Help support our friends in Israel in their time of need.
Israel, Jordan Study Tour with Living Oaks Church
October 1-13, 2018
Subscription options are no longer available for this tour.
A Full Day Walking Where He Walked
Today was a great day of learning, prayer and thought provoking sermons. Started out with my wife and me taking an early morning swim in the Sea of Galilee before breakfast. At our morning devotional, Pastor Doug spoke from Matthew 5 and James with a message of “What does your faith do to change you?”
Afterwards we headed off to Chorizin in the hills above northwest Galilee. We read from scripture about temple culture and family tradition regarding the temple. Key learning point was that Jesus did proclaim He was God in a Jewish way. From there we left for the Mount of the Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Pastor Doug spoke of the Beatitudes followed by singing and praising.
Mount of Beatitudes
The so-called “Sermon on the Mount” is recorded in Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6. The alleged discrepancy between Matthew’s version being on a hill and Luke’s being on a level place is easily reconciled with observation of many level places on the Galilean hillsides. Scripture gives no indication of the exact location of this event, but the Byzantines built a church to commemorate it at the bottom of the hill. Some of Napoleon’s men placed it on the nearby Arbel mountain.
Next we drove through the town of Tiberius on our way to Mount Arbel. This was a breath taking view of The Sea of Galilee and the valley below. All of us had some alone time with the Lord. Lunch time..today’s feast falafels! Then off to Tabgha where Paster Doug spoke from John 21 Rededicating ourselves back to Jesus and that He is seeking us out.
Mount Arbel
Mount Arbel (Hebrew: הר ארבל, Har Arbel) is a mountain in The Lower Galilee near Tiberias in Israel, with high cliffs, views of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, trails to a cave-fortress, and ruins of an ancient synagogue. Mt. Arbel sits across from Mount Nitai; their cliffs were created as a result of the Jordan Rift Valley and the geological faults that produced the valleys.
Our last stop was Capernaum where Jesus’ ministry and the majority of His miracles were performed. The message was “Are you a follower of Jesus or just a fan?” From here we traveled back to the hotel for a special time of four baptisms in the Sea of Galilee-awesome time to say the least. Mazel Tov Kristi, Mike, Joan and Candice.
Tomorrow off to Jordon.
Written by Tom and Kathy Somers
Capernaum
Jesus made Capernaum his home during the years of his ministry: “Leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum” (Matt 4:13).
Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen living in the village. Matthew the tax collector also dwelt here.
Capernaum is one of the three cities cursed by Jesus for its lack of faith.
Upcoming Signature Tours
With 30 years of experience creating trips for other ministries, we've prepared our own signature study tours featuring some of our favorite itineraries and compelling teachers! If you've never been on a GTI Study Tour, take a moment to learn more about what you can expect.