If I was into conspiracies, I might think someone was trying to stop me from speaking in Richmond, VA! Last year, the meeting was cancelled for a snow storm. This past summer there was  a a hurricane, so they had me deliver the sermon over skype. This was sufficient for communicating the urgency of praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6), but there was still some unfinished business there.
Often when I am to speak somewhere, people may take the opportunity to invite their yet unsaved Jewish friends and family to hear the Good News of Messiah from a Jewish man like me.


Jake* is a Jewish man who had come to faith about a year ago. So when he heard I was scheduled to speak in Richmond last year, he immediately made plans for his family to attend– plans that had to be cancelled because of weather.
This time I was scheduled to speak on the birth prophecy of Messiah (Isaiah 9:1-7). Sure enough, Jake arrived with his unsaved but interested sister, Shelley*, and his grandfather, Sol*. I shared that the portion helps us understand the connection of Hanukkah and Messiah’s birth, and demonstrates, as the New Covenant explains, how believers are “transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13). I went over the fact that the prophecy “unto us a son is given,” is fulfilled in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son.” I could see Shelley listening intently to every word, as if the truth of it was deeply penetrating her heart.
At the end of the message, people were invited to respond to what the Scripture teaches by prayerfully trusting in Yeshua as the promised Messiah, Savior and Lord. Several people indicated they were doing just that –including Shelley! After the service, I encouraged Shelley to confess her faith by telling the pastor of the congregation and her brother, and she did with a big smile on her face. Jake cried for joy over his sister’s response to the Good News of Messiah.
That afternoon, Jake, Shelley, Sol and I had lunch together. We talked about first steps in following Messiah and how they would maintain their Jewish identities as testimony to God’s faithfulness to our people (Romans 11:1-6). I gave them each Hanukkah gifts of my book, Messianic Discipleship.
Sol and I spent several hours discussing faith together. Though Sol had become more religious later in life and started going to synagogue, he admitted he was more of an atheist. We went over a quite a bit of evidence to demonstrate the reasonableness of Messiah’s resurrection. He admitted that it was not a matter of reason for him, but that he was unwilling to move from his unbelief. While we ate, he was listening as I shared my testimony with Jake and Shelley. He smiled as he identified with my initial rejection of the Good News as being not for us Jews, and listened just as carefully about how the Lord broke through my adamant unbelief to bring me to Himself. In parting, Sol said he looked forward to meeting with me again. 
Please pray not only for these, but for the many others who are considering the Messiahship of Yeshua and His Good News.

_*Names are changed to protect the privacy of the individuals