I found this to be an interesting list as I read through Stowell’s fascinating text this morning.  Some of it is spot-on and some is pessimistic.  Regardless, it is interesting to read his opinion.

Joseph Stowell recently wrote the book, Shepherding the Church: Effective Spiritual Leadership in a Changing Culture.  He developed a list of twelve factors effecting the era in which we live today as it pertains to the office of the pastor:

1. Devaluing of the minister.

2. Exposure to other gifted ministers.

3. Changing tastes in musical style.

4. Selfish consumerism.

5. Decreased biblical knowledge.

6. Ignorance of important doctrinal information.

7. The fast pace and busy-ness of life.

8. Pluralism.

9. Individualism and “designer spirituality.”

10. Obsession with privacy.

11. Political correctness.

12. Low opinion of evangelical Christians.

I try to stay abreast of missiological statistics of our continent.  If God has placed me in this particular location on earth to serve Him, it seems as if I should know the people to whom God has most directly called me to witness.  Check out some of these stats* . . .

- North American Population: 345 million

- Non-Christian North Americans: 259 million

- Southern Baptists Living in Texas: 2.93 million (more Southern Baptists live in Texas than any other single state)

- Half of all Southern Baptists live in 5 states (TX, GA, NC, TN, AL)

- 88% of money given to the Cooperative Program is from the southern region of the USA.

- Canada: 272 Southern Baptist churches. 1 for every 123,971 people. 33.7 million people live in Canada and 30 million are lost.

- Northeast: 1,761 Southern Baptist churches.  1 for every 37,788 people.  66.5 million people live in the northeast and 51 million are lost.

- West: 4,464 Southern Baptist churches.  1 for every 16,084 people. 71.8 million people live in the west and 62 million are lost.

- Midwest: 5,363 Southern Baptist churches.  1 for every 12,802 people. 68.6 million people live in the midwest and 52 million are lost.

- South: 38,671 Southern Baptist churches.  1 for every 2,697 people. 104.3 million people live in the south and 67 million are lost.

- Narrowing this down to my personal life, my home county is Collin County, TX.  There is 1 church for every 7,500 people.**

*The source for these stats is the current issue of NAMB’s On Mission magazine.

**The source for this stat is the Collin Baptist Association.

“15 Ways to Increase Your Church’s Offerings”

by Dr. Keith Hamilton

1. Prayer

An intentional prayer ministry will do more to increase your offerings than any other emphasis of the church.

2. Vision Statement

According to a recent survey, churches that have a written vision statement are growing faster than churches without a vision statement. Church growth will impact offerings to your church. If members and guests believe your church will make a difference in your community and world, then they will give more to the ministry of your church.

3. Positive Atmosphere

Eliminating negative promotions such as the weekly/monthly budget requirements in the church bulletin or newsletter. Even in the best giving churches, your weekly/monthly offering will not meet your weekly/monthly giving requirements at least two times a month/year. The impression is created that your church is not healthy because your church is behind on giving when in fact your may be ahead of yearly requirements. Your people give to make a difference rather than negative budget requirements.

4. Ministry Action Budget

Your church budget should be a road map to the ministry concerns of your church. Your budget should guide your church on how to spend the money God has entrusted to your church family. A church budget based on ministry, not numbers, will impact the budget positively and cause your members to be excited about what God is doing in their midst. (Free PDF download – 5 Budget Basics)

5. Offering Envelopes

Believe it or not, the old system of a member receiving a box of offering envelopes does increase giving. The weekly provided offering envelopes remind your members to give to God’s work in your church.

6. Mission-Minded

When your church is focused on missions they will have little time for infighting and disagreement. Your guests and members will give to your church when they see you focusing on others and making a difference in your world. (

7. Move Your Offering to the End of the Worship Service

Worship service giving normally will increase 10-20 percent if the offering is collected at the end of the worship service as opposed to the traditional collection time at the middle of the worship service. The offertory is a natural way for individuals to respond to God’s message.

8. Received Offerings during Bible Study

When individuals are accountable and loved by a small group ministry like Bible study, individuals will give more to the church. A Bible study growth campaign will increase giving in the church, too.

9. Conduct an On-Going Stewardship Emphasis

Biblical stewardship should be taught as part of regular ministry of your church. An annual stewardship emphasis will have insignificant lasting impact on your church members. You, as pastor or church leader, do not need to apologize for teaching the biblical perspective of Christian stewardship that God is the owner of everything. Teaching stewardship is equally important as any other teaching of the church.

10. Enlist Stewardship Testimonies

People can read about tithing and giving, but really not change their personal habit or practices. However, if someone they know and respect shares how God has worked in his life concerning biblical stewardship, then the hearers are more likely to practice Biblical stewardship in their lives. Tithing testimonies during the worship services and Bible Study really do work!

11. Practice “Empowered Spending”

Your ministry leaders and church staff should be empowered to be able to spend the allocated money within a budgeted line item without the finance committee or church treasurer approval. Your finance committee/treasurer should be aware of the spending through a possible purchase order system, but the committee/treasurer’s involvement should be only to carry out your church’s wishes. Empowered spending eliminates one or two people controlling the finances of your church. Individuals are more willing to give if the person thinks he has true influence on how the money will be spent.

12. Bless your Staff Financially

A church that blesses its staff financially will in turn be blessed. If your pastor does not have to worry about family financial concerns, then he will be able to focus more on ministry. In turn, the church and pastor will be blessed.

13. Model and Teach an Attempt to “Out-Give” God

As a pastors or church leader, you should try to out give God. Of course, this is impossible, but it works! People want to be part of a church focused on God and His ways.

14. Conduct Revival Services

A revival of God’s people should always lead to increased offering. As people move closer to God, they will give out of their abundant blessings to the Lord’s church.

15. Biblical Financial Principles Taught

Biblical Christian stewardship concepts and principles should be taught as an on-going ministry of the church. Believers constantly need this spiritual instruction. Do not apologize for it.

This document is intended to provide churches and church leaders with current and accurate educational information about the subjects covered. However, such information is not intended to be sufficient for dealing with a particular legal problem, and the authors and distributors do not warrant or represent its suitability for such purpose. The reader should not rely upon this document as a substitute for independent legal consultation or tax advice.

About Dr. Hamilton

Keith Hamilton, D.Ed.Min, CFP, CRPC is with the Georgia Baptist Convention. He has written several publications on establishing church designated funds, managing your household finances, and protecting your church and ministry from identity theft.

I read this article by Jerry Bowyer on Forbes.com and decided to re-post it below.  After reading this, you need to read two posts I wrote: [1] “Change Must Happen in the American Seminary Educational Process” (click here) and [2] (the follow-up to number one) “Futuristic Seminarian Pedagogy” (click here).

____________

Imagine an institution that requires its leaders to attend not only college, but graduate school. Imagine that the graduate school in question is constitutionally forbidden from receiving any form of government aid, that it typically requires three years of full-time schooling for the diploma, that the nature of the schooling bears almost no resemblance to the job in question, and that the pay for graduates is far lower than other professions. You have just imagined the relationship between the Christian Church and her seminaries.

Mainline churches are nearly universal in their requirement that their Priests/Pastors/Ministers/Reverends be seminary graduates, and since seminary is a graduate school, this means the students must first be successful undergraduates. So take all of the arguments about a college bubble and add at least three years of tuition cost and forgone income.

But you’re not quite done: My friend Father Jay Geisler counsels seminary students. He tells me that in his experience roughly half of matriculated students do not graduate within three years. In addition, he tells me that the living costs tend to be higher for seminary students than for undergrads because undergrads are almost never married with children, but seminary students often are. As such, dorm room type accommodations for grads will not do.

In addition, incomes for late 20- and early 30-somethings with wife and child tend to be higher than the traditional undergraduate-age student, so the opportunity costs — meaning the lost earnings — are considerably higher. Father Geisler tells me that he commonly sees young men graduate from seminary $60,000 or $70,000 in debt with few employment options other than very low-pay youth minister positions. It’s often even worse for women in conservative denominational traditions in which female ordination is still controversial.

And the prospects are worse clergy than for other forms of professional education, because there is no legal seminary requirement which stifles professional competition. If you go to medical school, you know you’ll have challenges in the job market, but at least you know you won’t be competing with non-medical school graduate physicians. Ditto for law school; it’s illegal to practice law or medicine without the requisite graduate schooling. Other professions, such as CPA and engineer, require at least the four-year diploma.

If you graduate from seminary and become an Episcopal priest, the church almost certainly required that you get the degree, but there’s no guarantee that increasingly indifferent churchgoers won’t, at the drop of a hat, leave your church and move a few blocks down the street to attend a Pentecostal, charismatic or fundamentalist church led by a high school dropout with generous dollops of the gift of gab, no school loans and probably less overhead. Interestingly enough, statistics indicate that these less “professional” churches are growing and the top-heavy cousins are rapidly shrinking.

Historian and sociologist Rodney Stark finds that the historical pattern fits the current one. Decentralized church systems with a history of less formal schooling historically outperform top-heavy ones with heavy academic requirements.

Part of this is politics. Mainline churches have largely become local versions of the Green Party at prayer. Leftie fads long ago captured the commanding heights of the established denominations. In fact, they did it through the seminaries. So, clergy moved left, members moved out, and mainline churches became mixtures of union halls, encounter groups and mausoleums.

Non-’professional’ church traditions didn’t have the luxury of indulging in ideological tourism. The ministers there live by the weekly collection plate.

Those who rise to the top are those who actually have a talent for preaching. Those who don’t, don’t last. After all, what matters more to the customer, the member: the ability to discuss the relationship between Paul Tillich’s theory of ultimate concern and Karl Barth’s version of neo-orthodoxy in light of the demythologizing textual hermeneutic of Bultman, or the ability to keep the congregation/audience’s attention for twenty minutes with a relevant sermon about family life? Seminary tends to give you loads of the former and little of the latter.

Seminary training has almost nothing to do with the talent for public speaking, and often leaves any evaluation of that talent later in the student’s training. For example, I know a man who went to a Bible College, worked hard, got good grades, got into a prestigious seminary, got good grades in seminary and shortly before graduation was invited, for the first time, into the pulpit. He found that he was paralyzed with fear and realized that he would be unable to be a preacher. He never became a pastor and has spent his life drifting from low wage job to low wage job and in recent years is chronically unemployed. Eight years of hard work and expensive tuition, wasted.

I’ve known scores of seminary students. Many have the natural leadership gifts to be pastors, but many do not. I’ve seen the ones who do not jumping through the bureaucratic hoops with a wife and children in tether, sacrifices made, poverty borne with grace, and then heartbreak. No pulpit, no job, except maybe a church planting opportunity with no start-up grant. The wives seem to suffer the most in these cases.

There must be a better way, and in fact there is a better way – the original one. Technology is the pin which is beginning to burst the seminary bubble. More on that next week.

It is very easy for us to lose perspective of our lives, of the mortality we have on Earth, and the eternality of Heaven.

James 4:14 states, “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

For so many of us, proper views of life and death are forgotten perspectives. We live as though this life were all there is.  We seek to camouflage the aging process and pretend it is not happening.  We never want to think about death.  We act as if we have 99-year leases on our lives with options to renew.  However, death is life’s greatest certainty.

1. Life Has its Uncertainties (Duration)

James asked, “What is your life?”  Secular scientists and philosophers cannot satisfactorily answer this question.  As Christians, however, we know that life does not end when our physical bodies die.  We will go on living after death.

God has instilled within man the longing for another life.  Even primitive people longed for this.  This is why cavemen drew pictures depicting afterlife.  This is why Egyptians were buried with eating utensils, weapons, servants, and horses.  It is amazing how people fail to see the big picture with the reality of time.

Again, look at James 4:14, “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

The Greek word for mist is atmis, and it only appears in the New Testament two times.  The other place is Acts 2:19 where it is translated as smoke.

Mist is here one moment and gone the next.  When I read this verse, I immediately thought of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “Out, out, brief candle!  Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.”

Check Out Some Biblical Metaphors of Life’s Brevity:

- 1 Chronicles 29:15, “Our days on the earth are like a shadow.”

- Job 7:7, “My life is a breath.”

- Job 9:25, “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away.”

- Psalm 102:3, “For my days pass away like smoke.”

The point is, we do not know what will happen tomorrow, so we must live for Christ today.

Proverbs 27:1, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

Corrie Ten Boom once said, “It is not the duration of life that is important, but the donation of life!”

How are you spending your life?  Are you spending it or investing it for the future in Heaven?  So many of us are too busy trying to make a living that we forget to make a life.

Is your life merely an existence?  Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

2. Life Has its Certainties (Termination)

If the uncertainty of life is its duration, the certainty is its termination.  All of us will physically die.

Our culture busily tries to camouflage the aging process through plastic surgery, cosmetics, and hair color.  However, nothing can keep us from our appointments with death.

Hebrews 9:27 states, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,”

Yes, it is certain that we will one day die and face the judgment seat of Christ.

I hope that as you read this, you’ll be reminded of the brevity of life and the importance of making life count for Christ.  Carpe diem!

I have some exciting news!  Beginning Sunday, March 27th, I’ll serve as the Transitional/Interim Pastor of FBC Blue Ridge, TX.  In addition to my responsibilities with the SBTC and Criswell College, I’ll add this ministry opportunity to my plate.  As a minister with the SBTC, I have been traveling and preaching a lot, but with the birth of our little girl, I’d like to travel a little less while she is so young.  So, this opportunity is an ideal fit.  I will not be the permanent Senior Pastor; I’ll serve the church until they find a Senior Pastor.

Blue Ridge is in Collin County, TX.  I was raised in Collin County, in Plano, and Blue Ridge is on the other side of the county.  The growth of Dallas is to the north.  McKinney, the county seat of Collin County, is the fastest growing city in the United States (click here for more details on that).  With the growth of Dallas heading to the north, Blue Ridge is facing the process of transitioning from a rural to suburban context. My D.Min. dissertation is written on this very subject: “Transitioning the Local Church from a Rural to Suburban Context” (click here to read it).

I pray the church will be encouraged by my preaching and guidance as they’re in this transitional situation.  Please pray for me as this is a new experience.  Please pray for FBC Blue Ridge as they seek a new pastor.

As I begin this ministry, I’ll begin posting many sermons here on my website and on iTunes for you to hear.

Today, I’m priveleged to have a guest blogger – Dr. Tony Crisp.  Dr. Crisp is my father-in-law and the visionary founder of True Life Concepts Ministry, TLC HolylandTours, and The Olive Tree Foundation.

Communion: A Hebraic Perspective

here is much misunderstanding and ignorance in the Evangelical world in general and Southern Baptists in particular about the meaning of “The Lord’s Supper” or “Communion”.  Historically throughout Christianity, there have been several differing views.  Each of these views arises from the question, “How should one view the elements of the Lord’s table?”  There are many forms of each of the following “views” or interpretations, but almost everyone would fall into one of these interpretations of the elements of Communion: transubstantiation, consubstantiation, the reformed view and the totally symbolic view. The latter is generally held by Southern Baptists. Any good systematic theology book will explain the views named above.  Traditional apologetics are given for each of these interpretations, however rarely will one read or hear of the nature of the Passover Feast out of which arises the ordinance of Communion.  The nature of the Passover was “symbolic” in nature. 

The Passover was an object lesson, illustration, or ordinance given to remind Israel of God’s miraculous redemption and deliverance from the bondage of Egyptian slavery.  The “Lord’s Supper” that Christians observe today is the same an object lesson, illustration or ordinance given to remind believers that the Lord Jesus has redeemed us and delivered us from the bondage of sin and the slavery it brings to the human heart.  The Passover meal and ensuing feast was not soteriological in nature, but was symbolic of God’s salvation wrought miraculously for His ancient people.   The Passover was a tangible means and ritual of “remembering” what God had done for them.  Passover was a memorial meal. 

Likewise, Communion is a tangible means or ritual for “remembering” what the Lord Jesus did for us.  Communion is a memorial meal.  The Lord Jesus had observed many of the “traditions” of the Jewish people that had been embraced through the centuries that enhanced worship and understanding of who God is.  For example, Jesus worshipped in the synagogue each week on the Sabbath, “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as His ‘custom was’ He went into the synagogue…” (Luke 4:16ff).  Synagogue attendance was not an Old Testament mandate, but was a “tradition” that arose out of the period of the exile while Israel was living in captivity in Babylon. 

God initiated the Passover in Exodus 12 and codified it in Leviticus 23, but not all the details of “how” the various elements were to be handled and lessons taught were solidified immediately.  By the time of Christ, the “Haggadah” or “Order of Service” was firmly entrenched and observed routinely each year at Passover.  There is little doubt that the Lord Jesus followed this Haggadah the night of His last Passover with His disciples.  Each Passover required much “preparation” of the room, the meal, the presentation of the meal and the like.   This explains the question of the disciples and Jesus’ subsequent instruction, “…Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” (Matthew 26:17; emphasis mine)  The night of this last Passover, Jesus did as He had done with His disciples for all their years together, except on this special night Jesus changed the meaning of the Passover for Jewish and Gentile believers alike forever. 

The following information should prove helpful in better understanding of the proper symbolic and deeply spiritual experience of communion.  The Gospel accounts add different details according to the emphasis of that particular Gospel.  The Passover supper or the events surrounding it are recorded in  Matthew 26:17-39; Luke 22:7-20; Mark 14:12-21; John 12-14; as well as what the Apostle Paul wrote to correct disobedience in I Corinthians 11:23-31.  The preparation of the heart, the room, the food, and the table were prescribed.

The Passover table is set with one place for each member of the family and one additional place left vacant for Elijah, who, according to tradition, will return prior to the coming of the Messiah; this is explained in #18 below.  Specific items are placed on a Seder plate in front of the leader who is usually the head of the household.

Seder Table (items 1 through 5 are placed on the Seder plate, the remaining items on the table)

[1]  A Roasted Shank Bone of a Lamb – This is in memory of the temple sacrifices.

[2]  Bitter Herbs – Called maror, this is usually horseradish as a reminder of the bitterness of Egyptian slavery (Ex. 1:14).

[3]  Charoseth (pronounced with a hard ‘ch’, like ‘k’) – this is a mixture of nuts, apples, cinnamon, and a little wine.  It represents the mortar, which the Hebrews had to make while slaves in Egypt (Ex. 1:14).

[4]  A Boiled Egg – this is a symbol of the temple.  It was a ritual food eaten after a funeral and was a symbol of fertility and new life.

[5]  Lettuce or Parsley – Called the Karpas, this is a reminder of the hyssop used to place the blood on the doorpost (Ex. 12:22).

[6]  Three Matazahs – The three loaves of unleavened bread are placed in a cover or placed between napkins.

[7]  Wine – This is placed in a decanter at the center of the table to be given to each participant.  The wine represents the blood of the sacrificial lamb.

[8]  Salt Water – Placed in a dish, this represents the tears of the people and is a reminder of the deliverance at the Red Sea.

The use of eight elements is significant.  In number symbolism, eight is the number of new beginning and number of the Messiah.

PASSOVER HAGGADAH      

This is a printed order of service, which is used by the head of the house to lead the Passover service.  There are many variations to the Haggadah.  All follow a general pattern but there are some slight variations.  The service of the four cups is the basic pattern around which every Haggadah is based.

1)  Brechat Haner – Passover begins with the lighting of the festival candles by the lady of the house.  The following blessing is given for this ceremony (Jn. 8:12).

Blessed are Thou O Lord, our God,

King of the universe who has sanctified us by the commandments

and has commanded us to kindle the festival light. 

Blessed art Thou O Lord our God, King of the universe,

who has kept us in life, preserved us and enabled us to reach this season.

2)  The Kiddush – This is the first cup called the cup of sanctification or blessing.  The Passover Seder

is built around drinking of four cups at various points in the celebration.  These four cups are based on the four “I wills” of Exodus 6:6-7, “I will bring you out,”, “I will deliver you,”

 “I will redeem you,” and “I will take you to be my people.”  The four cups are called:  (1) The cup of sanctification; (2) The cup of judgment; (3) The cup of redemption and (4) The cup of praise.

The fruit of the vine is poured into each cup at the table and the blessing is repeated:

Blessed art Thou, O Eternal our God, King of the universe,

Creator of the fruit of the Vine.

Sanctification should be the goal of every believer (1 Thess. 4:1-7)

3)  The Urchatz – This is the washing of the hands by the head of the household, in preparation for the remainder just before the Passover (John 13:1-11; Eph. 5:25-27).

4)  The Karpas – Green herbs, usually parsley, are a reminder of the hyssop used to sprinkle the blood on the doorposts (Ex. 12:22).  The blood is represented by the fruit of the vine.  The salt water is a reminder of the tears of the people in Egypt (Ex. 2:23) and the miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:1-31; Rom. 3:23; 6:23).

5)  The Yachutz – Three “loaves” of matzah bread are stored in a pillow called a matzah tash.  At this point, the middle loaf is removed, broken in half and one half wrapped in a white linen cloth called an afikomen.  The afikomen may be hidden somewhere in the house during the Passover meal (#15 below) to be retrieved after the supper.  The three loaves are thought to represent the priests, Levites, and Israelites.  In them, we also see Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

6)  The Maggid – This is a retelling of the story of the exodus from Egypt and the origin of the Passover as presented in Exodus 12:1-13.  The remaining two matzahs are removed from the matzah tash at this time and held up with the middle broken half for all to see while repeating the following blessing:

This is the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt;

let those who are hungry enter and eat, and all who are in distress,

come and celebrate the Passover. 

At present, we celebrate it here, but next year

we hope to celebrate it in the land of Israel. 

This year we are servants here, but next year we hope to be free in the land of Israel.

*The second cup called the cup of judgment is poured at this time but not taken.”

7)  The Four Questions – At this point in the service the youngest member of the family asks, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”  The head of the house explains that the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt and were it not for the deliverance God gave them, they would still be the slaves of the Egyptians.  The child continues with the following four questions:

1. On all other nights, we eat either leavened or unleavened bread. 

“Why, on this night, do we only eat matzah?”

2. On all other nights, we eat vegetables and herbs of all kinds. 

“Why, on this night, do we only eat bitter herbs?”

3.  On all other nights, we do not dip herbs in water. 

“Why on this night do we dip the herbs in salt water and the bitter herbs in Charoseth?”

4. On all other nights, we eat sitting upright or reclining. 

“Why on this night do we all recline?”

The head of the house answers the questions by explaining: (1) unleavened bread is a reminder of the haste with which our ancestors left Egypt (Ex. 12; 8, 19-20);  (2) the bitter herbs are a reminder of the bondage in Egypt (Ex. 1:11-12); (3) the herbs in the salt water are a reminder of new life and new beginning; the bitter herbs in the sweet Charoseth are a reminder of the bitter slavery sweetened by the hope of freedom;  (4) reclining was a sign of a free man and since our ancestors were freed on this night, we recline.  [In these we see (1) Christ our Passover, 1 Cor. 5:7-8; (2) the bitterness of sin (Rom. 6:23); (3) Christ the hope of redemption (Zech. 12:10-14; 13:1ff; Heb. 12:14-15); (4) Christ our hope of freedom (Rom. 8:14-17; Gal. 5:13.]

8)  The Four Sons – The head of the house recites the story of four sons, one wise, one wicked, one

innocent and one indifferent to the Passover.  This recitation explains why the Passover is

important to all.

1. The Wise Son asks, “What are these testimonies, statues and judgments which the Eternal, Our God, has commanded?  This provides opportunity for instruction about the Passover.
2. The Wicked Son asks, “What mean you by this service?”  Use of the word “you” indicates he does not include himself.
3. The Innocent Son asks, “What is this?”  This affords an opportunity to tell him.
4. The Indifferent Son does not ask.  Therefore, he must be told how God instructed parents to relate the Passover events to each new generation.

 9)  The Ten Plagues – Each of the ten plagues is read from the scripture and a drop of wine poured in the cup as each is named.  The ten are: blood (Ex. 7:20-25), frogs (8:1-15), lice (8:16-19), flies (9:20-32), pestilence on the cattle (9:1-7), boils (9:8-12), hail (9:13-35), locusts (10:1-20), darkness (10:21-29) and death of the firstborn (11:4-10; 12:29-36; Hos. 13:14: 1 Cor. 15:55-58).

The naming of the ten plagues is followed by reading Exodus 12:1-14 and the recitation of a refrain in which the head of the house reads a proposition “If He had merely rescued us from Egypt, but had not punished the Egyptians.” – Dyenu (We would have been satisfied.)

If He had merely rescued us from Egypt, but had not punished the Egyptians”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely punished the Egyptians, but had not destroyed their gods” –Dyenu.

“If He had merely destroyed their gods, but had not slain their first born”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely destroyed their first born, but had not given us their property”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely given us their property, but had not split the sea for us”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely brought us through on dry ground, but had not drowned our oppressors”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely drowned our oppressors, but had not supplied us in the desert for forty years”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely supplied us in the desert for forty years, but had not fed us with manna”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely given us the Sabbath, but had not brought us to Mount Sinai”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely brought us to Mount Sinai, but had not given us the Torah”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely given us the Torah, but had not brought us to the land of Israel”–Dyenu.

“If He had merely brought us to the land of Israel, but had not built us the temple”–Dyenu.

“We would have been satisfied.”

After singing, the head of the house lifts each of three essential elements of the Passover and explains the significance of each.  They are: (1) Pesach – the shank bone of the Passover lamb; (2) Matzah – the two-matzah loaves; (3) Maror – the bitter herbs.

10)  The Hallel – Psalms 113 and 114 are read responsively followed by drinking the second cup called

the cup of judgment, which was poured after the Maggid.  Before drinking, the cup is blessed with

prayer:

 “Blessed are Thou, O Eternal, our God, King of the universe,

Creator of the fruit of the vine.”

11)  The Rachatz – The head of the house washes his hands once again and recites the following blessing;

“Blessed are Thou, O Lord our God, Ruler of the world,

Who made us holy by His commandments and commanded us,

concerning the washing of hands.”

12)  The Matzoth – Three loaves of matzah are held for all to see while everyone recites the following blessing:

“Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe,

Who brings forth bread from the earth.”

The upper and middle loaves are broken and pieces distributed to everyone.  Then all recite the following:

“Blessed are Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe,

Who sanctified us with His commandments and

commanded us concerning the eating of unleavened bread.”

13)  The Maror – the bitter herbs are eaten after reciting the following blessing:

“Blessed are Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe,

Who sanctified us with His commandments and

commanded us concerning the eating of bitter herbs.”

14)  The Korech – The Charoseth is eaten with bitter herbs placed between two pieces from the bottom loaf of matzah.

15)  Shulchan Orech – The table is cleared and the Passover meal is served.

This concludes the first portion of the Passover and dinner is served to the family.  During dinner, the head of the house hides the afikomen mentioned in #5 above.

16)  Tzaphun – The afikomen, which was hidden during the meal, is found by the children of the house.  When it is brought to the head of the house, it is broken in pieces, distributed, and eaten with the reminder that it represents the Passover Lamb.  This is the point at which the gospels begin to record the story of Jesus reinterpretation of the Passover to the disciples.  That they had already finished the first part of the Passover and eaten the meal is confirmed by both Luke (22:20) and Matthew (26:21, 26) Jesus broke the unleavened bread and said He was the Passover Lamb (Isa. 53:5-6; Matt. 26:26; Lk. 22:19).

17)  Ha-Geulah – The third cup called the cup of redemption is taken after offering the following blessing:

“Blessed are Thou O Eternal, our God, King of the universe,

Who created the fruit of the vine.”

**This was the next point of Jesus’ reinterpretation of the Passover.  He took the cup, after breaking and eating the bread, and said that it was His blood, shed for the redemption of sins (Matt. 26:28; Lk. 22:20; Eph. 1:8).

18)  Elijah’s Place – At each Passover table an empty chair is left and a place set at the table for Elijah.

This custom grew from the final words of the last prophet of Israel, Malachi, who closed his message with the following exhortation:

“Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  In addition, he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5-6)

Jews believe that Elijah will come back to earth just prior to the coming of the Messiah.  Jesus said that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy (see Matt. 11:2-25, esp. vv. 12-14).  However, in an even more literal sense Elijah also came to earth.  The gospels report that at the transfiguration of Jesus, both Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with him (Matt. 17:3, 12; Mk. 9:4, 11-13).

19)  The Hallel – After the drinking of the third cup called the cup of redemption the participants sing a hymn of praise, which is traditionally Psalm 118.  This is one of the great Messianic psalms.  Verses 22-24 are quoted five times in the New Testament (Matt. 21:42; Mk. 12:10-11; Lk. 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:7).  Verses 25-27 were the words, which the crowd chanted at the triumphal entry of Jesus to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:9, 23:39; Mk. 11:9; Lk. 13:35; 19:38; Jn. 12:3).  The word “Save Now!” in Hebrew is “Hosanna!”

            It is significant that this is the hymn that Jesus doubtless sang with the disciples before they departed on that Passover night before His death (Matt. 26:30).

20)  The Fourth Cup – The Passover concludes with the drinking of the fourth cup called the cup of praise.  It is based on the fourth “I will” from Exodus 6:6-7, “I will take you to me for a people” (cf. Jn. 14:1ff).  It is extremely significant that Jesus did not observe the fourth cup of the Passover.  He and the disciples departed after the song (Matt. 26:30).  He stated that He would not drink the last cup until He drank it at the coming of the Kingdom (Matt. 26:29; Lk. 22:18). Jesus postponed the fourth cup until the Second Coming.  Prophetically this cup represents the Second Coming when Jesus will take all believers as His people (Ex. 6:7; Jn. 14:1-14; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 7:14-17; 21:1-5).

“Even so come quickly Lord Jesus” Rev. 22:20