Who We Are & What We Believe
What We Believe • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsWhat we believe - a summary of our statement of faith
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Today we are going to do a little review of who we are as a congregation and what we believe. We will start by reading our founding scripture, Isa. 62:11
Behold, Adonai has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes! See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”
Is is from this verse that we get our name, and from this chapter that our mission is derived.
Our Mission:
We are a Messianic Community of Jews and Gentiles who want all people to “Behold Yeshua” as the promised Messiah, for the Jew first, but also for the world.
Our Vision:
The vision of HYC is:
to proclaim,
to pray,
to prepare,
to praise, and
to preserve,
for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.
To Proclaim through evangelism, preaching and teaching to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. To Pray for each other and for other congregations, and to pray for evangelism (both here, in Israel and worldwide). To Prepare through disciple-making, a people who are fully engaged in the Messianic Body, and who are investing their spiritual gifts, abilities and resources in service to our congregation and our community. To Praise and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob on every Shabbat and Chagim (Feast Day) in a way that exults Yeshua as Messiah and Lord. To Preserve for the next generation, the Messianic testimony, Biblical heritage and cultural identity of Jewish followers of Yeshua.
Our Leadership:
Our Leadership:
Robert Miles is a Messianic Pastor ordained by the IAMCS and on staff with Celebrate Messiah. He was send out from Baruch HaShem Messianic Congregation in San Antonio, Texas where he had been an Elder and Chaverim (homegroup) leader. He is happily married to Eleanor, his wife of 22 years, and has 4 beautiful children.
Eleanor holds a BA in Biblical Literature from Oral Roberts University, and is currently working on a Master of Divinity in Messianic Judaism from the Feinberg program at Talbot School of Theology. Eleanor teaches Hebrew with the ministry of Celebrate Messiah. In Canberra she co-pastors with her husband at HYC.
Our Association with Celebrate Messiah:
Our Association with Celebrate Messiah:
HYC is a part of the Celebrate Messiah network of Messianic Congregations.
Celebrate Messiah has been sharing the love of Messiah with Jewish people in Australia since it was was founded in 1995 by Lawrence and Louise Hirsch. Lawrence is a Jewish believer in Yeshua (Jesus) and the current Executive Director of Celebrate Messiah.
Celebrate Messiah is an interdenominational, evangelistic society dedicated to raising the banner of Messiah amongst God’s ancient people in Australia and abroad through our partnership with Chosen People Global Ministries.
To learn more about Celebrate Messiah, please visit: http://www.CelebrateMessiah.com.au
What we believe
What we believe
Compound Unity
We Believe…There is one sovereign living G-d, and He is “Echad” as declared in the Sh’ma (Deuteronomy 6:4, a “united One” or “compound unity” eternally existent (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) as expressed in Isa. 48:16 & Matt. 28:19-20.
Draw near to Me, hear this: Since the beginning, I have not spoken in secret. From the time it existed, I was there. So now Adonai Elohim has sent Me, and His Ruach.”
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The Messiah
Yeshua HaMashiach; Jesus is the Messiah; He is eternally pre-existent and is co-equal with G-d the Father, He took on Himself the nature of man through the virgin birth which was to be a sign to Israel of His Messiahship. (Isaiah 9:5-6, John 1:1-14)
Therefore Adonai Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive. When she is giving birth to a son, she will call his name Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey by the time he knows to refuse evil and choose good.
The Messiah lived and performed miracles yesterday and lives and performs His miracles today. He lived a sinless life with perfect obedience to the Law. He died at Passover as the Lamb of G-d with an Atoning death for all people. He was buried and rose three days later. He arose from the dead, ascended into heaven to become the eternal Great High Priest interceding for us. He will return for believers, both living and dead, and establish His worldwide rule from Jerusalem (Mathew 20:30 -34; John 20; Mark 16:19; John 14:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Zechariah 12:10, 13:1, Revelation 20:4)
Now here is the main point being said. We do have such a Kohen Gadol, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. He is a priestly attendant of the Holies and the true Tent—which Adonai set up, not man.
Thus says Adonai, “I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth and the mountain of Adonai-Tzva’ot will be called the Holy Mountain.”
The Ruach HaKodesh
Ruach Hakodesh (The Holy Spirit) is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and with the Son; He was active in the creation of things and continues to be so in providence; He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgement; He regenerates, sanctifies, baptizes, indwells, seals, illuminates, guides, fellowships with believers and bestows His gifts upon all believers. (Genesis 1:26; Ezekiel 36:26; Matthew 3:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 12:7)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was chaos and waste, darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Ruach Elohim was hovering upon the surface of the water.
Moreover I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the stony heart from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
“As for me, I immerse you in water for repentance. But the One coming after me is mightier than I am; I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will immerse you in the Ruach ha-Kodesh and fire.
Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that the Ruach Elohim dwells among you?
That is what some of you were—but you were washed, you were made holy, you were set right in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the Ruach of our God.
But to each person is given the manifestation of the Ruach for the benefit of all.
Do not grieve the Ruach ha-Kodesh of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
The Scriptures
The Hebrew Scriptures (Tenach) and the Writings of the Apostles (Brit Chadashah) are divinely inspired, verbally and completely inerrant in the original writings, and are the only infallible, authoritative Word of God in all matters of faith and conduct. (Numbers 12:6 -8; 2 Timothy 3:16 -17)
“Hear now My words!” He said. “When there is a prophet of Adonai, I reveal Myself in a vision, I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses. In all My house, he is faithful. I speak with him face to face, plainly and not in riddles. He even looks at the form of Adonai! Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for restoration, and for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be capable, fully equipped for every good deed.
To Torah and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no light.
Adonai G-d gave the 10 Commandments for moral instruction and these laws are still valid as a reflection of G-d’s righteous standard as a means of preserving a distinct nation of Israel, and fulfillment of the work of Yeshua does not mean abrogation of G-d moral laws. Righteousness with G-d has always been solely by His grace through faith/trust in His provision. (Deuteronomy 6:4 -6, 6:20 -25, 30:11 -20; Psalms 19:7 -14; Romans 3:27 -31; Ephesians 2:8 -9)
Yeshua said in Matt. 5:17-19
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. Amen, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or serif shall ever pass away from the Torah until all things come to pass. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
State of Mankind
G-d created mankind in His own image; but because of the disobedience of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, they lost their innocence and both they and their descendants are separated from G-d and suffer physical and spiritual death. Therefore, all human beings, with the exception of Yeshua HaMashiach, are sinners. (Genesis 1:27, 3; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
Now the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a thing of lust for the eyes, and that the tree was desirable for imparting wisdom. So she took of its fruit and she ate. She also gave to her husband who was with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made for themselves loin-coverings. And they heard the sound of Adonai Elohim going to and fro in the garden in the wind of the day. So the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai Elohim in the midst of the Tree of the garden. Then Adonai Elohim called to the man and He said to him, “Where are you?”
Surely there is not a righteous person on earth who does what is good and doesn’t sin.
He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Redemption of Mankind
The only means to be cleansed from sins is by grace, through faith in the shed sacrificial blood of Yeshua HaMashiach, and that repentance from sin and regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Ruach Hakodesh) is absolutely essential for personal salvation. There is no other Name than that of Yeshua by which all Jews and Gentiles must be saved.
For the life of the creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives—for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life.
This Yeshua is ‘the stone—rejected by you, the builders—that has become the chief cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved!”
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of God.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder! But do you want to know, you empty person, that faith without works is dead? Wasn’t Abraham our father proved righteous by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith worked together with his works, and by the works his faith was made complete. The Scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”—and he was called God’s friend. You see that a man is proved righteous by works and not by faith alone. And likewise, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also proved righteous by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
and said, “Amen, I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Yeshua answered him, “Amen, amen I tell you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Messianic Jews
Jewish people (physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, through either the mother’s or father’s bloodline) who place their faith in Israel’s Messiah, Yeshua, have not disowned or separated themselves from their race and Judaic heritage, but remain sons and daughters of Israel.
Gentiles who place their faith in Israel’s Messiah, Yeshua, are “grafted into” the Jewish olive tree of faith becoming spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham.
For one is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something visible in the flesh. Rather, the Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—in Spirit not in letter. His praise is not from men, but from God.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed—heirs according to the promise.
We observe and celebrate the Biblical Holy Days given by Adonai to Israel, with their fulfillment in and through the Messiah, Yeshua. We believe that true “Biblical Judaism,” the faith of the first century believers, which we seek to practice, acknowledges the continuity of faith in the one true God, revealed throughout the Scriptures, and ultimately manifested in God’s Son, Yeshua the Messiah. We believe that salvation has always been “by faith,” and that works of law, or righteous acts, have never saved anyone.
Then he believed in Adonai and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of God. It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast.
Now without faith it is impossible to please God. For the one who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
(Genesis 15:6, Romans 2 -6, Ephesians 2:8 -9, Hebrews 11:6, 39)
We acknowledge that the New Covenant body of believers is composed of both Jews and Gentiles who have received Yeshua the Messiah as the Promised Redeemer. The “middle wall of partition” has been broken down and now we worship the God of Israel together.
But now in Messiah Yeshua, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our shalom, the One who made the two into one and broke down the middle wall of separation. Within His flesh He made powerless the hostility—
G-d’s Purpose for Israel
Israel exists as a covenant people through whom G-d continues to accomplish His purposes. In accordance with the New Covenant, Jews and Gentiles who acknowledge Yeshua as Messiah and Redeemer are an elect people and now worship together in the house of G-d.
(Ephesians 2:2-14)
For in one Ruach we were all immersed into one body—whether Jewish or Greek, slave or free—and all were made to drink of one Ruach.
“This is the covenant that I will cut with them: ‘After those days,’ says Adonai, ‘I will put My Torah upon their hearts, and upon their minds I will write it,’ ” then He says,
God made an everlasting and irrevocable covenant with Abraham. It includes the unconditional election of Israel as God’s chosen people, the promise of the Messiah through whom the whole earth will be blessed, and the gift of the land of Israel to the Jewish people. (Gen. 12:1 -3, 15:9-7, 17:1-5, 2 Sam. 7:12 -16; Rom. 9:1 -11:21)
I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He knew beforehand. Or do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery—lest you be wise in your own eyes—that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer shall come out of Zion. He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
The greatest miracle of our day has been the re-establishment or rebirth of the State of Israel according to prophecy, and a central part of God’s end-time plan is the physical and spiritual restoration of Israel, as taught in the Scriptures. (Ezek. 34:11 -31 36-39; Hos. 3; Amos 9:11 -15; Zech. 12 -14; Isa. 11; 43; 54; 60-62; 66; Rom. 11:1 -34)
Resurrection from the Dead
Both the saved and the lost will be resurrected; the saved ones to everlasting life and the lost ones to eternal separation from G-d, the latter being consigned to a state of everlasting punishment.
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake—some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting contempt.
These shall go off to everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.”
Communion with Messiah
We should partake of the communal elements of the matzo (unleavened bread) and the fruit of the vine, as instituted by Yeshua HaMashiach at His last Passover Seder; that the elements are symbolic of the L-rd’s death and resurrection.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you—that the Lord Yeshua, on the night He was betrayed, took matzah; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in memory of Me.” In the same way, He also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in memory of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Immersion in Water
We participate in Mikvah immersion (water baptism) of believers as commanded by the Scriptures, as an outward sign of an inward salvation experience, symbolizing the death of the “old” man and the resurrection into newness of life.
And Yeshua came up to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
and said to them, “Did you receive the Ruach ha-Kodesh when you believed?” They replied to him, “No, we’ve never even heard that there is a Ruach ha-Kodesh. He said, “Into what were you immersed?” They said, “Into John’s immersion.” Paul said, “John immersed with an immersion of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One coming after him—that is, in Yeshua.” When they heard this, they were immersed in the name of the Lord Yeshua. And when Paul laid hands upon them, the Ruach ha-Kodesh came upon them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who were immersed into Messiah Yeshua were immersed into His death? Therefore we were buried together with Him through immersion into death—in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In conclusion, we base what we believe upon the plain meaning of Scripture. Therefore we follow:
The Golden Rule of Interpretation
When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths indicated clearly otherwise.
This means that we do not take an allegorical approach to interpreting scripture, but rather look at the plain simple meaning. David L. Cooper says that:
“The Golden Rule of Interpretation is one of the most important principles governing us in our interpretation of the Scriptures. If we follow this rule, we shall never go very far wrong; but if we fail to follow it, we shall never go right.”