We started a wonderful day on the beautiful Sea of Galilee. We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel and were on the bus and ready for our day at 8am. Scotty had a prayer on the bus and we went to the area where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount. You can see that the area is a natural theatre where Jesus could have easily spoken to thousands of people. We had some special alone time with the LORD here.
Next we went to one of our favorite places, Caesarea Phillippi (also called Banias). This is at the foot of Mt. Herman and where the Jordan River begins. This is the area where Jesus said "On this rock I will build my church". Scotty always loves to share a message here and also share his testimony. Afterward we enjoyed seeing the lovely area there. There is an old Roman bridge and a lovely waterfall and stream.
Next we went to the place where Jesus fed the 5000. There is a church there to commmemmorate this (as there is most everywhere). The church has a lovely mosaic floor with the loaves and fishes.
We then went to another of our favorite places, Capernaum. This is where Jesus stayed often at Peter's house. The area has been excavated and you can see walls of Peter's house. This is also where they let down the man through the roof for Jesus to heal. There are ruins of a synogue there that would have been there in Jesus' day. These are all beautiful areas on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Our guide, Nabil, who is a Christian and has just started a church in Jerusalem, shared his personal testimony with us. We sang together and enjoyed this wonderful time with our LORD in one of the places that he spent so much time.
We had a late fallafel or chicken sandwich lunch and then went to the baptismal site. Many of our group chose to be baptized in the Jordan River even though the water was very cold. It was a meaningful experience for them as well as for us who watched.
Back to the hotel to rest a while before dinner. Our dinner was 7:30 tonight so we had a nice dinenr and then had a time of sharing and fellowship with our group following dinner.
God is so good. There are many, many buses of tourists shere with groups from all over the world. We are blessed when we hear these groups singing and praising our LORD in different languages.
Our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee is tomorrow - we had thought it was going to be today but it will be first thing tomorrow. Pastor Mike Goforth will be sharing the message and we will be having a time of sharing and singing on the boat. We also go to Nazareth tommorrow and will meet Afif and take him the items that were donated for his ministry.
Shalom from Tiberias, Israel
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