From Jews for Jesus website Jews for Jesus missionary Elliot Marks of Chicago is shown with his wife, Aliza. They met on an Israel kibbutz. She was an American messianic Jew.

The program, open to the community, will be presented by Elliot Marks of the organization “Jews for Jesus.”

The “Gospel in the Feasts of Israel” message by Jews for Jesus (JFJ) focuses on the chief Old Testament holidays or feasts.

JFJ missionaries explain the purpose of these celebrations both then and now. They then show how the coming of Jesus fulfilled those feasts and gave them a larger meaning.

This is an excellent teaching on the relationship of the Old and New Testaments. It also reveals the opportunities for Jewish evangelism throughout the year.

Jan Irwin, a member of the church’s Discipleship Ministry Team, says Marks’ talk will focus on the four spring festivals of the Old Testament Jews, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of the First Fruits and Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).

“The Old Testament people are our spiritual forebearers,” Irwin said. And, she adds that the coming of Jesus fulfilled prophecies of the festivals.

Irwin says Marks spoke at the Evangelical Covenant Church two years ago.

He grew up in Essex, England, in a Jewish home. He attended an Orthodox synagogue. After graduating from University in Manchester, England, Marks went to live in Israel on a kibbutz (communal farm), where he met his wife, Aliza, an American Jewish believer in Y’shua (Jesus). Aliza shared her beliefs with him, leading to his own profession of faith in Y’shua.

Marks has done theological studies at Moody Theological Seminary and serves with Jews for Jesus as a full-time missionary at its Chicago branch. Elliot and Aliza have a daughter, Lilly.

Passover, which, this year, begins at sundown on March 25, celebrates the passing over the captive Israelites’ homes by the Angel of Death when God killed the first born children of the Egyptians.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread (March 25-April 1, 2013) immediately follows the Passover and marks when Jews ate only unleavened bread for seven days.

The Feast of the First Fruits (March 26, 2013) commemorates the offering of the first harvested barley to God.

Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) (May 15, 2013) begins seven weeks (50 days) after the Passover. Pentecost, for Christians, marks the coming of the Holy Spirit.

According to the organization’s website, “Jews for Jesus” began as a slogan. In the late 1960s a moving of the Holy Spirit brought thousands of cause-oriented young people to faith in Jesus, many of whom were Jewish. As for the organization, Moishe Rosen officially founded Jews for Jesus in Sept., 1973. Rosen, a veteran missionary to the Jewish people, was the executive director of the mission for 23 years. He revolutionized evangelistic methods and materials with his creative approach to communicating the gospel.

Irwin says an offering will be taken to support the work of Jews for Jesus.