Philosophy of Ministry
Who we are: We are sinners saved by God’s mercy and grace through the finished work of Jesus Christ our Messiah! Born to a Jewish father and saved early in life Scott has been able to use his Jewish lineage for he and his family to make Aliyah (right of return) and become citizens of Israel in March of 2016 with the specific purpose of bringing the gospel to our Jewish brethren (Romans 10:1) and Gentiles in Israel. We certainly saw God’s hand in paving a smooth way in the normally tedious process of Aliyah as an encouragement and confirmation.
What we do: As sinners saved by grace, we are called and indebted to bring the gospel to the world – to the Jew first and also the Greek (Rom 1:16). We recognize that historically most of our Jewish brethren have been scandalized by what has falsely been termed "Christianity" for two millennia. We hope to make clear the crucial difference between true evangelical believers in Jesus Christ and the members of the hierarchical church-state organizations that dominated “Christendom” for more than a millennium. Those leaders directed the persecution and forced “conversions” of Jews for the sake of their institution and the secular state, in direct contradiction to the clear teachings of Christ and His gospel of grace. As a result of this harsh history, most Jewish people understand the term “Christian” only to mean Catholic or Orthodox churches and members. We want to dispel that fatal misunderstanding and show them that true Christians seek only to proclaim our Messiah through a loving, clear presentation of the gospel of grace, peacefully and never by force. We use the Bible, which are the Jewish scriptures, comprised of the Old & New Testaments to proclaim to the Jewish people this gospel message: Their long-awaited for Messiah has come, has died for sins, was buried, and rose again as foretold and promised. Furthermore, He is coming again at the end of the age and they, like all men, need to repent and trust only in Yeshua Ha’Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) as their Savior and Lord. In sum, God’s salvation is not a matter of works or merits, but only comes from repentance of our sins and believing in faith that Jesus is the Son of God, Who paid fully the wrath of God on the sins of His people, whether they be Jew or Gentile.
Why: We are commanded to be obedient out of a motive of love for our neighbor and most importantly a love for our Savior. We recognize we are to bring the gospel to the whole world and disciple new believers starting with the Jew first and to all nations, kindred, people, and tongues.
How: Our philosophy of ministry is to proclaim the gospel of grace through a loving but direct approach. We believe if we are to fulfill the great commandments -- loving God and loving our neighbor -- we will attempt to bring the good news of the gospel to all with whom we come in contact. We recognize we must deliver the bad news before we give the good news (gospel). The bad news is that all are born into sin, have offended a holy God, and justly deserve only His wrath on our sin. The good news is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again to save sinners from the coming judgement of God. What good news! Christ’s death satisfies God’s wrath and gains God’s mercy on believers, all for His glory alone!
We will never deceive people through any worldly gimmick that distorts the pure gospel as taught clearly in Scripture. We recognize it is not our role to ‘convert’ anybody but to “make disciples.” We do that by being faithful to sow the seed of the Word of God and leave the increase to God and His convicting Spirit alone. We give out Bibles and other appropriate literature – in Hebrew or other languages when appropriate -- to those receptive to receiving the information. We do not force anyone to receive our message who is not interested. In addition to gospel outreach, we strongly believe in building personal relationships with those in our communities in Israel. We believe in showing Christ to people through our good works and the love which accompanies the preached Word of God. We seek to increase our reach throughout the community by developing opportunities to help those in need and thereby showing our neighbors the selfless love of God in action. We believe we must be ready and willing to do all we can, without compromising the gospel or the name of our Lord, to bring the message of saving grace to all men as the Scripture exhorts us in 1 Cor. 9:20-22, summarized in verse 22: “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”
Our desire is to build local congregations of both Jews and Gentiles worshiping together. We believe it is imperative to the health of the congregation that many nations, kindred, people, and tongues – which we find today in Israel -- be they Jew or Gentile, worship together in harmony under the authority of Christ, the leadership of qualified male servant-leadership, through the application of all the Scriptures, the rule for all matters of faith, doctrine, and practice.
Where: Our specific focus will be the nation of Israel as long as God provides a way for us to be there. We recognize we are to be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.