So what?

Indeed. So what? Has any of this been relevant to you? Perhaps you have already been doing Hebraic Church, which is fantastic, it just means that God has been speaking to both of us. The “doing” bit may not be new to you, but I suggest that much of the theory that underpins it is new. Some may have issues with the very name Hebraic Church. To have issues with the name could be an indicator that you have issues with the people implied by the name, which may mean that God has issues with you.

We started with two concepts that perhaps are at the heart of thinking differently. The first, remember, don’t analyse urges us to seek God, because divine encounters are the best testimonies and better faith builders than any number of clever arguments. The second, function is to be preferred over form, sounds like a mouthful but is brimming over with practical truth. It simply tells us that God created everything for a purpose, a function, especially you and me. Our job, and the job of the Church, is to discover what this function is.

So Hebraic Church needs to provide an environment where God can speak to us and where we can discover our true purpose, through the giftings He has given us. But there’s more than that and I suggested five other areas that need emphasis. We need to have a real faith in God, so that we can truly trust Him in everything. We need to acknowledge the Jewish Jesus and also embrace the Hebraic roots of our faith. We need to accept the Bible as God’s mouthpiece, as His principle means of communication with us. We need to re-evaluate the Church’s shameful treatment of the Jewish people and to become agents of change. Finally, we need to embrace life and have real expectations that God wants to work through us. All of these facets of our journey with God must be filtered through a necessity of balance, if we want to see a true emergence of One New Man in the Church today.

The way that we worship God is key to Hebraic Church. We need to take what is good from our established Church practices but re-imagine them through a Hebraic rather than the historical Greek mindset. We need to find ways where we can individually worship our God using the gifts and talents He has given us, but in a corporate context, as part of the community of believers. This can be done, it may take time and it is hoped that the ideas given in the previous Chapter may spur churches on to fulfil the destiny of everyone in the congregations.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning the well-worn Gamaliel principle.

“ … if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God. (Acts 5:38-39)

Is it arrogance to make this assertion? How many have already fallen by the wayside after making such a bold declaration? If there is one impulse that has driven me in the writing of this book is the need for God to be returned to the centre of His Church. It’s not a desire for a new denomination or a para-church ministry, it’s a plea for a new reformation for the Church as a whole. I don’t believe I am alone in this. And if this is from God …

I will leave you with that thought.

This is an extract from the book, Hebraic Church, available for £10 at https://www.sppublishing.com/hebraic-church-101-p.asp

Hebraic Church … in a nutshell