My visit to a Messianic service yesterday

[KeptByTheWord]

Friends of ours invited me to visit a Messianic congregation that meets in a town nearby. I thought it would be interesting to go.

We arrived a bit late, and unfortunately the door that opened into the hall where they were meeting was at the front of the room, so we had to walk in where every one could see us. I almost turned and left at that point lol!

We had to walk through a group of ladies and girls who were all in skirts and who were in a circle, dancing to the song that was playing. Their dancing was very solemn and consisted mostly of waving their arms, and bowing and almost seemed ballerina-like. In fact, most of the girls or women were in slippers, socks or bare feet as they danced.

I asked my friends what the meaning was for the women to do this, and they weren't sure themselves.

The ladies' dance lasted about 45 minutes, which was terribly long. I was glad we were late when I realized that! The service started at 3, and we arrived around 3:30, and the ladies finished dancing at 3:45.

As soon as the ladies finished dancing, they all went to their seats and put prayer shawls or head coverings on their heads. Then a lot of Hebrew speaking and rituals were performed, one of which included everyone in the room turning east and repeating the Shemah (I think that is what it was called). Everyone stood during this time. Also, three portions of scriptures were read, one from the Torah (a passage in Leviticus), one from the prophets (Jeremiah), and one from the NT (Matthew).

After the Hebrew speaking, Bible portions, and several other things (not sure what they were, done in Hebrew) were done, everyone sat down, and the ladies took off their head coverings.

Then the leader of the group got up and began to speak. He was an excellent speaker, didn't need a microphone as his voice carried easily and well, and he was a great teacher, in that he spoke loud, clearly, and was easy to listen to.

I didn't understand or catch all of what he said, because many times he would say things in Hebrew. But, much of what he said was good, although a couple of things I disagreed with.

At one point, he specifically spoke against soul sleep, which I found interesting. He was quite adamant that there is no such thing as soul sleep teaching in the scriptures.

After the teaching ended, the ladies all put their head coverings on for the prayer and the blessing over the food.

Then the leader's wife invited me to the head of the line for the food, as I was a visitor. I tried to decline but she would not have it, so I graciously accepted. The food was wonderful, and many of the people in the congregation came by to introduce themselves and visit with our friends and I.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience. I certainly don't see what the reason could be for the women to do the dance for 45 minutes. Maybe someone here knows the significance behind that?

Anyway, I may or may not visit again. One thing that was certainly lacking was any opportunity for the spirit to move, which is sad to me. I see so many people that get caught up in their traditions and rituals of worship, and certainly are sincere about them, but there is never any room for the spirit of the Lord to move in their midst.

Anyway, just thought I would share my experience and wonder if anyone else has visited a Messianic gentile congregation, and what their experiences were. Our friends who I visited with have only been going a short time, and are still learning much themselves.