If you look at the Sea of Galilee, you see a lake that is full of life—there is lush vegetation around the banks of the Sea, and, as the New Testament stories make clear, it is full of fish. It also serves as a source of fresh drinking water for Israel. About a hundred kilometers south of the Sea of Galilee is the Dead Sea: it is an extraordinary place but it is quite literally dead. What’s the difference between these two seas? The living thriving Sea of Galilee has streams of water feeding it and streams of water flowing out of it. The Dead Sea only has water flowing into it: nothing flows out. Ron Cantor, an elder at Tiferet Yeshua, shared this analogy with us in the past: when a believer, or a congregation, for that matter, doesn’t have an “outflow”, it is in danger of becoming what the Dead Sea is.

The Dead Sea

Believers can become like the Dead Sea if they are self-focused in their faith, seeking only to receive from God, from their congregation and from others, whether it be encouragement, help, attention, love or support. When there is no genuine outflow of wanting to bless God and others, no desire to serve and give of themselves to God and to others, the lives of the “self-centered” end up producing very little “fruit of the Spirit”. Yeshua does not mince words when it comes to trees that do not produce fruit – a sober warning to us all for genuine soul searching (Matt. 7:19, Lk. 13:7 ). God fills us not so that we can stay put but in order that we can become life-giving rivers of water to those around us.

Congregations can also be self-focused and end up like the Dead Sea too. The Lord Yeshua called us to be fishers of men, to make disciples, and to care for the poor and needy in our communities. When congregations do not engage in outreach, do not participate with other congregations or invest in other ministries, a “bunker” mentality can set in: leaders become overly protective and jealous of their flock, their flock does not increase or grow, and there ends up not being a surplus which could be sown into outreaches or other ministries.

The Living Sea

It is fitting that Yeshua began His ministry around the Sea of Galilee – Israel’s only living sea. It is a reflection of who He is. We, in turn, are called to be like our Master: He kept His eyes on the Father and was the servant of all. Individually and corporately, when we focus on what God wants and on what we can do for others as an impulse of love, the “rivers of living waters” from the Holy Spirit within us will abound all the more. Corporately the same thing happens.

When the Tiferet Yeshua leadership sat down in 2013 to define the vision of the congregation, the elders agreed that the most concise declaration of our values (i.e., the first and second most important commandments in proper order) is to:

“love God, love one another, and love our city.”

Since then, we have made it a point to not only have ongoing ministry to the poor and needy in our community through our weekly Feed Tel Aviv outreach, but we also lead monthly outreaches in the streets of Tel Aviv. We also realized that practical generosity must also be constant and ongoing. Therefore 10 percent of our overall budget is designated to giving to believers in need and supporting other ministries. In times of pleanty, we are overjoyed to be able to bless other ministries in Israel in the way God has blessed us by others in times of need. What we have seen in the ten years of having these values firmly in place is simply God’s promise for growth and life come to pass, firstly in people and also in finances.

Just in the last year, three Israelis came to faith, went through discipleship, devoted their lives to Yeshua in water immersion and are becoming living members at Tiferet Yeshua (connecting with other believers and serving). Praise God! This is indeed the greatest blessing of life for us. God alone is faithful and biblical principles are tried and true when we just have the faith to live by them.