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Post by chrisg on Apr 5, 2016 11:56:44 GMT -8
I have done a load of research online but have been unable to find a Sabbath keeping church near to where I live. The nearest seems to be about 70 miles away and I am not in a position to move closer! I don't even know if they are sound in other aspects; I just know they meet on the Sabbath and keep the other festivals.
With that in mind, can anyone recommend an online Sabbath day service I can link in to? I have found a few possibles, but I don't know if they are going to preach the Bible or not. I assume that people here will know who is good and who is not.
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 5, 2016 15:37:06 GMT -8
I watch Chavurat HaMashiach's. It has been a blessing to me.
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Post by alon on Apr 5, 2016 18:17:30 GMT -8
I have done a load of research online but have been unable to find a Sabbath keeping church near to where I live. The nearest seems to be about 70 miles away and I am not in a position to move closer! I don't even know if they are sound in other aspects; I just know they meet on the Sabbath and keep the other festivals. With that in mind, can anyone recommend an online Sabbath day service I can link in to? I have found a few possibles, but I don't know if they are going to preach the Bible or not. I assume that people here will know who is good and who is not. Keeping Shabbat and the feasts is a good start, but if they are a church and not a synagogue, then they are not doctrinally sound. Does this mean you should not fellowship with them? I can't say. Just know that they will be teaching some things contrary to Messianic Judaism if they have not severed ties with the "church."
You are 8 hrs ahead of us, so the ones I could recommend would start at 6:oo PM there (10:00 AM here). Chavarut HaMashiach, the parent synagogue for this forum does a live stream service. They usually run from 3 to 3 1/2 hrs. They are at:
www.synagoguechm.com/livestreaming.html
Rav S of Synagogue Beit Aveinu where I attend does a shorter service (about an hour) with about a half hr teaching starting at 10:00 AM Pac time (6:00 PM your time). But sometimes you can't catch him due to technical problems. And he is gone quite a bit starting other synagogues and such. So it's worth trying, but I haven't been able to get on at all for a while. So don't be too disappointed if you don't get him.
www.aveinu.com/
Other than that maybe look online for live stream feeds in the UK. Make sure they are from Messianic synagogues, not Hebrew Roots or churches. I always check the statement of faith, looking to make sure they absolutely acknowledge Yeshua as HaMoshiach and as eternal God, from beginning to end- everlasting. Some ebionites won't say anything, and ambush you later. If they don't say this up front, I don't bother with them. See if anything else bothers you, looking for both what is there and what is not. And if you find some place keep your discernment on high for a long time. But maybe you'll find a good place. You won't know 'till you look.
Dan C
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Post by garrett on Apr 5, 2016 19:16:01 GMT -8
I have done a load of research online but have been unable to find a Sabbath keeping church near to where I live. The nearest seems to be about 70 miles away and I am not in a position to move closer! I don't even know if they are sound in other aspects; I just know they meet on the Sabbath and keep the other festivals. With that in mind, can anyone recommend an online Sabbath day service I can link in to? I have found a few possibles, but I don't know if they are going to preach the Bible or not. I assume that people here will know who is good and who is not. Don't forget that in your circumstances it's quite alright to keep the Sabbath at home. It's almost kind of neat that you are so far outside of the eruv (halachic boundary) that it would merit you just staying at home for rest, doing non-workish things and anything G-d centered, which goes without saying. The same thing goes with the festivals, much of which is a state of mind - a mentality and awareness of the holy days you happen to be in and ways you can take part as best as you can, even if alone. If it's any consolation to you, I generally stay at home on Sabbath almost all the time now (with my wife). I could easily go to one of many synagogues in my city, however these are synagogues that do not accept Yeshua as HaMoshiach, so I feel like my fellowship can be a bit muddled and conflicted. But I will say the services are always great, it's all in Hebrew of course, as the chazzan (cantor) chants the scriptures from the Sefer  (scroll). And the prayers from the siddur (prayer book) are nice but I have my own as well. ...........anyways, I'm just trying to say that it can be just as special at home since I've been able to do (and see) both. garrett |
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Post by chrisg on Apr 6, 2016 0:02:41 GMT -8
At present, I am still attending a Sunday church (husband isn't ready for anything else yet), so I am getting contact with other believers of a sort - they believe the Bible is 100% true but haven't seen some things the way I have recently come to see them. For instance, in the sermon on Sunday morning, the preacher (we don't have a full time paid paster - it's not the style of our church to do that; we have elders who share the ministry) was contrasting the world with the ten commandments - we were getting to the one about adultery as that was the subject in the passage we are looking at in John's gospel. Anyway, he said words to the effect: 'put God first - they don't care about that; don't take His name in vain - they don't care about that; no idols - they don't care about that; keep the sabbath holy - they don't care about that....' I was tempted to add 'neither do we - ie this church', but kept quiet (of course). I don't doubt their sincerity, but they don't interpret things the way the Bible actually says. There is too much 'interpretation' and not enough just reading the Bible and accepting what is says (rather than what we think it might mean). But I would love to meet with others who think as I do. I don't think my husband would be averse to me attending something else. But if online is all I can get, then that would be okay too. I was Mennonite for around 15 years and had the same problem - no Mennonites in my area; the church I was attending was hostile to me because I had 'different' beliefs and practices, so that is why we now attend this Brethren assembly (we don't call it 'church'). I see now that my time as a Mennonite was preparing me for discovering -observance. Oddly, it was during 'easter' that I mentioned to my husband that I was certain we should be observing Passover instead (though as Christians and not Jews, since Christ is our Passover lamb), so I started to look it up to check my understanding and suddenly realised we should be worshipping on Saturday too. I was standing in the middle of then living room with a book (was it my Bible? I don't remember) and said to my husband 'we even worship on the wrong day too'. It was only about an hour between me saying we should worship on Passover and realising we had our weekly worship day wrong. But now I am faced with the dilemma that the Bible tells me to meet together with other like-minded believers - and there are none near enough! |
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Post by chrisg on Apr 6, 2016 0:07:32 GMT -8
It's almost kind of neat that you are so far outside of the eruv (halachic boundary) that it would merit you just staying at home for rest, doing non-workish things and anything G-d centered, which goes without saying. garrett Yes and no; being a wife, I need to accept my husband's leadership. This can be difficult and he has the TV on a lot when he is in the living room. There really isn't any other place I can go, without suggesting (even by my actions) I am wanting to be apart from him. I don't want to isolate myself and I certainly don't want to isolate my husband. I would go for a walk, but it has rained heavily the last two Saturdays - he would possibly come with me, or I can go by myself if he has things he wants to do at home. But the rain has meant he was in the living room all day last weekend and so I was trying to block out the TV and read some sermons and books and focus on God - not easy to do. |
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Post by chrisg on Apr 6, 2016 0:10:16 GMT -8
Thank you for the online suggestions. I did find one that looks promising; it runs from 5pm our time for two hours. It's called eliyah. I haven't been able to listen in yet, but hope to soon. I will also check out the two mentioned.
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Post by garrett on Apr 6, 2016 3:19:11 GMT -8
chrisg - sorry I failed to realize the specifics surrounding your circumstances. Now I think I remember reading these details in another one of your recent posts. Yes, Saturday can be altogether different if you're at home and the TV is on for most of the day. But you're home and maybe you can still rest at the very least(?). And you never know, things could really change over time with the way your husband views things. My wife and I weren't on the same timeline when it came to this but it did work out over the course of time.
It's early in the morning, and I could be wrong, but you're not violating G-d's Word if you can't find any like-minded believers near you. It's not your fault! My first recollection was Shaul (Paul) saying Messianics should congregate for edification purposes, but it's not a commandment since Shaul is only a rabbi. G-d doesn't create commandments that are impossible to keep. I would love to meet with others who believe as I do too, but that's just not the case right now. Regardless, I hope you'll take these new discoveries about the Bible with joy and not allow them to give you too much stress. In times past, I tried to remind myself that my core beliefs hadn't changed but instead I simply learned more truths - and that I wasn't doing anything "wrong" by trying to adapt to these truths.
Lastly, if it's any consolation, I'm certain that your experiences are VERY familiar to the active members on this forum....that's a big reason why we are here, because we are all in the same boat to some degree.
Hope this helps a little - garrett
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Post by chrisg on Apr 6, 2016 4:51:54 GMT -8
Yes, I can rest, though cooking is still done to an extent. I have tried to make a meal on Friday before sabbath starts, and make enough so I just have to heat it on Saturday. The evening meal on Saturday I did the preparations beforehand, so it was less to do on the day (my husband wont appreciate dinner being a couple of hours later than usual) and I did all the cleaning on Thursday and Friday before Sabbath started.
I mentioned to my husband today about keeping Unleavened Bread and explained why I think we should keep that as well as Passover, in a conversation about feasts and Sabbath keeping. He didn't say anything though he was amenable to the idea, but he is taking it all in and thinking about it. I just don't want him to change his views because I have. I would prefer if he studied for himself and came to the same conclusions; but I do not want to be the one teaching him - that just doesn't sit right at all!
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Post by alon on Apr 6, 2016 5:22:18 GMT -8
Yes, I can rest, though cooking is still done to an extent. I have tried to make a meal on Friday before sabbath starts, and make enough so I just have to heat it on Saturday. The evening meal on Saturday I did the preparations beforehand, so it was less to do on the day (my husband wont appreciate dinner being a couple of hours later than usual) and I did all the cleaning on Thursday and Friday before Sabbath started. I mentioned to my husband today about keeping Unleavened Bread and explained why I think we should keep that as well as Passover, in a conversation about feasts and Sabbath keeping. He didn't say anything though he was amenable to the idea, but he is taking it all in and thinking about it. I just don't want him to change his views because I have. I would prefer if he studied for himself and came to the same conclusions; but I do not want to be the one teaching him - that just doesn't sit right at all! A lot of times this is exactly what it looks like just doing what you can. Do as much as you can beforehand. Plan meals which take little preparation if you must cook on Shabbat. Always look for that little extra you can do on the 6th day so Shabbat is as close to a day of rest as you can make it.
The really hard part is when everyone else is on a Sunday schedule and expects you to violate Shabbat either so they can keep the Lord's Day" or just because they think Saturday is a play or work day and don't respect what you think. I go to church with my wife on Sunday, but I come home and (actually just like most of Christianity) I do chores around the house. As your husband doesn't yet believe in this, you may end up going to some family functions or doing things which violate Shabbat. Again, don't wrack yourself with guilt over it; just keep praying for him. At least he has an open mind. But remember that we all come to this and grow in it at our own pace. And you are right, it is best if he comes to these conclusions on his own.
Dan C
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- there are 70 faces to 
