Messages
Every service features a special message on selected topics. Sometimes these messages focus on an upcoming holy day, a special insight into the Scriptures, or a pressing topic regarding current events.
Each week, and on the holy days, the messages are posted here online. Enjoy!
Lessons From The Stones
122714sp by Rabbi Paul Falk
Chanukah
122014sd Chanukah
It is an interesting festival because it is not required anywhere in the Tanakh you don’t find it there at all. In fact interestingly the only way we know about Chanukah today especially in the Christian community is Yeshua celebrated it. It is only found in John that Yeshua was at the temple for the Feast of Dedication. And that’s what Chanukah means dedication. It is a joyous eight (8) day feast. It commemorates the victory of the few over the many. It demonstrates that God is in control of everything. The biggest mystery about Chanukah is how do you spell it? There are three (3) ways of spelling it. It is interesting because English and Hebrew don’t share all of the same sounds we use transliteration. We use transliteration: spelling of one word in a language with the alphabet of another language. The Sephardic people say it one way and the Ashkenazic say it the other way. We have three ways of spelling it. The reason that it is spelled with an H sometimes is that people can’t do the “CH” sound. The end letter (H) sounds like an H, except when it is at the end of the word, then it is silent. What is Chanukah? It became really big in our century here because Chanukah became the competition for Christmas.
What is Chanukah? And Chanukah is a confusing festival because it really wasn’t a big player in Jewish history. It became really big in our century because Chanukah became a competition for Christmas. The Gentiles have Christmas they give a present away, the Jews have Chanukah they give eight presents away. All you need is a menorah or a Chanukkiah . One little light draws more attention than a whole bunch of lights. You don’t need to try and compete with your neighbors. You supposed to be a different kind of person your supposed to be that light.
To understand Chanukah you have to go back 2200 years ago when Alexander the Great had the Hellenistic Kingdom and he ruled over the middle east and the Hellenistic or Greek culture seem ed to take over. Alexander was really smart, when he conquered somebody he let them keep all their customs and traditions. He just infused it with the Greek culture. So it was easy for the Jewish people to accept it and many of them did accept it. Greece replaced the Persians, and everything changed for the Jewish people at that time. They were given a lot of liberties, but they also were forced to change into a Hellenistic mind set. Many Jews would take on different names. (continued on audio)
The Children of Abraham the Sons of Elohim part 2
112214 sp by Rabbi Paul Falk. There is way to much to try and pack into this idea of circumcision and the connection to the covenant. Last time we really connected it in regard to the Gentiles and the movement of the Gentiles and that James makes this point, well “Did not Yahweh call the Gentiles first is that not what He did when he called Abram?” and we talked about the idea of opening the heart, and that’s really and idea of an act of repentance, it says rend the heart, not your garments, and that the circumcision of the heart was most important. The same word circumcised refers to the fruit trees in Leviticus, when you put a plant the fruit trees. Yeshua makes of difference between a tree and a vine. (continued in audio).
The Children of Abraham Part 3
112914sp by Rabbi Paul Falk.
Abraham’s Children The Sons of Elohim
110814sp by Rabbi Paul Falk. I’ve said this I don’t know how many times, you open something in scripture, and it comes out in….It’s like striking the rock and the well coming out. A lot of times we sing Mayim, mayim, mayim. You can imagine if you are not singing in Hebrew, you’re going, water, water, water, water. Right?. And you can sit back and go, and I know, in sign language it’s like, [gestures] water, water, water, water, But the meaning is what’s significant. I want to you imagine that you live out in the wilderness and water is a major sign and miracle of life. And you’re sitting there and you walk in the middle of it and there’s a rock and someone strikes it , and you just keep going water, water, water, water. That’s the point of that song is that this well of water is coming up, and we just keep watching it going by going where int the world did all this water come from? The scriptures are the same. When we open them, sometimes they come out with such force, it backs you up a second, pushing with such force, you sit back and go “Oh my goodness”, and you know that it’s like I’ve been going through all, this is uh, No. 1, No. 2, No.3. Well, Today’s teaching stems off of last week, and I already have one for the next time, and maybe the time after, on all this content going back to covenant and circumcision. So, I have it titled: “Children of Abraham, the Sons of Elohim.” Now, I want to review from last week, because anyone who was not here doesn’t know what I’m talking about, but I want to review also for those who were here, So we talked about this last week, the idea of covenant, it goes to breath. It’s defined as a covenenant a pledge, an agreement, a treaty, an alliance, to be in league with one another. It comes from a base word or a root word meaning, barach, and it means to cut, to cut out, to cut off, to eat, to consume, to choose. (continued in audio)
Abraham’s Faith
110114sd by Rabbi Dennis Richards. How many of you have heard the expression time flies? Do you realize that two weeks ago we started Genesis chapter 1. Two thousand (2000) years later, we are now on Genesis Chapter 11. If we read those 2000 years in ten minutes we missed a lot. They are there for a reason and we can’t just read through it without going back and looking at what is God trying to say to us. Why is it so important that we first understand Genesis before we can understand the Messiah. And again, what we have to understand is that as you look through Genesis the first 11 Chapters, you are going to see that the requirement for salvation has always been the same. Faith… without Faith there is no salvation. The object of one’s Faith for salvation has always been that God will bring salvation. There is nothing that we really have to do except have the Faith to believe, that even while we are still sinners, that God will make plans for us, if we believe in His word.
No-Ach (Genesis 6:9-11:32)
102514sd by Rabbi Paul Falk. Cain allows sin in and focuses his all frustration on Able, instead of himself. Ultimately killing Able. And just in chapter 4 you start off with the death of a son, end of Chapter 4 verse 25, And Adam knew his wife again and she bore him a son and she named him Seth. For God had appointed another seed for me instead of Able which Cain killed and for Seth to him also was a son born and he named him Enoch and men began to call on the name of Yahweh. A new son given to replace the son that was killed. and because the son is born, men began to call upon Yahweh. Now, as we know scripture and we know life, we would love to say, and they lived happily ever after. Continue to let men call upon Yahweh. No, even if he has to break part of a judgment. I’m reading from Genesis chapter 3, verse 14, This is the punishment of a serpent, because you have done this you are cursed more than any cattle more than every beast of the field, on your belly you shall go and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put enmity (distrance frustration, aggravation) between you and the woman and between her seed and your seed. And you shall bruise his head and he shall bruise your heel. Where the sons come down, to the women of men, these are angelic beings, this is not Yahweh’s will in regard to what He wants for his Holiness. And they break the enmity between the seed of the woman, and Hasatan himself. Guess what? From a world that was all calling on the name of Yahweh, now, Yahweh goes, my spirit will not strive with men forever, so now, he has to bring the flood…. (continued on audio)
John 1:1
101814 SP By Rabbi Dennis Richards. I have a difficult time when somebody comes to me and says I’ve read through the whole bible this year. We can hardly get through the Torah portion [in a year]. Because the idea is to read with comprehension, not just to read so you can say you read. Because, The only way you are going to learn about God is through His word. Not what somebody else tells you about Him, but through His word. And as you sit there reading His scriptures in English or Spanish, if you are not study his word, You have to understand the if you are not studying the word, you are not going to grow. You are not going to move too far. You are going to be stuck in a place, and words keep us stuck, you are going to have to challenge the words when we come to difficult parts of scripture. We can’t just skip over them. That’s why we have so much controversy, when people start talking about the bible, and they are so dogmatic in certain ways, they look at it, they’ve heard the same story every year. If your belief system does not line up with the Word of God then your belief system has to change. (continued on audio)
8th Day Sukkot 2014
SukkotDay8sp by Rabbi Paul Falk. But what we’re going to get into today is of course, Sukkot. Now, my goal is to cover it as a big picture. We see the lessons like living together. there are little bumps about living together. Loving one another We’re not perfect. that’s a good lesson too. True compassion and love covers over a multitude of mistakes. So we’re going to focus on that it’s about our Journey Home. 2nd Corinthians Ch5, verses 1-3, in regard to our sukkas, “For we know if our earthly house this tent is destroyed, we have a building from Elohim, a house not made with hands eternal in heaven. And in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with out habitation which is from Heaven, If indeed having been clothed we shall not be found naked.”
