“To the Jew first…” (Romans 1:16), took on a new meaning for us this fall in Lynchburg. The heart and focus of everything we do is ultimately to reach Jewish people with the good news that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and desires a personal relationship with them. It is with that end goal in mind that we hosted the Jewish fall holidays in September, and built a massive sukkah (tabernacle) in our front yard. Because we live in an area with such a small Jewish population, our sukkah was one of only a couple throughout the city, and it stood out more than a little bit. We knew it would prompt questions from our neighbors, and we were not disappointed.
Through the numerous questions, we were able to engage in several spiritual discussions. One such conversation was with Nick, the guy who delivers my (Carissa) specially compounded medications several times a month. We had been praying for opportunities to build a relationship with him, so we were excited when he wanted to know about our sukkah, and we were able to very naturally explain our faith in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. We invited Nick to our Sukkot celebration, and he not only came, but stayed until midnight after everyone else had left to ask BJ question after question about God and His Word. The Holy Spirit is doing a major transformative work in Nick’s life, and he is very close to God. BJ and Nick have begun meeting once a week to do a Bible study together, and Nick is now coming with us to church. Please pray that he will soon make the decision to place his faith in Jesus, and not settle for living a good, moral life without true relationship with God. *Edit since this letter was sent out for snail mail distribution.* Nick has now placed his faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross for salvation, and continues to grow his faith through Bible studies with BJ, regular church attendance and personal Bible study. We are so excited to welcome this new brother to the family of Messiah, and see God continue to transform his life!
It is incredible to see how God’s design for the Gospel to go “to the Jew first” is worked out in such a dynamic way. What a cool testimony it is to worship God in the way He designed through the beautiful object lessons about Himself that are found in the biblical feasts. And how wonderful it is to see Him at work as we seek to tell of His glory “to the Jew first,” and to the rest of the neighborhood!
B’shalom Yeshua,
BJ and Carissa Kerstetter