We believe that all Scripture, both the Tanakh (the 24 canonized books of the Hebrew Bible known as the Masoretic text) and the writings of the Apostles, Disciples, & Followers of Yeshua (the 27 canonized books commonly called the B’rit Chadashah – New Testament), is the divinely inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God. We accept its teachings as our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
Speaking to Timothy regarding the Hebrew scriptures in 2Timothy 3:14-17, Shaul (Paul the Apostle) states:
"But you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, recalling the people from whom you learned it; and recalling too how from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can give you the wisdom that leads to deliverance through trusting in Yeshua the Messiah. All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work."
We believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is One. We understand this “One” to be a composite unity as defined by the Hebrew word אחד (echad). We understand that finite man cannot comprehend the Infinite and Almighty God. But we do believe that He chose to reveal Himself to mankind in at least three ways: Father (יהוה YHVH), Son (Yeshua/Jesus), and Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh).
Deuteronomy 6:4
“Sh’ma, Yisra’el! Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, O Isra’el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one].”
Our God is truly Avinu Malkenu (our Father, our King). Calling God “Our Father” has been a recurring depiction of the close relationship between the Creator and His people and is commonly seen in the Tenach. Yeshua and His first century followers did not invent this idea. Rather they built upon the truth of having such a loving Creator who was willing to call His creation His children. His people have also understood their Creator to be a loving Father from ancient times.
Isaiah 64:7
“But now, Adonai, you are our father; we are the clay, you are our potter; and we are all the work of your hands.”
We believe and proclaim Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth as the One and Only promised Messiah. He was conceived by the Ruach (Spirit) in the virgin Miriam (Mary) as the Hebrew scriptures prophesied for centuries before His birth (Isaiah 7:14). He is the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
He alone paid the ultimate and final price required for the forgiveness and removal of our sin and is the only means by which we can be freed from our sin nature into right relationship with God, which was again prophesied centuries before His birth through the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 53) and Daniel (Daniel 9). He was sacrificed on the Feast of Pesach (Passover) and, as promised, rose from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits – the third day of the Spring Feasts. He is alive forevermore. Shimon Kefa (Simon Peter – the Apostle Peter) said about our Mashiach: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16)
We believe that salvation comes by faith in God’s grace through repentance and confession of sin. Everyone who repents of their sins, turns from their sinful ways and trusts that Yeshua is the Son of God – the promised Messiah of Israel – is forgiven of their sins and enters into a New Covenant relationship with God through Yeshua’s sacrifice. We, therefore, become inheritors of all the promises and covenants of God: “But we also rejoice in God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have now received the atonement.” (Romans 5:11)
We understand that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and need atonement and reconciliation to our Heavenly Father. Salvation is a free gift of God and cannot be earned by keeping the commandments. For by grace we are saved through faith, it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). However, we believe that holiness and obedience to His Torah (ALL his teachings and instructions as well as the commandments) is God’s standard of living for His people. We walk in obedience because we HAVE been redeemed and desire to walk as Yeshua walked. We keep His commands because we are in awe of Him, grateful for such a gift of salvation, and because we love Him:
“If you love Me, keep My commands.” (John 14:15)
Many Gentiles (and a few Jews as well) get stuck on the word "Torah." While the Torah is oftentimes limited to the concept of “Law” or specifically the over 600 commands in the Hebrew bible, it is much more than that. The word Torah means instruction - and it comes from the Hebrew root "yarah," which simply means to shoot straight, i.e. to hit the center of the target. The Hebraic interpretation of that word is quite simple – to walk the straight path that God has given us. God’s "Torah," His intructions for how to walk the straight path, the narrow road that Yeshua Himself alluded to, is found in the totality of His word – His instruction book – and includes ALL of scripture. Moreover, to truly follow Torah is to follow the “Living Torah” – Yeshua Himself.
In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, ONE JOT OR ONE TITTLE WILL BY NO MEANS pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
We know that the "Law" itself – those commands and rules outlined in the first five books of Moses – was never meant to make us righteous before God. Only God Himself could do that by His grace. And, He did - through the ultimate sacrifice of Messiah. It is for that reason, in thanksgiving for His grace, that we are compelled to follow His commands. Much like His first century followers taught, it is our love for Him that compels us to live a life of obedient trust.
Messianic Judaism is not a denomination. It is a movement. It is a movement of believers who have a vision of a faith based on the role-modeling of Yeshua himself and his first century followers…before so much of man’s perspective crept into framing what it means to be a follower of Yeshua. More than anything, it is the mission of THIS Messianic Congregation to be a bridge bringing Jew and Gentile together as one in Messiah, one in worship, one in faith.
The number one reason Jewish people do not want to follow the Messiah Yeshua is because it is assumed that when a Jewish person professes faith in "Jesus," they are rejecting their Jewishness and committing ethnic, religious and cultural suicide! This is the perception among the vast majority of Jewish people. And nothing could be further from the truth! We recognize that Jewish people (physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob) who place their faith in Israel’s Messiah continue to be just as Jewish as the day they where born according to the Scriptures (Rom. 2:28-29). Gentiles who place their faith in Yeshua, are “grafted" into the olive tree of faith (Rom. 11:17-25) becoming spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham (Gal. 3:28-29).
As followers of Yeshua and as He did, we observe and celebrate the Feasts of the Lord according to Leviticus 23, given by God to Israel. We understand them to not only commemorate the miracles of God's intervention on behalf of the Jewish nation, and to provide a means to recommit our lives to God, but to be a prophetic rehearsal of the redemption plan of God in and through Messiah Yeshua. We believe that true Biblical faith, the faith demonstrated by first century believers, which we seek to practice, acknowledges the continuity of faith in the one true God, revealed throughout the Scriptures, and ultimately manifested in God’s Son, Yeshua the Messiah.
We acknowledge that the New Covenant body of believers is composed of both Jews and Gentiles who have received Yeshua as the Promised Redeemer. The “middle wall of partition” has been broken down and now we worship the God of Israel united as one (I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 2:13-14).
We believe that man was created in the image of God. But, through disobedience man fell from his first state and became separated from God. Therefore, according to the Scriptures, all men are born with a sinful nature. Man’s only hope for redemption (salvation) is through the atonement made by the Messiah resulting in regeneration by the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), which is the new birth (John 3:3-8).
The Redeemer will come to Zion (Isa. 59:20-21; Zech. 14:4) as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. We believe in God’s end-time plan for the nation of Israel and for the world. A central part of Messianic Judaism is the belief in the physical and spiritual restoration of Israel, as taught in the Scriptures. The greatest physical miracle of our day has been the re-establishment – the rebirth – of the State of Israel according to prophecy (Ezek. 34:11-31; 36-39; Hos. 3; Amos 9:11-15; Zech. 12-14; Isa. 11; 43; 54; 60-62; 66; Rom. 11:1-34)
The Scriptures promised two “comings” of the Messiah. The first was for the purpose of making an atonement for sin and establishing the New Covenant with the House of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31). His second coming is to bring about the bodily ressurection and complete the plan of redemption in preparation for His eternal kingdom where He will reign as David reigned. (I Thess. 4:13-18; John 14:1-6; I Cor. 15:51-57).
We believe in the resurrection of both the redeemed and the lost: the former to everlasting life and the latter to eternal separation from God, a state of everlasting punishment,
We DO NOT believe in the Two House Doctrine or in any of it's many variations. While we are focused on more deeply aligning with the Hebraic roots of our faith, we are in no way associated with what is commonly called the "Hebrew Roots" movement, which is often closely aligned with believers in the Two House perspective as well as those of the One Law and Sacred Name factions. In fact, we believe the Two House Doctrine is antithetical to scripture and a misrepresentation of the true redemption plan of God. We believe that ALL NATIONS are called to repentance and relationship with God through Yeshua…those who ARE physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob (Israel) both in and outside of the land of Israel (the Jewish people)…and those who are NOT physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob (the gentile nations). We do not believe scripture in any way attempts to divide Jewish or Gentile descendancy or attempts to associate these descendants either ecclesiastically or eschatologically into tribal, political or national entities. Please access the following narrative as a substantive summary of our stance on these dangerous doctrines: The Position Paper of the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues (IAMCS) Steering Committee.
We absolutely DO NOT ADHERE TO or support any doctrine, belief system, or faith-based organization that embraces replacement theology or supersessionism - the idea that God's unique relationship with the Jewish people has in any way been revoked or usurped by another entity, including the "Church." That is, we believe that scriptural misinterpretation and a subtle or overt form of anti-Semitism is at the basis of these doctrines. We reject the notion that the “Church” has replaced, superseeded or in any way is the only recipient of the promises made to Israel (the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob). We believe that the replacement theology doctrine in ALL of its various forms is a complete and utter falacy. We also support the mission and purpose of the Toward Jerusalem Council II initiative. For an informative and rational rebuttal to one of the major forms of supersessionism in the world today, Christian Antizionism, please also see: vimeo.com/evangelicalzionism.