The Messiah taught that
to be great in the kingdom of heaven, we should keep and teach the
commandments of the Torah (Matthew 5:17-20). The beloved disciple, John,
stated that the one who says he abides in [Yeshua] ought himself to walk in
the same manner as he walked (1 John 2:6). To be like Yeshua, we need to
obey God's commandments.
This page is currently under construction and currently highlights several
commandments of the Torah, mostly those specifically given to the Jewish
people. Messianic Niagara understands that when it comes to salvation, there
is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. However, that doesn't mean that
there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles altogether. In the coming
weeks, you will see this page make a distinction between those commandments
that Gentiles must keep and those commandments that Gentiles can keep but
are not held liable for not keeping.
Sabbath
The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week.
On the Sabbath, we celebrate the fact that
God is the Creator and we devote ourselves
wholly to God, to our families and our
community.
Click
here for more! Upcoming
Holidays
We
are looking forward to Purim on March 8th!
Daily
Prayer
The Messiah and his disciples were people of
prayer. As they no doubt did themselves, you
also can affirm the unity of God by reciting the
Shema every morning and evening! The Shema
consists of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21 and
Numbers 15:37-41.
Additionally, the people of Israel have
historically patterned prayer after sacrificial
worship system. To parallel the daily burnt
offerings, there is a prayer called the Amidah
and it is recited in the morning, afternoon and
evening. You can find the Amidah in any Jewish
prayer book. A Jewish prayer book is called a
Siddur.
Of course, as followers of Yeshua, we should be
praying the prayer he taught his disciples (as
found in Matthew 6:9-13):
Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be
sanctified. Your kingdom come, Your will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not
lead us into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever. Amen.]
Grace
after Meals
In addition to blessing
God before eating, the Torah commands that we bless God for the food He
nourishes us with and for the land of Israel He has given to Israel. As Gentile
believers, at a minimum, after consuming a meal containing bread, we
should pray the following:
"Blessed are You, O LORD, King of the universe, Who nourishes the
entire world, with goodness, grace, devotion and compassion. He gives
bread to all flesh, for His devotion is eternal. Because of His great
goodness, we have never lacked and we shall never lack nourishment forever
and ever, for the sake of His great name. For God provides for and
nourishes all. Who does good to all and prepares nourishment for all of
His creatures which he has made. Blessed are You, O LORD, Who nourishes
all." (Birkat Hazan from the We Thank You bencher by FFOZ, pg. 10)
Though we are not
affiliated with First Fruits of Zion, we do encourage you to purchase their
Grace After Meals resource called "We Thank You," as it will enable you to
begin to pray the traditional Grace After Meals prayer with a Messianic
flavour.
Click here for more information!
Keeping
Kosher
The
following kosher symbols can be found on many
products in any grocery store:
We
are happy to report that the Sobeys at 344 Glendale Ave, St. Catharines,
ON, L2T 0A1 now carries Chai brand kosher chicken, Montreal Kosher challah
and desserts, a few meat products in the frozen foods section
and a modest kosher section!
The following kosher restaurants are open
during certain times of the year in Niagara, supervised by
Chabad Niagara:
The following are locations that are close to
but are ultimately outside of the Niagara area
which have a large kosher section. Please
let us know if there
are
other kosher sources in the area.
