Hope to see you there!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Caroling Party Reminder
Tomorrow evening, we meet at 5:00 pm at 10 West George St, two doors west of our usual meeting place to go caroling. Bring a large dish to share for the potluck afterward and come prepared to sing, have fun, and fellowship!
Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Random Lesson: Festive Fulfillment
My most sincere apologies for not posting this earlier! I started the post, saved it in the drafts folder, and promptly forgot about it. Here it is, though a week late.
Jael's lesson:
Several months ago, I made the acquaintance of a family who celebrates the Jewish feasts. Although they are Christian, they love the symbolism the feast represent, and so they celebrate the feasts. As I was talking with their daughter Bridget, I started becoming very interested in the feasts. Before this, they had just been traditions with lots of animal sacrifices that God commands in books like Leviticus and Numbers. But my interest had been piqued, and so I started looking more into the feasts, how people celebrate them now, and, most importantly, how Jesus fulfilled them.
And, since last meeting was the end of set one, we didn't have an assigned topic for this week. :-D So I was let loose with all my creative juices.
So, hopefully, this lesson will help reveal the secrets of the feasts, and deepen our awe of Jesus and His miraculous life!
There are 8 feasts that are commonly celebrated today. They are
Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year
Yom Kippur, which is the day of Atonement
Sukkot, or Tabernacles, when they build booths to remind themselves of the 40 years of wandering in the desert
Hanukkah, when they celebrate God's miraculous intervention at the time of the Maccabees
Purim, when they celebrate what the book of Esther is all about
Passover, which is when God passed over the houses of the Jews when he killed all the firstborn in Egypt
The Feast of Firstfruits, which is when the grain first begins to ripen
Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, or Penticost, when they celebrate the harvest.
This will be a long lesson, but hopefully, really fun. I have lots of fun food, and some fun activities. Ready?
One quick thing to note, though. Jews count their days from sundown to sundown (so right now, a Jew would say that it's December 5, already. Though, of course, they wouldn't call it December. :-P)
Shabbat:
Sabbath, held on Saturday every week.
LIGHT THE CANDLES
This isn't really a feast. It's a celebration of a day of rest. People usually celebrate it by having the mother light the lamps, and recite this blessing over it:
"Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with Your commandments and has commanded us to light the lights of Shabbat."
Then, they bring out grape juice/wine (BRING OUT GRAPE JUICE), and the father recites:
"Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine."
Third, they bring it challah bread (BRING OUT CHALLAH) and the father recites:
"Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen"
Then, there is usually an individual blessing given to each member by the father, and they all pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That is usually followed by reading of the Tanakh (which stands for Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim [Hebrew: Law, Prophets, Writings]) and song.
Quick facts about Shabbat:
It is the longest commandment out of the 10.
It is a covenant with God. He gave it to us to ensure that we would spend time with Him. If we break it, He doesn't desert us, but things go better if we do observe it.
In Deuteronomy, God told the Jews to keep the Sabbath because He rescued them from Egypt. How much more should we, as Christians, celebrate God's deliverance from sin! That's one reason why many Christians worship on Sunday. Jesus conquered death and rose...on a Sunday! :-D
Rosh Hashanah
Jewish New Year...and Feast of Trumpets.
Unlike our New Year, which is on January 1 every year, the Jewish New Year changes from year to year, since it is based on a lunar (as opposed to our solar) calendar. This year, Rosh Hashanah was on September 16-18.
Come. I want to show you how they welcome the New Year. (GO OUTSIDE AND BLOW SHOFAR. COME BACK IN)
Rosh Hashanah is a joyful time! They eat many sweet things, ignoring that which is bitter. Some of the foods are apples dipped in honey and pomegranates. (HAND OUT THOSE FOODS) Some say the pomegranates have 630 seeds, which is the number of commandments that God gave the Israelites in the Old Testament.
On the last day of Rosh Hashanah, people say, "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year."
Just as this feast is cheery, looking forward to the new year that is signaled by the blowing of the shofar, so we too, on the last day, have something to look forward to when the great horn sounds! We have life with Jesus, and nothing will ever be bitter again!
Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement
This day is the day when the high priest would go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. He would sprinkle blood there for himself and the people. Yom Kippur was a day of blood. Many animals were killed for the people's sins. No one ate anything. God specifically told the people to deny themselves. During this period of fasting, the high priest would lay his hands on the head of a goat, and commit all the sins of the people onto that goat. The animal would then be taken to a remote place in the desert, and left there. The goat bore all of God's wrath on the people's sins. This is where the term scapegoat comes from, too.
As depressing as this feast is, it is also the most richly fulfilled in Jesus. He is the high priest who went behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place to make intercession for us. But He took His own blood. So, for us, it's a day of rejoicing! We can talk with God every day as if we were in the Holy of Holies.
Sukkot
Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering
This feast is used to commemorate the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the desert. They had no real homes, so they had to live in tents. This is one of three feasts that the Lord commanded all the Israelite men to celebrate in Jerusalem. This is one of two feasts during which the biggest commandment is that the Israelites rejoice! How tough is that? You HAVE to rejoice! ;-) It's seven days long, and is a time of great joy. The biggest thing, though, for this feast is the "hut" that everyone has to build to stay in during the 7 days. We're gonna make our own huts...out of graham crackers and peanut butter! (BRING OUT SUPPLIES) Okay, start making! But keep listening while you construct it!
The Jews, of course, used real branches, and often decorated their sukkots elaborately.
Often times, Jews would read the book of Ecclesiastes during this time, and on the last, greatest day, they'd spend the day reading the Tanakh, dancing, and singing!
This feast, since it was 7 days long, had a lot of feasts.
When I was looking at this feast, I was trying to figure out what this had for us today. Then I realized, when the Jews were in the sukkot to remind them that they were strangers in a foreign land, God COMMANDED them to rejoice! In the same way, if we are in Jesus, knowing that we are but strangers in a foreign land, we will have much joy! :-D
Hanukkah
Feast of lights, celebrating God's miracles
This feast comes up a lot during this time of year. In fact, Hanakkah starts on December 8 this year. This festival isn't specifically called Hanukkah in the Bible, but we're pretty sure it is mentioned. In John 10, it talks about Jesus going up to the feast of Dedication, which was during the winter. Since this is the only winter feast, many people assume that they are the same thing.
This feast, I think, has the most interesting story behind it. After the Old Testament ends, the Jews were conquered by the Syrians. The Syrian king offered a pig in the temple (and pigs were about the most unclean animal you could get in Jewish society!), and thereby desecrated it. He also set up a statue in the Holy of Holies, and bowed down to it. He tried to force the high priest Matthias Maccabee to bow down to the idol and eat some pork, but Matthias refused. Instead, he and a bunch of countrymen killed all the invaders in an uprising called the Maccabean revolt. They successfully conquered the invaders, but then they had the task of purifying the temple. Te way to do this was to burn the holy oil in the sacred menorah in the temple for 8 days. Unfortunately, they only had enough oil for one day. Not to be deterred, they burned that. God did a miracle, and that oil lasted all 8 days. Therefore, the festival of Hanukkah lasts for eight days, and each day, a child in the family lights a candle on the family menorah. (IF POSSIBLE, LIGHT CANDLES)
This feast is a celebration of miracles, and a celebration of lights. I found it very interesting that the passage that talks about the feast of Dedication also has Jesus talking with the Jews about all the miracles he's done. God's miracles were fresh on their minds, and so when Jesus tied Himself to God's miracles, He was proclaiming Himself to be God. And, of course, there are all those passages where Jesus declares Himself to be the Light of the World.
Passover
This is probably the best known of all the feasts. I mean, who doesn't know the story of Passover? Ten plagues, the last of which is the death of the firstborn. But, God told the Israelites to mark the door with the blood of a lamb. Use some of this frosting to mark "blood" over the doorway of your sukkots. (BRING OUR FROSTING)
But blood over the doorway wasn't everything the Israelites were commanded to do. Last year, I was able to participate in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and I found it a very sweet experience. I wanted to let you try some. (BRING OUT SADAR STUFF)
This unleavened bread is called matza. The Jews were going to have to leave so quickly that they couldn't even make bread with yeast. I didn't understand that before this week. I make some challah bread (not the stuff we ate), and it took me almost 5 hours to make two loaves! So I can understand why they didn't have time!
Now, dip it in these bitter herbs. This is to represent the suffering the Israelites went under while they were slaves of the Pharaoh.
Now, dip it in the charoset. This is a sweet mixture to wash away the bitterness of the herbs. It represents the freedom of the Israelites after God led them out of Egypt.
But did you know that Jesus died on Passover? The lamb of God died on the day when all Jewish men had to offer a perfect lamb in Jerusalem? One of the requirements of the lamb's preparation is that none of it's bones be broken. Jesus' weren't.
A lamb saved the life of all the Israel firstborn. The Lamb saved the life of all Israel.
This feast was also one of the three that every Jewish man was required to celebrate in Jerusalem every year.
Jael's lesson:
Several months ago, I made the acquaintance of a family who celebrates the Jewish feasts. Although they are Christian, they love the symbolism the feast represent, and so they celebrate the feasts. As I was talking with their daughter Bridget, I started becoming very interested in the feasts. Before this, they had just been traditions with lots of animal sacrifices that God commands in books like Leviticus and Numbers. But my interest had been piqued, and so I started looking more into the feasts, how people celebrate them now, and, most importantly, how Jesus fulfilled them.
And, since last meeting was the end of set one, we didn't have an assigned topic for this week. :-D So I was let loose with all my creative juices.
So, hopefully, this lesson will help reveal the secrets of the feasts, and deepen our awe of Jesus and His miraculous life!
There are 8 feasts that are commonly celebrated today. They are
Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year
Yom Kippur, which is the day of Atonement
Sukkot, or Tabernacles, when they build booths to remind themselves of the 40 years of wandering in the desert
Hanukkah, when they celebrate God's miraculous intervention at the time of the Maccabees
Purim, when they celebrate what the book of Esther is all about
Passover, which is when God passed over the houses of the Jews when he killed all the firstborn in Egypt
The Feast of Firstfruits, which is when the grain first begins to ripen
Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, or Penticost, when they celebrate the harvest.
This will be a long lesson, but hopefully, really fun. I have lots of fun food, and some fun activities. Ready?
One quick thing to note, though. Jews count their days from sundown to sundown (so right now, a Jew would say that it's December 5, already. Though, of course, they wouldn't call it December. :-P)
Shabbat:
Sabbath, held on Saturday every week.
LIGHT THE CANDLES
This isn't really a feast. It's a celebration of a day of rest. People usually celebrate it by having the mother light the lamps, and recite this blessing over it:
"Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with Your commandments and has commanded us to light the lights of Shabbat."
Then, they bring out grape juice/wine (BRING OUT GRAPE JUICE), and the father recites:
"Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine."
Third, they bring it challah bread (BRING OUT CHALLAH) and the father recites:
"Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen"
Then, there is usually an individual blessing given to each member by the father, and they all pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That is usually followed by reading of the Tanakh (which stands for Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim [Hebrew: Law, Prophets, Writings]) and song.
Quick facts about Shabbat:
It is the longest commandment out of the 10.
It is a covenant with God. He gave it to us to ensure that we would spend time with Him. If we break it, He doesn't desert us, but things go better if we do observe it.
In Deuteronomy, God told the Jews to keep the Sabbath because He rescued them from Egypt. How much more should we, as Christians, celebrate God's deliverance from sin! That's one reason why many Christians worship on Sunday. Jesus conquered death and rose...on a Sunday! :-D
Rosh Hashanah
Jewish New Year...and Feast of Trumpets.
Unlike our New Year, which is on January 1 every year, the Jewish New Year changes from year to year, since it is based on a lunar (as opposed to our solar) calendar. This year, Rosh Hashanah was on September 16-18.
Come. I want to show you how they welcome the New Year. (GO OUTSIDE AND BLOW SHOFAR. COME BACK IN)
Rosh Hashanah is a joyful time! They eat many sweet things, ignoring that which is bitter. Some of the foods are apples dipped in honey and pomegranates. (HAND OUT THOSE FOODS) Some say the pomegranates have 630 seeds, which is the number of commandments that God gave the Israelites in the Old Testament.
On the last day of Rosh Hashanah, people say, "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year."
Just as this feast is cheery, looking forward to the new year that is signaled by the blowing of the shofar, so we too, on the last day, have something to look forward to when the great horn sounds! We have life with Jesus, and nothing will ever be bitter again!
Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement
This day is the day when the high priest would go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. He would sprinkle blood there for himself and the people. Yom Kippur was a day of blood. Many animals were killed for the people's sins. No one ate anything. God specifically told the people to deny themselves. During this period of fasting, the high priest would lay his hands on the head of a goat, and commit all the sins of the people onto that goat. The animal would then be taken to a remote place in the desert, and left there. The goat bore all of God's wrath on the people's sins. This is where the term scapegoat comes from, too.
As depressing as this feast is, it is also the most richly fulfilled in Jesus. He is the high priest who went behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place to make intercession for us. But He took His own blood. So, for us, it's a day of rejoicing! We can talk with God every day as if we were in the Holy of Holies.
Sukkot
Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering
This feast is used to commemorate the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the desert. They had no real homes, so they had to live in tents. This is one of three feasts that the Lord commanded all the Israelite men to celebrate in Jerusalem. This is one of two feasts during which the biggest commandment is that the Israelites rejoice! How tough is that? You HAVE to rejoice! ;-) It's seven days long, and is a time of great joy. The biggest thing, though, for this feast is the "hut" that everyone has to build to stay in during the 7 days. We're gonna make our own huts...out of graham crackers and peanut butter! (BRING OUT SUPPLIES) Okay, start making! But keep listening while you construct it!
The Jews, of course, used real branches, and often decorated their sukkots elaborately.
Often times, Jews would read the book of Ecclesiastes during this time, and on the last, greatest day, they'd spend the day reading the Tanakh, dancing, and singing!
This feast, since it was 7 days long, had a lot of feasts.
When I was looking at this feast, I was trying to figure out what this had for us today. Then I realized, when the Jews were in the sukkot to remind them that they were strangers in a foreign land, God COMMANDED them to rejoice! In the same way, if we are in Jesus, knowing that we are but strangers in a foreign land, we will have much joy! :-D
Hanukkah
Feast of lights, celebrating God's miracles
This feast comes up a lot during this time of year. In fact, Hanakkah starts on December 8 this year. This festival isn't specifically called Hanukkah in the Bible, but we're pretty sure it is mentioned. In John 10, it talks about Jesus going up to the feast of Dedication, which was during the winter. Since this is the only winter feast, many people assume that they are the same thing.
This feast, I think, has the most interesting story behind it. After the Old Testament ends, the Jews were conquered by the Syrians. The Syrian king offered a pig in the temple (and pigs were about the most unclean animal you could get in Jewish society!), and thereby desecrated it. He also set up a statue in the Holy of Holies, and bowed down to it. He tried to force the high priest Matthias Maccabee to bow down to the idol and eat some pork, but Matthias refused. Instead, he and a bunch of countrymen killed all the invaders in an uprising called the Maccabean revolt. They successfully conquered the invaders, but then they had the task of purifying the temple. Te way to do this was to burn the holy oil in the sacred menorah in the temple for 8 days. Unfortunately, they only had enough oil for one day. Not to be deterred, they burned that. God did a miracle, and that oil lasted all 8 days. Therefore, the festival of Hanukkah lasts for eight days, and each day, a child in the family lights a candle on the family menorah. (IF POSSIBLE, LIGHT CANDLES)
This feast is a celebration of miracles, and a celebration of lights. I found it very interesting that the passage that talks about the feast of Dedication also has Jesus talking with the Jews about all the miracles he's done. God's miracles were fresh on their minds, and so when Jesus tied Himself to God's miracles, He was proclaiming Himself to be God. And, of course, there are all those passages where Jesus declares Himself to be the Light of the World.
Passover
This is probably the best known of all the feasts. I mean, who doesn't know the story of Passover? Ten plagues, the last of which is the death of the firstborn. But, God told the Israelites to mark the door with the blood of a lamb. Use some of this frosting to mark "blood" over the doorway of your sukkots. (BRING OUR FROSTING)
But blood over the doorway wasn't everything the Israelites were commanded to do. Last year, I was able to participate in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and I found it a very sweet experience. I wanted to let you try some. (BRING OUT SADAR STUFF)
This unleavened bread is called matza. The Jews were going to have to leave so quickly that they couldn't even make bread with yeast. I didn't understand that before this week. I make some challah bread (not the stuff we ate), and it took me almost 5 hours to make two loaves! So I can understand why they didn't have time!
Now, dip it in these bitter herbs. This is to represent the suffering the Israelites went under while they were slaves of the Pharaoh.
Now, dip it in the charoset. This is a sweet mixture to wash away the bitterness of the herbs. It represents the freedom of the Israelites after God led them out of Egypt.
But did you know that Jesus died on Passover? The lamb of God died on the day when all Jewish men had to offer a perfect lamb in Jerusalem? One of the requirements of the lamb's preparation is that none of it's bones be broken. Jesus' weren't.
A lamb saved the life of all the Israel firstborn. The Lamb saved the life of all Israel.
This feast was also one of the three that every Jewish man was required to celebrate in Jerusalem every year.
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