Beginning this evening for eight days we celebrate Chanukah, the Feast of Lights or Dedication. This is a special time of year where the Jewish people commemorate the rededication of the Second Temple at the time of the Maccabean Revolt during the second century B.C. For eight nights and days an additional candle is lit on the hanukiah (a special nine-branched candelabrum) until all of the eight branches are burning brightly. We use this time to gather together as family and remember the miracle of the oil that burnt in the Temple and the light we carry inside of us as believers in the Messiah – the light of the world. We ask for your prayers during the upcoming festivities that God’s light would draw people to a greater revelation of Him and would outshine the darkness that so often tries to steal our joy.