Dear Mishpacha (family),
As I am writing this newsletter, I am at the Mikvah pool for the second day in a row and had some free time. I have no words to express this experience with the Holy Spirit and I thank the Bowman family for opening up their pool and home to do it. Last year we had to cancel the Mikvahs because of Hurricane Milton and so the State of Florida had a Mikvah. This isn’t the first time that we had to cancel the Mikvahs during the Ten Days of Awe. In 2018 a microburst storm hit Brandon, Florida while we were doing Mikvahs and a tree fell on my house. Thank God no one was hurt but we couldn’t stay there. Both Tom and Linda were kind enough to take all nine members of the Plummer Family into their house. They don’t call it the Ten Days of Awe for nothing. Last year we even had to celebrate Yom Kippur on the patio by the Fellowship Hall because of the power outage. We are definitely living in the last days and He will protect us. As I prepared Wednesday morning at the Mikvah pool the Father inspired me to tell all those participating that they have value and He values them. Value is defined as “the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.” The value system of our Heavenly Father is greater than any other value system that we can come up with. He really does value all of His children but do they value Him? Being a son or daughter of God is all that He asks of us and He has given us His Holy Spirit to lead us to that special relationship.
The month of October is an extension of the Fall Feasts because of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and The Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). Please mark your calendars with these dates in the month of October as we corporately come together as a community. October 6th is Nations night at 7PM, we have been praying for the nations all over the world. Come dressed as the nation that you have personally been praying for. October 11th at 11AM we are celebrating the Feast of Sukkot with a Fellowship Day after the service. On October 12th for the evening service at Christian Retreat in Bradenton they have asked our Dance Team to come minister along with myself to give a message as they celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles as well. We conclude the Feast Days with the Eighth Great Day on October 13th at 7PM. The Feast of Tabernacles is also called The Feast of Ingathering and it’s the last feast mentioned among the three national feast days (Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:16-17). Are you gathering or scattering? I have had the opportunity to celebrate the Feasts of the Lord since the spring of 1995 and they get better and better.
Please don’t forget that Yeshua, the Son of God, fulfilled the Spring Feasts and He will fulfill the Fall Feasts. As we celebrate the Fall Feasts it’s a rehearsal. The Feast of Trumpets is all about the blowing of the shofar and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is all about corporate forgiveness. The last feast day of the year is the Feast of Tabernacles and its all about gathering.
It is so important that we come together with unity and purpose in the days in which we live. The community of Bet Tehila has a great vision of building a strong community and raising up the next generation. We are also a part of the restoration and the regathering of the whole house of Israel. If that’s not enough we are also called to be a part of the One Church of Tampa Bay as we work with other pastors and churches. I have an exciting announcement to make, Pastor David Speicher of South Bay Church will be our Guest Speak for our Shabbat Service on October 25th at 11AM. He is a good friend and I have gotten to know Him for the past three years as a part of the Minister’s Connection. As a congregation we have a bright future and we have a lot of opportunities to further the Kingdom of God coming our way.
~Shalom, Pastor Nick