ENCOUNTER JESUS IN ISRAEL with Bright City Church
April 8-19, 2027
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Bright City & Compass City Churches are teaming up to retreat with Jesus in Israel, April 8-19, 2027
Pastor Sean Gasperetti invites you to walk where Jesus walked. Your pilgrimage will refresh people in your church in Everett when you return.
Experience sites around Galilee where Jesus walked. Follow his cross through the streets of Jerusalem. Visit fascinating Old Testament spots, like a gate where Abraham passed or where David faced Goliath.
Best of all, our Israel travel company, Philip's House, based in Seattle, will introduce us to Israeli believers, Jews, and Arabs. Our licensed tour guide believes in Jesus and will give us time for personal reflection at Bible sites.
Israel's leading tour company, Sar-El Tours, partners with Philip’s House to provide the safest and best in travel, accommodation, professional tour guides, and opportunities to help. Sar-El has kept 1.25 million international travelers safe over 31 years.
Let’s meet Jesus in the Promised Land.
Pastor Sean Gasperetti
Philip’s House tours are about ENCOUNTER. Get sand in your shoes that the disciples shook from their sandals.
ACTIVE: Explore the paths Jesus walked. Scan the mountains on the horizon that his eyes saw.
REFLECTIVE: You are encouraged to take a paper Bible along. You will have time to reflect on a passage written about the spot where you stand.
RELATIONAL: Meet Jews and Israeli-Arabs. Some are secular, some are religious, and a few are believers in Jesus. Israelis you meet will cause Bible personalities of history to spring to life in your imagination.
PHILIP’S HOUSE hosts ACTIVE tours of ISRAEL for INFLUENCERS from all nations to make Israeli FRIENDS and return home to a life of huge INFLUENCE.
Travelling together as a group gives great rates on airfares. Your flight is included in this price.
Just a short walk from the Old City of Jerusalem, the Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem offers inviting spaces, thoughtful comforts, and a warm, understated atmosphere—an ideal setting to reflect, recharge,
Reflect over the Sea of Galilee across the road from the Hometown of Jesus at David's Harp Hotel Capernaum.
Breakfast & dinner is included. Lunch is paid by you. Expect about 15-$20 for lunch.
All the tips for your tour guide, driver, and hotel staff are covered in your booking.
Hike the paths Jesus walked.
Visit Bible sites with time to reflect on passages written about events at locations you where you will stand.
See more than rocks of archaeology. Meet living stones--Jewish and Arab believers in Yeshua.
Meet Jews and Israeli-Arabs. Some are secular, some religious, and a few are believers in Jesus.
Every floor of your accommodation features a shelter room should an emergency arise.
To keep your daily touring plan flexible lunch is at your own cost. Plan about $15-$20 per day. US currency is accepted at most locations where you will eat.
Here is a link to detailed information about what to pack and what to expect on your tour. https://www.philipshouse.com/questions
Travel Insurance is essential to protect your investment, you, and your belongings in travel. Philip’s House recommends our broker Yonder Insurance for options. https://www.squaremouth.com/23118
Depart from Seattle or your USA departure airport to connect with an international flight to Israel. (Airlines, flights, times, hotels, and sites are subject to change without notice.)
Note that all international travelers from visa-exempt countries to Israel must have a valid ETA-IL (Electronic Travel Authorization) before departing for Israel. A small fee may apply. Visit the State of Israel visa website here https://israel-entry.piba.gov.il/
Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
You will pass through Israel’s immigration, gather your luggage, and be greeted by a Philip’s House representative. Look for the smiling face holding the Philip’s House sign!
Tonight, you will be staying at the Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem, just a short walk from the Old City of Jerusalem.
Today is a day to absorb the words, "For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity." Psalm 102:14.
Visit the Garden Tomb and its realistic depiction of a first-century grave and experience communion as never before.
Take in Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives Rehavam Overlook, then follow the triumphal route of Jesus down the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Pray in the garden where Peter denied Jesus and the pit where Jesus suffered in the church of St. Peter in Gallicantu.
Enter Jerusalem through the Lion's Gate. Visit the Crusader-era St. Anne's Church, known for its extraordinary acoustics, near the Pool of Bethesda.
Step onto the Lithostrotos—the fateful stone pavement in the heart of Jerusalem, Gabbatha—where Pilate’s verdict set the Savior on His path to Calvary
Step into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built around the Golgotha Hill where Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. Today, seven church denominations oversee the building, showing its significance to believers.
Return for dinner and a night's rest at Prima Kings Hotel.
Walk the Temple Mount, a massive platform constructed by King Herod, where once the Temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel stood. On the Foundation Stone, Abraham offered Isaac, David stopped the plague with his intercession, Solomon prayed at the dedication and fire fell, the Babylonians and Romans demolished, and Jesus taught. One day, he will return through the Eastern Gate.
Pray at the Western Wall and touch the stones that made the disciples marvel.
Go underground, beneath the feet of worshippers at the Western Wall, to explore the hidden walls of the Temple Mount, including the biggest building stone in the world. Then remember that Jesus is the cornerstone.
Experience the history of Jerusalem at the Davidson Center and sit on the Southern Steps where Jesus taught.
Join the Kings of Kings congregation for their Sunday service.
Return for dinner and a night's rest at Prima Kings Hotel.
Enter into the Jerusalem that Abraham and David knew in the excavations of The City of David.
Take in the sweeping outlook of Jerusalem, then walk through the ruins of David’s palace, past walls Abraham saw, the city Solomon and the prophets knew, and then choose your adventure.
For the adventurous: choose Hezekiah's Tunnel. Bring a flashlight, and shoes and clothes that can get wet. The water will come up to your knees. This is the water course chiseled out during the days of Senacharib’s threat to Jerusalem.
For those who want to keep dry, take the dry Canaanite era tunnel.
See the Pool of Siloam where Jesus sent the blind man to wash his eyes to be cleansed.
Walk the Pilgrim Processional Way, the ancient 2,000-year-old stepped street where Jewish pilgrims once ascended from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount during the Second Temple period.
Walk through the Jewish Quarter and see the Golden Menorah prepared for the Third Temple. See the Cardo Romano, a marketplace Jesus would have used.
Step into the Upper Room where Jesus hosted the first communion and visit the Tomb of David on the lower floor.
Return for dinner and a night's rest at Prima Kings Hotel.
Immerse yourself in The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Israel's largest cultural institution, founded in 1965, is renowned for housing the Dead Sea Scrolls in the iconic Shrine of the Book, extensive archaeology collections, fine arts, and the Billy Rose Art Garden sculpture park.
Ponder God’s plan for Israel at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.
Insert yourself into the story of modern Israel at the Friends of Zion Museum. Some report that this is one of the most powerful places they have visited in the land.
Visit Hatikvah project and learn how they build up the Israeli Body of Messiah and serve needy Israelis in the name of Yeshua as we fulfill His commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself”.
Return for dinner and a night's rest at Prima Kings Hotel.
Descend with Joshua, David, John the Baptist, and Jesus into the desert. Discover how the desert strips everything away to see God.
See the desert monastery of Qumran, located near the Dead Sea. Here, the Dead Sea Scrolls were prepared and later discovered. John the Baptist was familiar with this place.
Ein Gedi, a beautiful desert oasis near the Dead Sea, is where King David hid from Saul. The ibex deer helped him to write Psalm 42, while he hid in the cave under the waterfall.
Scale Masada in a gondola and explore King Herod's desert fortress. Built as an opulent palace to defend against Cleopatra’s armies, it was used by Jewish fighters in their last stand against the Romans in AD 73 or 74.
Enjoy floating in the buoyant waters of the Dead Sea. It's fun!
Return for dinner and a night's rest at Prima Kings Hotel.
After breakfast, you will begin traveling to Galilee, the home country of Jesus.
On your way, stop at Tel Shiloh or Ancient Shiloh, Israel’s religious heart before Jerusalem. The Tabernacle stood here for 369 years. With engaging technology, you can almost see Samuel and David walking by and smell the incense burning on the altar.
Explore the Sea of Galilee with a boat cruise on the water where Jesus walked.
Tonight you will be staying at the new David's Harp Hotel overlooking the Sea of Galilee and directly across the street from Capernaum, the hometown of Jesus.
Walk through Capernaum, the hometown of Jesus.
The Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus drew from the local scenery to illustrate the Sermon on the Mount.
Step into Grotto a cave at the base of the Mount of Beatitude where tradition suggests that Jesus may have often prayed and perhaps pondered the words of the Sermon on the Mount.
Enter the church at Tabgha, where Jesus fed 5,000 men and their families and the Primacy of Peter, where Peter met Jesus.
Stand at the threshold of a synagogue where Jesus taught at the Magdala village, home of Mary Magdalene.
Step into the Jordan River to experience baptism at the Yardenit Baptismal site.
Return to David's Harp Hotel for a Shabbat dinner and rest on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Today, we see the grand vision of Jesus for regional transformation.
Journey an hour north to Caesarea Philippi and touch the red bedrock where Peter stood, see the literal Gates of Hell, and the spiritual significance of announcing on this spot the church--the "called out ones."
Hike the rapids of Banias Falls, that inspired King David to write Psalm 42, and later Jesus would walk on his way up to Mount Hermon, the place of the Transfiguration.
Visit Kibbutz Dafna, and hear from Lt Col Eyal Dror of the IDF will meet your group to give you fascinating insights into Israel's struggle. Eyal is an expert in relations between Israel and its neighbors. He created the Good Neighbor project, a hospital built by the IDF to serve Syrian refugees.
Return to David's Harp Hotel for a night's rest.
Climb up Mount Arbel, where Jesus often climbed and prayed. For those less adventurous, take the bus and welcome the group at the top.
Explore the dramatic ruins of the Roman city Caesarea Maritima on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It was the home of Cornelius, the house of Philip, and the prison of Paul.
Reflect on your journey with a celebration dinner in a local restaurant and transport to Ben Gurion Airport for your departure. Please consult with your tour host for airport departure time.
You now have social media friends in Israel. You've left a part of yourself in the Holy Land. You want to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and go back one day soon.
Thanks to the time zone, you will arrive home on the same day!
