Dear <<First Name>>,
We trust September has been a good month for you and that you have had times of meeting with the Lord in special ways through Elul. Our Heavenly Father has made some appointments with us for blessing, revelation and encountering Him.
These appointments are the feasts mentioned in Scripture, Passover, Pentecost and Feast of Tabernacles. They are the Lord’s Feasts (Lev 23:2). The Hebrew word translated both “appointed feasts” and “appointed season” is “moed”. It means “appointed time” or “set time.” The plural of “moed” is “moedim”.
These Feasts or “appointed times” of the Lord not only serve as a reminder for what He has done in the past but provide a prophetic picture of what is yet to come. By understanding the original meaning of these times, we get a clearer vision of the future. Everything God does, He does by design.
The Word of God revolves around the Feasts. They were holy assemblies for holy rehearsals. The remembrance of these physical events causes us to understand the spiritual significance of what came and what is to come! The Feasts forecasted the Lord’s sacrifice for us. They also foretell the full redemption of His people and the alignment of all nations, which are His inheritance. When we participate in the waving of the First fruits at Passover time and then receiving the anointing to gather and increase at Pentecost (Feast of Weeks), our faith is displayed and our confidence arises for our provision to be released.
Today, there is a futility in legalistically participating in the Feasts. We cannot legalistically keep the Feasts, but we can honor the Father by remembering Him and receiving from Him at these appointed times (Gal. 3:10). No longer do we have to seek an ultimate Sacrifice, Jesus has already been given on the Cross. This broke Satan's headship over us personally, as well as for mankind corporately. However, we need to enter into the fullness of this plan. By participating and remembering the Feast times NOW, they cease to be shadows of things to come. They actually cause us to see our future path to our promise open up.
May you be blessed as you seek Him at this time, as you meet with Him and receive fresh strength for the season ahead.
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WORD FROM JERUSALEM
By Norma Sarvis, Trustee of Zion Ministries and a Leader at Succat Hallel, Jerusalem.
 I love this time of year in Jerusalem. The weather is cooling down after a long hot summer. We are preparing for the Fall Feasts which begin early October. Grocery stores are full of honey, to fulfil the tradition of eating apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah. The new calendars for the Jewish year are on the shelves of bookstores. People are cleaning their homes and getting ready for guests. Synagogues are reserving seats for their special services. (People have to pay money for a guaranteed seating at a synagogue although this is not true for a Messianic one.) School children are looking forward to days off from classes. University students are enjoying their last weeks of freedom until they begin a new semester after Succot.
The Fall Feasts are a time of joy and sobriety. Rosh Hashanah begins the Jewish year 5777. All religious holidays are based on this lunar calendar. Two days are set aside for this feast. It is a few days for family and meals together. Genesis 21 and 22 are read during this feast. We recount the stories of Abraham and Sarah and the birth of Isaac and Ishmael, and also the binding of Isaac on Mt. Moriah. After this feast, we enter the ten days of awe which is a serious time of what we call in Hebrew ‘heshbon nefesh’, an accounting of the soul. It is a ten day period during which we examine ourselves and our walk with the Lord. It is a time for repentance and forgiveness as we prepare for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The great thing about Messiah is that He has paid our ‘heshbon nefesh’! Yes we need to repent and take care of any unforgiveness, but we do not have to earn anything in these ten days. I always find it a time of worship and thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done in my life for the past year!
The greeting during these days is different from all other greetings during the Jewish calendar year. People greet one another with the phrase: ‘Gmar Chatimah Tova”. This basically means may your name be sealed in the book of life for the coming year. This is based on the belief that on Yom Kippur it is decided whether we are written in a ‘book of life’ for the following year. As a child this phrase filled me with fear. Would I live this year? Would I die this year? Meeting Yeshua changed all of that for me! I am already written in His book of life for eternity. I do not need to worry about this on a yearly basis.
This is a great time to pray for the salvation of Israel. That many will have the revelation of what real life is and what real repentance is. Also that they receive a revelation of the atonement of Yeshua for our sins.
The season for me really calls me to intercession. I see the lostness of my people striving so hard to be obedient and holy, but blind to the wonderful Messiah available for us all. Please join me in praying for the salvation of Israel during these Fall Feast days. We bless you from Jerusalem.
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ANNE'S TESTIMONY
Anne Newbold is a joint leader at the Cambridge House of Zion.
Some years ago I was introduced to the Hebraic roots of my Christian faith and since then I have experienced a depth, wisdom, revelation and understanding that never ceases to amaze me. I now view the year so differently, it is a cyclic experience with prophetic significance that gives structure and biblical expression to my faith. The Hebrew years, months and the Feasts of the Lord bring a depth of understanding and prophetic significance to the past and present events in my life. I am able to see how the Lord was working according to His calendar even though I didn’t know, recognise or understand it at the time, but He was in control, even in the valleys and mountain top experiences.
As the years have passed the desire to celebrate the Feasts of the Lord, Sabbath and give First Fruits each month, has brought purpose and significance to where I am today. The Hebrew understanding of time, place and action, the concept of “and/and” e.g. Yeshua is both the Lion and the Lamb, all transform how I interpret everyday life situations and how I pray and view scripture. This has also helped the process of being transformed in my mind from Greek thinking, to Hebraic thinking, which is of the heart.
Glory of Zion under the leadership of Chuck Pierce, whom Zion Ministries in New Zealand is aligned with, demonstrates a prophetic model of how the fivefold office gifting’s work as one, as they did in the early church. They are modelling how this new wine skin functions and we are blessed to see this being developed in New Zealand with Houses of Zion.
Recently I came to the revelation of the importance of apostolic leadership and how it works in leading us as a fellowship under the guidance of Holy Spirit. I saw the power of flowing as one and yet each of us having the opportunity to individually contribute as the body of Yeshua in a certain situation. To acknowledge that decisions are made by Holy Spirit’s leading, brings freedom and security when the ecclesia flow as one. It also releases a governmental authority in the spirit realm.
I view events that are happening around me and in the world with new lenses and can interpret them in light of what I have learnt. The richness of revelation that comes from the Hebrew language brings the Word alive, my sense of purpose in the times I live in has become more heightened and I continue to be expectant of the revealing of the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
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SILVER FERNS COACHING CLINIC
 On the 21st of September 2016 Breakfast Club organised a Silver Ferns coaching clinic for 80 of the children from our schools at St Kentigern College. Participating primary schools included Randwick Park, Glen Innes, Glen Taylor, Bayfield, Elim, St Kents, Riverhills, Ruapotaka and Taumarunui. Every single netballer enjoyed drills, grid training, lunch, photos and Q&A with Maria Tutaia, Catherine Tuivaiti, Grace Rasmussen and Leana de Bruin.
We conducted this Clinic in 2015 and this year we were again approached by the Silver Ferns management to repeat the clinic. This day couldn't have come together without our amazing sponsors: BLK New Zealand, New World Eastridge, Rotary Epson, Davis Funerals and Rotary Epsom.
In the image above we have the team from Taumarunui who got up at 3.15am in the morning to travel to Auckland for the event. The opportunity for these girls to spend time with the Silver Ferns was priceless!
An article about the day was published in the Courier and can be found here.
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We have always believed that the more we give, the more we get. During the month we took a van load of food to Whakatane for the Women’s Refuge and Bethel Men’s Home. Last weekend we went to the Breakthrough Wellness Centre in Taumarunui with a van load of food which would normally go to our food banks here in Auckland. Our friends were concerned that they were depriving the people in Auckland of the food they would normally receive. Our comment was: “You just watch how God works as soon as we get back to Auckland”.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we received double the normal quantity of bakery products from New World Eastridge and double the amount of groceries we would normally expect to receive. To top it off, instead of giving us one van load of cereal, Hubbards gave us three van loads!
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At a meeting for our December Christmas Store it was mentioned that girls in two of our schools would not participate in the school sports curriculum this term because of their embarrassment at not having a bra due to financial constraints in their families.
Within 24 hours we had $550 pledged to the “bra account” to enable these girls to run and jump with dignity. As we have said many times, the more you give, the more you get. We cannot out give our God. He is a debtor to no man, He provides what He orders and supplies all we need to activate His mandate of bringing the love, joy, peace, abundance, victory, strength and power of Heaven to Earth. Praise His Name!
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