Beit Yeshua
PESACH
April 22, 2016
LINKS
PESACH
The Feast of
Passover
PESACH Beit Yeshua celebrated their 16th annual Pesach/Passover Seder on Friday, April 22, 2016, 7:00 to 9:45 p.m.
205 guests registered for the event and about 185 actually attending.We've used "low seating" as part of our Pesach experience for the last 10 years, but 2016 was the year we went with all "regular seating"
We kept the round tables, but replaced the low tables at the front with regular rectangular tablesEach table was arranged with Haggadahs, a bowl of water and cloth for hand washing, candles and a Seder plate
The Seder plates held the traditional items of Pesach - Parsley, Salt Water, Horseradish, Charoset, Roasted Egg and the Shank Bone of a Lamb
Guests chat as they wait for the events of the evening to begin - including Alex, Tim and Paul 
Curtis chats with Ze'ev Nevo, of Israel Media Ministries, and enjoyed the opportunity to meet his wife and children - as did many others
Ze'ev is a Jewish Believer from Israel with a wonderful testimony and ministry
Myrl add parsley to all the Seder plates while chatting with guests We're always so blessed to have Cathy Hargett of Highway to Zion Ministries and her guests with us at Pesach
I'm please to say that Beit Yeshua and Highway to Zion frequently minister and serve together
Cathy leads annual tours to Israel - If you've never been, you should definitely go with Cathy
In the background, Carolee chats with Fran (who also had a number of guests at the 2016 Seder
Robbie chats with Barbara as well as DeniseAnn and Rick 
(Left to Right) Jeff with Gloria & Brittany; Gloria with Doug & Cami; Tim and Jonathan 
Thanks to Dora and Alfredia and all the guests who came with them; Many of these folks had never been to a Pesach Seder before 
Shofarot are sounded to announce the first night of Pesach Guests are invited to sing The Sh'ma and recite The Blessing for Salvation in Messiah Sh'ma Yisrael
Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.
Baruch shem kvod Malchuto, Le’olam va’ed.
Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
Blessed be His Name & His glorious kingdom forever and ever.
Blessing For Salvation in Messiah
Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha’Olam,
Asher natan lanu et de-rech ha’Yeshua B’Mashiach Yeshua,
Baruch Hu. Amein!
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe,
Who gave to us the way of salvation in the Messiah Yeshua.
Blessed be He! Amen!Some found the Hebrew a little challenging, but most were willing to give it a try 
Chuck welcomes everyone and introduced special guests In addition to Cathy from Highway to Zion and Ze'ev from Israel Media Ministries,
we were also pleased to have Pastor Bill Carrier, Pastor Ryan Kirby, Pastor Brenda Miller and Bishop Nathaniel Miller with usPaul tells everyone in attendance a little bit about Beit Yeshua Curtis introduced Ze'ev Nevo and asked him to share briefly about Israel Media Ministries 
Curtis always leads the group in a time of Praise, Worship and Israeli Folk Dance
There is always a spirit of freedom at Pesach - even the men and boys are willing to get up and participate in the dance 
2016 Pesach Dance Video 
The Seder Once again, Curtis and Doug co-led the Seder at Beit Yeshua
One of their favorite things about the 2016 Seder was being able to sit with their wives and family
Susan led the ladies as one lady at each table was asked to light Pesach candles Susan, Mary and Angel lit Pesach candles at their tables 
The first cup of juice, the Cup of Sanctification, is poured, bless and drunk 
We wash our hands during Passover because we are priests before the LORD and the table before us is His altar
Who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy Place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart. (Psalm 24:3-4)
Pesach/Passover is a holiday that comes in the springtime, when the earth is becoming green with life. This vegetable, called karpas (parsley), represents life, created and sustained by Almighty God. Life in Egypt for the children of Israel was a life of pain, suffering, and tears, represented by the salt water that was on each table. As everyone dipped the parsley into the salt water, they were reminded that life is sometimes immersed in tears.
James, Jennifer, Dewey, Kaleb, Bianca and Glory share the experience together 
Kara Jane asked the Four Questions 
1. On all other nights we eat bread or matzah. Why on this night do we eat only matzah?
2. On all other night we eat all kinds of vegetables. Why on this night do we eat only bitter herbs?
3. On all other nights we do not dip our vegetables even once. Why on this night do we dip them twice?
4. On all other nights we eat our meals sitting or reclining. Why on this night do we eat reclining?
The middle piece of matzah is lifted up and broken 
These three matzot are wrapped together for Passover. There are various explanations for this ceremony. The rabbis call these three a “Unity”. Some consider it a unity of the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Others explain it as a unity of worship - the priests, the Levites, and the people of Israel. We who know Messiah can also see in this the unique tri-unity of Yahweh – the Father, Yeshua – the Son, and Ruach Ha Kodesh – the Holy Spirit. Three in one. In the matzah we can see a picture of Messiah. See how it is striped. See how it is pierced. Just as the middle piece of the "bread of affliction" is broken, Messiah, too, was afflicted and broken. One half is now called the Afikomen - the dessert. It is wrapped in a white cloth just as Messiah’s body was wrapped for burial. Just as the Afikomen will be hidden, so, too, Messiahw as placed in a tomb, and hidden for a time. But just as the Afikomen will return to complete our Passover Seder, so the sinless Messiah rose from the dead to ascend into heaven and will return for His Bride.
After the matzah is tasted, Curtis hands Andi the Afikomen to hide Doug lifted up the Maror/Horseradish and asked everyone to scoop some onto a piece of matzah 
On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but on Passover we eat only maror, bitter herbs. As sweet as our lives are today, let us still remember how bitter life was for the children of Israel in the land of Egypt. As we scoop some maror (horseradish) onto a piece of matzah, let us allow the bitter taste to cause us to shed tears of compassion for the sorrow that the children of Israel knew thousands of years ago.
Families All Around the Family Life Center Taste the Matza and Horseradish
We encourage them to get a BIG scoop of horseradishRita, Miriam, Tim and Crystal Doug, Lisa, Iline, Stacy and Merryl - with the Jimison and Ulrich families in the background Gideon, Christy and Kara Jane Everyone is asked to scoop horseradish and kharoset onto a piece of matzah 
On all other nights we do not dip our vegetables even once, but tonight we dip them twice. We have already dipped the parsley into the salt water. Now we dip the bitter herbs into the kharoset. The children of Israel toiled to make treasure cities for Pharaoh, working in brick and clay. We remember this task in a mixture called kharoset, made from chopped apples, honey, huts, and wine. Let us once again scoop some bitter herbs onto a small piece of matzah. But this time, before we eat, let us dip the herbs into the sweet kharoset. What is the spiritual meaning of eating the bitter herbs and kharoset together? We have all had bitter experiences in our lives. The message God is communicating to us is His desire for us to press through the bitterness to experience the sweetness. The horseradish represents the trials and tribulations which come into our lives. Like the horseradish, many trials and tribulations are so bitter they make us cry. If we allow these trials and tribulations to make us bitter toward God, we will never experience the sweetness of God’s deliverance for our life. However, if we press through them, with God’s help, we will taste and experience the sweetness of His promises contained in His Word for us.
James, Jennifer, Dewey, Kaleb, Bianca and Glory share the matzah, horseradish and kharoset Carolee, Alex, Andy, Jane, Dan and Mary 
(Left) Jay, Natalia, Stacy and Jace; (Right) Pastor Carriers Family - Lisa, Mildred, Emily and Amy 
Bonnie, Ambrosia, Cayla, Jonathan and Andi Our 4 Readers (Alex, Carolyn, Janice and Chuck) told the story of Passover 
As the 12 plagues of Egypt are recited three times, a drop of grape juice in placed on a napkin 
"Blood, Frogs, Lice, Beasts, Cattle Disease, Boils, Hail, Locusts, Darkness, Death of the Firstborn" 
The shank bone from a lamb and the egg were explained 
The traditional songs "Dayenu" (It Would Have Been Enough) and "Eliyahu Ha'Navi" (Elijah the Prophet) were sung After Doug blessed the LORD for the food, we paused for the covered-dish meal - Two sets of tables were set up to expedite food service 
It's hard to manage a "kosher for Passover" covered-dish meal - especially when we have so many guests who have never been to a Seder before
Guest were encouraged to avoid cooking with any type of leaven and those things made with wheat, flour, oats, etc.After the covered-dish meal, the Afikomen was "redeemed" from the little girl who found it and the last part of the Seder resumed 
The fourth cup of juice, the Cup of Praise, is drunk and the Seder ends with the traditional greeting,
"La’Shana ha ba’ah bi Yerushalayim" - "Next Year in Jerusalem"Thanks to everyone who helped make the 2016 Beit Yeshua Passover Seder a success. It was a very "sweet" meeting this year. Our greatest thanks the LORD for meeting with us. We also want to thank those of you who helped with set-up and clean-up; those of you who invited guests and then took the responsibility to explain to them how to cook for Passover; those of you who traveled great distances; those who did our sound, worked with the overhead and took photos; to those Pastors and Minsitry Leaders who took time out of your busy schedule year-after-year to be a part of Beit Yeshua's Passover Seder. We love you all. "Part" of the 2016 Pesach/Passover set-up crew 2016 Observance
2015 Observance 2014 Observance 2013 Observance 2012 Observance 2011 Observance 2010 Observance
2009 Observance 2008 Observance 2007 Observance 2006 Observance 2005 Observance 2004 Observance
2003 Observance 2002 Observance
