While doing my sermon preparations this week on New Testament Political Theory, I realized that Rosh Hashana begins this evening at sunset.   Rosh Hashana is not only the celebration of the Jewish New Year, it is also the celebration of the creation of the world.  That is where I was studying this morning because one facet of the Genesis story is the parallel of creation with as a temple for God and where our work is our liturgy to Him.

The model prayer taught to us by Jesus teaches us to pray that the Kingdom of God would come on earth as it is in heaven – now.  The Kingdom of God, the Lordship of Jesus, and the overarching theme of God’s rule over wind & wave, spirits, and sin throughout the New Testament challenge the Church in some provocative and subversive ways.  If our work is liturgy and if this creation is His Temple, then we as the Church have some amazing avenues to extend His Kingdom.

Recognize that this Jewish holiday falls right after we studied Acts 15 and the decree of the Jerusalem council that sets us free from Jewish customs and laws. However, at the same time, the roots of our Christian faith run deep in the story of Abraham making us also the sons of Abraham through faith.  And finally, I’ve said it many times from the pulpit that it is no accident that the Lord led us to work our way through the Book of Acts at this time in our lives as a church and as a body of disciples in our nation.  I personally found it striking that as we work our way through Acts 16 where Paul heralds the Kingdom of God in one of the most loyal and committed Roman colonies, that we find ourselves in the middle of the celebration of God’s creating this world.  Let us pay attention to the purposes of God’s Kingdom in our lives today and permit new dimensions and definitions of theology to mold our discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Philippian jailer’s question, “what shall I do to be saved?” was simple and yet so complexly answered by Paul, “Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I’m attaching one video that is an explanation of Rosh Hashanah by CBN, the other three are some fun videos which are some Israeli music videos celebrating Rosh Hashanah 2013.