Messianic Jewish Institute of Kansas City

(an accredited degree program)

Winter/Spring Semester

Begins January 11 & 12 

(13 week classes)

Here is the schedule of classes for this upcoming semester in less than 2 weeks.  Please invite others to attend classes (friends, family, co-workers, pastors, rabbis, etc.).  We depend on you spreading the word about the classes.

Schedule of Classes

Mondays:

6:30 – 7:30 Introduction to the Jewish Roots of the Christianity 

This is our premier and pre-requisite course. We will answer the question, “How did a small Jewish sect in the First Century become a predominantly non-Jewish religion and what got lost in “the mix”? This is a serious course that investigates how current Christian self understandings are far from their original sources in historical Jewish terms as contemporary Christian values and spiritualities will be reviewed for personal spiritual growth and responsibility.

6:30 – 7:30 To be announced

7:30 – 8:30 The Jewishness of Paul 

Paul is said to have presented a Gospel of “Faith” that supersedes the seeming failure of the covenants made with Israel, the Jewish people. In doing so, Christianity has defined itself in contradistinction to everything Jewish as if Paul rejects the “Law” for grace. This class taps into the New Perspective on Paul and restores the fidelity and faithfulness of this extraordinary Rabbi and Yeshua follower. We will explore a Paul that is hardly identified in Christian tradition. Paul the Jewish theologian is the missing link to understanding that the God of Israel was acting in history through the Jewish Messiah. His task was to formulate halacha for the Gentiles who “were apart from the covenants of Israel (Eph. 2:11)”.

8:30 – 9:30 Jewish Festivals and Holy Days 

Too often these topics are treated in “catchy” ways in Messianic teaching circles. They are not just “fulfillment” motifs pointing to the Messiah. We will examine the order of the cosmos as God acts in history and discover the wonder of the “heavens declaring the glory of God” in recreation acts. In doing so the calendar of Biblical (and additional) Jewish Holy Days frames the witness of God in the earth through the calling of the Jewish people to carry the oracles of God through their observances. We will mine scriptures with remarkable detail as to the opportunities afforded all followers of Him in establishing and building great expectations and benefits in the Holy Days.

Tuesdays: 

6:30 – 7:30 The Pharisees (you never knew)!

This is one of our most distinct classes, visiting a group that is mostly either misunderstood in traditional portrayal or simply are relegated to an adversarial “opponent” of Yeshua. Yet, Yeshua taught what they taught and lived mostly the way they lived. You will come to understand that this was an “in house” intra-Jewish relationship. Also, we will see how the Pharisees actually represented “the best” of what came to later be formed as Rabbinical Judaism (though a distinct formation in history beyond the Pharisees). Without studying the Pharisees, much of the teaching of Yeshua has little context in the religious debates among Judaism of the First Century.

7:30 – 8:30 Jewish Culture 

First Century Jewish culture was contextualized in a particular sociological, religious, political and historical world. Hebrew words had meaning in context. As well archaeological surveys of sites in Israel are helpful to place the Gospel in its setting. What role did the Judaisms of the day, as well as Roman influences create Jewish variations. This will be a journey class through various topics that establish the setting for what is customarily called the New Testament. The rich Jewish heritage is the heritage of the earthly life of Yeshua.

8:30 – 9:30 Hermeneutics Though we have the ease of opening our Bibles and encounter its words, little teaching is provided for Christians (and even Messianics) as to the principles of interpreting the text in a consistent and accurate way. We will learn how to approach the Bible through the many disciplines that are necessary so as to grasp the authority of what it is saying. Too often today, people determine what it means by how they experience it to be true. This leaves God's people in disunity and self authenticating religious persuasions. It results in spiritual independent contractors that ”go with God” and yet do so as separate individuals in their Biblical identities. God speaks through His word, but is He double minded? Every text has a single meaning meant to call all of God's people to a mutual accountability. It might be applied individually but it is not for “private” interpretation. We will also look at the principles of interpretation used by the Gospel writers and Paul, drawing form Jewish principles current to the First Century.

Registration:

We do not require pre-registration and invite all visitors to attend the first week as an open house. 

Check out our web site www.jewishrootsinstitute.org for fees. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE CONSDIERING DISCOUNTS BASED ON HOW MANY CLASSES YOU REGISTER FOR. Also, our courses described are a preliminary schedule subject to change. 

Rabbi Jerry Feldman

http://www.adatyeshuakc.com