Opportunities waiting to be seized

Today we left the Galilee and spent the day in and around Jerusalem. Our first stop was at the temple mount where Marty taught about Pentecost and the birth of the church. We visited the ruins of a 13,000-square-foot house that could have been the house of Caiaphas where the “informal Sanhedrin” met to sentence Jesus. To think we may have been standing where Jesus and Peter stood when the cock crowed was humbling.

One of the most impressionable experiences today was with a person, not a place. We visited Moshi and his brother, orthodox Jews who came from Canada to live in Jerusalem. They operate a small Jewish Bible bookstore of sorts, and Moshi teaches in one of the orthodox schools. As all 33 of us crowded into their little storefront, they had plastic stools prepared for us to sit on to listen to his presentation. What impressed me was his gentle spirit. Though a man of strong convictions, he spoke as friends do. He quoted not only the Old but the New Testament as well, showing that knowledge of the Text was a high priority in his life. He talked about how the Christian and Jew “miss each other” in our discussions, some of the threads we share, and what some of our differences are. I’ll leave you with a few of Moshi’s statements that resonate with the love of God and good news of the Kingdom:

• God sees more in you than you see in yourself.
• We are His language to other people.
• The Great Commission is not about passing out tracts, but about being a tract.
• People do not want to hear your witness; they want to see your service.
• God’s promises are opportunities waiting to be seized.

Written by Kerry