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What is Messianic Niagara? |
Messianic Niagara is a grass-roots organization based out of
the Niagara Region in Ontario, Canada. Our primary objective is to teach
Christians the Biblical reality that Gentile believers are a part of
Israel by faith in the Messiah (Ephesians 2:11-13) and are obligated to live
a lifestyle consistent with the commandments found in the Bible (1
Corinthians 7:19). That being said, we proudly proclaim to both Jews and
Gentiles that Yeshua of Nazareth is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew
Scriptures.
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Are you a Messianic
congregation? |
Currently, an official Messianic congregation does not
exist in the Niagara Region. Messianic Niagara does host a Shabbat table
fellowship on Friday night. With God's help, we will begin to facilitate
further opportunities for learning and fellowship. Please continue to
visit the home page of this website for upcoming events.
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What is Messianic Judaism? |
Messianic Judaism is a religious movement made up of both
Jews and Gentiles who believe that Yeshua of Nazareth is the promised
Messiah and Saviour of Israel and wish to express that faith by living out
the norms of the Torah and Jewish tradition. To traditional Judaism,
belief in Yeshua as the Messiah is untenable. Likewise, to traditional
Christianity, keeping the particulars of the Torah is frowned upon. For
Messianics, we cannot envision giving up the Messiah Yeshua or the Torah.
Messianic Niagara realizes that most within the Messianic Jewish movement come
from a Gentile Christian background and therefore, to the traditional
Jewish community, Messianic Judaism may seem deceptive. While we cannot
speak for everyone within the Messianic movement, as far as Messianic
Niagara is concerned, we endeavour to uphold the Torah and Jewish
tradition, all in the name of our Master, Yeshua of Nazareth whom we
believe is the promised Mashiach. With God's help, Messianic Judaism very well could be the
vehicle in which there can finally be true reconciliation between Jews and
Christians.
If you are interested in
learning more about the foundational truths of Messianic Judaism,
please let us know.
Also, if you are interested in taking a 10 week course exploring the
Jewish foundations of our faith called
HaYesod,
please let
us know.
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Questions from a Christian
Perspective
The following are questions that the average
Christian
might ask after viewing this website.
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Why do you try to obey the Law of Moses? |
The simple answer is because God told us to. Followers of
Jesus should uphold the Law (Romans 3:31). The notion that
Christians shouldn't keep the commandments of the Torah is not actually
found anywhere in the Bible. According to the Bible, any prophet or king
of Israel who teaches that it's permissible to break the commandments of
the Torah should be labeled a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and
17:18-20). Therefore if we truly believe that Jesus or Paul put an end
to any part of the Torah, then that would mean they were false prophets.
Messianic Niagara upholds the truth that Jesus and all of the Apostles did
not teach against keeping the Torah but obeyed it themselves (John
15:10, Acts 21:24) and expected us to as well.
The Prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures spoke of a time when the Messiah
would come and, as a result, the Torah would go forth to the ends of the
earth (Isaiah 2:3, 42:4). Jesus Himself taught the Torah would
never be done away with and that His followers should keep even the
smallest commandments of the Torah in order to be great in the Kingdom of
Heaven (Matthew 5:16-20). Additionally, all of the Apostles upheld
the Torah, exhorting followers of Jesus to keep the Torah in imitation of
Him (Romans 8:7-9, 1 John 5:2-3, James 1:25). |
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Do you believe that you are saved by works? |
| The Bible is clear that no one is saved by keeping any
kind of law, whether man-made laws or the laws of God. The Bible also
makes it clear that we have all broken God's Law and therefore we are
separated from Him. God is infinitely holy, so no amount of law-keeping
will merit salvation. Whether they lived before the coming of Jesus or
after the coming of Jesus, no one is saved by keeping the
Law. It's only through faith in the death and resurrection of God's
infinitely holy Messiah that a person can be saved. Once coming to faith
in the Messiah, though, the Believer is obligated to keep the commandments
of God's Torah. The keeping of the commandments does not get you saved nor
does it keep you saved, it is simply doing what is right (the commandments
define what is right and wrong [Romans 7:7]).
 Click
here to view a video devoted to this question. |
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Why do you refer to Jesus as Yeshua? |
| In Matthew 1:21, it says: "She will bear a son;
and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their
sins." The Hebrew name Yeshua means "salvation," therefore when the
angel instructed Joseph to name the Messiah "'Yeshua' [salvation], for
He will save His people from their sins," he was making a play on
words. Jesus would have been known to His family, friends and disciples as
Yeshua. How did we get the name Jesus? The Gospels were written in Greek
and therefore the Messiah's name was transliterated into Greek.
Eventually, the Greek transliteration was transliterated into Latin and
finally, transliterated into English as Jesus. There is absolutely nothing
wrong with calling the Messiah by the name Jesus but Messianic Niagara
seeks to emphasize the Jewish and Hebraic nature of the Gospels and will
generally refer to the Messiah as Yeshua. |
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