|
Our Vision
We are dedicated to bringing the peace and fulfillment of faith to everyone we can help. Please call us at any time.
Our Mission
To glorify God by proclaiming the good news of Jesus, in the context
of loving relationships, through the power of the Holy Spirit, for the maturing
of the saints and the salvation of the lost. We exist to reach up (Worship) to
reach out (Evangelism); and to reach in (Discipleship.) Our goal is to
provide literature and information to the entire world about our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ; to baptize in the name of Jesus (Convert
Center); to marry in the Name of Jesus
(Holy Matrimony Center)
and to bury in the name of Jesus (The Comforter Center).
The Kingdom of God Christian Center is a new organization that
specializes in providing Christian services for weddings, baptisms,
christenings and funerals. The Executive Director is ordained minister,
Rev. Vicki J. Alston that believes that spreading Christ liberated gospel into
the lives of people and is her primary reason for being. She truly lives
a life for the up-building of God’s kingdom. Through 3 ministries, we
provide the following services:
(1) Convert Center - baptism and christening converts for God’s Kingdom.
(2) Holy Matrimony
Center – Marry, Renew
Vows and Eulogize and Bury for God’s Kingdom; and
(3) The Comforter
Center – Counselor and
provide comfort for the children or God’s Kingdom.
Reason for using us:
(1) We specialize in pleasing
our customers.
(2) Only donations are accepted..
(3) We deliver with the Love of
Jesus Christ.
(4) No problem is too difficult
or too small for us.
(5)
We are experts at what we do for you.
Our Church
Kingdom of God Christian Center has been serving our community since 2001. Our congregation now numbers 150, and we welcome newcomers.
The Kingdom
Of God
The basic message from Jesus is, "The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God is at hand;
repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:14).
This message has two parts. The
first part is what Jesus called the gospel: "The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom
of God is at hand."
The second part is the response to the gospel that Jesus called for
people to make: "Repent, and believe in the gospel."
What did Jesus mean by the term
"kingdom of God?" We find clues to the meaning
of this term in Jesus' parables (stories). Almost two-thirds of Jesus parables
refer to the kingdom
of God. (Note: the
writers of the books of Mark and Luke use the term "kingdom of God"
and the writer of the book of Matthew uses the term "kingdom of
heaven." Both terms refer to the same thing.)
One of Jesus' parables is known as
the parable of the "sower." We should examine this parable first
because Jesus considered this parable the key to understanding all of his other
parables. When the disciples of Jesus asked him to explain the meaning of the
parable of the sower, Jesus replied, "Do you not understand this parable?
How then will you understand all of the parables?" (Mark 4:13).
The parable of the sower is given by
the writers of Matthew (chapter 13), Mark (chapter 4), and Luke (chapter 8).
The following is the parable
according to the book of Matthew:
"A sower went out to sow. And
as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured
them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and
immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun
rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. Other
seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds
fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty. He who has ears, let him hear" (Matthew 13:3-9).
When the disciples asked Jesus to
explain the parable, Jesus said:
"Hear then the (meaning of the)
parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does
not understand (accept) it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown
in his heart; this is what is sown along the path.
"As for what was sown on rocky
ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with
joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for awhile, and when
tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls
away.
"As for what is sown among the
thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and delight
in riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful.
"As for what was sown on good
soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit,
and yields, in one case hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
(Matthew 13:18-23)."
The "seed" that is sown is
called the "word of the kingdom" (Matthew), or the "word"
(Mark), or the "word of God" (Luke). Jesus uses the term "word
of God" to refer to the "commandment of God" (Mark 7:9, 7:13) or
God's laws. According to the parable of the sower, the "word of God"
is sown "in the heart." God's laws (commandments) are known
intuitively, or naturally, by everyone.
Jesus described himself as "a
man who told you the truth which I heard from God" (John 8:40) but Jesus did
not make any exclusive claim to "hearing" God's truth. Jesus said,
"It is written in the (Hebrew) prophets, 'And they shall all be taught
by God'(Isaiah 54:13). Everyone who has heard and learned
from the Father comes to me" (John 6:45).
According to Jesus, all
people are taught the truth by God, and those who "hear" (pay
attention to) and "learn from" (accept) the truth are attracted to
the teachings of Jesus because "my (Jesus') teaching is not mine, but His
who sent me; if any man's will is to do His will, he shall know whether the
teaching is from God, or whether I am speaking on my own authority"
(John 7:16-17). "For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who
sent me has Himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak"
(John 12:49).
Jesus taught that God's two basic
commandments can be summarized as "you shall love God" and "you
shall love your neighbor" (Matthew 22:37-39). Jesus refers to God's
commandments as the "word" of God (Mark 7:9; 7:13). Although the
parable of the sower teaches that the "word of the kingdom" or the
"word of God" is known by everyone, each person must choose whether
or not to accept this truth and put it into practice in one's own life.
In the parable, Jesus gives four
examples of how individuals respond to the "word of God" which is
"sown in the heart."
Some individuals reject God's law of
love completely, like a hard path that will not allow seeds to take root. They
let the temptation to do evil devour the truth, like birds devour seeds on the
hard ground. In Jesus' day, the temptation to do evil was personified as the
"evil one" or the "tempter." (This personification should
not be taken literally but the temptation to do evil is real.)
Other individuals initially accept
God's law of love in a superficial way, like the thin, rocky soil receives the
seed, but when it becomes difficult to follow the way of love, they abandon it.
They let the truth wither away.
Other individuals let God's law of
love get entangled and choked out by materialistic concerns.
However, some individuals accept
God's law of love and produce the fruits of love -- good deeds -- in various
amounts. In the parable of the sower, the "word of the kingdom" is
sown "in the heart" but only "he (she) who hears and understands
(accepts) it; he (she) indeed bears fruit" (Matthew 13:23).
In addition to the parable of the
sower, Jesus gave a number of other parables about the "Kingdom of God."
Here is the parable of the hidden
treasure:
"The kingdom of heaven is like
a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy
he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field" (Matthew 13:44).
According to the parable of the
hidden treasure, the kingdom
of God is valuable (“like
a treasure"). It is contained within something ("it is hidden in a
field"). It can be discovered ("a man found it"). And finally,
the kingdom of God can be acquired at some cost (the
man "goes and sells all that he has and buys the field" to possess
the treasure).
Here is the parable of the pearl:
"The kingdom of heaven is like
a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value,
went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matthew 13:45).
According to the parable of the
pearl, the kingdom
of God is valuable,
"like a pearl of great value" and it can be acquired at some cost,
the merchant "sold all that he had and bought it." The parable of the
pearl adds the point that the kingdom
of God can be found by
searching, the "merchant was in search."
Next is the parable of the mustard
seed. It is found in Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32; and Luke 13:18-19. The
parable in Mark is as follows:
"And he (Jesus) said, 'with
what can we compare the kingdom
of God, or what parable
can we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon
the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it
grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade'."
From the parable of the mustard
seed, we learn that the kingdom
of God is sown or planted
somewhere. It is small in the beginning but it grows, and serves a useful
purpose.
Next is the parable of the leaven:
"And again he (Jesus) said, 'To
what shall I compare the kingdom
of God? It is like leaven
which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened'
(Luke 13:20-21)."
Leaven, of course, is a substance
that is put into dough causing fermentation to make the dough rise when baking
bread. The parable of the leaven suggests that the kingdom of God
is intentionally put into something and it has a permeating influence on
whatever it is in.
To Jesus, the "kingdom of God" meant the rule of God on
earth. Jesus believed that God's kingdom would come as God's will is done
"on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Jesus taught that it is
God's will, or "commandment," for us to love God and our
"neighbor." Through his parables, Jesus taught that God's laws are
known to everyone. They are planted like a seed "in the heart."
The kingdom of God
comes, in the beginning, through an individual's search and discovery of God's
natural laws within himself or herself. The recognition and acceptance of God's
natural laws have an inner influence that permeates the individual's life.
Although the kingdom of God
begins within the individual, it does not end there. The kingdom of God
has an "outward" aspect to it. The acceptance of God's way of love
becomes evident in the deeds of the individual. In the parable of the sower,
the seeds "brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty." In the parable of the mustard seed, the plant "grows up and
puts forth branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its
shade."
The kingdom of God
is the reign of God's law of love in individuals and in human society.
Jesus said that the kingdom of God is "at hand." What did
Jesus mean by the term "at hand?" We find the answer to this in a
conversation that Jesus had with a Jewish scribe. "The scribe said to
Jesus, 'You are right, teacher, you have truly said that He (God) is one, and
there is no other (God) but Him; and to love Him with all the heart, and with
all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as
oneself, is much more than burnt offerings and sacrifices.' And when Jesus saw
that he answered wisely, he (Jesus) said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.'" (Mark 12:32-34).
It is clear that the scribe was
"not far from the kingdom
of God" because he
recognized that God's basic laws for humankind are "love for God" and
"love for neighbor." The discovery, or recognition, of God's natural
laws is the first step toward the reign of God's laws in an individual's life.
Of course, the kingdom of God,
or the reign of God's laws, becomes a reality in a person's life only when a
person chooses to live by these laws. The scribe was "not far" from
the kingdom of God because the scribe recognized God's
laws. The next step would be for the scribe to "enter" the kingdom of God by obeying these laws.
When Jesus said that the kingdom of God is "at hand," he meant
that we are "not far" from the kingdom when we recognize God's laws
of love for God and love for neighbor. And the kingdom of God
becomes a reality for us when we choose to follow God's laws as we live each
day. The kingdom
of God is truly "at
hand" for anyone to discover.
Kingdom
of God
(In Matthew, generally, Kingdom of Heaven).
In this expression the innermost teaching of the Old Testament is summed
up, but it should be noted that the word kingdom means ruling as
well; thus it signifies not so much the actual kingdom as the sway of the Kin. We find the theocracy sketched in Exodus 19:6; in the
establishment of the kingdom, 1 Samuel 8:7: "They
have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them." Still
more clearly is it indicated in the promise of the theocratic kingdom, 2 Samuel 7:14-16. It is God who rules in the theocratic king and who
will avenge any neglect on his part. All through the it is constantly insisted
that God's
throne is in heaven
and that there is His kingdom; this may explain St. Matthew'sProphets dwell on the
thought that God
is the Supreme King and that by Him alone all kings rule; cf. Isaias, 37:16, 20. And
when the temporal monarchy has failed, this same thought of God's ultimate rule over
His people is brought into clearer relief till it culminates in the grand prophecy of Daniel 7:13 to which the thoughts of Christ's hearers must have
turned when they heard Him speak of His kingdom. In that vision the power of
ruling over all the forces of evil as symbolized by the
four beasts which are the four kingdoms is given to "one like the son of man". At the
same time we catch a glimpse in the Psalms of Solomon of the way in which, side
by side with the truth,
there grew up among the carnal-minded the idea of a temporal
sovereignty of the Messiahs,
an idea, which was
(Luke 19:11; Matthew 18:1; Acts 1:6) to exercise so
baneful an influence on subsequent generations; Sol 17: 23-28, where God is besought to raise
up the King, the Son of David,
to crush the nations and purify Jerusalem, etc. In the
Greek Book of
Wisdom, however, we find the most perfect realization of what was
truly implied by this "rule" of God -- "She [Wisdom]
led the just man
through direct paths and shewed him the kingdom of God", i.e. in what
that kingdom consisted. preference
for the expression "kingdom of heaven", as being more familiar to the
Hebrews for whom he wrote. The
In the New Testament
the speedy advent of this kingdom is the one theme: "Do penance: for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand" said the Baptist and Christ's opening words to
the people do but repeat that message. At every stage in His teaching the coming
of this kingdom, its various aspects, its precise meaning, and the way in which
it is to be attained, form the staple of His discourses, so much so that His
discourse is called "the gospel of the
kingdom". And the various shades of meaning which the expression bears
have to be studied. In the mouth of Christ the "kingdom" means not so
much a goal to be attained or a place -- though those meanings are by no means
excluded; cf. Matt. 5:3; 11: 2, etc. -
it is rather a tone of mind
(Luke 17:20-21),
it stands for an influence which must permeate men's minds if they would be one
with Him and attain to His ideals is only by realizing these shades of meaning
that we can do justice
to the parables
of the kingdom with their endless variety. At one time the "kingdom"
means the sway of grace in men's hearts, e.g. in the parable of the seed
growing secretly (Mark 4:26 sq.;
cf. Matthew 21:43);
and thus, too, it is opposed to and explained by the opposite kingdom of the devil (Matthew 4:8; 12:25-26). At another time it is the goal at
which we have to aim, e.g. Matt., 3:3. Again it is a place where God is pictured as
reigning (Mark 14:25).
In the second petition of the "Our Father" -- "Thy kingdom
come" -- we are taught to pray as well for grace as
for glory.
As men grew to understand the Divinity of Christ they grew to see that the kingdom of God was also that of
Christ -- it was here that the faith of the good thief excelled:
"Lord, remember
me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom." So, too, as men realized that
this kingdom stood for a certain tone of mind, and saw that this
peculiar spirit was enshrined in the Church, they began to
speak of the Church
as "the kingdom of God"; cf. Col., I, 13; I
Thess.,3: 12; etc. The kingdom was regarded as Christ's and He presents
it to the Father; cf. I Cor.15: 23-28; II Tim. The kingdom of god means, then,
the ruling of God
in our hearts; it means those principles which separate us off from the
kingdom of the world and the devil; it means the
benign sway of grace; it means the Church as that Divine
institution whereby we may make sure of attaining the spirit of Christ and so
win that ultimate kingdom of God Where He reigns
without end in "the holy
city, the New Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven
from God"
(Revelation 21:2)
|