Parasha Shelech Lecha (Send on Your Behalf)

From Rabbi Jack...

2 Corinthians {5:17} "Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

What exactly does Paul mean by this verse because sometimes when I wake up in the morning I sure do not feel like a new creation and when I look at myself in the mirror I do not look like a new creation. So of course, Paul was not referring to a reversal of ageing. No this is not at all what Paul intended when he said that we are new creations.

When God created the earth and formed man from the dust, man lived in a perfect spiritual bond with God. God and man communed together, walked together and were at peace with each other, there was spiritual bliss. However, when sin entered into the world through Adam and Eve's disobedience, all that came to a screeching halt and man was thrown out of paradise to fend for himself in a cruel, harsh world dominated by Satan. That is the world you and I were born into and this is where we have grown up; in a world alienated from God without hope, without a future. We saw ourselves as sophisticated animals that were more intelligent and higher up on the food chain. Like so many of our ancestors we would have continued on in life that way until we died believing the maxim: "Life is a drag and then we die!"

John {10:10} "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Those of us that met Yeshua along the pathway of life and accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, through that acceptance was Born Again. The Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) entered our lives and despite the fact that we were living in a world filled with darkness, God's light started to shine in our lives. Essentially, we became a new creation, and reverted back to who we were created to be in the Garden of Eden. We returned to the perfect spiritual relationship with God where we could once again commune together, walk together and be at peace with each other in spiritual bliss. This is what Paul meant when he said: "Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new"!

Hi Ellen here…

2 Corinthians {10.5} says: "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Messiah Yeshua."  Does it work? A resounding YES!!! If you are a committed believer in Messiah Yeshua and if you are in this world…you must recite this Scripture, as I do, many times a day. We all know that even though we are of God and serve Him we still have free will, we still have our flesh. Why do wicked thoughts come into our minds? Because the devil does not want us to rest. I am writing this to warn us not to let our guard down ever! The devil seeks to bring us into total chaos so we become distracted and even tormented…a place of no peace in all that. Taking every thought captive requires repentance from sin to faith in God. Ahhh but you say I am not sinning…we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. If you struggle with anxiety and worry in your thought life, which is a sin, then practice taking every thought captive…believe me, it works!

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King.

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Commentary

Sermon of the week "A better way"

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Parasha Becha'alotcha (When You Set Up)

From Rabbi Jack...

There is only one way to learn about God and that is by studying His Word. I know that the word study strikes fear in many people's hearts because we had enough studying when we were in school, but the fact is, there is no other way!

My sermon last week was about being a disciplined disciple and I used the Apostle Paul as my subject by whom we can compare his life as a disciple to ours'. God empowered Paul because through his teaching He was going to use him to lead us into becoming disciplined disciples of Yeshua; disciples learn from their Master.

Something that Yeshua said always inspires me to study Scripture, all Scripture, it is when, speaking to the Pharisees He said:

John {5:46} "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. {5:47) But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

Many churches discount the Hebrew Scriptures (aka Old Covenant) and in doing so they cause their members to focus their concentration and study on the Renewed Covenant (aka New Covenant). However, Yeshua told us that Moses wrote about Him and that should challenge us to Study the Hebrew Scriptures to discover more about our Savior. In fact, I had to become more than just a student, I had to become a miner as I read the Hebrew Scriptures and dig into the Word to extract the gems hidden below the surface. I confess that doing so liberated my mind, inspired my understanding and gave me a perspective of the Renewed Covenant I could have never had if I only studied it.

As a Messianic Rabbi I did many home visitations and somehow every home I visited had a Bible somewhere within my view. Little did those I visited know that I was not impressed by the presence of their Bible but rather by the condition of its pages.

From Ellen...

Hi Ellen here…In 2006 the Lord motioned to Jack and me to go to Nigeria. We had been communicating with some Believers there that had become interested in Messianic belief and worship. The news about Nigeria was unstable and somewhat frightening but if the Lord says so, you go! We began to pray together concerning this trip. One evening a still, small voice kept whispering in my spirit…fast, fast, fast. It was coming to the time of High Holy days, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. I was elated because I always fast on Yom Kippur, as commanded. Soon, preparations began with one of our favorite times in Ontario - apple picking for honey and apples for Rosh Hashanah; no apples for me, the spirit in me kept saying more than a commanded fast. What to do?

I was flipping through some magazines to take my mind off it all and a small pamphlet fell out…the title, you guessed it; "Fasting for the Nations". I read it in its entirety and was blessed and encouraged. As we celebrated Rosh Hashanah I began to fast for wisdom, safe passage, documentation such as visas, a good price on airline tickets and anything else you might pray for a trip such as this. Lo and behold the fast lasted forty days and nights with ease and joy but more importantly our potentially dangerous and scary trip to Nigeria was one of divine protection and revelation. The Lord brought us through some interesting times and we were blessed.

Listen, I am fasting every Wednesday when Etz Chaim prays as a family in the evening. I am asking you for only a one day fast. Want a blessing or a much-needed breakthrough? Fast with Etz Chaim Kenya and we will pray for you as well. Blessings and love, always in Yeshua!

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King.

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Commentary - coming soon!

Sermon for the week "Listening for God"

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Parasha Naso (Take)

From Rabbi Jack...

James {1:2} "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,".

When we read that Believers are supposed to be joyful in all circumstances it can be misleading and even troublesome because there are many circumstances in life that are not joyful. Everyone goes through times of sadness and disappointment. So, if and when we experience such times and misunderstand what the Lord means by joy, we can judge ourselves, judge others and be judged by others. However, God knows that there are going to be times of sadness and disappointment, so He cannot be talking to us about rejoicing when we are in trouble or when we are going through an extreme trial because then we would be sadists.

There is a reason we should be joyful in extreme circumstances because they are a test of our faith and when our faith is tried, patience is perfected. James explains it to us in 1:4 when he says. "But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." Basically, we are being told that we have to grow up in the things of God. For that to happen we have to be tested. If we are never tested in areas of our lives that bring sadness or disappointment, we will never develop patience, and if we never develop patience we will be lacking in maturity; trials are the way God develops our faith. If we want to mature in the things of God we have to go through some sadness and disappointment producing tests. So, God is not saying that we have to be joyful when we are sick or when we lost our job or when we broke a bone or when we are in pain, or when a loved one died, but He does want us to be joyful in the fact that these things, and the many others we will we encounter in life, have the ability to strengthen our faith and perfect our patience. Godly joy is an attitude we choose, impatience and complaining is an attitude we should lose!

2 Corinthians {6:10} "as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."

From Ellen...

Hi Ellen here…Cancer! A word that brings fear, disbelief and uncertainty. I have a friend who has survived it and does not even like to say the word. I can relate and do not blame them at all. So many are afflicted with this insipid disease. My husband who has survived stage 4 cancer and thrived is now at the tail end of experiencing a secondary attack…so where does it end? I am writing to you concerning this subject to apologize. Firstly, because sometimes this is the only thing I speak about and honestly think about, but this is not who I am. I am a daughter of the most High God and He is bigger than all disease.

We continue here to experience this pandemic of Covid but everyone is ignoring it. No, my friends, it has not left yet and continues to infect and kill people. Am I concerned? Yes! When I go out, I continue to mask up and honestly sometimes I am the only one wearing one. If I get infected and bring Covid home, my husband could get infected and it could be very serious for him. But this is not who I am. I am a daughter of the King! What am I getting at here? I am not very sure exactly but I know we are all still flesh and fall so short of the glory of God. Oh yes back to my apology…not to you but to Abba in heaven because He has told me He will never leave nor forsake me and He has equipped us to handle all these things as we await His return. I am sorry to lay all this on you but we all fall so short of His glory. I guess these blurbs do not have to be uplifting all of the time…so I apologize.

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King.

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Commentary

Sermon of the week "Stay Balanced and Focused"

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Parasha Bamidbar (Numbers)

From Rabbi Jack...

Being thankful is the cornerstone of a Believer's life. As part of our Shabbat liturgy, we recite a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving that I would like to share with you:

"We gratefully thank You, for it is You Who are the Lord, our God and the God of our forefathers for all eternity. Rock of our lives, Shield of our salvation are You from generation to generation. We shall thank You and relate Your praise for our lives, which are committed to Your hand and for our souls that are entrusted to You; for Your miracles that are with us every day; and for Your wonders and favors in every season – evening, morning, and afternoon. The Beneficent One, for Your compassions were never exhausted, and the Compassionate One, for Your kindness never ended. We have always put our hope in You. Everything alive will gratefully acknowledge You, Selah! And praise Your Name sincerely, O God of our salvation and help, Selah! Blessed are You, O Lord, Your Name is 'The Beneficent One' and to You it is fitting to give thanks. For all these, may Your Name be blessed and exalted, our King, continually forever and ever.

Psalms {119:71} "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes."

In this psalm David is expressing thanks to God in his affliction. Normally, in our affliction we tend to question God. However, David recognized that in comparison to his good times, He learned more about God and His statutes when experiencing affliction.

1 Thessalonians {5:18} "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Messiah Yeshua for you."

Notice that the Apostle Paul wrote, "in everything give thanks" and not "for everything give thanks." This relates to what David was saying in his psalm. Affliction will come into all of our lives, but we are not to be thankful "for" them, rather we are to be thankful "in" them because in them we too will learn more about God and His statutes.

From Ellen...

Hi Ellen here…Well it was no coincidence, in my opinion, that the Rabbi spoke about marriage last Shabbat. The Holy Spirit moves in our lives very gently and very lovingly. I say this because we are soon to celebrate Shavuot, also known as Pentecost in Church circles. We have an opportunity to reaffirm our relationship, commitment and dedication to our God Most High on this festival. What is Shavuot? Briefly Shavuot is the giving of the Torah and the giving of the Holy Spirit to His people. Shavuot is also a marriage, a marriage between the Lord and you and me!!! How glorious this is. I implore all of us to search back in our memories to the time we first said, "YES LORD!" That incredible day when the Lord changed you and me from the old self to the renewed self…for me firstly I went from frantic to peaceful and yes, He miraculously delivered me from smoking that very same day. Let us all come before our bridegroom this Shavuot and renew our marriage vow to our God Most High!

Yours in Messiah Yeshua; our Lord, our God, our soon coming King.

Rabbi Jack & Ellen

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Parasha Commentary: Coming soon

Sermon of the week "Cohabitation"

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