A MESSIANIC JEWISH LIFE SEMINAR Sharing Jesus The Messiah with the Jewish People When: Saturday, October 6 th 2007 Time: Place: Meals: Music: 8:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. Grace Community Church, Noblesville, IN Continental Breakfast & Catered Jewish Lunch Special Hebraic Messianic Jewish music Cost: $15 (Advance Registration required by Sept. 28) ** For info: call John Lieberman (317) 848-0167 ** Speaker: Dr. Ray Gannon, Pres. of Israel s Redemption (37 years of teaching ministry in the US and Israel as a professor, biblical scholar, trainer of leaders, congregation planter, and true friend of the Jewish people) www.allisrael2020.org Topics: Introduction to Jewish culture and beliefs Understanding Jewish objections to Jesus Learn about Jewish Christian (church-synagogue) conflicts in history Intermarriage: When a Jew marries a Christian (a blending of 2 backgrounds and family traditions) Amazing Old Testament Prophecies about Jesus Israel and the church today: What is their relationship? Jewish people like these precious men and women need to have at least one opportunity to hear about Jesus their Messiah and Savior! I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the gentile. -- Rabbi Saul of Tarsus (the Apostle Paul) AD 56 (Romans 1:16)
A MESSIANIC JEWISH SEMINAR AT GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH Sharing Jesus with the Jewish People John Lieberman and Messianic Jewish Life Ministries will be hosting a Messianic Jewish Seminar at Grace Community Church on Sat. Oct. 6 th, 8:30am - 2:30pm This conference will be an outstanding opportunity to get the church in the Greater Indianapolis area involved in learning how to reach out to their Jewish friends with the gospel. The speaker, Ray Gannon, is a biblical scholar, messianic pastor, and has many years of experience sharing the gospel with the Jewish people both here and in Israel (see his bio in the attached file.) He will also help Christians envision what God can and wants to do among the Jewish people in our community. There are several couples at Grace already where one of the spouses is a Messianic Jew (a Jewish believer in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah) -- and it is growing. There are many strategic churches in the Greater Indianapolis area that have committed believers that are very interested in Israel, the Jewish people, and want to learn how to communicate their faith with their Jewish friends. They just need a little encouragement, access to some excellent resources, receive some in-depth teaching, and most importantly connect with Jewish believers in Jesus ( completed Jews ) at this conference. The seminar will be a wonderful opportunity to learn about the Jewish people and their culture and how we as a church can bless them by sensitively loving them into the kingdom. The Church has a rich heritage in its Jewish background given that all the first believers were Israeli Messianic Jews and the N.T. was written by Jews, with the exception of Luke s Gospel and the Book of Acts. Ray will also give us an update on what God is doing with the Jewish people in both Israel and the US and some of the unique issues that face Messianic Jews. We will provide a continental breakfast (juice, coffee and bagels) and a catered Jewish luncheon. The cost for everything: (food and seminar materials) is only $15! We want to encourage as many people as possible to be able to come to the event. Your brother in the Messiah Jesus, John Messianic Jewish Life a Frontline Ministry of Grace Community Church Contact: John Lieberman (317) 848-0167 www.themessiah.org JLiebe@ameritech.net
Issues/Discussions: 1. How to communicate your faith in such a way that your Jewish friend knows he/she becomes a completed Jew (and not a convert ) by embracing Jesus as his/her Jewish Messiah and Savior. 2. Understanding basic Jewish objections to Jesus and the Bible answer (See attached file by Michael Brown) 3. Understanding what Jewish people (secular and religious) really believe about Jesus, life after death, forgiveness of sin, their views of their gentile neighbors, etc. basic Jewish theology 101 4. Relationship of O.T. to N.T. and first century Judaism to the N.T.: a basic appreciation for the Jewish background to the N.T. 5. Understanding the church s dual responsibility to bring the verbal/written message of hope and redemption to the Jewish people, while at the same time living out a compassionate Christian life style that demonstrates Jesus love for his Jewish people. (See Rom. 9-11) 6. End time prophecy re: Israel and the church 7. Jewish-Christian intermarriage (many people have a son, daughter, relative, or neighbor in a relationship where a Jewish man or woman is married to a Christian. 50% of Jewish people intermarry today and the gentile spouse, once they become true believers in Jesus, now want to know how to help their spouse understand their faith.) Family members want to know how to sensitively love their Jewish relative. 8. Stories of Jewish people that have come to faith in Jesus the Messiah --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction to the Seminar Speaker, Dr. Ray Gannon, (Bio, publications, Professional experience ) - see the following 2 pages -
DR. RAYMOND L. GANNON Intercultural Ministries Department, Assemblies of God U.S. Missions P.O. BOX 2389 SPRINGFIELD, MO 65801-2389 (417) 886-7622 (OFFICE) (417) 582-0585 (HOME) Cell: (417) 818-2484 Email: RayGannon@allIsrael2020.org FAMILY STATUS Married 40 years to Kassiani S. Gannon, Three Adult Children and Seven Grandchildren. EDUCATION Bethany Bible College, B.S. ('70) in Bible and Missions California Graduate School of Theology, M.A. ( 74) in Church Administration Ph.D. ('76) in Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) Assemblies of God Theological Seminary M.A. ('82) in Intercultural Ministries M.Div. ('84) Master of Divinity Princeton Theological Seminary, Th.M. ('88) in Church History The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ph.D. ( 04) in History. Summa Cum Laude. Dissertation: The Shifting Romance with Israel: American Pentecostal Ideology of Zionism and the Jewish State. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Credentialed with the Assemblies of God since 1970; ordained since 1974. Appointed Minister to All Israel (1970-2007) Served as a Professor of Religious History and/or Jewish Studies at: Central Bible College (1979-82) Valley Forge Christian College (1983-85) Christ for the Nations (New York campus) (1985-87) Bethlehem Bible College (West Bank, Israel) (1992, 1996) Israel College of the Bible (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel) (1989-2007) Evangel University (1996-97) Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (Springfield, MO) (1996-2007) Pioneered and pastored three A/G congregations in California and New York. (1973-1989). Assisted the founding of many others in the USA. Labored as an appointed Intercultural minister in the Southern, Northern California/Nevada, New York, and Penn-Del districts and served as District Director of Ministries in two states. Served on the National Committee of the Assemblies of God for 8 years. Trained Missionaries and pastors over 30 years. Founded the King of Kings College of Jerusalem (now Israel College of the Bible) with campuses in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv, with classes in four languages: Hebrew, English, Russian, and Amharic (Ethiopian) Spearheaded national Russian and Ethiopian ministries in Israel during two terms in Israel.
PUBLICATIONS Augustine s Israelology, in Festscrift Yeshua and Israel, published by the Caspari Center of Jerusalem, 1994. The Light of the Lord, in Firstfruits of Zion, Jerusalem, March 1996. Russian Ministry in Israel, in Mishkan, Spring 1996. Gentiles in the Messianic Community, in Kesher, Spring 1998. The Assemblies of God and the Messianic Movement (1975-2000), in Mishkan, Summer 2002. The Jewish Mikveh-Rite and Water Baptism, in Enrichment, Spring 2003. The Ruach, the Jews, and Pentecostal Experience, in Enrichment, Summer 2003. Is Jesus Really King of the Jews? in Enrichment, Fall 2003 Our Local Assembly s Synagogue Heritage, in Enrichment, Winter 2004 Jews and Christians Pray Together at the Dismantled Wall, in Enrichment, Sp 2004 The Hebraic Gospel of Salvation, in Enrichment, Summer 2004 50 Messiahs and Still Waiting!!!, in Enrichment, Fall 2004 Jewish Conversion, in Enrichment, Winter 2005 Israel s Redemption: Jewish Ministry and the Assemblies of God, AG Heritage, Winter 2007 PRESENT INVOLVEMENTS National Representative for Jewish Ministries, AG US Missions. Executive Director of Israel s Redemption, Inc. Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies, Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, Missouri. Faculty Member at the Israel College of the Bible, Jerusalem, Israel. Member of the AG Commission on Ethnicity Adjunct for the International Center for Christian Leadership, Kiev, Ukraine Member of the American Society for Church History Member of the Society for Pentecostal Studies Member of the Theological Commission for the ROAD TO JERUSALEM.