Yom Teruah 2025
The Day of Trumpets Celebration - Rosh Hashanah 2025
The Sound That Won't Let You Sleep
The trumpet blast at the center of Rosh Hashanah has never been polite. That's the point Matthew Vander Els returned to again and again as Founded in Truth Fellowship gathered to mark Yom Teruah — the biblical Day of Trumpets, the day of the shout. Before the shofar sounded, Vander Els offered a traditional blessing in Hebrew and reminded the congregation why this season carries the language of a king drawing near: it's a built-in moment to ask, honestly, whether anything in life needs adjusting. He didn't pretend the year made that easy. "2025 hasn't been a very graceful year," he said, noting how survival-mode living breeds patterns of quietly ignoring what matters.
What Terua Actually Means
Vander Els grounded the evening in the Hebrew word teruah, which appears 36 times in Scripture. Almost without exception, he said, it marks a moment when ordinary reality is shattered and God breaks through. He walked through the pattern: when Joshua's army shouted a teruah, the walls of Jericho fell. When Solomon was crowned, the people's shout and trumpet blast shook the ground. When the ark returned to Jerusalem, David and Israel celebrated with shouting and trumpets audible for miles. When Samuel anointed Saul, the people shouted teruah and declared, "Long live the king." When Jehu was anointed king over Israel, commanders blew trumpets and shouted teruah to announce the new reign. Even personal restoration carries the word — Job 33 describes a person restored to God's favor praying with teruah, a joyful shout — and Psalm 47 commands the nations to clap and shout to God because "God has ascended amid the shouts of joy." The common thread, Vander Els said, is disruption: "It's the sound that says, whatever you're doing, you need to stop. Whatever you're thinking, you need to reconsider."
Yeshua as the Embodiment of the Shout
From there, Vander Els argued that Yeshua doesn't merely fulfill the meaning of Yom Teruah — he embodies it. His first recorded words in the Gospel of Mark, "The time has come, the kingdom of God has drawn near, repent and believe the good news," function as an awakening call, the same kind that launches the ten days leading to Yom Kippur. His birth was announced by a shout and trumpet blast so glorious it terrified the shepherds who heard it. His ministry kept shattering ordinary reality — water into wine, storms calmed, the dead walking out of tombs. Vander Els pointed to Luke 4, where Yeshua reads from Isaiah in the synagogue and describes his own mission: anointed to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and "the year of the Lord's favor." That, Vander Els said, is trumpet language — jubilee language, the sound of the divine announcing freedom. The cross and resurrection extend the pattern as the ultimate wake-up call, shattering the power of death. And Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, ties it to the future: the final resurrection happens "at the last trumpet blast," meaning Yeshua is both the blast that awakens believers now and the final trumpet that will one day consummate that hope.
A Pattern That Repeats, Not a One-Time Event
The most personal turn of the teaching was Vander Els's insistence that this pattern of divine disruption isn't a single event but something God keeps doing throughout a life. "It'd be nice if God could just call us one time and then bam, the journey's over," he said. "No, he calls us to begin a journey and then he calls us to walk with him." Sometimes that means high, beautiful places; sometimes it means valleys "dark and full of death." Each time, the invitation is to grow a little closer, conform a little more, renew the mind a little further. He named specific ways people drift without noticing — sleepwalking through a relationship with God because autopilot is easier, managing life without asking what God actually wants for the coming year, settling into habits and loops that don't lead anywhere, letting fear make decisions that should be driven by faith, holding onto hurts that poison the ability to love, or staying so busy with good things that the great things get missed. Repentance, he said, "is not just a confession but a transformation" — a turning, a change in direction, not merely an admission of wrong but a choice to do what's right starting now. And every teruah in Scripture that announces a problem, he added, also points toward a coming victory or restoration — Jericho's fall began an inheritance, Solomon's coronation established peace, the ark's return meant God choosing to dwell with his people.
Application
Vander Els closed with two specific instructions tied to the shofar blast itself. First, as the sound cuts through "the mold" of daily concerns and ruts, he asked each person to resist making a list and instead pick just one area of life that genuinely needs to change — "God, I know for a fact this is something that I need to change in my life" — and commit to starting that journey. Second, he asked people to let the same sound carry hope, not just conviction, since every biblical teruah that names a problem also announces a solution. He invited the congregation to let the moment become "your personal altar," praying in the midst of the noise, surrendering what needs to be surrendered, and asking for the grace to change what needs to be changed as the ten days of awe leading to Yom Kippur begin.
Read the transcript (2,956 words)
Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.
Well, welcome everybody. Happy Yamua.
So don't get too comfortable. I know we had a lot of excitement and I don't know how I'm even going to follow that, but it's amazing to see when the spirit of joy breaks loose onto the house of the Lord. And I love being a part of that. But in just a few minutes, we're going to make it even louder. And I say that to say if you have sensitive ears like me, or if you have children that might have sensitive ears, just be aware—it usually gets really loud. So plug your ears and go out. It's just going to get really loud in this room. I'm giving you guys a heads up. But it's going to be a joyful noise. Unless it isn't, right?
So the older I get, the more I appreciate older people in their small remarks and complaints because I now have some of them. But tonight, we gather not just for another service, obviously, but to participate in one of the most ancient and mysterious celebrations in all of Scripture. In just a little bit, we're going to hear the sound of the collective shout and the collective shofar together—that primal blast of the ram's horn that has been echoing across the world for over 3,000 years now.
And before we blow the shofar, I wanted to give a traditional blessing, the ancient blessing of Scripture. Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha'olam, shehecheyanu v'kiy'manu v'higiyanu lazman hazeh. Blessed are you, Oh Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us, sustained us, and brought us into this season.
The King Is in the Field
Love that blessing—"this season." Why this season? Because this is the season when we say the King is in the field. We say the King is drawing near. We say there is a celebration where we have an opportunity to evaluate ourselves and have a call to action to say, "Hey, do we need to adjust anything in our lives?"
2025 hasn't been a very graceful year, and I thought I would never say that after 2020. It's been a tough year, and it's easy to get distracted. It's easy to form patterns of ignoring some things because you feel like you're in survival mode to focus on others. It's been tough. And so tonight when we hear the shofar, I want to invite you to think about areas in your life—maybe I need to address some things, get back on track, and continue my work with God.
The biblical name for today is Yom Terua—the day of the shout, the day of the trumpet blast, the day of the loud noise. The word "terua" appears 36 times in Scripture, and almost every single time it marks a moment when ordinary reality is shattered and God does something amazing. He breaks through. We spoke about this on Shabbat. When Joshua's army conquered Jericho, they shouted a terua and the walls fell down. When King Solomon was crowned, the people proclaimed him with a shout, a trumpet blast, a terua so loud that it shook the ground. When the ark of the covenant returned to Jerusalem, David and all of Israel celebrated with shouting and blowing the shofar, the terua, and it could be heard for miles away. When Samuel the prophet anointed Saul as Israel's first king, the people shouted "Terua," and they declared, "Long live the king." When Jehu—the best driver in all the Bible—was anointed king over Israel, the commanders blew the shofar and they shouted terua to announce the new reign.
The Terua Throughout Scripture
In Job chapter 33, when a person is restored to God's favor, they pray with terua, a joyful shout in their prayer. Even in Psalm 47, we're commanded: "Clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with your cries of joy, your terua, because God has ascended amidst the shouts of your joy." The terua, the shout in the Bible, the trumpet blast—it's never gentle. It's never polite. It's the sound that says, "Whatever you're doing, you need to stop. Whatever you're thinking, you need to reconsider, evaluate some things. Something bigger than your normal life might be happening right now." You hear the siren.
And as believers in Yeshua, it gets really exciting because Yeshua doesn't just fulfill the meaning of Yom Terua, the day of shofar blasts, Rosh Hashanah. He embodies it. The shadow, right? He embodied everything tonight is about. His entire ministry is like one long shofar blast that disrupted everything, calling people to wake up to the reality of God's kingdom that they hadn't even—they were so far from being in touch with. Yeshua's first words in the gospel of Mark are: "The time has come. The kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe the good news." That's that awakening call. That's that awakening call that we hear in Yom Terua, that launches us into what we call the 10 days leading up to Yom Kippur, a day of repentance and fasting.
His birth was announced with a shout and trumpet blast, the terua. The angel's proclamation to the shepherds was so loud, so glorious, it terrified them. His ministry was full of moments that shattered ordinary reality. Water became wine. Storms were calmed at his word. Dead people started walking out of tombs. That happened as well. Look at how Yeshua described his own mission in Luke chapter 4 when he read from Isaiah in the synagogue, as we discussed on Shabbat. He says, "The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, set the oppressed free, proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." It's trumpet language. It's jubilee language. It's the sound of the divine intervening and announcing freedom.
The Cross, Resurrection, and the Final Trumpet
And then we come to the cross and the resurrection—the ultimate wakeup call that shatters the power of death and announces that love wins, life wins, and hope will always win despite what the world tries to tell us. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that it'll happen at the last trumpet blast, the final shofar blast that completes everything that tonight's shofar blasts are going to begin. Yeshua is both the trumpet blast that awakens us into the reality of who God is, but also the last trumpet that consummates and seals our hope.
But here's what makes tonight so personal: the same pattern that we see throughout Scripture—this divine intervention that crashes into earth and shatters our reality—it's what God always calls us to keep doing. It's not a one-time thing. It would be nice if it was. It would be nice if God could just call us one time and then—bam—the journey's over. No. He calls us to begin a journey, and then he calls us to walk with him, and he calls us to follow him. Sometimes to some really high and beautiful places, and sometimes he asks us to trust him as we go through valleys that are dark and full of death. And each time he's asking us to grow a little bit more, grow a little bit closer, conform a little bit better, renew that mind just a little bit more.
And so yeah, sometimes we hear extra shofar blasts through our life to say, "Hey, have I gotten off track? Have I taken for granted this walk that I have?" And that could be anything. It could be anything. Maybe you're sleepwalking through your relationship with God because hitting autopilot sometimes is just easier, right? Maybe you've been managing your life without really asking what God wants from you this coming year. "I go and see God on Shabbat, I pray a little bit every night, but he can stay in his corner the rest." Maybe you've been settling for patterns or habits, loops that you know aren't leading you toward who God created you to be, and so you're stuck. Maybe, and it's easy to do in today's age, maybe you've been letting fear make decisions that should be driven by faith. Maybe you've been holding on to hurts that are poisoning your ability to love. Maybe you've been so busy with good things that you've missed all the great things.
The Call to Repentance and Transformation
The trumpet blast says, "Wake up. Snap out of it." This is what repentance means. It's not just a confession but a transformation. It means to change, to turn, to change direction. Change the way you're thinking about everything. Allow God to shatter that and show you the real world as he takes the blinders off. It's not just admitting what's wrong, but making the choice to say, "I'm going to do what's right starting now."
But repentance isn't the end of the story when it comes to today. It's also the beginning of hope. Every terua, every shout, every horn blast in Scripture that calls for awakening also points to a coming victory, a restoration, or a joyful celebration at the end. When the walls of Jericho fell, it wasn't just destruction—it was the beginning of Israel inheriting the promises given to them, the promise of the land. When Solomon was crowned, it wasn't just a political transition—it was the establishment of God's peace and prosperity on the land. When the ark returned to Jerusalem, it wasn't just some religious ceremony that people went out to. It was God choosing to dwell with his people. It's a big deal.
The same God who breaks into your life to wake you up is the same God who has plans for your good, your hope for the future, grace and transformation, and making you into the image that you were always meant to be—the image of God, the image of Yeshua. This is the hope that makes repentance and auditing yourself and wanting to make changes possible. Because you don't have to change yourself through willpower alone. That's the secret weapon according to the Word. You don't have to figure out how to become a better person through sheer determination. The God who calls you to wake up is the same God who provides you the power to change through his spirit.
Don't Let the Excuses Stop You
I guess what the Bible's trying to say is you really don't have that many excuses not to try, not to at least recognize, not to at least name it, not to at least take a first step in the right direction. And that's what this season's all about. Tonight kicks off the 10 days of reflection until we reach Yom Kippur, which has an even deeper message for us as believers in Yeshua. Tonight isn't just about acknowledging what needs to change. It's also about celebrating what God is going to do in all of us.
So when you hear the shofar in just a few moments, I would like to invite you to do two things. Let the ancient sound cut through the noise of your concerns in life, your ordinary concerns, your day-to-day concerns, the mold that we put on that deafens the call to God for us, the ruts that we get in daily life. Let the sound pierce through that. And as you hear it, I would invite you to just ask yourself, what is God trying to wake me up to? What areas of my life need that divine disruption, that intervention that brings change?
Pick One
Don't think about two or three things. I know some of you very well and I know you have anxiety and you will make a list. I don't want you to make a list of things that you think about yourself. I want you to pick one. Don't be ADHD now. Pick one. Pick one and say, "God, I know for a fact this is something that I need to change in my life. And I'm willing during this time of utter chaos and commotion and noise. I'm willing to let that noise defeat any excuses in my life. And I'm going to start this journey." And it could be anything. But pick something if anything comes to mind.
And second, let the sound fill you with hope at the same time. Remember that every biblical terua—the shout that announced an issue and a problem also announced a solution. There's a city you can't get past it. It's a solution. It's no longer a problem. That is the idea and the spiritual symbolism behind the trumpet blast. And it's not even just a trumpet. You scream a shout, terua. And so tonight, just a moment when we do have trumpet blasts, if you don't have a trumpet, you still have no excuse because you can, I mean, imagine the walls. You're going to shout, "Ah, you're going to blow the trumpets?" Yes. Do all of that. Do all of that because the same voice that calls us to repentance and to recognize areas in our life that we might need to address is the same voice that promises the love and support and the transformation that's going to come with it.
Let This Moment Become Your Altar
And so as we blow these trumpets together, I want you to let this moment become your personal altar. If that's you, maybe not. You don't need to come forward here. Just let the sound of the shofar draw you inward into God's presence. As you hear these ancient blasts, if you can, if the spirit has prompted something, then pray. Come to God in the midst of the chaos and see that this is a God of peace and shalom. See what happens. Surrender what needs to be surrendered. Ask for the grace to change what needs to be changed. The God who's been faithful for thousands of years is ready to be faithful in your life today. I mean, that's such a churchy thing to say because it's the thing that you say at church because it's the truth. It's the truth. Don't let the moment pass by without responding to his call. Yes. Yes. Just yes. Keep it. Hold on. Just hold for another minute.
We participate in what God is doing. That's why we're here. We join our hearts to the terua that announces that God is king. That grace is always available. Hope is real and new beginnings are possible. And I hope that your hearts will be filled with absolute indescribable joy as we celebrate who our King is, what he's done for us, and the glories of his name, Yeshua. So let's stand together, and I'm going to invite Katie to distribute... Oh, you've already done it.
Prepare for the Sound
Fantastic. And tambourines, those work too. We can. Would anyone like a utensil for their terua? Anyone need a tambourine? Oh, we totally look like a cult right now. And I love it. Let's pass them around. This is great. So let us stand now and hear the sound that has changed things for thousands of years. And is everybody ready as far as sensitivity with ears? Just one more heads up. Your Apple Watch will alert you to the noise warning.
Right. Okay. Good. Well, I guess we can go. Hear, hear, hear! Hallelujah! Have the walls falling down yet? Wow! Got to run out of air sometimes. Okay.
The Hope of Children
Do you know why I have so much hope, so much hope, that no matter what I see outside I know it's going to be okay. You want to know why? It's because while all of us adults just get tired and we're like, you know what, we don't have it in us anymore, the six-year-olds will carry the banner of Yeshua and they will keep marching. And I'm so thankful for that. Guys, we're in it now. We are in the 10 days of awe. We have just crossed the threshold and I hope you were prepared for that.
And so in this season of the world where everybody has fear running through them, there's fire. Everything's on fire. What are we going to do? Every time you pull up the news, it's like, is this another episode of Twilight Zone? You know the future. You know who's in charge. You know who's on the throne. That's where we're keeping our focus right now. For the next 10 days. For the next 10 days, guys, until Yom Kippur. Keep that focus. Keep that focus. Keep that focus.
Prayer
Avinu Malkeinu, our Father, our King. Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come once again before you and make a joyful noise as you have instructed us to. Father, I ask that the power of the shofar, the blast, the shout would permeate through us, that we would be able to identify the things in our life that we do need to change, even if it's just one. Father, I ask that you would give us that power, that strength, that you would take away the excuses for why up to this point we haven't chosen to make a change, so that we can walk in confidence and hope of your power and reality of the kingship of Yeshua. We thank you, Father, in the name of Yeshua, we pray. Amen.
Closing
You are dismissed. I'd love to remind you about a nice box at the back. It's a wooden box so you can put something in that. That'd be great. If you see God blessing you through this ministry, guys, we need prayer. We need volunteers. We need financial resources. And so if it's on your heart, please give. Thank you, everybody. And we'll see you on Shabbat. Have a good week. Shabbat shalom.
