Good morning. Good morning. Shalom, everybody.
Oh, you guys speak Hebrew. We'll continue in
Hebrew. Ah, just kidding. Just kidding. No, I'm
so glad to be here. As was mentioned, I had to
travel a very far distance to get here. All seven
minutes it took to get down here to downtown
Balfour. I'm from here. Balfour has been my home
my entire life. So this is... Just astounding.
It's a great honor. I've passed by this church
most of my life, and to be able to pass by and
always wonder, like, I wonder what goes on in
there. And now to be in front of all you speaking,
to have my family here as well. I've got to,
you know, embarrass them a little bit, but they're
here as well. So it's just a huge honor to have
my family and to be in my hometown and speaking.
So first of all, thank you so much. As was mentioned,
I work with Chosen People Ministries. I'll give
a little bit introduction about who I am personally,
but also my message today is going to be, I believe
we have the slides that are going to be shown,
but on Pentecost. And so Pentecost, if we all
think about it, most of us, what do we think
of when we hear Pentecost? Anybody? Gospels?
Okay, I hear that. Holy Spirit coming down. Okay,
yes, Acts 2. We all immediately think about that.
We're like, oh, there's the connection. But what
I'm going to be sharing about today is not only
just Acts 2, but where Pentecost is found as
early in the Scriptures as Exodus and Leviticus
and found in the beginnings of our Scriptures
and this important feast holiday. Now, Pentecost,
does anybody know what Pentecost means? I'm going
to be asking questions. I like wrong answers,
so don't worry. Don't feel intimidated. I love
it. So, anybody? Pentecost? No? That's all right.
Five? I see a five. Five, zero, 50. That's what
Pentecost means. So when you hear the word Pentecost,
it means 50 in Greek. But what we're going to
be looking at is there's another word right there,
Shavuot. Now, Shavuot is Hebrew for weeks. And
so we're going to be exploring the connection
and where Pentecost comes from, which is the
Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Shavuots. And so
this is the harvest season, preparing ourselves
for the return. So again, I'm going to be exploring
all that through and through. So again, just
bear with me as we're going through these slides.
The next slide that we go to just gives a little
bit of a rundown of where we're going to be going.
So again, we'll start in the biblical beginnings
of Pentecost, where it originates. Talk about
the current Jewish understanding as of right
now. What do the Jewish people believe about
Shavuot as of this day? The New Testament fulfillment,
we all just mentioned that a little bit, Acts
2. We're going to be going, definitely, we're
not missing that. And the ultimate meaning behind
what was fulfilled on that day and how do we
observe it. So again, we're going to be going
throughout this rundown and going through each
one. So the next slide has a little introduction
about me. I am from, again, Balfour. I'm a Mexican
Jew. So if any of you say, I've never met a Mexican
Jew, glad I can be the first. Or maybe you know
another and you can introduce us. I don't know.
So I'm Mexican Jewish. I'm a believer in Jesus.
We attended a Messianic congregation most of
my life over in Irvine, California. And that
congregation sent me and a group of 16 -year
-olds and teenagers to the Holy Land, Israel,
in 2017. And that trip is the trip that got me
the call to ministry when I was at the Western
Wall. So it was a huge part of my life. I was
16 years old, and I started attending Moody Bible
Institute over in Chicago for four years. So
the first picture all the way to... your guys
is, I guess, left, is a picture of me in front
of our headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. So
that's right in Midtown. That's our organization.
We started in 1894. So we're 131 years old. So
pretty old ministry. I've been part of it out
of all those 131 years, two years. So, you know,
it's a big number, right? And to the right is
a photo of me and some friends during one of
our Shabbat dinners. So our main ministry is
called House of Living Waters. We live in Manhattan,
and me and my roommate, we have these Shabbat
dinners where we bring students over from NYU,
Columbia, and Rutgers over New Jersey. And we
have events where we're able to share the gospel
with fellow Jewish unbelievers and get to have
these Shabbat dinners where we show the connections
of our faith and show that we're able to have
these Jewish customs like Shabbat, but also get
to share our faith and what brings us joy. brings
us as completed, you know, that this faith brings
us as a completed Jew, as one would say. And
so right now we're serving in New York, serving
in Manhattan, and I've been down there for two
years now. So it's been an astounding honor.
You know, the Lord loves sending me to big cities,
you know, grew up in LA, lived in Chicago for
school, and now in New York. So, you know, I
can't get over the big cities. So the next...
image that we have is our mission statement.
So again, we exist as Chosen People Ministries
to share the good news of Jesus with Jewish people
all across the world, to evangelize, disciple,
and minister to Jewish people across. And so
again, we have those Shabbat dinners where even
that little tiny one -bedroom apartment in New
York, or not like California, everything's tight
-packed. And so we're able to, we've gotten up
to 25 people in there. So we, you know, we're
really... tied in there together. And so we're
able to bring students over, have dinners together.
And then we also, in the other image, is a friend
of mine. Me and him are teaching students from
Wisconsin how to reach their fellow Jewish friends
and how to share the gospel with them in a way
that is sensitive and caring and to be able to
present it to all peoples. And we got to take
them around New York and show them Jewish areas
and such. So it was an amazing time. So again,
that's what Chosen People Ministries, our main
goal is. Enough of that. Let's get to the message.
So Shavuot, again, many of you were like, this
is the first time I'm hearing this word. It's
the Feast of Weeks, and it's found all the way
in Leviticus 23, verses 15 through 21. So Leviticus
23 is the chapter of Scripture that really goes
into all the feasts, the main ones the Lord presents
to the people of Israel, and he tells them to
observe these feasts. Now this is the one that's
forgotten a lot of times and the significance
of it is lost because I think people misunderstand
the significance of this holiday and that this
is actually one of the most important times in
the scriptures. And again, we know Pentecost,
but Pentecost is this holiday, the Feast of Weeks.
So it begins in Leviticus 23. This is after Passover.
It says, you shall also count for yourselves
from the day after the Sabbath. That's the Sabbath
during Passover. From the day when you brought
in the sheaf of the wave offering, there shall
be seven complete Sabbaths. So it's a week of
weeks. So seven weeks, and that's why it's called
the Feast of Weeks. But it's actually... 49 plus
one day. So it's 50 days that are counted from
after that Sabbath during Passover all the way
down to this day. 50 days are counted. And those
50 days lead up to the beginning of this harvest
season. So it says right here, you shall count
50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath.
Then you shall present a new grain offering to
the Lord. So this is an important agricultural
holiday because this is the beginning of the
wheat harvest. So they go up, they present this
offering before the Lord, and the priest also
offers up all these other offerings, the sin
offering, the burnt offering, the peace offering.
He offers each and every one of them before the
people. And what's significant is this is one
of three of the feasts that is a pilgrimage feast.
That God specifically tells the people you need
to go up to Jerusalem in order to fully celebrate
this holiday. So here comes all these farmers,
all these farmers gathering together within the
town of Jerusalem. They all gather in the holy
city, and they go up to present this offering
before God. And what's also significant is that
this is the one holiday where a leaven offering
of bread is offered up to God. Now, for us who
have read the scriptures, what does leaven signify?
Sin. Okay, that's interesting. So the sin is
this leaven offering. Two loaves are offered
before the Lord, and it's accepted by God. And
again, because it's made of the wheat, so it's
a wheat harvest. So this is the first offering,
the first fruits of that harvest season. And
so after this, four months go by of the gathering
of this harvest season before the fall feast
began. So it's an important, significant time
in the time of Israel. Remember, this is an agricultural
system. This is people that depend on this wheat,
and yet the first thing they do is offer it up
before the Lord. He commands them to do that,
and he will bless them in that offering. And
so again, they all gather together in Jerusalem.
offer up this offering to God. The priest holds
and waves the offering before them, and from
there, that begins the whole four months, that
from that day forth, the whole harvest season
begins. So again, it's super significant. And
that leaven, just remember that he offers two
loaves of leaven. Now, I think that's vital for
what's coming later. So I'm going to explain
a little bit more about that. But the next thing
I want to talk about is the Jewish understanding,
a community right now is still celebrating Shavuot
to this day. And I know it's the next slide we
can go over to. So Shavuot is still celebrated
to this day. Jewish families across the world
right now still celebrate it. It was actually
this past June 1st, I was getting messages, Chag
Sameach Shavuot, which is happy holiday or happy
feast of Shavuot, of weeks. And so on this day,
the Jewish families gather together. It happens
over in New York, happens across in L .A., happens
everywhere across the world where Jewish families
are together. And they celebrate Shavuot, but
they've given it even more significance in the
tradition. Now, that significance is that it's
celebrating the giving of the law, the giving
of the Torah, which has happened on Sinai by
Moses when the Lord gave him the law. And so
they celebrate that. And they say, well, in Jewish
tradition, it's believed that the law was given
during the springtime. And so they celebrate
that. They gather together. And again, they count
from the 50 days from after that Saturday. So
it's a Sunday all the way to this Sunday. So
it lands on the same days every year. It's always
a Sunday. And so that begins the night before
they actually read the Torah all night. So all
five first books of the Bible, so Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, they all gather
together and they read it the night before. That's
a lot of reading. I don't know about you. I don't
know if I could stay up to that, but they do
it. And it's because they have an overjoyed feeling
of having the law. So they gather together, and
on this holiday, they get to eat wheat. and dairy.
Now, the wheat, of course, is because of the
wheat harvest and dairy because the word of the
law is described as being as milk and honey,
just like the land itself. And so, they actually
eat cheese splintzes. They eat all this amazing
wheat and stuff. I mean, what a holiday. You
got to eat bread and dairy. Like, that's... Sign
me up. So it's really a time to celebrate, and
it's a festive one. There's no restrictions on
this holiday. The other holidays, you know, we
love to put some restrictions on it and say,
oh, no leaven, no this, no that. But this is
the one holiday we're actually commanded to just...
feast and enjoy this time of the giving of the
law. And also it's the reading of Ruth that happens
during this time because Ruth occurred during
the harvest season. It's mentioned the barley
season and the wheat season. So it's actually
a celebratory time and really the communities
gather together. So again, it sounds great. It
sounds amazing. The giving of the law, that sounds
fantastic. But what I want to share today. what
happened in Acts 2, something greater was given
on that day, something that's beyond the law,
something that was beyond that time. And so we
go to the next slide, and that is the New Testament
fulfilling, which happened in Acts 2. People
said it already. The Holy Spirit went upon the
people. So I'll read from Acts 2 right here.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were
all together in one place. Now, what's that one
place? We talked about it. It's a pilgrimage
feast. Jerusalem. They all gathered in the city.
Okay, so that's step one. Now we know they were
in Jerusalem at that time. So it says they were
in one place and suddenly there came from heaven
a noise like a violent rushing wind and it filled
the whole house where they were sitting. And
there appeared to them tongues as a fire distributing
themselves and they rested on each one of them
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues as the
Spirit was giving them utterance. So here's this
moment where the Holy Spirit goes upon these
people. And again, it's bewildering. They're
amazed by what happens. And they start saying,
wait, aren't these Galileans? How are they speaking
all these different languages? And it really
astonished them because they were from all over
the known world at the time. It lists some of
them. It says there were Parthians, Medes, Elamites,
Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia.
All these places, Egypt, I mean, Rome. So these
were people all gathered within Jerusalem, all
together. And here they are hearing this amazing
moment, and they're hearing their own tongues,
as they say. And so what's their answer of hearing
all this? They're like, eh, these guys must be
drunk. So they just dismiss it immediately. They're
like, this can't be. Like, there's no way. How
is this even possible? But Peter, it says he
took his stand with the 11, raised his voice,
and declared to them, men of Judea and all who
live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and
give heed to my words. For these men are not
drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third
hour of the day. But this is what was written,
spoken of through the prophet Joel. So immediately
he recognizes, he goes back to the Old Testament,
and he sees this prophecy right here being fulfilled
before his eyes. So this is amazing. He sees
it right there. He immediately recognizes it.
And it shall be in the last days, God says, that
I will pour forth of my spirit on all mankind
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
And your young men shall see visions and your
old men shall dream dreams. Even all my bond
slaves, both men and women, I will live in those
days, in those days pour forth of my spirits
and they shall prophesy. And I will grant wonders
in the skies above and the signs on the earth
below. So again, he's right here recognizing
something. miraculous is happening, something
great that was prophesied before. So Peter recognizes
in that moment, and so he calls upon these people,
and he even uses the words of King David of seeing
that David saw this foreshadowing. He continues
on after he gives of the words of David. He says,
brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding
the patriarch David that he both died and was
buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
And so because he was a prophet and knew that
God had sworn to him an oath to seat one of his
descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and
spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that
he was neither abandoned to Hades nor did his
flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up
again to which we are all witnesses. So that
occurred 50 days before. So remember, Jesus rose
on what day? Sunday, the third day. He rose on
that day. And how many days do you count from
that Sunday forward? 50 days. So we know 50 days
have passed from this. And now Peter has saw
that. He's seen what has occurred. And he knows
that this is a fulfillment before his eyes. And
so he looks upon the people and he's bringing
them the gospel. It's amazing. Now, when they
heard this, they were pierced to the heart and
said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren,
what shall we do? So now they feel in their heart.
They feel like they look upon what happened 50
days before. And Peter gives them that answer.
Peter said to them, repent, and each of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise
is for you and your children and for all who
are far off, as many as the Lord our God will
call to himself. Now, these people were far off.
They're all gathered together. Remember, this
is an in -gathering of the people, and he's giving
them this chance to be saved. This is the first
time the Holy Spirit has dwelled upon the people,
and now here's the answer, that he saw that fulfillment,
that what was spoken of. And so what was their
response? Well, they were baptized. So then those
who had received his word were baptized, and
that day were added about 3 ,000 souls. So 3
,000 men and women in the city of Jerusalem came
to faith in that day. It is a miraculous moment.
And we know that it fulfilled something greater
that Peter saw, that the people there saw, and
they accepted the word of God into their hearts.
Jesus speaks of the significance of the Holy
Spirit when he says in John 14, 26 -27, But the
Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in my name, he will teach you all things
and bring to your remembrance all that I said
to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give
to you, not as the world gives do I give to you.
Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it
be fearful. So Jesus knew what was to occur on
that day, 50 days after he rose again and he
defeated death, and he knew that the Holy Spirit
would dwell upon these men and women, and that
3 ,000 of these people were added to the kingdom
that day, Jewish men and women. And so it was
a miraculous moment. And so ultimately what happens,
the ultimate meaning that we'll find in the next
slide over, is that a birth occurred. Now, I
know what you're thinking. When did you mention
a birth? What are you talking about? This guy's
going crazy. No, I'm just kidding. No, the birth
is the birth of the church. This is the first
time the birth of the church occurs. That 3 ,000
were added, and from that day forward, they sold
their possessions and began to spread. And day
by day, it was added to their number, it says.
That the gospel began to spread like a wildfire
across the whole known world. That the Roman
Empire eventually would come to faith as well,
like so many people within the Roman Empire.
So it became astounding. And this spread happened
from that day because, again, you need to remember,
these were men from all over, and that means
they went all over, and the message just kept
spreading left and right. So 3 ,000 were added
on this day, and we know that it was fulfilled
on that day, the day of Shavuot. Remember, it's
the first fruits, the first fruits of the wheat
harvest. So this is that fulfillment right there.
This is the harvest that is first presented before
God, the first offering to the Lord of his church,
that this is the gathering in. So right now,
a body of believers comes to faith, and the Gentiles
wouldn't be included until around Acts 10 when
the gospel starts going to them, when Peter goes
to Cornelius. So we know that from this day forth,
though, the gospel is for everyone. That it starts
to go out. That from this day, Acts 2 forward,
that people keep being added to the number and
they go out and spread this message. And that
this covenant is brought by Jesus and what he
brought forth on that day. Peter recognized it.
The people recognized it. And they came to faith
in that moment. So the two images I have right
there are the two breads. Remember that I mentioned
on Shavuot. An offering is presented. The priest
offers up all those other sacrifices. And then
the priest offers up two leavened breads. And
so those two leavened breads, it's sin, right?
Leaven is sin. And yet this is the first offering
that is presented as a leavened one, and God
accepts that offering because the priest brings
it forth, and he accepts that offering. And I
show it to represent the Jewish offering and
then the world offering, that now that barrier
has come down of what Jesus fulfilled on his
rising again. and what was filled when the Holy
Spirit dwelled upon them, and all that was added
on that day. That from that day forward, the
church began. And right now, even gathered together
right here, we're here in Bellflower, California.
All of us are gathered here. And it all started
on that day, all those years ago. And I actually
looked at the number. I believe it's 7 ,575 miles
from Jerusalem here in Bellflower. That's a lot
of miles. And yet it came all the way over here
and that we're all gathered together as a body,
that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling upon us,
both Jew and Gentile, one in Messiah. And it's
because of what was fulfilled. And it was the
beginning of that harvest season. And we're in
that harvest season. Ephesians 2, 11 through
16, Paul writes, Therefore, remember that you
formerly, the Gentiles in the flesh, were called
uncircumcision by the so -called circumcision,
which is performed in the flesh by human hands.
Remember that you were at that time separate
from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of
Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
Now that sounds hopeless. It sounds like right
now that the whole world was excluded at that
moment. And yet he doesn't end there. He continues
on. But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly
were far off have been brought near by the blood
of Christ, for he himself is our peace, who made
both groups into one and broke down the barrier
of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh
the enmity, which is the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, so that in himself he
might make the two into one new man, thus establishing
peace and might reconcile them both in one body
to God through the cross by having it put to
death, the enmity. So there is it right now.
That's the gospel that is for all peoples, Jew
and Gentile, that at this moment that offering
is presented and God accepts that offering. And
from that day forth, the harvest season begins.
And so again, this is the first fruits of that.
The first fruits of that offering that the Lord
gave, that 3 ,000 souls were added on that day
and it went throughout the kingdom. It went throughout
the Roman Empire and forward all the way to this
day, still being built up. And so it's amazing
that what we saw on that day, what was fulfilled
through the Lord and that covenant that Jesus
offers, mentioned all the way in Jeremiah 31,
where it's that new covenant that is offered,
that it's the new one that we are all grafted
into, that it's his blood that covers us. And
so again, that grafting in occurs, the bread
is offered up. And so we can see from the next
slide, again, I showed a little image right here
on the next slide, where it's all the nations.
and where each of them came from. So again, these
men gathered together, they're called up to go,
and then from there they spread out. And so more
and more were added to the faith. And so again,
it's the foreshadowing, the fulfillment of the
Lord's message being brought to the nations,
to the world, that from Jerusalem, that this
small little tiny sliver of land, from there
the nations would be blessed as the Lord promised
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said, I would
bless you through the, all the nations would
be blessed through you. And we know that that
is Messiah, that he came there and that he is
that fulfillment, that he is the Messiah that
we've all been looking for. And so Jesus spoke
about this time, this gathering, this moment
that the word was supposed to go forth. And from
that day, what are we called to do as believers?
The great commission. He tells us to do what?
To go out and make disciples of the nations.
He doesn't just say, oh, get your faith and then
keep it to yourself. No, from that day forth,
they were spreading the word, and that's the
same thing we're called to do as believers. And
so from this day, Jesus spoke about this time,
and he spoke in a parable using the wheat harvest.
Matthew 13, 24 through 30. Jesus presented another
parable to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven
may be compared to a man who sowed good seed
in his field. But while his men were sleeping,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat
and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and
bore grain, then the tares became evident also.
The slaves of the landowner came and said to
him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?
How then does it have tares? And he said to them,
An enemy has done this. The slaves said to him,
Do you want us then to go and gather them up?
But he said, no, for while you are gathering
up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.
Allow both to grow together until the harvest.
And in the time of the harvest, I will say to
the reapers, first gather up the tares and bind
them in bundles to burn them up, but gather the
wheat into my barn. So again, from that day forward,
the wheat harvest began, the wheat season, that
was the gathering in of believers that were added
among that number and that were called to keep
going forward. That's why it's not time yet.
I mean, I know a lot of us, I'm like, Lord, come
now. You know, you see what's going on in the
world and it's frightening. It's scary. You hear
wars going on. And this was prophecy. I mean,
Jesus himself said this would happen. But also
we have the confidence and the comfort and the
peace in our hearts to know that it's okay because
we know the outcome. We know what we look forward
to. We look forward to that kingdom, that kingdom
that is described as a barn, that we're that
wheat that's going to be within that barn. But
our job right now is to gather more of that wheat
in. It's not to just go, oh, this is for us.
No, it's supposed to go out. He says to be like
a light upon the hill. to not hide away our faith,
but instead to show it to all peoples. And so
from this day forth, we're really called to be
disciples of the nations and to go forth and
share that. So the next slide I have is a timeline.
And again, it's to give us a rough understanding
of what we are looking forward to, of what was
fulfilled and what continues to be fulfilled.
Because the spring holidays have all been fulfilled.
We see that within Passover. How was it fulfilled
within Passover? Messiah's death. He was that
lamb. When John the Baptist saw him, he didn't
say, oh, behold the king or behold the word.
He says, behold the lamb of God. So we know he's
that lamb. The first fruits, Messiah's resurrections.
He's the first one to raise up and to defeat
death. And so that's the first fruits that we
saw fulfilled. And then the unleavened bread,
that it's unleavened, that there's no sin within
it, that he is that offering that was sinless,
just as the lamb. And so again, It's that offering
that was given to us. And from that day, the
harvest season began on Pentecost. And so again,
four months are supposed to go by. So we're in
that period right now. We're in that time of
the harvest season. And so again, we're supposed
to keep gathering. We're not supposed to stop.
We're not supposed to keep ourselves hidden or
anything, but we're supposed to go out. And I
see that. And I see what we're doing as the world
that we want to share our faith, right? that
we have this fulfillment in what was done on
that day, and we know that that first fruit is
still being filled to this day. And so we look
forward to the coming of Messiah again. We look
forward to him coming and reigning again. But
right now, there's work to be done. So how do
we observe the next slide that we have? It's
by doing what we're doing right now. We're gathered
as a body, right? We're gathered as believers.
And I see some of the things you guys are doing,
VBS and outreaches and going out and praying
that this is what we're called to do, that we're
doing that work and we're supposed to continue
that work. We're supposed to gather together
as bodies of believers to spread the word by
spreading the gospel, by gathering together and
studying the word of the Lord and building up
that body. Right now, that is our job is to keep
fulfilling that and to keep being one of the
workers because what does Jesus say to us about
those workers? My favorite pieces of scripture
is when it says that Jesus had compassion because
you feel that compassion when you read his word,
that you feel like you understood how much he
cared for these people. In Matthew 9, 35 to 38,
it says, Jesus was going through all the cities
and villages, teaching in their synagogues and
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing
every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Seeing the people, he felt compassion for them
because they were distressed and dispirited like
sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his
disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the
workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord
of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.
So right now, that's what we're called to do.
We're called to be one of those workers, that
we're called to go out and spread that message
and to be one of those because the workers are
few and yet the harvest is plentiful. There's
more that we need to add to the kingdom. There's
more before that day. And when that day comes,
there's no turning back. There's no going, oh,
well, actually I can add more to this number.
No, when he comes, he will come like a thief
in the night and that's it. That when he comes,
he will gather the tares and he's going to gather
the wheat. But we also need to do our diligent
work of serving and living and doing what the
good news is. And that's spreading that message
of hope. So again, I want us to remember that.
That's what we're doing by doing all these things.
And to continually do that. To build up and to,
you know, build up our faith. And finally, the
last slide that I have is I also want us to remember
of why I work with Chosen People Ministries and
stuff is to remember the Jewish people, to remember
this people that, again, those 3 ,000 men that
came to faith that day, they were Jewish men
and women, and that they can't be forgotten.
Because right now, yes, there's many Jewish believers
out there, including myself and many others,
but again, the amount of Jewish believers in
the world right now is 1 .6 % of the overall
number. And that's a small number, right? They're
considered an unreached people group. Even living
in New York, even living in L .A., they're considered
an unreached people group. Because whenever we
think of unreached people group, we think of
the farthest area, think of the jungles of the
Amazon. You know, you think of, like, as far
distant as possible, and yet these are people
that live here. L .A. is the third largest Jewish
population in the entire world outside of New
York and Israel. And so again, that's amazing,
that's astounding, and yet to be considered an
unreached people group. And it's because, again,
the workers are few. And that's why we're doing
the work that we do, and to remember the Jewish
people and have that hope and desire to bring
them the gospel, to bring them to faith. The
image I showed on the top was from last year.
I was in Israel for a month or so, and while
I was there, I got to go back to the Western
Wall, and that's where I felt the call from the
Lord, that I felt a desire because I was praying
at the Western Wall, and I saw all my people
there, and they're so fervent in their prayers.
They're reading their scriptures. They're right
there with full hearts, and yet I know they don't
have the full answer, that they don't have the
connection. Why? Because Jesus says, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. There's no way
to the Father except through me. So they didn't
have that, and I felt a desire in my heart at
that moment. I said, they need to hear this.
And again, we're not a ministry that just stops
and I go, oh, you're not Jewish? Okay, I can't
share with you. And I move on. That's not how
we work. No, you go to all peoples. We're called
to make disciples of all nations. But we can't
forget the Jewish people as well, because again,
they're considered unreached. And so we should
have the heart to present the gospel to them,
to love them, to care for them, to reach them,
and to be there for them. Because again, the
first fruits were those people. And so, again,
we should have that heart. And the second image
I showed was from our kids' camp. I just did
it last week, and, you know, kids' camps tire
you out and everything, but it's so worth it
because I saw so many kids from Jewish families,
and, again, many of them are already believer
families, but the kids need to also make their
own commitment to God. And it built me up to
just see these kids asking the questions, and
we did have some kids come to faith during camp.
And that was so encouraging. And it just reminded
me of what the Lord says, that he has a remnant,
that he has those that he's seeking to share
the gospel with. But that doesn't mean that we
shouldn't go out and spread the gospel. That
doesn't mean we should just stop there and stop
ourselves. Because again, we should go out and
build this up and to share with them. So I shared
the last... verses I have right here. If you
want to understand our heart with Chosen People
Ministries for Jewish ministry, read Romans 9
through 11. I promise you, it's so significant
to our faith and what I believe the Lord's whole
promise is to the Jewish people and that why
we still pray for Israel, why I was so encouraged
earlier with the prayer and for all those in
the land right now because we're still spreading
that message. And so I have Romans 11, 11 through
15. I believe, do we have a slide for that? Yes,
that's perfect. I'll read it right here. I say
then, this is Paul speaking about his people.
I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall,
did they? may it never be. But by their transgression,
salvation has come to the Gentiles to make them
jealous. Now, I heard someone speak on this.
Again, jealous doesn't, there's a difference
between envy and jealousy. Envy is something
that you don't even have that you're, you know,
you look upon, you're like, oh, you know, I want
that. But jealousy is something that does belong
to you, but it doesn't, you know, you don't have
it. And so again, there's a word there, jealous.
It wants them to go back to who this is. That
for many Jewish people, they believe, I can't
believe in Jesus because it's not Jewish. That's
not a Jewish thing to do. And what I tell them
is, it's the most Jewish thing to do. To believe
in the Jewish Messiah who was born in Bethlehem,
who was, you know, raised and went up to the
temple every single one of these feasts and observed
them, that's the Messiah we're talking about.
That's what he fulfilled. He fulfilled our scriptures.
And so again, he continues on from there. Now
if their transgression is riches for the world
and their failure is riches for the Gentiles,
how much more will their fulfillment be? But
I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch
then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify
my ministry. If somehow I might move to jealousy
my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For
if their rejection is the reconciliation of the
world, what will their acceptance be but life
from the dead? Now, that's the gospel right there.
That's what we're looking toward. That's why
the Lord hasn't given up on his people. His promises
are eternal, and he's still reaching them, and
he's bringing more Jewish people to faith, and
I think he's still doing work right now. Right
now, there's many coming to faith. There's believers
in Israel. There's believers in New York. There's
believers here in L .A. There's believers everywhere
that are coming in faith, and the Lord's building
up that. And so again, we can't forget the Jewish
people, and we should never forget them, because
Paul, even though his main ministry was to the
Gentiles, he never forgot his people. The first
thing he did was to go to his people. The first
thing he did was present the gospel to them,
and he was Jewish himself. He says, I, Paul,
am a Jew. That's what he says when he's speaking
to the whole crowd, where he's proud of who he
is, part of the tribe of Benjamin. He never forgot
that. So again, that's what I want to encourage
in all of you. Again, we're supposed to go out
and spread that message. That is what we're called
to do. And that is what this harvest season is
about, is gathering in that wheat. And we should
look to all the wheat right now. So to finalize,
you may ask yourself, well, how can I reach the
Jewish people? What are ways that we can reach
the Jewish people? Well, I actually passed these
out. These should have all been passed out to
everybody if they can raise it up. These brochures
were all presented as people were coming in and
such. And so these brochures, and if you don't
have any, we have extras and such, but inside
is a little bit about our ministry. And again,
I spoke a little bit about it, you know, our
foundings and everything. And inside, you can
see it has a little bit about it. But the last
thing that I want us to do all together is an
ancient Jewish tradition called the tearing of
the slip, okay? Now this is vital, okay? We got
to work together on this. So if you see it, it's
periferated. So you just fold that up a little
bit and you gather it. So don't worry. I'm going
to explain what this all is. So what we're all
going to do together, the final thing I want
us to do is we're going to do the tearing of
the slip, okay? It takes about three hours to
prep to do this. So, you know, buckle in. No,
I'm just kidding. So we gather it up. And so
again, it's perforated. So you see this part
and you're going to tear it on the count of three,
okay? I want us all to do it. So we're going
to count. One, two, three. Mazel tov. All right.
So this part is for you to keep. It's a brochure,
again, about our ministry. It has a little bit
about myself inside, and you can keep that. And
put it on your fridge. Use it as a bookmark,
whatever you'd like to do with it, just to remember
to pray for our ministry, pray for the work that's
going on, and just to remember, you know, oh,
yeah, Henry from Bellflower. Oh, you know, he
needs prayer for his ministry, and that's vital.
But this other part is actually for you to fill
out. So right here, if you see on this side,
you can fill out your name, your email, and your
address, and that signs you up for my prayer
letter. And it lets you know about all the work
that's going on in Manhattan and across where
I'm going right now for my ministry and such.
And you can keep up to date of what's going on
with everything in Manhattan and whenever all
my travels and the work that's going on in the
Jewish world right now and spreading the gospel
to them. So again, there's three ways that you
can partner with my ministry. And the first one
is through prayer. And again, that's why you
can put this up on your fridge. And some people
know me as Fridge Henry because they have me
on their fridge. Or they have my prayer letters
just to know what's going on, to continually
update and to know what's happening with my ministry
and to partner with me in prayer because it's
really needed. The work is tough. And again,
the workers are few, but we're still going out.
We're still encouraged by our ministry, and we're
moving forward with it. So that's the first way
that you can partner. The second way is through
giving. So we're a support -raised ministry,
and it's through the generous giving of our brothers
and sisters that we're able to be able to go
out and to work in Manhattan and to reach the
Jewish people there and to be able to do the
work that we're continually doing, to be dedicated
to that. So again, it's encouragement to know
that people are supporting our ministry, caring
about it, and supplying the ministry in any way
they can. So if you feel led in your heart to
be able to support my ministry and support what's
going on, you can fill out the information and
such. And right now, I'm actually trying to become
fully support raised, and I'm looking for 50
people who are willing to give $100 a month.
And again, this is only for those who, if you
feel led in your heart and feel like, you know,
I want to support his ministry, and I feel led,
it's by whatever the Lord offers. But again,
I just want to share that this is a ministry
that we're doing. It's why I go out, and I'm
trying to build up the work that's going on.
And then the third way, It's to get involved.
It's for yourself to go out. We have plenty of
ways that you can go and support our ministries.
We actually have a week -long trip that you're
able to do in the Holy Land. Yes, Brooklyn. That
was a joke. But it's in Brooklyn and across New
York. And you're able to come out and speak to
Jewish people across New York. It's called Shalom
New York. We have it every year during the summer.
And you can come out and talk to Jewish people
and learn how to reach Jewish friends and such.
Or even just... the different materials that
we have, and we're able to share with you to
be able to present the gospel to your Jewish
friends or family or anything. So again, there's
ways that you can get involved. Go to Israel.
I know right now with the war going on and everything,
a lot of trips are canceled and such, but we're
still trying to get out there and help out as
much as possible. So again, it's been encouraging,
and that is what we're doing with our work. So
again, thank you for this time to speak in my
hometown, to have my family here. To be able
to do this has been one of the greatest encouragements,
and it's just really astounding. of what the
Lord's doing, what he continues to do. And so
thank you all. Once you fill it out, you can
bring it up to the table. I have a table with
books and everything as well. And if you want
to even just come up and talk, you don't have
to buy anything. You just come up and if you
want a conversation or be able to drop off the
slip to me, you can do that. So thank you so
much. To just finalize, I would like to end with
a word of prayer. So thank you. Abba Father,
Lord, thank you for this time. I thank you so
much for just allowing me this time to be in
my hometown, to speak to my brothers and sisters
of the faith, Lord, and to be able to share our
desire to reach your people, to reach all nations,
Lord, that you had this plan, Lord, on Pentecost
and Shavuot, what you fulfilled and what you
continue to fill right now. We're in the harvest
season, Lord, so let us be workers. Let us be
diligent and let us know that we don't have to
work in a ministry to be able to spread your
word, Lord, but each and every one of us has
the ability to be lights on that hill, to share
with our brothers and sisters and to be able
to share more in that eternal promise that you
have for us. Thank you for allowing me this time
to be in my hometown again and to be able to
be with these amazing, beautiful people who have
hearts to serve you. And Lord God, I know that
you are building up your kingdom and we look
so forward to that day. And that even though
the world is scary right now with the wars going
on, the anti -Semitism spreading, of all these
fears that we have and the nations going toward
evil, God, we know that you are in control and
we know the eternal promise that is found in
your name. So I pray all these things in Jesus'
name, in Yeshua's name, amen. Thank you.