Sukkot 2022 in the Texas Hill Country

By Ron First
CMJ USA

The CMJ USA Texas H ill C ountry team was so excited about the plans that we had for our Sukkot celebration! We had a week of festivities planned with three enthusiastic and prominent local churches. The schedule also included teachings by Dr. Terry Harman (The Tabernacle Man) at each church. Sadly , Dr. Harman had to cancel his appearance s during Sukkot. Despite the fact that the Lord did not allow the planned event s to happen as scheduled, we were still able to host a very productive Pastor’s Appreciation Dinner and one of our churches held a Sukkot event celebrating the first day of the f east!   

Our Sukkot week culminated in a Pastor’s Appreciation dinner at my home on the Sabbath that was the penultimate night of Sukkot. We hosted 11 people , including a pastor of an area church, his wife, worship leader and youth director! It proved to be a wonderful time of fellowship, worshiping the Lord through kiddush , * oneg , * Bible study/ discussion , prayer – culminating in us entering the s ukkah at our home. This was the first Sukkot event and Shabbat experience for our friends at Calvary Baptist Church of San Marcos! We are encouraged that a relationship forged with this one extremely supportive Hill Country church was reestablished and strengthened – perhaps for future CMJ events!  

<sub><sup>* kiddush – li terally me an ing sanctificatio n , i t is a blessing recited over wine (or grape juice) and wine to sanctify Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
* oneg – literally meaning joy, it is the ritual of eating, singing, and fellowshipping together during Shabbat</sup></sub>  

^{Ron First serves as the southwest coo r dinator of CMJ USA. He is a Jewish follower of Jesus excited to tell anyone how he met the risen Messiah. Ron is a retired professional musician and educator. He owns Christian Insurance Services and lives with his wife Journeth in New Braunfels, Texas. Invite Ron to teach at your church: ron.first@cmj-usa.org.}