sabbath, every Jewish person knows that when they get to synagogue, and in the way the synagogue service is structured, it is all a reminder of creation to remind us that we didn't create ourselves, God created us in six days, I believe six literal days, and he rested on the seventh day and reflected on what he had created. He said it was good when it came to man and woman, he said, tov ma'od, he said, very good. Very good, because he created man and woman ultimately in his image. So we are different than everything else that he made and have different responsibilities. And if God created us, then God knows the best way for us to function. And so when you go to synagogue, you are being reminded that you are not the end all of end alls, but rather you are accountable to a holy God. And he wired you, and he knows the best way for you to function. Now, of course, in the Old Testament, if you did not obey the Lord on the Sabbath, you were stoned to death. Now, I told Eric about this as a means of church growth. So, I don't know if the deacons will go for it, but you better show up next week, or you'll get a visit at your home. So it was very stern, the Sabbath. Now I wanna just jump forward to verse four, if I could. And these are the, begins the spring festivals. And this is the first month of the year according to the text. These are the, in verse five, in the first month on the 14th day of the month that twilight is the Lord's Passover. So I have to explain something immediately. So if Passover is the new year, technically, on the Hebrew calendar, then why are you wishing your Jewish friends a happy new year tonight? Because, have you seen Fiddler on the Roof? Okay, I get my theology from Fiddler on the Roof, it's great. So remember, tradition. So basically, there are two or three different years in Judaism, just like we have two or three different years in the US, academic, secular, fiscal, all sorts of years, right? And so we know which year we're following. And I keep trying to get our CFO to change our fiscal year to the calendar year so I have less to worry about. And then once he does that, then I'll ask him to change it to the Jewish calendar year, and then I'll have nothing to worry about. Everything will be together. But there are a number of calendars. And in Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah, which I'll talk about in a moment, became the new year. And the Passover became the religious new year. And Rosh Hashanah became the civil new year. That's the difference. So feel free to wish your Jewish friend a happy new year tonight and tomorrow and on Tuesday. And you'll be correct. Probably be weird if you wish them a new year on Passover, but it's always good to say happy Passover. So Passover is the first of the holidays. Now I'm just going to run through this real quickly. Passover is, again, a reminder of what happened before, and so it's a season of remembrance, and what do we remember? We remember a couple of things. We remember our redemption from Egypt. We remember that the lamb was slain, its blood put on the lentil and doorposts of the house, and God passed over those homes. We remember the lamb and the shed blood of the lamb. You with me? So we remember these wonderful events, Wonderful for me because I'm firstborn male. I would have been killed and I really don't want to live in Egypt. So for me that was all good. So we remember these things, but I want you to also understand that we look back in order to look forward and Jewish people know that. In fact, at the end of the Passover, we sing a song, which means, next year we will be in Jerusalem. Why? Because every Jewish person knows that the ultimate deliverance for the Jewish people is not to be in New Jersey. The ultimate deliverance of the Jewish people is to be back in the land of Israel. And Jewish people have had that holy hope of going back to the land of Israel, the land that God promised, ever since we were thrown out. And now we're 50% of the way there. Out of the 14 plus million Jewish people in the world, about 7 million live in Israel. Now, if you don't think Jesus is coming again soon, try and get 7 million Jews out of Israel. Got to see the signs. And so Passover looked back to the deliverance through the shed blood of the lamb. But what did Jesus say in Luke chapter 22? And first Corinthians, what did Paul say? Even so Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Why? Because Jewish people are looking forward to being back in the land for sure. But there's a lot more that Jewish people were looking forward to. If you ask a Jewish person what the Sabbath was looking forward to, for example, they would say, in the end of days, the Messiah will come and the whole planet would be put to rest. And we would march into, quote unquote, eternity. It would actually be an eternal Sabbath day. That's the image in the Jewish mind. You look back to look forward. We look back to the sacrifice of the Lamb, and in the New Testament, the Jewish disciples, what did they say? They said, Jesus is the Lamb. Peter said, Jesus is the Lamb. John said, Jesus is the Lamb. The Gospel said, Jesus is the Lamb. He's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Paul said, Jesus is the Lamb. John in the book of Revelation said, Jesus is the Lamb. And so the Old Testament looked forward to something new, that the Lamb of God will take away our sins. But John, in the book of Revelation, looked forward to an even greater day when we won't need any light because the Lamb will be on His throne. And so you not only have a fulfillment in the first century that fulfills the Passover, but we are waiting for a secondary, maybe an even greater fulfillment when the Lamb of God, who takes away our sin, rules and reigns on his rightful throne. So we look back in order to look forward and look forward. The second festival, and I can't go into more depth on this, is the festival of unleavened bread. We believe that points to the sinless nature of the Messiah. The next one is the Feast of First Fruits. And in the Feast of First Fruits, verses nine through 14, we have an amazing fulfillment because, and maybe it's just a coincidence, but it could be coincidence. So Jesus dies. When? Oh my gosh, he died on Passover as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. You know, there were a lot of other days he could have died. So he died on Passover. And then... He was in the grave three days and three nights, not to get into a big discussion, but we believe he died on Friday and rose on Sunday because that would be at least part of three days and three nights, which is the way Jewish people have always understood it and still understand it to this day for a lot of good biblical reasons. So Jesus died on Passover as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He rose on first fruit as the first fruit from among the dead. And then you start from first fruit, you count 49 days, and on the 50th day, you celebrate the feast of the 50, Pentecost. It's the only festival that Jews and Christians actually celebrate together, but not at the same time, because the church fathers moved it to make sure you all didn't become Jews. But it's 50 days, on that 50th day. Now what happened in Acts chapter two? On that 50th day, God pours out his spirit upon 120 disciples in an upper room, waiting for the promise of the Father, which would bring power so that they could fulfill the commission that Jesus gave them in Matthew 28, 19, and 20 before he ascended to heaven, which was to go make disciples of all nations, you remember that? But he said, tarry here. Don't go until you're filled with power from the power of the Father. And on the day of Shavuot, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell upon these disciples. They got up. They began speaking in a language that none of them particularly knew. And it was in the language of the Jewish people who had traveled in from all over Asia Minor and other places for the feast of Pentecost. For Passover, they stayed for Pentecost as well. And they heard the gospel in their own tongue. Now why? Well, this one's a little bit of a stretch. So if you don't get it the first time, maybe Eric will have me back, I can do it another time. There's a Jewish tradition that God gave the five books of Moses, the Torah, at Mount Sinai on the day of Pentecost. Is it true? I don't know. It's a little hard for me to grab hold of because you wouldn't have known about Pentecost until you had the Torah. So it's written in there, but you can't argue with Jewish tradition, I guess. There was a miracle that happened at Mount Sinai, according to Jewish tradition. And this is why you prayed, Eric, about life forming in the womb. And there's a reason why Orthodox Jews, particularly, all are anti-abortion, and ultra-Orthodox Jews. The reason is, is because they believe life begins at conception. Now what do they view as conception? This is a little strange. So according to Jewish tradition, every Jewish person's soul that would ever be created was created at creation. Set aside and hid. Then when conception happens, the right soul is planted by God in the right woman to get the right person. To me it seems a little tricky. But that's what Jewish people believe, ultra-Orthodox Jewish people. And one of the reasons for this as well is that every Jewish soul that would ever live according to Jewish tradition was gathered at Mount Sinai to hear the law given in their own language. It's a tradition. And the reason why that's so important is the rabbis then say the response of the people was all that we hear, we will obey. So no Jewish person has an excuse to disobey the Torah because they agreed to it at Mount Sinai. I don't remember doing it. I'm okay with it, but I don't remember. I've checked with my family and friends. They don't remember that either. But you have to understand, God, it is mercy and grace, because I think God is the best missionary who ever existed, that God actually took a Jewish tradition and used it in Acts chapter 2 to bring the message of this new Torah, the new law, this gospel message of good news through Jewish disciples. He brought it in the same way that it came at Mount Sinai, so that it came to the Jewish people with the authority of Sinai. And that's one of the reasons that 3,000 Jewish people accepted Jesus on the spot. Because it came the same way as the Torah and everybody understood that this is where the Torah was going. It was going towards him. So those are the three festivals. So I call the festivals a roadmap to redemption. Looking back, looking forward to a fulfillment and an even greater fulfillment sometimes. And so we have Jesus, the Lamb of God, who died on the right day. We have Jesus, the Lamb of God, who rose on the right day. And then we have the coming of the Holy Spirit at the right moment, at the right time, to enable believers to accomplish the task that God gave them. Now, if the spring festivals are such, then what about the fall festivals? So let's go to the next slide, and we're gonna skip over to verses 23 through 25. 23 through 25. I just want you to know that what is described here starts tonight. So tonight begins the holiest season of the Jewish year. So tonight is Rosh Hashanah. Why tonight? Well, you have to go back again to Genesis. There was evening and morning the first day. So in Jewish tradition, and who knows, might even be biblical this time, in Jewish tradition, our days begin in the evening, which is one of the hardest things to figure out when it comes to chronology, particularly in the New Testament. Because we are used to our day beginning, in the morning, but the day begins at night. That's why Jewish people celebrate the Sabbath on Friday night and Saturday morning, because it's Saturday, but it begins Friday night. And Rosh Hashanah begins tomorrow. So when does it begin? Tonight, at twilight. And so tonight, I'm gonna rush out of church and go home and get ready because our messianic congregation in Brooklyn is gonna have a Rosh Hashanah service. And then tomorrow night I'll be with my entire family, of whom outside of my wife and I and my kids, nobody's a believer. You can pray, we'll be in Upper Saddle River having dinner. And So this is a rare treat for me to actually preach on this topic when we're just walking into it. Now, it's already been a busy month. The reason it's been a busy month, it's the Hebrew month, the sixth month, which is called Elul. This begins the seventh month tonight, which is called Tishrei. And during the month of Elul, according to Jewish tradition, we're supposed to spend actually the whole month preparing our hearts, confessing our sins every day. We're supposed to read Psalm 27 every day. The Lord is my light and my salvation. And we're supposed to do certain things all throughout this month in preparation for what begins today. Now let me tell you what begins. Let's look at the Bible, and then I'll tell you what Jewish people really think about it. Verse 23, again, the Lord said to Moses, say, speak to the sons of Israel saying in the seventh month on the first of the month, tonight, you shall have a rest just like the Sabbath, just like the Passover, no work, no playing with email. You shall have a rest, a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. If you want to read about all the offerings, they're in Numbers 28 and 29. All the offerings are there. It's an awesome couple of chapters to read. Every one of these holidays has something significant and different about the plan and purposes of God. So Passover, you have the lamb. In first fruit, you actually had the waving of a sheaf. In Pentecost, you actually had the offering of two loaves that were leavened. On the Sabbath, you don't have anything particular. But in all of the seven festivals you do, And here we have what's unique about it is a reminder by blowing of trumpets. Now, if you look in your Bibles real carefully, you will see it's in italics. And the reason it's in italics is because this is no literal translation at all. But that's not the fault of the translators, because the Hebrew here is untranslatable or non-translatable. Forgive me. I was brung up in the New York City school system. So you cannot translate the word because it is called Yom Teruah, and it's translated the day of the blowing of the trumpets. However, Teruah is not a translatable word. It's a sound, onomatopoeia, it's a sound in the Hebrew. It's not a word. So if I was translating it, I'd be totally justified in saying, and this tonight is, you shall have a rest, a reminder by tutut. You don't want me to imitate a shofar. I would bring a shofar. I've been trying for a long time. I can't blow it. And so it's a reminder by tutut. And there's, oh my word, there's so many Jewish traditions about what the meaning is to the blowing of the shofar, but I'll give you two or three that I think are pretty sane and accurate. Number one, it warns you that an enemy's coming. Number two, it alerts you to a special moment in Jewish life. And in this instance, The blowing of the shofar is alerting us to a very special moment in Jewish life, which is the beginning of this holiday season. But even more importantly, in a moment, we'll read what happens 10 days from now. 10 days from now, we celebrate the holiest day of the Jewish year. In fact, the Day of Atonement has a whole chapter to itself in Leviticus 16. And it's a long one. And so Rosh Hashanah, the new year, or the blowing of the trumpets day, it has taken on significance because of its proximity to the Day of Atonement, 10 days ahead. Why? Well, in 70 AD, the Romans came in, destroyed the temple, and left the Jewish people with no place to sacrifice for their sin. The rabbis were imaginative and creative. And so they decided that if we don't have the right place to sacrifice and we can't offer sacrifices for our sins, then we'll replace the sacrifices of animals, which every Jewish person knew as a replacement for the sacrifice of ourselves. It should have been our blood, but it was the blood of a lamb or blood of a bull or a goat. And so why not replace the replacements with replacements? And so the replacements are the sacrifice of our lips, our prayers, the sacrifice of our hands, our deeds, and the sacrifice of our soul in contrition and repentance. And according to Jewish tradition, if they all add up and things are looking good, if the wind's blowing in your favor, then you will have a good life. It's not actually that if you die, you'll go to heaven, or if you do not shape up, you'll go to hell. Jewish people have a very, very murky understanding of heaven and hell. Some of you have tried witnessing to your Jewish friends. I'm not saying that you're overly bold or insensitive, but some of you maybe have gotten into a discussion and said, well, how do you stay out of hell? And a Jewish person, if they were honest, would say, I don't know, we never talk about that. Because if you just had the Old Testament, how much would you know about hell? There's no New Testament for Jewish people. So hell and heaven itself is actually pretty murky, although heaven is pretty earthy. Because it's all about, land and restoration and the lifting of sin and the lifting of the curse and all that. And so if my repentance pleases God, if my good deeds please God, and the balance scale is to my favor, then God will give me a good year. That's what your Jewish friends are looking for over the next 10 days. Some of them are really looking for that. Some of them are so secular that they might not be looking for anything. But I've got to tell you, if there's any time of the year that Jewish people think about sin and atonement and about repentance and about their proximity in relationship to God, it's now. This is the moment. And that's why Chosen People Ministries, we're now in 20 countries and 25 cities around the United States. That is why we will have thousands of people at our services in person, thank God. We'll have thousands of people at our services and a lot more online. in every country from the United States to England, to Israel, to France, to Ukraine, to Russia, to Argentina, you name it. We will be having services during this time and there will literally be dozens if not hundreds of Jewish non-believers coming to our services and hearing about the only way a person can have atonement. If you think about it in this way, not only are the festivals a roadmap to redemption, but if you think of Jesus as the diamond, as the jewel, think of the holidays as the setting for the jewel. And the jewel is all the more beautiful when he's in his proper setting. And so according to Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashanah begins ten days of awe, ten days of repentance, when you're pleading with God to forgive you each and every day, and you're pleading with those you have offended to forgive you. It's vertical and horizontal. And so during these ten days, when we can't fulfill the all of what the Torah says about offering sacrifices because the temple lies in ruins, which is why it's called the Wailing Wall. We wail because it's not there. So we find these other ways because our rabbis, if they did anything, they knew how to survive. Jewish people have good survival skills, in case you haven't noticed. And so Jewish people are trying to survive, spiritually. And so the rabbis have created this means of spiritual survival. Will it work? No. None of it works. The only way to find forgiveness for eternity is through Jesus the Messiah. That's it. And that's what our beloved Jewish people will hear from Chosen People Ministries. So Chav and I thank you for your support all these years and for your prayers and for your involvement and everything. It's been a great run. And we're not done yet. But I want you to know what we do with our time. We reach Jewish people for Jesus. That's what we do. And so there'll be a number of unbelievers in the congregation tonight. So in Brooklyn. So just remember to pray. So the Day of Atonement is important. And there's imagery that Jewish people use that's very interesting. The whole idea of a book of life in the New Testament really started in the Old Testament. Is there literally a book that God keeps? I don't think so. I think it's a metaphor, but who knows? I'll ask him when I see him. I want to see the book. And so according to Jewish tradition, the books of life and death are opened on Rosh Hashanah. You have 10 days to make things square with yourself and God and others. And on Yom Kippur, the book closes. It's too late now. Can you imagine? As Christians, we are so used to the idea that as long as we have breath, we can come to faith. But Jewish people actually have a concept of a time when it's too late or else you'd be getting in next year. So I was handing out tracts at Rutgers down in New Brunswick. And of course, a few years ago, it's a beautiful fall day, so I was wearing, I was trying to be subtle, so I was wearing my chosen people sweatshirt that said Jesus died for your sins or something like that. And so I was handing out some tracks, trying to get into some conversations. And all of a sudden, I looked to my left, and there was a guy dressed all in black, long beard, you know, side curls, fringes flowing. He was running towards, I mean, like, barreling towards me. I thought he was gonna tackle me. Which, by the way, would not have been the first time. And so he was running towards me. And he got right up to me and stopped immediately. And I had just given a gospel tract to a kid, and he looked at the kid and said, are you Jewish? And the kid said, yes. And he said, give me that. So he took away his tract, ripped it up, threw it on the ground. So I'll listen. I would have done the same if I didn't know Jesus. It's OK. I'm used to it. And so I looked at him, you know, one New Yorker to another, because they're all from Brooklyn. And I looked at him and I said, so I guess God made you everybody's censor, huh? He looked at me and said, well, I don't want Jewish people reading that, this will confuse them. I said, so, oh, I can see then that you're not a censor, you're their mother. So what right do you have to, I'd give somebody something, And then you're taking it away? Who appointed you? He said, well, I'm a rabbi. I said, I don't care what you are. You need to stop doing that. And he said, well, I said, OK, let me just ask you another question. This was my way of making friends with him. So I said, so what's your name? He said, Baruch. I said, oh, Baruch means blessing. So I said, so Baruch. Did you have a blessed holiday season between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? He said, oh yeah, it's always a blessing, always a blessing. I said, oh great. I said, so did you go to shul at synagogue? He says, of course. I said, yeah, me too. And he looks at me, he says, did you fast? And I said, yeah, I always fast. I always fast. My mother would have killed me if I didn't fast. Yes, I fast. And then he looks at me and says, he's about to talk, and I said, may I interrupt? Because he was going after me. So it wouldn't have been enough that I fast. He would have found something I did wrong. So I just looked at him and I said, so Baruch, which way is the wind blowing for you today? Forgiven? Not forgiven? Forgiven? Not forgiven? He looks at me and he says, oh, you Christians, you make it sound so easy. All you have to do is like say a prayer and then you're forgiven and so on. I said, well, easy for us maybe, but not easy for the one who brings us forgiveness. And he says, ah, come on. I said, look, stop avoiding the question. Forgiven or not? He says, it's a ridiculous question. I said, just answer it. Don't you wish you were there for this discussion? I said, just answer it. He said, it doesn't matter because even if I'm forgiven, I'll walk out of the synagogue and sin again and I have to repeat the whole thing. Now that was very interesting because Jewish people actually do not believe in the depravity of man. Whole different view of Genesis three. They believe man is both good and evil, and we have a choice. Of course, I always ask a Jewish person, so who's winning these days? Everybody knows the answer to that. So I said, so, Baruch, you've been a great blessing to me today. He says, why is that? I said, because you reminded me of why I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Because it's through Jesus the Messiah that you and I can have forgiveness of all our sins. Not some. All. Forever. Because it's his work, not ours. You see, here's where the whole thing falls. Repentance is the work of man. Atonement is the work of God. That's the difference. Repentance is something we can do. Atonement is something that's impossible. Because without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. And the sacrifice would have to be perfect. That lets all of us out. And so I explained that to Baruch, and he said, well, I'm glad I could bless you. During the next 10 days, your Jewish friends will be asking forgiveness. Maybe some of you were offended by a Jewish person. Just remember to say, yes, I forgive you, OK? If you want to say, in Jesus' name, I forgive you, go ahead. It'll be fine. But even better, can I give you a tip? If you know you've offended a Jewish person, in the next 10 days, pull them aside and say, you know, I did this and I'm sorry. That will really turn it upside down. And the Jewish person might say, what, why, why now? And just tell them straight ahead, it's Rosh Hashanah. I promise if you do that, not fabricate it, but if it's real and you do it, you will have the best witness you've ever had to your Jewish friend. And part of it is because Jewish people are so sensitized right now. We're really taking our sins seriously. And at the end of the holidays, do you think that Jewish people have the same sense and assurance and hope that you and I have when we came to Jesus. They do not. I know what it's like. I went to synagogue with my father every day of atonement, every Rosh Hashanah, every day of atonement, probably until I was 14 or 15. Then I said, forget it. And there wasn't a time when I knew that God had forgiven my sins. and at 19 years of age, as a strung out, drug dealing, awful hippie. I really was terrible. I asked Jesus into my life, and I never felt something like that before. I'm not saying it's all about feelings, but I felt it. I knew that my sins were wiped away. And I love the wonderful, wonderful worship songs you chose for today, all about forgiveness, all about God's grace, all about his willingness to have us approach him no matter how sinful we really are, and we are very sinful. Yet he sees us through his son. Well, I always like to speak on this topic and then basically go as long as I have till time is running out, and then I stop. I just want to close with one thought. There's one more festival. This one's my favorite, because this one is all about joy. It's an eight-day festival. It's called Tabernacles, or in Hebrew, Sukkot, We live in these little lean-to's that you see all over religious Jewish areas. Remember, no nails. The wind can blow them away. It's very, no roof with any, there's holes in it so you can see the stars, you know. Why? Because you want to be reminded of the frailty of life. Life was frail in the wilderness, and yet, according to Deuteronomy chapter eight, we never lacked anything. And our clothes didn't even wear out. Did you read that? Imagine having clothes that doesn't wear out after 40 years in the wilderness. God took great care of us. And so even though we live in these very frail booths, we have a God who protects and preserves us. And because of that, we can have joy. But the three great themes of the fall, Repentance, redemption, and rejoicing. What's your response to knowing that your sins are forgiven forever? My gosh. Most of us are just too reserved to be able to express joy like that. But in our heart of hearts, we know how joyful we are. Because he did for us and loves us. in ways that we could never have done anything like this for ourselves. And we always have a saying. We like to make a joke about the campus crusade four laws, the crew four laws. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Remember that one? It really works. It's great. But the Jewish version is God has a wonderful plan for your life and loves you even more than your mother. But it's true. He loved us so much, more than any human being could love us, and sent his only son to die and rise so that we could have an eternal relationship with him. The festivals look back, but they look forward. Tabernacles looks forward to the day when the whole earth will become his tabernacle. And the earth will be filled with his presence as the waters fill the sea. The day will come where there will be no more tears, no more sin, no more anguish, no more death. That day is coming. So let's rejoice and have hope. All right. Now, take out your chosen people brochure. If you don't have one, raise your hand because you don't want to be left out of this. Just raise your hand if you need one. This is called the tradition of the tearing of the brochure. Now, Eric made light of this as if every church can do it. Just so happens that Bible Baptist is particularly good at doing this. So here's what I want you to do. Take it out, fold it along the perforation. Just raise your hand if you need one. Ushers are coming. We have some up front. So we take this very seriously. It's the tradition of the tearing of the brochures. We started Chosen People in 1894, and so this is, you know, a 127-year tradition. So here's what I want you to do. Count to three in Hebrew after me, okay? Do it with enthusiasm, though. All right, so here we go. Echad. A little boring, but okay. Shtayim. Shalosh. Rip. You know, I'd say that was pretty good, but it's Rosh Hashanah, and I'd be lying, and I'd have one more sin to repent of, so. So, no, that was good. So just take the brochure, keep it, pray for us. This one, if you could take out a pencil or a pen, which is a rare commodity these days, and if you could just fill it out, then every single month, chosen people will come to your home for dinner. Let us know, of course, what days you're eating pork chops. Some of our staff would really like to come, but others will not. So just fill out the front, if you would. Eric's gonna tell you how to put this in with your offering or without your offering, which we appreciate. And then on the rear side of the cart, there are a number of boxes. If you do wanna go to Israel, check the box. If we have enough people from the church, we'll let Eric know and you can do a whole trip. Well, let us help. We know how to do it, just so you know. So go ahead and check the box. And if you want to be more involved with Chosen People Ministries as a volunteer, we're looking for a social media person. So if you like social media and you like Jewish people, you could be the one. It is not an at-home job, though. It's in the office. We're rebellious. You can notice, you can put that in. And if you have a Jewish friend that's interested, or you think might be interested in receiving a free copy of my book on Isaiah 53, then just put their name and address in there. We'll send it to them, not tell them that you sent it. All right, let's pray together. Abba Father, we thank you for these glorious festivals. We thank you that you gave them for our good, just like you give all things for our good. And that they stand over, time which you created anyway, as a testimony of your working through human history. Lord, help us to look back and to remember, and to remember things that are going to nourish our soul, like the holidays, like the death and resurrection of your son. And then, Lord, help us to always look forward, because you've prepared a glorious future for the children of God. And Lord, we thank you that even though times can get rough in this life, we know that you are with us as we wander through the wilderness. And ultimately, Lord, we'll end up where you want us to be. Lord, and wherever that is in our lives, Lord, we only want you to be with us. We can do anything if we know you're with us. and through the power of Christ who strengthens us. And so Lord, we commit our lives to you. Lord, recalibrate our souls. Lord, make your priorities our priorities and help us to serve you faithfully. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, thanks Mitch, appreciate it. Hope to learn more about the fall festivals. This is a good opportunity also to the metaphorical language and pointing to, to invite you to come out to Wednesday night Bible studies as we go through that the world may know. Our ushers are gonna come, we're gonna collect an offering for Chosen People Ministry as we close in a song. Be generous and sign up for the newsletter. Amazing work that they're doing. So let's pray for them. Father, we just pray for Chosen People Ministry. We thank you, Lord God, They are doing hard work, Lord God. And I thank you, Lord God, for their ministry. And we ask, Lord, that you would increase it, Lord God. We ask that you would give Mitch and the staff there physical health. You would give them all that they need to go forth and obey what you've called them to do, to minister to the Jewish people, not only Jewish people, but the Gentiles also. And we ask, Lord God, that they would see a great increase, particularly within, Lord, the Jewish community of which you've called them to. We pray for Rosh Hashanah tonight. I pray for Mitch as he's going to be with his family, Lord God. What an opportunity to share the gospel. We pray, Lord, for his family, that they would come to know Jesus as Messiah. So thank you again, Lord God, that we can be part of this. Bless this offering, we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Let's stand. Let's close in a song. He has a table in the back with books, and the Isaiah 53 book is, I believe you have it there, one, all right? But it's fantastic. Let's join together in doxology. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen, God bless you all.