Sermon Tone Analysis

Me

Shana Tovah Mishpacha!

We have made it to the Rosh Hashanah!!!

The beginning of the High Holy Day season, the beginning of the Yamim Noraim, the Ten Days of Awe.

We have made it through another Hebrew year, turning the year from 5782 to 5783.

We have made it through another year of things getting more and more haywire as we draw closer and closer to the return of Messiah.

Years ago Danielle and I went to a youth retreat in Tampa called Arise, and a few months later a youth leaders retreat which was birthed from it, which was orchestrated by Shoresh David Messianic Synagogue in Tampa.

These retreats were legitimately life changing and trajectory altering for us.

There were at least 300 people ranging in age from about 13 to about 30 at the youth retreat, and about 70 people at the youth leaders retreat.

The power and presence of the Ruach HaKodesh was one of the most unreal experiences I had ever had to that point.

We watched the Lord do so much in the lives of everyone at these events.

We watched teens and young adults see chains broken and find deliverance.

We watched young people turn their hearts back to the Lord, and others who were there because they were forced to be find their Messiah and experience true transformation.

We saw 300 hundred young people joined together in powerful and united worship, with arms raised, tears pouring, folks dancing, and voices lifted on high in unison completely unashamed.

These events were turning points in our walk with the Lord and our following our calling.

We came back from these two retreats emboldened and completely on fire.

I’ll never forget our first Shabbat back in our synagogue after the retreat, I was a vocalist worship team back then and at that point in time we didn’t have a band, we used prerecorded music and had several vocalists on stage with microphones leading worship in person with the prerecorded music.

This particular Shabbat I asked our team to if I could open worship with prayer first, and I just prayed what the Lord had put on my heart and then worship began.

But, with that prayer something tremendous broke and, even with prerecorded music, we had one of the most powerful worship experiences I had ever had in that congregation.

And it ignited something that continued to carry on after.

Dani and I came back with a new found passion, a renewed fire for the Lord.

We found ourselves in a season of repentance and restoration.

We weren’t walking away from the Lord or anything, we hadn’t been backsliden, but we also hadn’t bee on fire either… Up to this point there was a certain degree of just going through the motions, if you know what I mean...

The Lord completely flipped everything upside down in our lives, we cut out all secular music and started listening to only God-focused music, we made the Word and prayer a priority in lives and relationship, and so much more.

And honestly believe the Lord was using this season of renewal and refocusing to prepare us for the next move He had in store for our lives and calling, and shortly their after (and I think it was just a few months later) we made the decision to follow His call to NY, which opened the door for us to eventually be here with all of you at Mayim Chayim.

We

Have you ever had an experience like this?

A time where you know without a doubt there was a drastic spiritual shift in your heart and life?

Maybe you were at a worship concert and felt the Ruach overcome you and you found yourself on your knees in repentance and renewal?

Maybe you heard a sermon that rocked you to the core and caused you to turn back from a dark path and return to the Lord’s embrace?

Maybe you are praying for just such an experience for folks in your family… Maybe you’re sitting here tonight longing for such an experience in your own life… Maybe you find yourself just kind of going through the motions yourself, you’re doing what you know you’re suppose to be doing but maybe there’s just no fire behind… Maybe you just feel a little dry when it comes to the Ruach in your life...

God

Tonight we are observing Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah and called the Jewish New Year.

This is a fresh opportunity for renewal, for rededication, for introspection and repentance.

Rosh Hashanah begins the Ten Days of Awe in which we are focused on self-reflection and repentance before the Lord, asking God to reveal anything in our lives that needs to be changed and fully submitted to Him.

And it’s this idea of spiritual renewal and rededication that I want to focus on tonight as we prepare our hearts this season.

Tonight the message is going to go focus on a passage of Scripture that is a bit off script if you will, it isn’t a passage traditionally read on Rosh Hashanah, but it is one I believe is a vital example for us for this season of renewal.

If you have your Bibles with you go ahead and open to Nehemiah 8, feel free to use a Bible app on your phone and just in case we also will have it up on the screens and on our livestream feed as well.

I believe there is a very powerful key to spiritual renewal found in Nehemiah 8-

If we want a Spiritual renewal we must first submit to a renewal of conviction in the Word of God.

(Repeat)

Let’s dig into the Word of God together.

This is a very influential time in the history of Israel.

As a nation, Israel was rebuilding.

They were fresh back from Babylonian captivity, they were reintegrated with the remnant of Israel who were not carted off to Babylon.

They were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

They are facing great adversity as everyone around them hates them and wants to see them destroyed completely and the last thing their enemies nearby want to see are the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple being restored.

For much of this time we are working with tools in one hand and weapons in the other, keeping a keen and watchful eye on everything going on around us in case anything pops off.

We’re dealing with our Jewish people returning back to our homeland feeling defeated and diminished, feeling broken and lost… And, honestly, aside from a few such as Nehemiah, most of the Jews returning and working really don’t quite understand why exactly everything fell apart a little of 70 years prior when the Babylonians razed Jerusalem.

But, as we read in Nehemiah 8, eyes are opening and hearts are changing in drastic ways.

The people are freshly back and working hard to reestablish Jerusalem, the very city upon which HaShem has placed His Name.

The Jewish people are being renewed and reenergized as they see God’s faithfulness and protection while they work diligently.

All of a sudden the lights come on and we realize what is missing… The Torah!!!

The Word of God!!!

The people came together united as a single body and cried out for the Torah of Moses to be brought out, read, and taught.

Ezra the kohen brings the Torah out before the entire assembly… This scene would likely have a bit of the same awe and excitement we often experience in our Torah service on Shabbat as the Word of God is processed around with great expectation.

Then Nehemiah tells us that Ezra opens the Scroll and begins to read the Word of God to the people.

But the time frame is key here folks,

Nehemiah 8:2 (TLV)

This happened on the first day of the seventh month.

So, what exactly is so important about the first day of the seventh month?

And again in Numbers...

This monumental moment in the reestablishment of Jerusalem and the history of our Jewish people occured on the first of Tishrei, Yom Teruah, the day of the sounding of the Shofar, what we know now as Rosh Hashanah.

This is beginning on the very same day that we are gathering here tonight and tomorrow to celebrate.

As Jerusalem was being restored and the Jewish people were experiencing renewal, the events align in divine orchestration with the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe.

And the yearning of the hearts of this remnant of our Jewish people on this Rosh Hashanah long ago was for the renewal of the Word of God in our midst.

Remember, as we’ve discussed with the Blessings and Curses of Deuteronomy, the Lord tells Israel if we turn our back on His Word we will be removed from the Land.

They had spent a minimum of 70 years removed from the Promised Land because as a nation we walked away from the Word of God and began to live like the nations around us.

But now, the Jewish people are being brought back, a remnant is being reestablished and rebuilding.

And just like a new believer in Yeshua who has been overcome with the Ruach HaKodesh, they are hungry and thirsty for the Presence of God, they are hungry and thirsty for a renewal of His Word.

The Word of God is read in the midst of the entire assembly and there is a reverence and excitement for the Word.

Everyone is locked in and focused on what they are hearing, on what a life centered on Adonai looks like, on how they can rededicate themselves and the Promised Land back to HaShem.

The entire remnant of Israel heard the Word of God, they felt the power and presence of the Ruach HaKodesh in the Torah, they were humbled and repentant.

They realized the mistakes of their fathers and desired to make T’shuvah and to reestablish the Torah’s central role in the hearts and minds of Israel.

They are realizing the impact and the reality that...

If we want a Spiritual renewal we must first submit to a renewal of conviction in the Word of God.

And this is a key biblical principle that we see all of the Bible.

When we don’t place a prioritized importance on the Word of God in our lives and discipleship we find ourselves drifting in the winds of the world around us.

When we are focused on the Word of God then we lose focus on what a Godly life looks like.

When we walk away from the Word of God it is as though we are walking away from God Himself.

As I said, this is a principle we see throughout the Bible, such as...

We see again in Psalm 119…

And again...

In fact, to this end, I highly recommend you go back and read and reread Psalm 119, it is such a powerful reminder of how important the Word of God should be in our lives.

We see in Matthew 4 as Yeshua is being tempted by the enemy that He retorts the enemy with these words from Deuteronomy…

And the author of Hebrews says:

And Paul encourages Timothy to remain steadfast in the Word of God...

So, again I repeat:

If we want a Spiritual renewal we must first submit to a renewal of conviction in the Word of God.

The Body of Messiah needs to take to heart the humble posture we see from the remnant of Israel reestablishing Jerusalem in Nehemiah.

We need to desperately seek and humbly submit ourselves to the Word of God.

We need to reprioritize the Bible in our discipleship, in our lives, and in our communities.

We need to approach the Word of God as we see in Nehemiah 8...

You

(Call worship team back up and unmute)

Are you longing to see a renewal of the Ruach in your life?

Are you longing to see your family rededicate their lives to the Lord?

Are you praying for revival in the Body of Messiah today?

Are you longing to see your walk with the Lord take on a deeper more intimate relationship?

Are you hungry to know God more and to hear His voice in your life?