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House of the Risen Son is now Rock of Israel!
(September 2000)

House of the Risen Son has a new name! We are now Rock of Israel, a Messianic ministry reaching out to the Russian Jewish immigrant community of the Philadelphia area with the love of Jesus.

Why the new name? Several reasons. We believe that by next year God will bring our group of 40 Russian speakers out of infancy into childhood. God is serious about making us into a full-fledged congregation! It looks for real that the Russian Jewish pastor we've been praying for is coming, our brother Ilya Lizorkin. So it's time for our "pet" name, House of the Risen Son, to give way to the Rock.

Here's a second reason. God is serious about keeping His promises! He made an unbreakable covenant with Israel, that he would "forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31:34). How? God sent His Son Jesus, the Messiah, to die for our sins instead of us. This Good News connects with Russian Jews here in Philadelphia. We are seeing this! Both Jews and non-Jews who believe in Jesus will live forever on the Rock.

And a third reason. This Good News is connecting with Russian Jews around the world! You can see this happening maybe the most in Brooklyn, New York City. Messianic believers there started the Hope of Israel fellowship seven years ago. This group of Russian-speaking immigrants is pastored by Greg Zhelezny, and is affiliated with Redeemer Church (PCA) of Manhattan. I went to visit Greg recently with my coworker Fred Klett of the CHAIM ministry. We saw a group of more than a hundred new believers rejoicing in the Lord! This fall they will appoint a group of elders and deacons to make another step up to a full-scale congregation. They are also serious about serving the Russian Jewish community - Hope of Israel recently started the Russian Community Life Center to reach out to immigrants in Brooklyn, though they are encountering heavy opposition from anti-Messianic groups. Our prayer is that Rock of Israel will be able to team together with Hope of Israel to further the kingdom of our Lord and Savior. Please pray with us that God would use our two fellowships as part of His plan to turn many Jews to Jesus! We hope that many children of Israel, both in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, and also in Los Angeles, Miami, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and cities around the world, will come to know the Rock and turn to Him. "For they drank from the Spiritual Rock that accompanied them, and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4).

With Glory to the Rock of Israel!
Marko Malyj
Congregational Planter, New Life Northeast Presbyterian Church (PCA)