Yom Kippur - a time to hit the RESET Button :-)

by Pastor Moh |  October 12, 2016

Renewal is one of the hardest of undertakings in our relationships, marriages, churches, etc. Things happen. We are blown by passing winds, caught up in problems, sometimes not of our making, and we drift. When that happens, whether to individuals, institutions or nations, we drift apart from one another. We forget who we are and why we are here. We drift away, and we drift away from some of the most important relationships in our lives, including our callings in-Christ and His Church.


Hakhel, in the Biblical tradition is a covenant renewal ceremony held every seven years. For example, we see this in the book of Kings, Nehemiah, Ezra and in the Gospel of John-7. The Hakhel ceremony ensured that the nation would regularly rededicate itself to its mission to the Lord.  One of the place in the world where this model of a covenant renewal ceremony still takes place is in our United States of America. Almost every Presidential Inaugural Address – every four years since 1789 – has been, explicitly or implicitly, a covenant renewal ceremony, a contemporary form of Hakhel.  In 1987, speaking at the bicentennial celebration of the American Constitution, President Ronald Reagan described the constitution as a kind of “covenant we’ve made not only with ourselves but with all of mankind … It’s a human covenant; yes, and beyond that, a covenant with the Supreme Being to whom our founding fathers did constantly appeal for assistance.” America’s duty, he said, is “to constantly renew their covenant with humanity…to complete the work begun 200 years ago, that grand noble work that is America’s particular calling – the triumph of human freedom, the triumph of human freedom under God.”

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23: 26:32; Hebrews 9:1-14). It was a day set apart in ancient Israel and in modern-day Israel as a day for forgiveness, repentance (Teshuvah), reconcilation and restoration. During this Yom Kippur season, we must make time to RENEW our dedication to each other and to His mission for our lives (Hebrews 9:14).  So, please REFLECT and ANSWER these questions that the Holy Spirit is asking of us during this season of Yom Kippur:

  • When and how did you get SAVED in-Christ? How are you living in-Christ today?
  • Why has the Lord sent you to TSH? Why are you here? What is your Mission in Christ? Are you living in your mission - your calling in-Christ?
  • What must you do to repent, release and renew to come back to your most important relationships in life and to your mission in-Christ?