What is Different about Messianic Fellowships?[1]

In an age of communication overload, why do we need “another church”? For starters, it needs to be noted that we are not a traditional church. We are Jewish and Gentile believers in the Messiah who come together to pray, worship, and study God’s word.

We believe that we, as Messianic believers, have a number of things to offer that the traditional church and traditional Judaism do not:

• We offer a personal relationship with God. Through Spiritual transformation, we become children of God and can communicate with God as Abba, Father. We understand that many people have had rather bad experiences with their earthly fathers, but we offer everyone a chance for healing through relationship with God as our heavenly Father.
  

• We offer a teacher-pupil discipleship relationship with the Master, Yeshua (Jesus). Many people pay money in order to have a “spiritual life-coach,” but we offer each believer the opportunity to learn directly from the Master through His word. The Spirit of the resurrected Son of God lives in each of His believers, transforming us step-by-step into His image.

• We offer a heritage in the people of God. As Gentile believers, we have been given a place alongside the people of Israel. Judaism is an ancient religion, and through obedient faith in Yeshua, Gentiles are joined in with the people of Israel as the people of God. This is not charismatic evangelicalism with a “Jewish twist,” but our roots go back to the original Jewish-Christian congregation. We are the oldest expression of Christianity in the world. Through Judaism, we have continuity with the Jewish people, all the way back to Avraham.
  

• We offer hope. In a chaotic world filled with uncertainties and hopelessness, we offer hope in a better life at the present and a better life in the world to come. The life of the believer is a life of hope—hope in the present, as well as hope in a bodily resurrection in the world to come.
  

• We offer the keys for more fully understanding the Bible. The Bible is still the best-selling book of all time. By better understanding Judaism, we are able to better interpret the Scriptures.

• We offer the world the opportunity to participate in observance of the 613 commandments, the mitzvot, God originally gave to Israel. In a world of chaos and disorder, we are able to offer order and structure. Within the commandments, we find God’s direction to ethical and moral questions in our lives.
  

• We offer purpose to everybody’s life. The answer to the question of the meaning of life is one of the oldest quests of mankind. We offer humanity the ultimate purpose in life, namely, to advance the Kingdom of Heaven.

Hence, we as Messianic believers have a lot to offer the world and the traditional church. In spite of the overload of information about religious beliefs in our age, we believe that our message is relevant to today. Not only is it relevant, but the Good News we have to offer the world is a better product than what the church has offered the world throughout its history. We as Messianic believers are taking our religious beliefs back to the beginning, back to the time of Yeshua and the Apostles.