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Word of Messiah Ministries Our Mission |
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Word of Messiah Ministries (WMM)
exists to bring the Good News of Yeshua to the Jew first and also the
Gentile. To accomplish this, WMM primarily works with and through
Messianic congregations. We believe that the most effective long-term
testimony of the Good News is a healthy, local congregation. In addition,
WMM brings to the greater Body of Messiah teaching and exhortation on the
calling for all believers to make Israel jealous for their Messiah (Romans
11:11). Through sound
biblical teaching, WMM trains both Jewish and Gentile believers for personal growth, outreach,
leadership, and congregation planting around the world. Our goal is to see
Messianic communities of maturing believers testify both to the Jewishness of
the faith, and the faithfulness of God to His people. |
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Our History After coming to faith, Sam was soon with Jews for Jesus, sharing on the streets of San Francisco. He met his wife Miriam, went through Bible college, and helped start a "Jewish Gospel" group called the Liberated Wailing Wall. In 1975 through establishing the Jews for Jesus New York City branch, Sam began to see that evangelism is not enough -- bringing Jews and Gentiles |
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| to the Lord is only the beginning. Rather than finishing a task, the fruits of evangelism create both an opportunity and responsibility for lifelong discipleship. Jewish believers need to be grounded in the faith as Jewish believers. | ||||||||||||
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Later as US Northeast Regional Director and then President
of Chosen People
Ministries, Sam began to implement what he saw as a biblical model of
missions, centered around international
outreach through congregation planting.
Immediately after the fall of Soviet Union, he was privileged to witness revival among Jews in Russia and the Ukraine, where he planted indigenous congregations; as well as initiating similar works in Israel, Germany, South America, Canada and the United States. |
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Through all these experiences, Sam recognized the need for Messianic leaders to be raised up within congregations. This vision led to the establishment of Word of Messiah Ministries in 1996. Our Vision
Our Finances |
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1. We believe
there is one God, eternally existent in three persons - Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. We believe that God
is all knowing, all-powerful, ever present, and changeless and that He is holy,
righteous, faithful, merciful and loving (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10,11;
48:16, Psalm 2; Proverbs 30:4; Isaiah 9:6,7). We believe that the Father is all the fullness of the Godhead invisible. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all that come to Him through faith in Messiah Yeshua* (Exodus 4:22; Matthew 3:17; John 1:12,3:16; 8:24, 58; Gal. 3:26). We believe that Messiah Yeshua (*Jesus) is the eternal and only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of a Jewish virgin, Miriam. He was sinless in His life and He made atonement for the sins of the world by the shedding of His blood unto death. We believe in His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension, His high priestly work in Heaven for us, and His visible premillenial return to the world according to His promise. (Leviticus 17:11; Psalm 22:16; 110:4; Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 12:10; Mark 10:45; Romans 3:24-26, 5:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 21; 1 Peter 3:18; Isaiah 7:14,9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1, 8:58; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:2-3; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Hebrews 7:1-25,8:1; 1 John 2:1). We believe the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) is a person of the Godhead; and as such, He possesses all the distinct attributes of Deity. He is ever present to glorify and testify of Messiah Yeshua. We believe that according to the New Covenant (Brit Chadasha), the Holy Spirit regenerates, permanently indwells, and seals the believer. He empowers, sovereignty imparting at least one spiritual gift to every believer for the purpose of edifying and equipping the Body of Messiah, guides, teaches, sanctifies, and fills believers, convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. We believe the immersion of the Holy Spirit is both initiatory and universal. Believers should therefore seek to identify, utilize and develop their God given gifts for service in the Lord (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 139:7-8; Neh. 9:20; 1 John 9:20, 14:16,17, 15:26,27, 16:7-15; 1 Cor. 2:10,11, 12:4-31; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 1:13,14, 4:30).
2. We believe that the Bible is God's completed Word; that it was inerrantly
written by divinely inspired men; that it is the supreme, infallible authority
in all matters of faith and conduct; and that it is true in all that it affirms
(Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 40:7-8; Jeremiah 31:31; Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2
Peter 1:21).
3.
We believe that humanity was created in the image of God. We believe that
because of the original sin, all men are by nature and choice sinful and
alienated from God. Man has no possible means of reconciling himself to God and
that, by persisting in the sinful state of unbelief, man is justly condemned by
God to eternal punishment. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:17,3:6; Isaiah 53:6, 64:6;
Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:20-23; John 2:24-25; Romans 5:12-15; Ephesians 2:1-3).
4. We
believe that man is reconciled to God, being justified by grace through faith in
the atoning work of Messiah Yeshua.
Being reconciled, man has peace with God and direct access to Him through
Messiah Yeshua and has the hope of eternal glory in Heaven with God. Further,
there is no way of salvation apart from faith in Messiah Yeshua for any person,
Jewish or Gentile (Genesis 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4; John 1:12-13, 14:6; Acts 4:12;
Romans 3:28; Ephesians 1:7, 1 Timothy 2:5; Titus 3:5). We believe that all who have trusted in Yeshua, though forgiven, still have to contend with the power of sin in this life. Each believer has the ability to choose sin or righteousness. God has made full provision for believers to live in obedience to Him through the complete atonement of Messiah Yeshua and the indwelling of the Spirit of God (John 17:17-19; Romans 6:1-11, 7:15-25, 8:11-13; 1 John 1:8-2:2).
5. We believe the Congregation is a living, spiritual
body of which Messiah is the head and all true believers are members. The
body of Messiah began at Shavuot (Pentecost) when believers were filled with the
Holy Spirit after the ascension of Messiah Yeshua. It will be completed when the
Messiah returns for His bride. The body of Messiah is distinct from Israel and
is composed of both Jewish and non-Jewish (Gentile) believers made into one new
man by faith in Messiah Yeshua (Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:5,2:14-38; 1 Corinthians
12:13; Ephesians 2:11-15, 5:23-27; Colossians 1:18-20, 3:14-15). We believe that the local congregation is an
organized body of believers in Messiah Jesus who have been through Mikvah (baptism)
by immersion upon confession of faith and who associate for worship, fellowship,
teaching, and service. We
believe the local congregation is governed by its members through the Zakanim
(Elders) and is not ruled by any outside political authority. Its purpose is to
glorify God through worship, instruction, accountability, discipline, fellowship
and outreach (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:42-47; Ephesians 4:11-13; Hebrews
10:19-25). We believe Messiah commands Zicharon (The
Lord’s Supper) and believer’s Mikvah (baptism) by immersion for observance
by the Congregation (Mt 28: 18-20; Luke 22: 19-20; 1 Cor. 11: 23-26).
6. We believe that Satan is the chief enemy of God and our souls, and that
while he continues to rule this present world, Messiah’s atoning death and
resurrection have defeated him. Satan will suffer eternal
punishment by being cast into the lake of fire after the Messiah's one thousand
year Messianic reign (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 2:15;
Revelation 20:10). Satan is the father of lies and
anti-Semitism and hostility toward Israel.
Believers can and should resist him and his demons by faith, applying
Scriptural truth. We believe that believers cannot be demon possessed,
but they can be demon oppressed (Genesis 3:1-19; Luke 10:18; John 8:44; Eph. 6:10-19; James 4:7-8; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Revelation 12:13).
7. We
believe the people of Israel, comprised of the physical descendants of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, are chosen by God.
The Abrahamic Covenant expressed God's choice of Israel and His
irrevocable, unconditional covenant to the Jewish people.
Jewish believers have a unique two-fold identity as both the spiritual
remnant of physical Israel, and as members of the body of Messiah.
Non-Jewish believers become adopted sons and daughters of Abraham and
partakers of the spiritual blessings of Israel and are therefore grafted into
the Jewish olive tree for service. We
believe that it is the believer's duty and privilege to communicate the Good
News of Messiah Yeshua to the Jewish people first, and also to the Gentiles,
according to the Scriptures, in a clear yet sensitive way.
It is also the believer's duty to support the God given rights of Israel
to the land while opposing anti-Semitism according the provisions of the
Abrahamic Covenant. We believe God
has a special purpose and role for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.
We believe in the full physical and spiritual restoration of Israel at
the Second Coming of the Messiah as proclaimed in the Scriptures (Genesis
12:1-3,17:7-8,26:3-4,28:13-15; Exodus 19:6; Amos 3:2; 9:8;
Zech. 12:10; 14:2-4; Mt. 23:39;
John 4:22; Acts 3:19-21; 13:46; Romans 1:16; 9:3-5; 10:1-5; 11:2-5, 23-26,
28-29; Ephesians 2:14-19). Believers are not under the authority of the Law of Moses, and therefore
are not obligated to practice the Law of Moses. However, both Jewish and non-Jewish believers have the freedom in Messiah to enjoy those aspects of the Law of Moses (e.g., festivals, Shabbat),
which are non-salvific in light of New Covenant revelation.
These aspects of the Law are not, nor ever were, a means of justification
or sanctification, which are by grace through faith alone.
For non-Jewish believers,
observances such as the festivals and Shabbat are a means of identifying with
the Jewish community and expressing the Jewish roots of Biblical faith (Acts 21:24-25; Romans 6:14-15; 8:2-9; 10:4-9; 14:1-6; 1 Corinthians 9:20-21; 2
Corinthians 3:1-11; Galatians 3:3,11; Col. 2: 16-17). *Yeshua is Jesus' name in Hebrew. |
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| For more on how Sam came to faith click here. | ||||||||||||
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