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We view our responsibilities as a congregation and as
individual Believers in Mashiach to be as follows:
Our Responsibility Toward
G-d
Our Responsibility
Toward Our Family
Our Responsibility
Toward the Body of Mashiach
Our Responsibility Toward
the Lost
Our Responsibility Toward Israel
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We agree with the Westminster Shorter
Catechism that “Man’s primary purpose (‘chief end’) is to glorify
G-d, and to enjoy Him forever.” We accomplish this responsibility
toward G-d first and foremost by loving Him. When we truly
love Him above all else, we will give Him our unquestioning
obedience in all things. He will be glorified by our love and obedience.
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When a scribe asked Yeshua, “Which
mitzvah [commandment] is the greatest of all?” Yeshua answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Yisra'el, the LORD our
G-d, the LORD is one: you shall love the LORD your
G-d with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first mitzvah. The
second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There
is no other mitzvah greater than these.” (Mark
12:28-31 HNV)
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Anyone who does not love G-d
as Yeshua commanded is under G-d’s divine curse. “If any
man doesn't love the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, let him be accursed.
Maranata!” (1 Cor. 16:22 HNV)
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The Bible says that Yeshua HaMashiach
became obedient to Torah so that the Gentiles would glorify G-d.
“Now I say that Messiah has been made a minister of the circumcision for
the truth of G-d, that he might confirm the promises given
to the fathers, and that the Goyim might glorify G-d for
his mercy. As it is written, ‘Therefore will I give praise to you among
the Goyim, And sing to your name.’” We believe that because Yeshua was
obedient to Torah, and we claim that we follow Him, then we are likewise
called to be obedient to Torah. (Rom. 15:8-9 HNV)
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The Bible says that because He has bought
us out of bondage to sin, we live to glorify Him. “For you were bought
with a price. Therefore glorify G-d in your body and in
your spirit, which are G-d’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20 HNV)
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Yeshua said that if we love Him we will
obey Him (John 3:36; 14:23,24), and the Epistles confirm that we are to
obey Him (Acts 5:29,32; Rom. 2:8; 6:16; 2 Thess. 1:8; 3:14; Heb. 5:9;
1 Pet. 1:2; 4:17). This glorifies G-d. (Rom. 15:6)
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The Bible says that we have become the
Bride of Mashiach and that we will reign with Him forever. (Rev. 19:6-9;
21:1-22:7)
HNV = Hebrew Names Version of World English Bible
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Because G-d created the
family millennia before He created His Miqra, we believe that our
responsibility toward our family comes second only to our responsibility
toward our G-d. Yeshua set this model before us in that as
He hung dying on Calvary’s cross, He committed the care of His mother
into the hands of the beloved Disciple. G-d’s Torah, which
our Lord declared as unchangeable, provides for strong family bonds and
responsibilities, and our Lord taught that the man who fails to care for
his family is worse than an infidel.
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Concerning relationships within the
Family:
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Rabbi Sha'ul taught that Yeshua is the
head of the husband and the husband is to be subject to Yeshua, and
that the husband is the head of the wife, and the wife is to be
subject to her husband (Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 13:18; 1 Pet. 3:1-6; Titus
2:5).
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The Bible also teaches that the husband
is to love his wife just as Mashiach also loved the miqra and gave
Himself up for her, and to treat her gently, “as a weaker vessel”
(Eph. 5:25-33; Col. 3:19; 1 Pet. 3:7).
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The Bible teaches that a husband and
wife are to “become one flesh” (Eph. 5:31).
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The Bible teaches that children are to
be obedient to their parents and honor them (Col. 3:20; Eph. 6:1-3),
but that fathers are not to exasperate their children or provoke them
to anger “but [are to] bring them up in the discipline and instruction
of the Lord” (Col. 3:21 Eph. 6:4).
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Parents are to instruct their children
in the Torah of G-d “that they should put their
confidence in G-d, and not forget the works of G-d,
but keep His commandments.”
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Parents are also to teach their children
the praises of the LORD, not just His judgments (Psalm
78:1-8; Deut. 4:10; 6:4-9; 11:18-21).
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We therefore commit that in all the
teachings and functions of this congregation, we will keep the family
foremost, that our families will be built on the sure foundation, which
is Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach and His Word.
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When speaking about the greatest of
all commandments, Yeshua said, “The
second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There
is no other mitzvah greater than these” (Mark
12:31 HNV). Yeshua also said, “This
is my mitzvah, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for
his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. … I
command these things to you, that you may love one another” (John 15:12-17 HNV) We are commanded to fervently love each
other (1 Pet. 1:22; 4:8-9; 1 John 3:11,23; 4:7-12; 2 John 1:5).
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This kind of love means placing the
well-being of others before that of ourselves. (Rom. 12:10; Phil. 2:3,4;
1 Thess. 3:11-13; 5:15)
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We are to meet one another’s needs. (Rom.
12:13; 2 Cor. 9:12-14)
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We are to obey our congregation leaders
and submit to their authority over us. (Heb. 13:17)
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We are to be devoted to one another. (Rom.
12:10-13)
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We are to “pursue the things which make
for peace and the building up of one another.” (Rom. 14:19-20)
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We are to “be of the same mind with one
another according to Mashiach Yeshua.” (Rom. 15:6) and to accept one
another. (Rom. 15:7)
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We are to admonish one another. (Rom.
15:14; Col. 3:16)
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We are to give honor to one another (1 Cor.
12:24-26; 1 Thess. 5:13).
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We are to “show forbearance to one another
in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace.” (Eph. 4:1-6) We are to lay aside all falsehood and speak
truth to each other (Eph. 4:25; Col. 3:9) We are to be kind and
tenderhearted to each other (Eph. 4:32). We are to forgive each other as
G-d in Yeshua forgave us (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12-15).
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We are to submit to each other (Eph.
5:18-21). We are to comfort one another (1 Thess. 4:17-18) We are to
encourage one another (1 Thess. 5:11; Heb. 3:13; 10:25). We are to build
each other up (1 Thess. 5:11). We are to live in peace with each other
(1 Thess. 5:13) We are to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds”
(Heb. 10:24). We are to confess our sins to one another and pray for one
another (James 5:16). We are to serve each other (1 Pet. 4:10). We are
to act humbly toward each other (1 Pet. 5:5-6). We are to have
fellowship with each other (1 John 1:7; Heb. 10:25).
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We are not to judge one another or
to put obstacles or stumbling blocks in each other’s way (Rom. 14:13).
There are to be no divisions among us (1 Cor. 12:25). We are
not to “bite” one another (Gal. 5:13-16). We are not to
become boastful, challenge one another, or envy one another (Gal. 5:26).
We are not to repay evil with evil (1 Thess. 5:15). We are not
to forsake our own assembling together (Heb. 10:25). We are not
to complain or speak against each other (James 4:11; 5:9; 1 Pet. 4:8-9).
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We believe that at His ascension,
Yeshua commissioned the eleven Shliachim (Apostles) to “Therefore go, and make talmidim [disciples] of all
nations, immersing them in the name of HaAbba [the
Father] and of HaBen [the Son], and of Ruach
HaKodesh [the Holy Spirit], teaching them to observe all things that I
commanded you.” (Matt. 28:16-20). He also told
them, “But you will receive power
when Ruach HaKodesh has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in
Yerushalayim, in all Yehudah and Shomron, and to the uttermost parts of
the earth” (Acts 1:8). We believe that commission
was given directly to the Apostles and that they literally fulfilled
that commission prior to their deaths before the end of the first
century.
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However, we believe that the principles of
our Lord’s teachings are clear and require us, as ambassadors for
Mashiach, to carry on the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-21) by
availing ourselves of every opportunity to present the Gospel of Yeshua
HaMashiach to a lost and dying world, “Go[ing] out into the highways and
along the hedges, and compel[ling] them to come in, that my house may be
filled.” (Luke 14:23) As the lost are won to Mashiach, it is our
responsibility to make talmidim [disciples] of them, immerse them, and
teach them the teachings of our Lord and of His shliachim, “for the
equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of
the body of Mashiach; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of G-d, to a mature man, to the
measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Mashiach.” (Eph.
4:12-13)
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The Bible teaches that Israel has been
elected by G-d out of all of the families of man to be His
chosen people, to serve as a light to the Gentiles and as an example to
the world of His love, compassion, providence, and righteous judgment.
Moreover, G-d chose Abraham and his descendants to be the
human family from which His own Son, Yeshua HaMashiach (the Lord Jesus
Christ) would be born after the flesh, to be Israel’s Messiah and our
Redeemer.
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The Bible teaches that Israel fell from
her exalted position because of her repeated idolatry and her
corporate rejection of Messiah when He first appeared [though tens,
perhaps hundreds, of thousands of faithful Jews gladly received Him
then], and so G-d chose to include the Gentile nations in
the call to be His Miqra and to serve as His example to the world and to
make Israel jealous (Rom. 11:11) so that as a nation she might awaken
from her spiritual slumber and acknowledge Yeshua HaMashiach as Lord and
G-d, and as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. While we believe
that Ruach HaKodesh is now calling out tens of thousands from all the
tribes of Israel, we believe that the national awakening will fully come
under the ministry of G-d’s 144,000 sealed Israelite
bond-servants following the “Rapture¨ of the Miqra (Rev. 7).
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We believe that G-d has made
numerous unilateral, unconditional, and irrevocable covenants with the
household of Avraham that have not yet been fulfilled, and that because
of His unchangeable nature He is faithful to fulfill all His promises.
We therefore accept as self-evident that G-d is not yet
finished with His chosen race until such time as they are all
again living in fellowship with and obedience to Him. We believe that
the Gentiles are heirs to salvation and to the wonderful promises of
G-d only because G-d has seen
fit to adopt them into Abraham’s family, who alone are the rightful
heirs of those covenants. (Romans 11)
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Those who are Gentile “Christians”
therefore own a never-payable debt of gratitude to those who are the
sons of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya'akov after the flesh, and they owe it
to Israel and to Adonai Yeshua to do
all within their power to lovingly lead Judah and Israel back into faith
and obedience.
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Additionally, when Mashiach returns to
establish His earthly kingdom, all nations of the earth will be judged
by the way they have treated Israel (Matt. 25:31-46). So all the more do
the Gentile nations have an obligation to treat Israel righteously, for
they are the brethren of Yeshua HaMashiach.
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We therefore believe that we have a
responsibility toward G-d to provide our unconditional
support to the Nation of Israel and her struggle to regain the entire
Promised Land (including all the territory from the Nile River to the
Euphrates River) as their eternal possession.
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http://familybible.org/About/Responsibility.htm
was last revised at
11:28 AM on
Tuesday, 19 May 2009 |
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