What is “messianic Judaism”? It is a prophetic movement in these final days which seeks to reconnect Jewish people and all believers in general with a spirituality which remains in its origins biblically Jewish. It is partly a restorative movement, however at its core it is based upon the promises of God to the children of Israel. The messianic movement is about Jewish believers embracing the Jewish messiah Yeshua but still maintaining their Jewish identity, and embracing their place within the body of messiah with believers from all the nations. It is restorative because many things that were lost from the early Jewish church are being restored by the Ruach Ha Kodesh(the Holy Spirit). At the core of this premise is that Yeshua (Jesus) did not come to establish a new religion but to complete the revelation of Adonai (the Lord) which began with the torah revealed through Moses. A primary scripture for our congregation is Isaiah 2(and Micah 4):  

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord.

The key difference between normative modern Judaism and messianic Judaism is that Yeshua the messiah is the centre of our faith and spirituality and the only way in which we can have access to our Father in heaven. The core central pillars of messianic Judaism which come out of our faith in Yeshua are the Shema and the Shabbat (the Sabbath). The shema in Deuteronomy 6:4 declares the oneness of Adonai and the love of Adonai. The Shabbat is the sign of the eternal covenant between Adonai and the children of Israel and as an ordinance blessed and made holy from the beginning of creation. 

What messianic Judaism is not (or should not be):

It is not a movement which forces gentiles (the nations) to become circumcised.

It is not a movement forcing the law of Moses upon the nations.

It is not a movement which wants to be a part of normative modern religious Judaism.

It is not a movement which forces people to convert to Judaism or make them become Jewish.

It is not a movement which puts up a barrier between Jewish believers and the Church.

It is not a movement designed to put a legalist yoke of demands upon believers in Jesus.

It is not a movement which has discovered the lost tribes or thinks that the nations are the lost tribe of Ephraim or northern kingdom.