GROUP CODE: 24013
Note from the Rector:
The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So, Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. (Genesis 12:1-4a)
The story of Genesis may begin with the creation story, but the story of Israel really begins with this passage, our Hebrew Scripture passage for the second Sunday of Lent. As Abram (later renamed Abraham) comes to the land that will eventually be known as the Kingdom of Israel, we see the beginning of a people’s understanding of who they are. And we begin to see the importance of the land they came to possess. The Holy Land is so important a part of scripture that the Christians that still live there, mostly Palestinians, call it, “The Fifth Gospel”. Visiting the Holy Land still inspires passion and visiting it changes a person’s understanding of Scripture forever.
So, Tanya and I want to invite you all to join us on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from January 24 through February 5, 2024. Click the link above for a brochure with more information.
You may sign up at https://portal.myfaithjourneys.com/ using group code, 24013. The cost is all inclusive (except travel insurance) and is just $4995, which includes airfare from Boston. That’s cheaper than two nights on the Star Wars “Star Cruiser” at Disney World! There are 35 spaces. Tanya and I are opening this up to “our Trinities” for the next few weeks and I encourage you to sign up by March 15. In mid-March we will invite the wider diocese as well as people I have led on past pilgrimages who are interested in joining me again, which will fill the remaining spots quickly.
My pilgrimage to Modern Israel and the West Bank in 2016 was so transformative that it became an inflection point in my life. I have been changed forever by walking the same places as our Lord, Jesus Christ. Seeing where David hid from Saul, where Jesus met the challenge of the temptation in the wilderness, standing where the crucifixion happened, and kneeling in Christ’s tomb made everything vividly alive for me. It’s made me a better preacher and scholar of the Bible. I am thrilled I have been able to arrange this pilgrimage offering, and very excited to share it with you here at Trinity.
As Jesus said to Andrew and John when they first met Him, “Come and See!” It will change your life!
In Christ,
Tim+