Recently, I have been distracted from regular posting by a couple books and a major page I am writing titled How to: Messianic. (Watch for it…)
Anyway, two items of interest have come across my vision in the last hour that I wanted to share because both are ‘action steps’ toward unity in the Body and are building blocks toward community.
First, my second and third sons just came back from an awesome week at Camp Yeshua. A friend shared a video with us giving a taste of what the week was like. As I watched, it
occurred to me that 375 Messianic teens from all over the country building relationships and tearing down some of the division in the Body is a terrific step in the right direction! I know my second son has near daily email and Skype conversations with campers from last year…. And, he came back a changed young man last year with noticeable growth this year!!
The second item that came across my plate was an email from friends updating me on a gathering they enjoyed yesterday. We had been invited, but picking the boys up from the airport after camp late late Friday evening prevented us from seriously considering the four hour drive to meet with them. Most of the attendees were participants we met at the Bney Yosef Congress in Israel, so we really missed getting back together with new friends.
So, today when I received an email update on the topics covered and the sweet worship enjoyed, I regretted not being able to attend, but immediately asked about the next gathering. Seems, the tentative plan is to gather monthly on a Shabbat for worship and further discussion on various topics of community, etc.
What struck me as I pondered the gathering is that pulling people together from various fellowships for worship and discussion is an excellent continuing step towards community and unity in the Messianic Body. It is so easy to remain cloistered rather than building bridges and relationships across our respective regions.
I encourage all of my readers to actively seek opportunity to reach out an fellowship with others outside of your normal circle!! Congregation leaders: plan and create opportunities to get your fellowship together with other area fellowships! Break down the walls that divide and separate and work toward peace and unity in the Body!! further, strongly consider moving toward more of a home fellowship model of ministry as it has so many benefits in our day to prepare us for persecution and to ‘force’ others into leadership/growth positions that prepare them for the the influx the Messianic is seeing!
375 teens form across the country at Camp Yeshua is one example of how we can build unity and community… Another is for us as small fellowships to find ways to take one Shabbat a month and meet with others we do not normally see. Still another way is for an entire fellowship to pick up and travel 50-100 miles to meet with another fellowship in an enlarged worship and ministry setting!!
Still another way, that we have been blessed with is hosting people in our home from distances, or with whom we have not fellowshiped before. This week was three weeks in a row that we’ve had guests in our home on Shabbat. Two of those weeks they were overnighters from 100+ miles away and yesterday was a gentleman that is new to the Messianic and we just shared experiences, discussed Scripture, built relationships and talked about helping him start a home fellowship in his nearby town!
Brothers and sister: actively seek building community and tearing down the walls of cloistering!!~
Shalom!!
11:3 Restoration 
Shalom Pete I love this video!!!
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