From the President
Shalom in His grace!
I hope this abbreviated newsletter finds you healthy and rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord.
Your Mission to the Jewish People continues to find great opportunities to reach Jewish people with the gospel amidst the reopening of our country. We continue to communicate with Jewish people online while inching forward toward opening our centers and offices, having in-person services, and sharing the Lord by visiting with Jewish people face-to-face or mask-to-mask!
We have learned much during this time of quarantine and hope these lessons, especially some of the new outreach strategies we have developed, remain with us in the days and months ahead. But, like everyone else, Chosen People Ministries staff members look forward to in-person worship and restarting our ministries as soon as possible.
I am thrilled to see the connection between online evangelism and in person followup. Our situation still limits us as the country is opening at different times, and we are in two dozen cities in the United States alone. Yet, our online ministries (some of which began well before the pandemic) are still used powerfully by God every day!
Here are just a few examples of how God is working during the pandemic:
One young man attended a virtual service through our Brooklyn congregation, and he asked many questions afterward. He met with one of the congregational leaders through Zoom and shortly thereafter accepted Jesus as his Messiah and Savior! He continues to attend online services and is growing in his faith!
A young woman contacted us on Facebook and asked for a copy of our Isaiah 53 Explained book. We sent it to her, and she wrote to tell us she was reading it. She is now in regular contact with our staff and has begun studying the Bible with her husband, who comes from a Christian home. She told us that she now believes Jesus is the promised Messiah! I cannot tell you how exciting and encouraging this is!
These experiences have convinced Your Mission to the Jewish People more than ever before that the gospel is as powerful today as it was when the Apostle Paul penned Romans 1:16,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
In season or out of season, in darkness and light, and through every type of natural disaster and pandemic, the gospel continues to be God’s power unleashed to transform the lives of those who believe and accept Jesus as their Savior.
By way of reminder and as the leader of this historic mission to the Jewish people, I believe that Jewish people need to accept Jesus to have a place in the age to come (John 14:6, Acts 4:12, John 3:16–17).
I do not believe that anyone is capable of keeping the Law to the extent that their human efforts would somehow satisfy God’s demands for righteousness, enabling the individual to enter heaven on their own merit. (Galatians 2:15–16, 3:23–25, Romans 10:2–4 ff.) Jewish people are saved by grace through faith, just like everyone else!
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
It might sound simplistic, but the Scripture is clear. It is the very basis for missions, and for Chosen People Ministries, it has been our focus for more than a century!
As we work through the challenges of life on this side of eternity, we cherish your continued prayers, love, and support. We are in this together, and I am beyond grateful for you!
Your brother in the Messiah,
Mitch
The Good News
In Scriptures
Today’s environment of isolation is driving people everywhere to search for hope, peace, and meaning. Despite the moniker “chosen people,” Jewish people are searching too, perhaps more intensely now than ever. But most Jewish people will not be looking to Jesus or the New Testament for answers. The chasm created by centuries of misunderstanding and mistreatment of Jewish people by those who alleged faith in Christ but did not act in love towards the Jewish people is why believing in Jesus, and even reading the New Testament, is so difficult for those raised in Jewish homes.
Yet, we know that God is eternal, His Word is truth, and He has woven the message of the gospel throughout the Scriptures—all of it! The good news did not begin in the New Testament, as the Hebrew Scriptures contain the good news too. This is a good place to begin when speaking with a Jewish friend.
The following are a few suggestions you might find useful when speaking with a Jewish person about the gospel.
God is Holy
Although Leviticus is the third book of the Bible, it is often the first book that Jewish parents teach their children. It contains a large portion of the legal code that has come to be associated with religious Judaism. God commanded the children of Israel in Leviticus to “be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). God issued this order no fewer than six times. The implication is that by following the ordinances, statutes, and commands in the Scripture, one will be holy.
Nobody Meets the Standard
Yet, the prophet Isaiah wrote that no matter how well you do at “being righteous,” it will never be enough: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6). If that is the case, then God had to provide a way to make atonement. On our own, we can never be holy in His eyes.
The Means of Atonement
The Lord included within the Law the way to make reparations when Israel disobeyed. Atonement is the focus of two entire chapters—Leviticus 16 and 17. However, the process can be summed up in one verse, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement” (Leviticus 17:11).
God’s Solution
The Day of Atonement comes every year. Yet, God promised through the prophet Isaiah that, one day, the Lamb of God—the Messiah—would serve as a final sacrifice for all of us, forever. The prophet writes,
“All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:6).
Always About Faith
The picture the prophets paint shows that God certainly desires obedience, “but the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). It is this faith—the faith to believe in the One on whom God has caused our iniquity to fall—that brings the hope and peace all of us—both Jews and Gentiles—so desperately need.
All About Jesus
He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one, Jew or Gentile, can enter into this personal, intimate relationship with God without Him. He is our sacrifice and High Priest who stands in the gap between humanity and our Creator. He died for our sins and rose from the grave, conquering spiritual and even physical death. As Isaiah wrote about His death,
“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)
and also His resurrection,
“But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.” (Isaiah 53:10).
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
Our Chosen People Ministries congregation in Irvine, California, has experienced considerable growth. Staff member and congregational leader Larry Feldman reports that all of Shuvah Yisrael’s virtual services and Bible studies have been better attended than their in-person services. Their Saturday morning service is viewed by approximately 600–700 people, which means that 1,000–1,500 people are listening. Their annual Passover Seder showed a similar increase. It appears more people are hearing the gospel now than ever before!
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Russia staff members Vera and Kirill quickly mobilized assistance for at-risk people in Moscow, Birobidzhan and Sevastopol. They were met with tears of gratitude when they visited Sergey* and Inna,* who both have cancer and were in dire need of medication. They also spent time with Masha,* a Jewish woman with disabilities who lives alone. Masha had never experienced benevolence before. In Birobidzhan, they were able to minister to ten Jewish families and eight Jewish people with disabilities and a family with five children in Sevastopol.
*names changed
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