What shall I say to you today, brethren and sisters? How shall I greet you? Should I greet you in English or Hebrew? Or both? You see, I have a dilemma. I can't (though I could) say, 'Happy New Year!' or I'll get raised etebrows because that's what most people say on 1 January. I can't say (though I could), 'L'Shana Tovah tikatevu' or 'may you be inscribed for a good year' or abbreviate it to 'Shana Tov, 'a good year', because that's what Jews and Messianics say to each other at Rosh haShanah in the autumnn when we're celebrating Yom Teruah (Day of Trumpets/Shouting). Indeed Chinese New Year was last month in February and the Moslem New Year is in July. So who's right and does it matter?

Nevertheless it is the biblical New Year today. Today is Aviv 1, the first day of the actual biblical Hebrew year. Today is the 'Month of Blossoms' which is what Aviv means, and I can prove it, even living as far north as sub-arctic Sweden. Though spring is late owing to unsual weather conditions, inside our Amyrillis plant has thrown open four large bright red blooms. Nature knows it's the New Year, at least in the northern hemisphere, but most importantly we have been given a mitzvah - a commandment - to mark the beginning of the annual creation calendar today, for it is written clearly and unambiguously to Yahweh's people:

"Now Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 'This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you'" (Ex.12:1-2, NKJV).

No questions, no buts, no 'what if's', no multicultural excuses - this, Aviv 1, the first day of Aviv, the 'month of blossoms' "shall be" - not 'will be', or 'might be', or 'could be', or 'if you want it to be' - "your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you", the covenant people of Yahweh. We are to reckon all earth time for the next year from today, Yahweh has commanded it, appointed it, making this the first New Moon Day or Rosh Chodesh, which is exactly 14 days before Pesach or Passover.

One of the great sins of the religious West (and indeed of all peoples) is the tendency to 'spiritualise away' things which we don't want to be bothered with in our physical lives. In the West particularly we like to dissect or chop things up and then say that 'this' or 'that' is more important than the other, often by saying that one is 'spiritual' (and therefore more important) and the other 'temporal' (and therefore less important). Take health, for example. There are some who say that our physical health can be neglected in order to take care of our spiritual condition. Yahweh says, no, both are important, because both are part of an integral whole.

Such an attitude, first of all, makes people careless, and then, over time, leads them into outright rebellion. Like it or not, all the Creation is sacred, including the physical world, precsiely because Yahweh made it and has appointed it for certain tasks. The ancients rightly made no distinction between inner and outer, spiritual and physical, because they regarded man as a single unit - a "living soul" (Gen.2:7, KJV). Your body is just as important and sacred as your spirit even if the former is mortal. Stewardship over temporary things is regarded as important in the Bible. The physical world was not a mistake on the part of Elohim (God), not something 'yukky' or inferior, to be escaped, which is the basis of Gnosticism and of all false religion. And, yes, Yahweh created Time as well, and that's sacred too, so sacred that we are commanded to 'number our days', 'redeem time' and to carefully mark our calendars. Temporal rhythms are necessary for our well-being and we know biochemically that the moon plays an important part in this as with female menstrual cycles by influencing the activity of certain enzymes.

Why mark our calendars? Because the Creator had said that certain times in the week, month and year are to be set-apart by man on which to gather and worship Him as a covenant community. Once a week, on the sabbath, once a month at the New Moon or Rosh Chodesh, and seven times a year at the annual festivals plus once every seven years and once every 50 years for the Sabbatical and Jubillee years, respectively. Important things occur on all these days. These are divine moedim - they're His appointed times for us to do what He wants us to do and not what we want to do. The rest of the week, month and year is up to us to order our days, but these set-apart times are holy or sacred. Moreover, they come with a promise too: if we are obedient, He promises to be with us in a special way at these times. This doesn't, of course, mean that He isn't with us at all other times too. It doesn't mean that He isn't with us in a special way when two or three gather together in His Name (Mt.18:20) either during these moedim or at other times. He is always with those who trust in Him; but to those who 'trust and obey' (remember the hymn?) He is present in an extra way. He is here today in that special way provided you have come on the right day! And that's why the accurate measurement of sacred time is important - it is a spiritual activity, not a purely 'temporal' or 'lesser' one. And the fact that hardly anyone in the world is meeting today is a tragedy and a testimony of just how out of kilter humankind still is.

Now I am not saying all of this is to idolatrously make something out to be more than it is. I take the simple view. Yahweh has commanded this assembly and the bottom line is you either obey or you disobey. That's enough for me and I hope it's enough for you because this is a defining attuitude of the Remnant. Those who are casual about such things will be casual about other things too. All things are one to Yahweh. He's the one who makes a 'fuss' about time, not over-religious people. Religious people, for sure, can get things very wrong; they can get their priorities wrong. If someone suddenly has a heart attack and I take him or her to hospital, stop preaching and leave this assembly to do so, I am doing the right thing. In that case, I am obeying a higher commandment to save life - and sometimes, in extraordinary circumstances, commandments do clash. Yes, there are things more important than assembling here, like saving a life. We are allowed - nay, commanded - to do work to rescue an ox trapped and suffering in a ditch and so break the Sabbath. All these mitzvot (commandments) were made for the benefit of man and no one else, and sometimes we must set priorities, because life in this fallen sphere isn't smooth. Nevertheless, we should not turn exceptions into general rules - if we truly belong to Yah'shua (Jesus), then our time isn't ours anyway. We are to use it as He wants, even outside the appointed times or moedim.

For the last 12 months Yahweh has been laying heavily upon my heart the importance of this day - today - in the year 2023. I have known with my inner man that this New Year's Day is of critcial importance to the Remnant, to true believers in general, and indeed to the whole world. While we have been running around doing this and that, Yahweh has been extremely busy, steering events in the world toward an end no man can control. He has a prophetic timetable or calendar and though man has free agency, the way history pans out is not for him to decide. Whatever wicked men have planned, they are allowed only to go so far before they are crushed. We don't have absolute free agency because we cannot use our agency to determine the agency of others. There are rules within this system of free choice, for men as well as for malakim (angels). Things are going on in the Divine Sphere which we cannot see and to which we are obliged to conform to, even the élites in their vanity who think they can do as they like at all times. Even Satan knows better than that.

So, somewhat late into this talk, I am going to now say to you all, as I do every month, Chag sameach Rosh Chodesh kol beit Yisra'el - a blessed New Moon day to the whole House of Israel, and specifically, Messianic Israel, and even more specifically, to the Bride or Remnant of Christ who want to be obedient in all things. Big things have been happening this last year, and are happening right now in this time of Penultimate Judgment, as man supposes, but there are even bigger things happening in the heavenlies. The Heavenly Army is stirring. Today is the first New Moon of the Year and this is the time to assemble to hear the nevi'im or prophets speak. I have not called you hear today just to give you another of my 'sermons'. I have called you here today to hear what Yahweh would have us hear.

Though we do not celebrate Christmas, because it's a pagan festival dressed up to look Christian, we do honour the Birth of Christ today, even though there is no mitzvah (commandment) anywhere saying we have to set-aside a special day to honour Him. His birth was, we maintain, not in the winter (as orthodox Christians claim) or in the autumn/fall (as most Messianics claim), but in the spring. He was, we say, born in the Month of Blossoms, in the calving season, as is befitting a Royal Birth. Nine months previously something incredible happened - the Son of Elohim (God) was incarnated - Elohim (God) became a human being - something that had never happened in the history of Creation before and something that will never happen in Creation again. That Incarnate Being was born, 2,000 years ago, at this time of the year, with one purpose in mind: to die for us, a thought which appalled the apostle Peter who was determined this should not happen, and for which he was given a singing rebuke (Mt.16:21-23; Mk.8:31-33). And with that comes a lesson for all os us: it is not for us to challenge Elohim's (God's) purposes for us, even if they make no sense to us, and especially if they challenge centuries-old man-made traditions.

Today is an historical day but you won't see it as such until later when you look back and realise what Yahweh actually did. But to be able to see that, we have to walk in step with Him first. And to do that, our faith - our trusting - must be matched by unquestioning obedience to His mitzvot (commandments) even if at first we don't understand why they have been given. That's where emunah or faith comes in. We trust and wait for Him to explain later. Is this not the principle we learn at Shavu'ot, the Feast of Weeks commonly misnamed 'Pentecost', each year? And what is that principle? "We Agree with Yahweh Before We Have Listened". We make the assumption that He is always right even before we know what it is He wants us to believe and do. Why do we do that? Because we know Him. We know that He is love. And we know that love never harms, and only builds up.

Jeremiah agreed with Yahweh when He told His navi (prophet) that he was not to marry even though, like the next man, he wanted a wife and family. Jacob agreed with Yahweh when He was told to marry four wives who would become the mothers of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, even though he only wanted Rachel. Rebekah agreed with Yahweh when He sent Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, to find his son Isaac a wife. Rebekah had no idea what Isaac looked like or who he was but she obeyed the Ruach (Spirit) when Eliezer made the proposition. I cite marriage examples to you because deciding who to marry is probably the hardest and most important choice we have to make after deciding whether we are going to to give our lives to Yah'shua (Jesus) or not. You see, not everyone's journey is the same. Both of these are vitally important New Beginnings in a man or woman's life, just as today is, for today you and I must choose: will we agree with Yahweh even before we have heard what He wants of us? You can answer that question at Shavu'ot (Weeks) in the summer when I will ask it again.

We are the children of Abraham on account of our faith in Christ - "those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith" (Gal.3:9, NIV), Paul said. That's why I have chosen the picture of Abraham venturing out into the unknown with his family in the desert as the logo for this year. Romans 4, Galatians 3 and Hebrews 11 are the great 'faith' chapters in the New Testament. It's why I left my own homeland to come here even though sometimes I wonder if I was crazy to do so. I am especially fond of Hebrews 11 because it is a wonderful manual of what it is to live by faith. People often ask me how it is I keep going even though I have seen so many tragedies and reversals, with nothing apparently coming to pass. Well, most everyone's life is like that to some extent, and the only reason we should ever keep going is because we know Elohim (God). It's the only reason I do. And if you don't yet know Him, that needs to be your immediate priority before anything else. Abraham had to wait until he was 100 for a major promise in his life to be fulfilled, at an age when it was impossible, by human measurements, for such a promise to be fulfilled. The Promised Seed came arounf his hundredth birthday. You see, sometimes the best things come right at the end of one's life!

We're going to read chapter 11 of the Book of Hebrews together today, so please upen your Bibles and follow with me line by line. We'll be using the New King James Version (NKJV):

"1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Davar Elohim (Word of God), so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

"4 By faith Abel offered to Elohim (God) a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, Elohim (God) testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because Elohim (God) had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased Elohim (God). 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to Elohim (God) must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

"8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is Elohim (God). 11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude -- innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

"13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore Elohim (God) is not ashamed to be called their Elohim (God), for He has prepared a city for them.

"17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called,' 19 concluding that Elohim (God) was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

"23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command. 24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of Elohim (God) than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept Pesach (the Passover) and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

"30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. 32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the nevi'im (prophets): 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens (foreigners). 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented -- 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 Elohim (God) having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us" (Heb.11:1-39, NKJV).

I have laboured these long years, in faith, not for myself but for my children and the last generation; and though I desired the promises of this last generation for myself in the beginning, once I realised they were not be mine, I laboured on anyway because we are all part of the same final promise. My hope is now and in the future. My faith is in Yahweh, and in serving Him to the best of my ability in my present circumstances, however wretched at times, in the sure knowledge of what He is going to do for you who are to take the baton from me when I must exit this world.

There is a teaching of Paul that I have found especially enlightening and comforting. It's significance passed me by until quite recently. I want to share that with you now. Turn with me now, would you, to Ephesians 2:10, which has been translated in a variety of ways in different Bible versions as each has struggled to get Paul's original sense across. We'll read the NIV first, which is much like the NKJV:

"For we are Elohim's (God's) workmanship, created in Messiah Yah'shua (Christ Jesus) to do good works, which Elohim (God) prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph.2:10, NIV).

I never thought twice about that traslation which nearly all the 'mainstream' orthodox versions, from the KJV to the ESV, render in the same way. We are his 'workmanship', 'creation' or 'Meisterstück in German (Epheser 2:10, NeÜ). Absolutely. Now you know me, I read the Scriptures in dozens of different versions and sometimes even in different languages to try and get the overall sense. Anyway, a few days ago I was reading one of my favourite versions, the Jerusalem Bible, and I chanced upon this passage again. Listen to this particular rendering:

"We are God's (Elohim's) work of art, created in Christ Jesus (Messiah Yah'shua) to live the good life as from the beginning He had meant us to live it" (Eph.2:10, JB, 1st edn.).

I literally bolted upright upright when I read this (as I was lying in bed) as though struck by lightning. 'What a beautiful translation,' I thought to myself, 'but on what ground has 'workmanship' or 'creation' been substituted?'...because as you know many modern translations (especially paraphrases) take great liberties with the text and are better viewed as man-made commentaries than actual Scripture. So I checked it out more throroughly the next day and, lo and behold, what do I find? The Greek word translated 'workmanship' by most translations is poiéma which is where we get the English word 'poem' from - a metrical composition! We are Yahweh's poem. Then all the circuits started clicking in my mind and heart as I thought back to all we have learned about Yahweh's phronema! And as you also know, the Bible is full of poetry, not just in the nevi'im (prophets) but most importantly in the Psalms.

You and I are living poems. When Yahweh looks at our lives, He views them much as the poet might, in search of beauty and a rhythm - a metric. What's our 'rhythm'? What's our routine, our habit? The moedim. Why? Because they are Yahweh's rhythm that reveals a very specific divine tavnith or pattern of love and living. And, you know, there are all kinds of poetry - sonnets, haikus (Japanese 3-line poems) and limericks, to name but three. Some are short and some are very long poems...epic narrative poems for which the Vikings are famous like Snorre (and I know a lot of you think I am long-winded, but hey, that's just me being 'epic' like my hosts here in Scandinavia were anciently)! Some poems are in strict form, some come with rhymes. Some are in free verse. Even the psalms show this diversity - they come in many shapes and forms, some very short and some really long - and that's because Yahweh wants people-poems - us - of many shapes and forms. He wants this rich variety - He doesn't want us all in identical moulds packed together like sardines into a single tin like a cult.

Indeed, does He not often challenge the small and sterile imagination of the wider world in the next chapter of Ephesians? Listen up:

"Although I am the very least of all the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones, believers), this grace was given to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches in Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in Elohim (God) who created all things; so that through the messianic community (church) the wisdom of Elohim (God) in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" (Eph.3:8-10, NRSV).

Every poem is different because every life is different, every marriage is different, every congregation is different even in Christ. Now don't get me wrong, I am not justifying denominationalism here which is a sign of disunity and apostacy. Far from it - I am no ecumenical. There is only one truth, not a variety of 'truths' - not 'your truth' and 'my truth'; yet that one truth can be expressed in a variety of different ways...in the same way that the Psalms consist of all kinds of poetry. The Psalms aren't, as N.T.Wright puts it, "poetry in themselves; they are to be the cause of poetry in those who sing them, together and individually" [1] for as you know all the Psalms were written to music, ever so delicately measured, which we now know all about thanks to the amazing discovery of the French Jewish lady, Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura [2], so that we now know what the music of the Temple at Jerusalem sounded like.

This one passage answered in a moment a huge question that has been hovering over me for a very long time. I don't know what kinds of video you watch online but I personally love travelogues because I want to see people in their own enviornments and especially how they live out the Gospel to the best of their knowledge. I was watching one such adventurer traveling down the Amazon River starting in Peru and making his way to Venezuela viâ Brazil and Colombia. These places are sometimes very remote and the people are accordingly little affected by modern mass media in quite the same way as we are even though mobile phones seem to have penetrated almost everwhere now. I am fascinated because these places are a completely different world to the one we know here, just as the ancient world was, but in a different way, of course. I wondered how these people, steeped in Catholicism and animism, lived and what sort of missionary outreach there was to them. Suffice to say, the 'gospel' they are exposed to is nothing like the crass metropolitan 'gospel' we hear in the West. The only missionaries this traveler encountered were a group of Christian actors who went around giving plays on how to live the 10 Commandments. I had never seen anything like it.

I came away from that particular travellogue frustrated, burdened with an old question: 'What on earth are we doing? Is what these people are living any better or worse than the craziness that we have here in the West?' Western Christianity has gone insane and the rest of the world is inadvisedly imitating it. Compared to the wilderness of South America, it might as well be from another universe. Why is this world so multi-faceted? How on earth are we to take the Gospel to it? South America is a completely different 'vibe' to Sweden, Germany, the United States or the United Kingdom. Indeed, standing back and gazing down, the whole planet appears to me to be like some giant carnival, and a noisy, stressed-out carnival at that. There must, I reasoned with myself, be a deeper explanation and purpose, but I had no idea what it could be until I re-read Ephesians 2:10. When I started viewing people as living poems as seen through the eyes of Elohim (God), my whole perspective changed - literally overnight.

A poem is not a scientific discourse. It's not even an essay in theology. That's not to say science isn't important or theology isn't essential for your typical Christian/Messianic. Both are because both make us confront reality and view Yahweh's world through the lens of that reality. The world isn't flat and the Calvinists plus the charismatics are crazy...to give three of my favourite examples. They are irrelvant to human needs. You can't make poetry out of an illusion and expect it to do anyone any good. So I wondered what I would do were I ever to suddenly find myself living along the Amazon. Where would I start? What would I preach? I certainly wouldn't be preaching Calvinism's insane TULIP thesis, which would be meaningless and rightly be viewed by them as intellectual and moral craziness, and I wouldn't even delve into science even though I'm a scientist. Instead I would focus on the basics or the fundamentals...which is what is needed over here in the West too.

The New Year is about new birthing and new beginnings. It's the lambing season. We're here to start again and move on to new vistas. The one thing I love about the Nativity story is the simplicity and relatedness of it, the innocense and purity of it all. Babies make you smile. Additionally, God-Incarnate, Elohim-in-the-flesh as a small child, the King of the Universe in such a small body full of potential, is mind-boggling...awesome because it combines within it the whole spectrum of existence. You can write lots of poetry about that! The Poem - the Story written in metric form - starts at this most basic level...that of a baby bringing heaven and earth together and forshadowing a time when this will happen cosmically and the end of the æons (ages). What a thought to meditate on! And yet the stark contrast between this beautiful, innocent scene and the sinful condition of adult humanity is horrifying. It is the difference between sanity and insanity, between hope and despair.

Starting with the Nativity Story, then, we can put together, from both the Bible and from the history of what the first believers taught and believed in (the Critical Realism method), the essentials of the faith - the 'Baby Gospel', if you like, because we too must also start as babes, whether in our physical bodies on as newborn spiritual creatures in Christ. That's not to say we must remain as babes for verily we are commanded not to, but to move on to become adults in Christ, progressively changing our diet from spiritual milk to solid food (Heb.5:12-6:3) - from simple principles to the fullness of an all-encompassing theology.

There are eight things the first talmidim, disciples or followers of Christ believed in, witnessed of and preached before the more complicated theologies were developped which Dr. Normal Geisler has summarised - eight truths that lie at the very heart of the Besorah (Gospel, Good News), and with them eight parallel confessions that all true believers make with conviction:

• 1. Human depravity (moral wickedness) - I am a sinner;
• 2. Elohim's (God's) unity - There is only one Elohim (God);
• 3. The necessity of His undeserved loving kindness - I am saved by grace;
• 4. Christ's deity - Christ is Elohim (God);
• 5. Christ's humanity - Christ is a man;
• 6. Christ's atoning death - Christ died for my sins;
• 7. Christ's bodily resurrection - Christ rose from the dead; and
• 8. The necessity of emunah (faith) - I must believe. [3]

There's no complicated theology here even if it is there when you start digging deeper. 'What about the Virgin Birth, the Trinity and the Gospel lifestyle?' you might ask. The Torah lifestyle was already being lived by the first believers and that was passed down in stages to Gentile converts so it was a 'given' - it was assumed, something that is no longer done and with serious consequences. But that is not what saves - it's what the saved are supposed to do once they are saved. The Virgin Birth doctrine took a while to fomulate accurately and though there are creeds that appeared later defining it, not everyone is agreed as to how something so complex actually happens, and there is no need for new believers to get embroiled in that controversy. It's enough to know Yah'shua (Jesus) was both human and divine. Finally, the Elohimhead or Godhead doctrine was what we call a simple 'prototrinitarianism', not the complex Trinity speculation that evolved much later (which we believe went beyond biblical teaching, incorporating Greek neoplatonic philosophy). We believe the simple prototrinitarianism of the confessions I just listed to be adequate for salvation even though we have a much deeper formulation called Patriarchinity for those who want to go deeper.

Of all the early Christian creeds, Messianic Evangelicals endorse whole heartedly the Apostles' Creed and whilst it wasn't actually written by the apostles, was certainly taught and preached by them. It summarises and adds a storyline to Geisler's 8 points and is what we should be teaching all new believers to start them off in their Gospel walk. Our website article on this contains a full set of scripture references which you can use to teach with. This is something all Messianic Evangelicals should memorise - I memorised it growing up as an Anglican and have found it to be an incalculable blessing to my witness. I am going to ask you all to repeat it after me now, one phrase or sentence at a time which I want to encourage you to start making a part of your prayer life:

1. We believe in Yahweh-Elohim, the Father Almighty, (¤) creator of heaven and earth.
2. We believe in Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), (¤) His Only Begotten Son, our Master.
3. He was conceived by the power of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) (¤) and born of the Virgin Mary.
4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, (¤) was crucified, died, and was buried.
5. He descended to the dead.
6. On the third day He rose again.
7. He ascended into heaven, (¤) and is seated at the right hand (¤) of Elohim (God) the Father Almighty.
8. He will come again (¤) to judge the living and the dead.
9. We believe in the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit),
10. the universal Body of Messiah,
11. the communion of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones),
12. the forgiveness of sins,
13. the resurrection of the body,
14. and the life everlasting. Amen.

At the beginning of this sermon I told you that Yahweh was present in a special way during his divine moedim or appointments. Today is one such time. So I am going to end by sharing with you what happened to me early this morning about two hours before dawn when this moed officially began. I had previously woken up 3½ hours before in considerable pain; and since it was impossible for me to lie down again, I decided I would resume preparing this sermon. At 4 am I went to lie down again and once more found myself in much physical discomfort so I went into prayer. My prayer was that Yahweh would rebirth this house - my family, my ministry and all those with whom we share a close spiritual bond and dearly love. I prayed that in the short time between then and dawn He would do a marvelous work and a wonder.

In an instant I was in the spirit dimension, in open vision. I was in this building still but in its parallel spiritual space, but not only this building but what we, in messianic evangelical terminology, call 'the Garden', or at least a particular part of it, where all those whom I either cover in prayer or with whom I am joined by covenant 'love', dwell in the invisible realm. It's hard to explain because spiritual dimensions are not at all like our three-dimensional physical space because many different dimensions intersect. You'll perhaps understand better as I unfold the events that transpired. At no time did I see Yah'shua (Jesus), malakim (angels) or any people (until right at the very end), whether of my own biological or spiritual family. What I did see horrified me, though. I saw, and heard, thousands of spiritual entities that had been admitted into our space through sinning over the past year which I have had to grapple with by virtue of my providing a covering. They came in every size, shape, form and colour imaginable, from looking almost like human beings to grotesque hob-goblins and the stuff of fiction. They started swarming around me, as in the vision I moved from one room to another in this house; they pressws close to me, though they could not touch me, and as they did so I could hear this terrible din - shouting, screaming, yelling - one almighty chaotic cacophany of noise and fury. I was surrounded by chaos, hate and impurity.

I immediately went into 'deliverance mode' and starting casting these demons out in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name; but the more I threw out, the more seemd to come from elsewhere. So I stopped and just started praising Yahweh and Yah'shua (Jesus) with every fiber of my being, ignoring this demonic host altogether, and focussing entirely on Elohim (God). Quite rapidly the sound diminished to silence and all these entities vanished, but what I then saw was all the more remarkable. All the outer walls of this building became translucent, as though made of glass. Inside there was perfect order. Everything was spotlessly clean and arranged as it should be. Beyond the glass walls, outside, was a literal Paradise - the 'Garden', if you like - filled with everything you would wish to have in either a park or the countryside combined into one, but without flaw, death or disease. It was all neatly arranged and also in perfect order. It was atonishingly beautiful. But then my gaze was turned inside the building again and to my amazement there were perhaps half-a-dozen small babies in brilliant white nappies or diapers crawling around on the floor!

I now know these represented all of us, newly born. Truly we have been given a new beginning as prophesied on 18 January by the Messianic Sephardi Jew living in Rome, who neither knew me nor I him, who wrote to me out of the blue, saying:

"[Yahweh] gives you a new beginning, a new anointing, a new strength, a new vision, a new spiritual authority, a new revelation in the Davar (Word), a new anointing in healing, miracles and deliverance; a fire of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) is with you, [Yahweh] has given you an anointing of restoration; [Yahweh] is raising up a new generation of reformers and you are a part of this new generation. [Yahweh] has closed the door of your past and has opened a new door before you; [Yahweh] gives you new beginnings..."

Anyway, the vision closed but that was not the end of it. I was spiritually back in my room, the epicentre of this place, where I was located physically, and faced the mirror next to my bed as I was sitting up on one side in my bed. Now my prayer room has a couple of plants in it but in the mirror the room was full of dozens of huge luscious plants and brightly coloured flowers everywhere. It was like being in a botanical garden and was a treat to the eyes. I have to add here, to be bluntly honest with you, that I was not healed of my illnesses in that experience, nor anyone else in my family with medical issues, or those who are dear to my heart in Christ, and perhaps that is for anotgher time - that's my hope, at any rate - but there was this incredible peace and restfulness. I grabbed a little more sleep before arising again to complete my preparations for this presentation.

And that, brethren and sisters, is my message for you today on this the first day of the new year and the time we commemorate the Birth of Messiah in Bethlehem, who is the one who rebirths us, giving us new beginnings. We start afresh today. Let us become extra diligent in purusing and maintaining purity, in renewing our covenants at the festivals as they come, and anticipate with hope what Yahweh will do at the Pesach (Passover) Season that starts in two week's time. This is a golden opportunity we dare not miss. Yahweh had shown us grace. Let us not disappoint Him, becoming living poems of praise to Him as witnesses of His undeserved loving kindness. May the grace and peace of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) be with us all today, throughout the wekk, and always. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] N.T.Wright, The Case for the Psalms: Why They are Essential (Harper One: 2023), p.36
[2] Susan Haïk-Vantoura, The Music of the Bible Revealed (King David's Harp, Inc., San Francisco: 1991), originally published in 1978 as La Musique de la Bible révélée
[3] Alisa Childers, Another Gospel? A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity (Tyndale Momentum, Eigene, Origon: 2020), p.232