Upon the recommendation of close friends, I listened to Pastor Mark Pettus’s sermon titled “Jesus Celebrates – The Goodness of God,” delivered on October 26th, 2025. I found the message both encouraging and thought-provoking. Having met with Mark many times over the years, I deeply value our friendship and have come to know him as a man of integrity, humility, and genuine love for people. His heart for God and His church is evident in all he does.
For that reason, what follows is not a criticism of his ministry or motives, but a prayerful reflection—an effort to thoughtfully engage with his words through the lens of Scripture and the Spirit. My intent is to explore how this message aligns with the fullness of what Yeshua taught and revealed, offering insights meant to strengthen, not divide, the Body of Messiah.
I share these thoughts not as a critic standing apart, but as a fellow believer within the broader Body of Messiah—listening carefully to his words, engaging with them thoughtfully, and weighing them through the light of Scripture and the guidance of the Spirit. My goal is not to question his motives, but to explore how this message aligns with the fullness of what Yeshua taught and revealed.
As a member of the royal family of New Jerusalem, I take seriously the responsibility to weigh every teaching by both Scripture and Spirit. This is not about fault-finding, but about clarity—about honoring truth wherever it’s found and gently questioning where a message may have drifted from it. Scripture reminds us that those who belong to this Kingdom must be free from lying, sorcery, and idolatry (Revelation 21:8; 22:15, ESV).
With that in mind, what follows is not a rebuttal but a reflection—a thoughtful effort to hold Pastor Mark’s message up to the Word of God, discerning what resonates with the heart of Yeshua and what may need a second look.
I have reviewed the entire message in full and selected several key portions that I believe warrant deeper consideration. Below, I’ve outlined those sections with timestamps and my corresponding reflections, offered in a spirit of respect, truth, and love for the Body of Messiah.
Part I – Language and Identity (clip 06:20 & 18:35)
A subtle but significant nuance appeared when Pastor Mark referred to Israel’s story as something belonging to them rather than us. By repeatedly calling the patriarchs and prophets “they,” he separated himself and the Church from the family of the Old Testament—as though that lineage were an outside entity rather than our own inheritance.
In truth, those are our ancestors. Scripture calls us grafted into the same olive tree (Romans 11:17–18). The language of they risks perpetuating a divide that Yeshua came to heal. When we speak of Abraham, Moses, or David, we should speak of our forefathers—not as spectators of their story, but as participants in it.
Part II – Fulfill or Abolish? (clip 16:35 – 18:00)
In these few minutes, Pastor Mark presented his case for why the “Law” is no longer binding today, interpreting Yeshua’s words in Matthew 5:17—“I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it”—as evidence that the Law’s purpose has been completed and therefore set aside.
However, fulfillment in this context does not mean termination; it means completion of a process still in motion. Yeshua was finishing what had begun, not discarding it. His life and sacrifice perfected a covenant that was already good, but not yet whole.
It’s like an Amazon fulfillment center: the order (the Law) was placed long ago, but the package (salvation) wasn’t ready to be delivered until Yeshua sealed it with His own blood. His fulfillment is the completion of that process—the moment the Law became ready for distribution, not destruction.
To suggest the Law was only temporary raises a serious question: Why would an eternal God create temporary commands? The appointed festivals and holy days were set “by the sun and the moon” (Genesis 1:14) as everlasting ordinances. Yeshua Himself observed them; so why would His followers abandon what He modeled?
Pastor Mark later called the Law a framework for biblical living—a statement that contradicts his earlier position. A framework is essential for design; progress collapses without it. If the Law is unnecessary, then by definition it cannot serve as a framework. At best, it becomes inspiration. But those grafted into Israel’s covenant cannot merely be inspired by it—we belong to it.
The names of Israel’s twelve tribes are written on the gates of New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12). Those who call themselves citizens of that Kingdom must therefore see Israel not as an ancient reference but as our family. The Law may inspire the nations, but it remains the framework of God’s covenant people.
Part III – Types and Shadows (clip 17:05)
At this point Pastor Mark invoked the familiar phrase “types and shadows,” a concept often used to diminish the authority of the Law. But shadows do not negate reality—they reveal its shape.
The Word of God is both shadow and substance: the Law is the shadow of God, and Yeshua is the person of God. One cannot exist without the other. Many Christians try to embrace the person without the shadow, while many Jews embrace the shadow without recognizing the person. Both halves are incomplete.
📖 Hebrews 10:1 (ESV)
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.”
This verse addresses the sacrificial system, not the Law itself. It shows that the sacrifices were symbolic, pointing to the ultimate atonement found in Yeshua—not that the Law was obsolete.
📖 Colossians 2:16–17 (ESV)
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
Here Paul affirms that the feasts and Sabbaths were prophetic rehearsals of Yeshua’s redemptive work—the shadow cast by His coming.
📖 Hebrews 8:5 (ESV)
“They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things… ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.’”
The earthly tabernacle mirrored the heavenly one; the Law’s shadow still reflects eternal realities.
Part IV – The Festivals and the Family of God (clips 18:20; 23:56; 36:50)
Throughout his message, Pastor Mark referred to the biblical festivals as Jewish traditions. Yet Scripture identifies them as the Lord’s feasts (Leviticus 23:2)—holy convocations for all who are in covenant with Him.
To call them merely Jewish overlooks their full covenantal reach. The Jewish people are a clan within the tribe of Judah, which is one of the twelve tribes of Israel. However, the festivals were given to the entire nation of Israel and to all who sojourn with them. Those in covenant with the God of Israel are invited to celebrate these feasts as family, not outsiders.
Part V – Substituting Holy Days (clip 21:00)
At this point in the message, Pastor Mark referenced Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas as examples of the celebrations we now observe—suggesting, perhaps unintentionally, that these serve as modern equivalents to the biblical festivals once kept by Israel.
While I’m sure he didn’t mean to present these as literal biblical commands, the contrast reveals something deeper: how our culture has traded the appointed times of God’s Kingdom for the national and sentimental holidays of man’s kingdoms. The Feasts of the Lord—established as eternal appointments and patterned by the sun and moon—are often dismissed as irrelevant, while the celebrations rooted in Western tradition are held up as sacred expressions of faith and gratitude.
But Scripture warns that those who enter the Kingdom must be free from idolatry, sorcery, and falsehood (Revelation 21:8; 22:15). Many of these modern holidays—Christmas, Easter, and Valentine’s Day—were not born from Scripture but from pagan systems of worship later absorbed into Christianity to win cultural approval and political power. Repainting idolatry with Christian language does not redeem it; as the saying goes, putting lipstick on a pig still makes it a pig.
I have no doubt that Pastor Mark and the Church of the Highlands already recognize Halloween as a pagan and demonic celebration—its darkness is obvious. Yet, the same spirit that produced Halloween also inspired the origins of Easter and Christmas. These festivals, too, were designed to mimic the holy while redirecting worship away from the one true God.
This is how deception works: it hides in what feels familiar and safe. Just as modern “phishing” scams trick people by impersonating trusted sources, Satan imitates what looks and sounds holy to lure believers into false worship. He does not always come dressed as rebellion; often he comes disguised as reverence.
That is why we must be vigilant to separate the holy from the common, the eternal from the cultural, and the truth of God’s appointed times from the counterfeits that seek to replace them. To “come out of her,” as Revelation commands, is not merely a call to reject evil—it is an invitation to return to the pure worship of Yeshua, celebrated in the times and ways He established from the beginning.
Part VI – The Burden and the Rest (clip 24:00 – 26:00)
Pastor Mark spoke of shedding the “burden” of the Law as though obedience to God’s commands were an oppressive weight. Yet in practice, rejecting the Law often replaces divine rest with human busyness.
When the Sabbath becomes “whichever day works for you,” it ceases to be Sabbath at all. It turns rest into preference. Yeshua declared, “The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27)—not as a burden but a blessing. To cast it off is to walk away from the very rest God designed for our souls.
True freedom is not the absence of structure; it is the ability to dwell securely within God’s design.
Part VII – Pentecost and Shavuot (clip 32:00)
Later in the message, Pastor Mark separated the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost from the giving of the Law at Shavuot on Mount Sinai—as though these were unrelated events.
In truth, they are the same festival. The Spirit who wrote the Law on tablets is the same Spirit who now writes it on hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; Acts 2). The disciples were celebrating Shavuot when the Holy Spirit came upon them; Pentecost was not a new holiday but a renewed visitation of the same Spirit. The Law and the Spirit were never at odds—they’ve always been one work of God.
Part VIII – Conclusion (clip 36:25)
Pastor Mark concluded by reiterating that the Law is null and void. Yet the testimony of Scripture consistently presents the opposite:
“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” — Romans 3:31
Yeshua did not end the Law; He embodied it. His grace does not erase God’s commands—it empowers us to live them with joy.
Final Reflection
This message from Pastor Mark represents the mainstream tension between grace and obedience, a topic worth ongoing discussion. My aim here is not to diminish his ministry but to call all of us—including myself—to deeper alignment with the Word.
When Yeshua said He came to fulfill the Law, He wasn’t ending it—He was bringing it to life. He warned that anyone who teaches others to set aside even the least of His commands will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven, while those who practice and teach them will be great.
Genuine worship, in Spirit and Truth, is rare and costly. It requires us to resist the easy gospel of “grace without obedience” and return to the fullness of Yeshua’s teaching—where grace empowers, truth convicts, and obedience glorifies God.
Feel free to visit my other article, “Fulfill or Abolish?” (Part I) Grace is not a license to rewrite or remove what God established..” for a more in-depth discussion on the meaning of “the fulfillment of the Law.
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