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It's been a year since Cheers rallied behind local Aussie Jews at Parliament House, and we'll do it again this week. - Local Jews should not be targeted for the alleged 'sins' of Israel. They're not to blame. Fair go, mate! Racist anti-semitism would be unthinkable to my Aussie mates, yet apparently it’s growing in Australia to a rate three times that of Germany in the 1930s! Time to stand against it - Never Again Is Now. Cheers crew actively support Worldview Australia which now has three camps per year: the Youth Leadership Camp for teens and young adult leaders; PreView for younger campers looks at the Core Stuff; Family Camp for all ages looked at Faith Foundations for Families, with the topic of “Daniel: Good. Different." All camps were full and blessed everyone as hoped, by Jesus work amongst us all. WVBites open lectures at Woodvale Baptist’s hall Biblically addressed these topics: Disciple-making Tools; Sciencing Well; Bearing under Persecution; and War. Plus WVA visited various towns, schools & churches, with messages that inspire people to think and live from a Biblical Worldview. Cheers continues to meet at the Westlakes' around the Bible, & prayer, & praise. Topics included: Matthew's Isaiah prophecies and worldview; Suffering well - 1Peter; The Father Heart of God; Faith challenges from Deuteronomy. We pray around the table on Thursdays. We work out our faith in our various contexts: residents' association, schools, homes, workplaces, social settings, networks. We pray for and look for who Jesus wants us to share with. Last night I welcomed a person of newfound faith at Worldview Bites. So at Cheers, we're all learning to be part of "The Worship Team," in all we are and do.  This is the kind of Christmas message I would have given if I'd thought of it! Well done Mark Fairley. From me to you all, may your Christmas be full to overflowing! Also, given the year Israel has had, I thought it worth sharing this reflection through Jewish eyes, that made mine overflow - again. Especially the crescendo moment "the great I AM!" Shalom Shalom.  Our friend, Tas Walker, answers some fair questions about Easter here.
On the origin of the English word Easter, he says: it came from the Germanic Ost, for east, and rising. "it’s most doubtful that any Eostre was ever worshipped, because the only evidence is from Bede. And he never mentioned any animal associated with her. A non-existent association with a non-existent goddess is hardly good grounds for seeing paganism in the Easter bunny!" On the question of three days and nights, he says: the term "third day" was interchangeable with "3 days & nights" back in the culture of the day. "So while X days and X nights can mean what it means in English, this was only a subset of its semantic range in Jewish idiom... "Note that even His enemies understood that ‘after three days’ meant that they only had to secure the tomb ‘until the third day’. If three full 24-hour periods were meant, then they would want to secure the tomb until the fourth day to make sure. So for Jews, the phrases ‘on the third day’, ‘after the third day’, ‘until the third day’ and ‘three days and three nights’ were synonymous." Enjoy the details. Biblical Feasts summary Feasts are more than just great times. They bind communities together around shared concepts and experiences in common. Like a wedding feast celebrates around our common support of the union of these people. Likewise the feasts that God instructs his people to observe, bind them together too, around concepts core to their identity. And because these core concepts are fulfilled in Jesus, they are also about our identity too.  Due to our communion services, many of us already know how Passover relates to our life in Christ (the prophesied Messiah). Likewise, so do the other Feasts of the LORD, instituted in Lev23:1-44. Num29:12-34. Deut14-16. 1) Christ is the spotless Passover lamb, whose blood saved us from death, and from slavery to sin. 2) Christ is the Unleavened Bread, broken, wrapped, and buried to return later. 3) Christ is the First Fruits of the resurrection. 4) Christ's Spirit is given at Pentecost /Feast of Weeks /Second Harvest, to gather Gentile believers as a second harvest. 5) Christ's return announced with Trumpets, will begin the new age to come. 6) Christ our Atonement will cover us when he Judges this mixed up world. 7) Christ Tabernacles with us now by his Spirit, but will dwell with us in the Heavenly feasting to come. Although Christians don't have to observe these feasts, we can celebrate that Israel's core Scriptural feasts are fulfilled by the Messiah who grafts us in to His Story. Thus these feasts can bind us together deeply. New Life Church in Fremantle made these cards about Christ in the Calendar of feasts. I added the 8th.         Christians benefit from a closer look at the Biblical Fall Feasts, because, among other things, they foreshadow Christ's work in days to come. We have hindsight to help us see how Christ fulfilled Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost. We need foresight to see how he will fulfil Trumpets, Atonement, and Shelters.
This helps us understand why there are two New Years in the Jewish calendar: the religious-year cycle of teaching starts with Trumpets, but the calendar-year starts just before Passover. Some people start their spiritual lives at the beginning with Creation and the Old Testament (Jewish), but some start with Jesus the Passover lamb (Christians).
The religious annual cycle begins with Creation, the First era:
Whether you start with Creation, or start with Christ, the Feasts commemorate the whole of history, from the very beginning to the very end of the age. |
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