August 31, 2012
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river of life brochure more editing….’think I might be finished…we will see
Let me know if you see typo’s or other simple editing errors. Let me know if you read something (as a relatively knowledgeable Christian) and go “WHAAAAT??”
I did eliminate a couple to things I figured people would learn “down the road”(as did James in Acts 15:19–21) and added a couple of other things I think are important for people to know….so, after around 24 hours — all tolled over 4 days of work (delightfully disrupted by a trip to Rockford, Ill. yesterday where Cousin Mary Vander Ark and I spent around 5 hours talking and could have gone on and on some more
— this is what I came up with….it is considerably shortened and just might go into just one booklet.Grand Rapids River of LifeMinistries, Inc.
established 01/05/1980
Co founded and co pastored by Pastors Robert and Dr. Rosemary Barnes
3412 Leonard , N.W.; Walker, Mi. 49534
Robert’s phone:616-540-2928; Rosemary’s phone:616-540-1766
Service times:
Wednesday: 6:30 PM to8: 00 PM
Sabbath: 9:30 AM to10:30 AM service; 10:30 A:M brunch;11:00 A.M
Ongoing announcements can be found by clicking “bulletins” http://riveroflifegrmi.org/ (webmaster: EG Adams);
rbarnesrol@aol.com;Facebook: Rosemary Herms Barnes; Xanga:Rosemaryssermons
What is happeningat River of Life (ROL):
Nursery: Ages : Infant through 2 years old during all services.
Children’s Church(CC)Ages 3 through 11: Wednesday night and Sabbath during the firstservice. CC is led by Pastors Bruce and Theresa Bolthouse
Powerhouse: (PH) Ages 12 through 15: Wednesday evening. PH is led by Pastors Cliffand Annie Baker.
Kingdom Youth Force (KYF) Ages 16 through 21: Wednesdayevening. KYF is led by Pastor KarenVander Vliet.
Adult Bible Class (ABC): Ages 22 on up: Wednesday evening. ABC is led by Pastors Robert and Rosemary Barnes.
Prayer time : Theentire church gathers at Wednesday, 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM and Sabbath at 9:30 AMto 9:45 AM for prayer. This time is led ( in rotation) by Pastor Robert one week, Minister KarenCook the next week, and Pastor Rosemary the following week .
Amen: – AMen’s Bible study and share group led by Pastor Bruce Bolthouse on the secondSunday of each month. It is from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM…
Victory time
VT) .. VT is for all those who desiremutual accountability regarding a healthy diet. VT meets the first Wednesday ofeach month from 6:00 PM to 6:25 PM . PastorAnnie Baker leads this group. We shareweekly email updates with each other.TV 25 program: We tape our program, “River Reflections”,at TV 25 in Wyoming, is taped the 2nd and 4th Monday monthly.Around 8:30 PM) we eat together. OftenROL volunteers bring us food or have usin their home (if they are somewhat near the station). We meet at 6:30 PM at WKTV, 5261 Clyde Park Ave SW, Wyoming, MI49509; http://www.wktv.org/home.html 261 5700. . Pastor Rosemary is theDirector/producer of the program; Deacon Richard Menninga is in charge of the control room management andtraining.
Media Club: We rely on this club for the videotaping andediting of clips to be shown on TV 25 as well as other ministry communication through various media. JacobMenninga is the director of this club..
Helps Team: This team, led by Pastor KarenRoark, provides help in ushering, hosting, clean up, and any other supportiveservices needed to assist the ministry.
Sound and visualaid ministry: The soundboard/microphone — ministry led by Deacon Richard Menninga and kept insupplies by Deacon Ron Slawson — assures proper sound . The visual ministry isled by Ryan Hoekstra and assisted by Pastor Bruce Bolthouse.
Praise and worshipteam: Pastor Robert directs this entire ministry and is also aworship leader himself . Pastor Bruce Bolthouse and Briana Vander Toorn are also worshipleaders.
Open pulpittimes: Usually every Sabbath11:00 AM service we offer an opportunityto participate in “open pulpit” (for up to three minutes) by sharing something prepared at home .. Associate ministers may take up to five minutes.
The purpose of the open pulpit content – which can be something from the Word, the sharing of a spiritual gift, a dance, a poem, a song, a skit, etc.– is to exhort,edify, and/or comfort the body of Christ . People are free to do things alone or with others.
Five fold ministry training available: The Lord has called some to be part of the fivefold ministry, i.e., apostles, prophets,evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Ifyou believe the Lord hascalled you to be in one or more of the five fold ministry offices (Ephesians4 : 11—15) and we can also see that calling on your life, Pastor Rosemary iswilling to mentor and to train you. Thetraining usually takes around four years to complete; however, we are willingto adapt to the person’s life circumstances if the work cannot be completed within that time frame. The student should beat least 18 years old and either already be baptized in or diligently seekingto be. The student must already haveshown themselves for quite awhile to bewilling to pray often in corporateprayer times, share in open pulpits, be faithful to services, be faithful ingiving their tithes and offerings, be anenthusiastic worshipper, be willing toparticipate in helps service, and be showingthe Fruits of the Spirit in his or her life. Furthermore, the student must“see” their entire local church as those whom they desire to ministerto—their ministry vision cannot belimited to just a few people with whom they are comfortable.
Because the job of a five fold minister is to “perfect thesaints for the work of the ministry”, that person must be genuinely pleased tosee others come forth in their ministries and have a heart to do all they canto make that happen.
Students will be study through the entire Bible and designated topics (corresponding withthe church study cycle and there areother forms and goals to be completed each month. At least one open pulpit on the current study book or topicwill be expected. The work is to be “handed in” via email. From time to time Pastor Rosemary will meetwith the student(s) in person to discuss their progress, review their work, discuss leadership issues, and praytogether.
Let Pastor Rosemary know if youare interested (or, if we see you are already acting like someone called to aministry office, we may approach you to encourage you to get intotraining). When the student starts thetraining, more instruction will beshared concerning the curriculum and activity required. .
All those complete the Word minister training and stay atROL will be considered an Associate Minister at ROL. Associate Ministers become a part of theAdvisory board as well as part of the teaching and ministry staff.
If the personbelieves they are called to start a ministry outside of ROL, we would be happyto serve in an apostolic role if they would want that.
River of Lifecycle of Bible and topical studies: Eachmonth we introduce new books and/or topics to study in our private devotionaltimes.
The list that wefollow is: . 1. Genesis,Matthew 2. Exodus,Mark 3. Leviticus,
II John, III John,, Sabbath 4. HolySpirit: the Baptism, Fruits, Gifts
5. Numbers,I Peter 6. Deuteronomy,II Peter 7. Salvation, including Evangelism and Missions 8. Joshua. Hebrews 9. Judges,Ruth, Romans
10. Deity of Christ and Prophetic Words inthe Word concerning Him
11. ISamuel, I Timothy 12. IISamuel. II Timothy 13. Praiseand Worship including various expressions of Worship 14. IKings, I Thessalonians
15. IIKings, II Thessalonians 16. Habakkuk,I Chronicles
17. IIChronicles, Galatians 18. Ephesians, “What is Church?”, andthe ROL Brochure Beliefs and Goals 19. Esther, Nehemiah, Luke,Ezra
20. Job, Philippians, I Corinthians 21. Jonah, Deliverance
22. Psalms.Ecclesiastes 23. Proverbs, James, John 24. Haggai, Song of Solomon, Isaiah 25. IICorinthians, Water Baptism 26. Jeremiah, Lamentations, Philemon 27. Ezekiel,Jude 28. Zephaniah,Obadiah, Colossians
29. Nahum, Communion 30. Racism,Acts 31. Micah,Amos, Titus, Hosea, Joel 32. Zechariah,Malachi, I John, Women in Ministry 33.Daniel.Revelation
At the end of eachstudy cycle we give opportunity in theearly Sabbath service for people to share what they discovered during theirstudies that month.
We celebrate four special occasions yearly in which weinvite specific individuals to do allforms of arts expression , i.e., those who are recognized as doing excellentlyin our “open pulpit” times and/or praise times . ( “Arts “ can include poetry, mime, dance, vocal and instrumentalsolos and groups, skits, canvas art, photography– whatever can be used to express the theme of the event.) We are not limited to these four events, e.g., we have celebrated Purim and we would be blessed to celebrate Pentecost too.
1. Passover: The death , burial, and resurrection of ourLord Jesus Christ)
2. Feast of Tabernacles : We celebrateboth , as in Old Covenant times, a thanksgiving celebration for Hissupernatural provisions for us and also what is now and in the future, a rejoicing in the harvest of souls in allnations (Zechariah 14:9, 16). Ultimately, we anticipate with joy the ultimate fulfillment of this feast when He tabernacles among us for all eternity (Rev. 21: 1 – 7)
3. River of Life Ministries’ anniversary: Robert and Rosemary started this church onJanuary 5, 1980 in their livingroom on 301 Burton , S.E., in Grand Rapids,Michigan with only EG, their son, soon to be 8, as a certain third member .
4. Christmas: On a Sabbath near 12/25 we celebrate thebirth of the Lord Jesus Christ. At church do not all have the objects and references to theworldly version of this season because we choose to celebrate only that which pertainsto the birth of Jesus.
Brunchand food ministry: With the exception of special celebration days (notonly the above four special events, but also some other times too), we have a10:30 brunch every Sabbath. The ROLmembers each bring food to share witheveryone. On “special” occasions weoften have a continental breakfast at 10:30 and then a dinner potblessingfollowing the first service.
Church Government-: All the affairs of Grand Rapids River of Life Ministries, Inc. –both temporal and spiritual — are governed by the Co-Pastors, Robert andRosemary Barnes. There are three legaldirectors who are responsible for compliance with all the legal aspects of a non profit corporation. Theyare Pastors Robert and Rosemary and Pastor Karen Vander Vliet.
We also have anadvisory board (sometimes called the ROL“positioned leadership”) in order for the directors to receive their input and advice. ROL Members may bringconcerns or issues to the Advisory Board Members or to the Pastors. Whatever isshared with the Board Members or other Leadership will be shared with thePastors by those Leaders.
PositionedLeadership at River of Life (i.e., ourdeacons and associate ministers which make up our “advisory board”) : In addition to Pastors Robert andRosemary: Pastors Bruce and TheresaBolthouse, Minister Karen Cook, Pastor Karen Roark; Deacon John Roark, DeaconRon Slawson, Minister Sherry Slawson, Pastors Cliff and Annie Baker, DeaconRichard and Deaconness Tracy Menninga
We usually meettogether at least four times a yearto discuss both the spiritual and natural administration of the church.
Our special “advisors” are Deacon John and Pastor KarenRoark with whom we spend some extra timebrainstorming and debriefing on ROL matters.
We have periodic meetings with only the pastors andministers to discuss spiritual concerns.
The Home Ministry Fellowship, Inc. ROL connection:In January of 1980 when we started River of Life , both Robert andRosemary received ordination from Pastor Charles Stilwell, Founder andPresident of Home Ministry Fellowship (established in 1966). We also became acharter church, Grand Rapids River of Life Ministries, under their federal 501(c) tax exempt nonprofit corporation . After the deathsof Pastor Stilwell and his wife, Bobbie, Rosemary was elected at the February, 2006 annual meeting by the HMF board of directors to be the lifetime President of HMF. Robert is the lifetime Vice President.Thelegal board of directors now of Home Ministry Fellowship are: Robert and Rosemary Barnes, Cliff Baker,Secretary, John and Karen Roark, and Karen Vander Vliet , Treasurer. Californiais state where HMF is incorporated; therefore, J.T. Warring,one of our ordained ministers from California is the HMF resident agent .
ROL Finances: Offerings are dealt with by a team: Pastor Rosemary, Pastor Karen Vander Vliet,and Sue Mulder. Receipts are recordedand finance reports are prepared by Pastors Rosemary and Karen. Sue Mulder is responsible to tally what eachperson gave and provide an end of year report for tax purposes .
Finance reports are reviewed by the entire advisoryboard.
All gifts to ROL are tax deductible.
Prayer and DevotionalLife for ROL Members : People who join ROL are expected to havea very regular devotional life .Devotional time should include praise,worship, listening to a Bible Tape and/or reading the Bible, and prayer.
Timothy 2:15, Ephesians 6:18, James 5:16-18, Matthew 26:41,Revelation 5:8, Psalm 119, Jeremiah9:23—24)
Tithes and offerings: We believe that onetenth of the believer’s gross incomebelongs to the Lord and should be given to their local church. Offerings and alms (compassionate deeds and/orgiving to the poor) should be given too.
(II Corinthians9:1-12, Malachi 3:7-12, Acts 10:2)
Becoming a memberof River of Life : Any Christiancan become a member of ROL after coming faithfully for a season so as to make a careful, prayerful choice.
.Before becoming amember, the person should read our statement of our beliefs to make sure thatthey are basic agreement with thisstatement. A person who desires to become a member should express that desireto the Pastors. The Pastors will then have a brief conference with that personto discuss this decision.
Statement ofbeliefs:
Paul said in 1 Timothy 4: 13 “Till I come, give attention to reading, toexhortation, to doctrine.”
This belief statement is intended to simply give a brief , introductory understanding of some of theimportant doctrines we teach. In the Bible there is so much more than whatis written here that we also teach. Coming regularly to our services over months and years to hear all theteachings will have to be the way someone discovers the rest.
The Apostles Creed: Along with millions ofChristians all over the world, we share the belief in all of the points of the Apostles Creed:
“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, ourLord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,and born of the virgin Mary, sufferedunder Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again from the dead. Heascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in theHoly Spirit ,the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, theforgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.Amen”
We believe that all of the Bible is the infallible Word of God (2Timothy 3:16—17, Hebrews4:12, 2 Peter 1:21)
God in Three Persons and the Deity of Christ: God shows Himself in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To reject Jesus Christ as God the Son is to reject God the Father. (Psalms45:6 –7, Hebrews 1 , Isaiah 7:14 , Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 9:6—7, John 1:1—14, Colossians 1:12 –19,1 Timothy 3:16, John 10:30—33, John 20: 26—31, Philippians 2:5—11, John 14:16—20, 23—28, 1 Peter 1:7—23, Revelation 21:22—23, Micah 5:2, John 8:58, Rev 1:4 –18, Luke1:30—35, 1 John 5:5—13 ,20, 1 John 2:22—24, 1 John 4:1—3, 14—15, 2 John 1:9—11)
Becoming a Christian: Everyoneis a sinner and is in need of salvation from sin and its effects. (Romans3:23–25). The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23); therefore, none of usdeserves eternal life. In Christ we can have eternal life because He paid thedeath penalty for us. (Romans 5:6—11) God demands “shedding of blood” for “remission”(pardon) of sin (Hebrews 9: 22, 28). Jesus shed bloodtakes care of sin once and for all when we accept His blood as payment for oursin. (Romans 3:24—25, 1 Peter 1: 18–19, Ephesians 1:5—7, Hebrews 9:28, Hebrews 10:14)
If we do not accept His paymentfor sins, we die in our sins and be damned..
(Mark 16:16, John 3:18—21,John3:36, John 8:23—24, 2 Thessalonians 1:7—9, 2 Thessalonians 2: 12, Revelation20:5)
To become a Christian a person must believe the Jesus Christ paid the penalty for his sin and hasprovided through His death , burial, and resurrection the way to be free fromsin and live a new life in Christ. (Titus 2:11—15) He must repent regarding his past sins and accept forgiveness from God. He must ask the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ into his heartso that now he will be able to walk incommunion with and in obedience to the Spirit of the Lord. He becomes a “new creature” – his old life is passed away sothat he can live his new life in Christ . (2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 John 1: 9,Luke 9:23, John 8:11)
Water Baptism -: A believer should be baptized in water into the name of the Lord JesusChrist. By doing this he is showing hisidentification with the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord JesusChrist , i.e., he considers himself dead to the works of his flesh and that heis a new creature in Christ Jesus who will walk after the ways of the HolySpirit of God. (Acts 2:38,41, Romans 6:3-14, Galatians 3:27, Acts 10:44-48)
Baptism in theHoly Spirit : Once a person becomes a Christian, he canexperience a still greater degree ofboldness to be a witness of the Lord, power, and operation of the supernaturalgifts of the Holy Spirit by receiving the Baptist of the Holy Spirit. This baptism is usually immediately evidenced by speaking in other tongues asGod’s Spirit gives utterance.. (Acts 2:1-18)
In Acts 1:2—10 it is recorded that , just before Jesusascends into Heaven, He gives instructions to His disciples but then He toldthem to first wait at Jerusalem until they are baptized with the Holy Spirit. The instructions and theworks they would do are in Mark 16:15—20. The coming of the baptism with the HolySpirit along with the surrounding signs, wonders, and exhortation is recorded in Acts 2.
The tongues received are a prayer language . When wepray in the Spirit we are built in our faith and we speak mysteries in theSpirit to God which are understood byGod. (Jude 1:20, 1 Corinthians14:2—4) We may decide any time to prayor to sing in the Spirit. (1 Corinthians14: 14—15)
Communion and theNew Covenant: When we sharecommunion together, we are declaring , showing forth, His death. We are remembering all He has donefor us through His suffering, death, burial, and resurrection. ( 1 Corinthians 11:23—26). Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2” “For I determined not to know anything among youexcept Jesus Christ and Him crucified “ i.e., his preaching was centered around the death of Christ.
In communion, we “drink His blood”, the wine, which represents His life ; we “eat His body”, the bread, which represents the Word made flesh. We alsomeditate on the fact His body was broken (beaten) for our healing. (Isaiah 53:4—5, John6:47—63, Leviticus 17:11)
When we sharecommunion we celebrate the fact that Jesus’ death paid theprice for our sin and erased every curse against us. (Galatians 3:13—14) Through Him, by walking in His Spirit andWord, we can walk in complete victoryover all the effects of sin. (1 John 3:8) Through the power and influenceof His Spirit in our hearts, we can walkin righteousness. ( Galatians 5:16 –25).
The death of Jesus Christbrought forth the New Covenant prophesied in the Old Covenant writings. Jeremiah31:31 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a newcovenant withthe house of Israel, and with the house of Judah”.
The Lord Himself announces the arrival of the New Covenant: At the “last supper”, a Passover Seder: He lifted up His cup of wine andsaid that this cup was the “blood of the New Testament”( Matthew 26: 26—28 )
This new covenant , it was prophesied , would be a time whenthe Lord would put a new spirit in us,give us a new heart, put His laws onour hearts, and cause us to walk in His ways. Then, He says , we would be His people and He would be our God. All this has now happened because of thesacrifice the Lord made for us. (Jeremiah 31: 33—34, Ezekiel 11: 19 – 20, Ezekiel 36: 25 –27)
The Old Covenant wasgiven by Moses; the New Covenant was given by the Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 8: 3—13, Hebrews10:14—23, 28—29, Hebrews 12:18–25)
Sabbath: The fourth commandment is Exodus 20: 8“Remember the Sabbath day, tokeep it holy. 9 Six daysyou shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall dono work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor yourfemale servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within yourgates. 11 For insix days the Lord made the heavensand the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventhday. Therefore the Lord blessedthe Sabbath day and hallowed it. “ Inconsideration of this commandment we began to question whether the Lord everchanged the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. The manyexplanations given by most believers as to why we should consider Sunday as theSabbath simple did not seem logical or right. After studying this question wemoved to a Seventh day Sabbath.
( Genesis 2:2—3, Exodus 16:22-30, Leviticus 23:2—3, Deuteronomy 5:12—15, Isaiah56:1—7, Isaiah 58:12—14, Luke 23:56, Acts 13:42 — 44, Acts 17:2, Acts 18:4).
We also studied the history of the change from Sabbath toSunday after the New Testament times and discovered that it was man, not God, who decided tochange the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week.
Worship and Praiseby the entire congregation: We desire that all exercise the liberty to express love and adoration to the Lord as we worshipand praise Him together.. We believe inmaking a joyful noise unto the Lord. We clap, dance, bow down, and raise our hands unto Him. (Psalm 150,Psalm 100, Acts 3:8, Psalm 63:4, Psalm 134:2, Psalm 47:1, Psalm 30:4, 11 –12,Ephesians 5: 19—20, Colossians 3:16) Webelieve in being sensitive to the move of the Spirit among us . He not onlyleads us into fast, physically expressive praise, but also into the sweet,gentle music of worship. Sometimes Hegives us a “new song” (Psalms 40:3) through one or more singers in thecongregation.
The gifts of theSpirit in operation at ROL: Webelieve all the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see both 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 14, are still available for Christians today . Many times during ourpraise time or during ministry times, the Lord will manifest himself among usthrough the Gifts of His Spirit. (Mark16:17—18, Acts 2:16—18, Acts 5:12—16, Acts 9:37—42, Acts 16:16-18, Acts19:11—17)
When spiritual gifts come forth, it is our responsibility to” try the spirits” and to “prove all things” (1 John 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:21)
The realm of the supernatural is one that the enemy uses tooin order to deceive us; therefore, wemust know what the work of the Lord’sSpirit and what is not.
(2 Corinthians 11:13—15)
We are always grateful for the supernatural working of the Spirit and each one must be eager and willing to be used by Him. (1Thessalonians 5:19,20, 2 Timothy 1: 6—7,1 Timothy 4:14, 1 Corinthians 14:31,39)
Womenin Ministry : We believe that –in Christ — there is no male or female (Galatians 3:28). Believers maytherefore freely function in the church in accordance with the gifts,talents, offices, and calling given tothem by God. ( Acts 2:17-18, Philippians4:3, II Kings 22:8-20, Romans 16:1–15, Acts 21:9. Judges 4:4—9, Judges 5:7)
Deliverance andspiritual warfare: Christians are in a spiritual warfare. This battle is not against flesh and blood, but againstspiritual principalities and powers.We, being seated with Jesus in aposition of authority over all the hosts of the devil, have the ability through the Lord JesusChrist to set people free from captivity to these forces. (Ephesians 1:19 –2:6,2 Peter 1:2—4, Mark16:17, Luke 8:2, Luke 9:37-42, Luke13:11-16, Acts 8:5–8, Acts 16:16-18, Acts 19:11-12, Ephesians 1:20-21, Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians6:10 — 18)
Israel and the Jews: Prophets foretold that the Lord would oneday gather Jews from all nations and return them to the land of Israel. In the late nineteenth century many Jews all over the world beganto return to Israel. It took hard work and much conflict to get to the point to become a state on May14, 1948 after thousands of years that there was no state of Israel. In 1967they won back Jerusalem.
(Ezekiel34:11—13, Isaiah 11:11, Jeremiah 23:3—8, Ezekiel 11:17, Eziekiel 28:25—26,Ezekiel 39:25—29, Amos 9:14—15, Zephaniah 3:20)
Many Jews startedto become believers at the same time the Lord was putting it in their 9 heartsto return to Israel. They are part of a“Messianic Believers” movement.
Although thereare many believers who assume that the church replaced Israel, we believe thatGod is right now fulfilling the prophetic words concerning Israel and will also fulfill His Word that says aboutthe Jews in Romans 11: 11 “I saythen, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But throughtheir fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to theGentiles. 12 Now iftheir fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for theGentiles, how much more their fullness! 13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am anapostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy thosewho are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if theirbeing cast away is thereconciling of the world, what willtheir acceptance be but lifefrom the dead?”
Furthermore, the Lord says also in Romans 11 that we aregrafted into the olive tree, Israel, and should not boast against theroots. We are learning to see our“Jewish roots” and all the ways in which the Gentile church has tried to“distance “ herself from those roots.
Therefore, we make it a point to pray for Israel and besupportive (both in prayer and giving) of our Messianic brothers and sisters.
Paul mentions in Romans 11:14 the concept of “provoking” theJew to “jealously”. We Gentiles should be witnessing to the Jews about the joyof walking in the New Covenant prophesied through the Old Covenant Jewishprophets. It was a prophesy to Israel – God in His mercy grafted us believing Gentiles into beinga part of this New Covenant. It remainsHis heart to have both Jew and Gentile in His kingdom!
(Ephesians 2 : 10—16)
Comments (1)
Finally, I’ve found someone on Xanga who likes the Five fold Ministry LOL