Word from our Pastor
August 2021
Dear Friends,
Greetings in Jesus’ name!
Immediately after the season of Pentecost many Methodist Churches begin to observe the season of Kingdom Tide, because the central message of Jesus was the Kingdom of God
At the height of its power, the Roman Empire was a huge expanding kingdom. The Caesars continually sent out their armies to annex new territory. When a new territory came under Roman control, the Romans would forcibly try to make that new territory like Rome. They would build Roman temples and institute the Roman religion, which involved the worship of Caesar. They would institute Roman education, arts, and culture. They built Roman baths. They would do everything they could to make the new territory as much like Rome as possible.
Why? So that if the Caesar ever came there, he would feel at home because the territory was just like his own home.
The Kingdom of God is when everything in heaven is instituted on the earth, so that God’s government, teaching, worship, glory, and power are manifested here on earth, and the earth looks just like heaven.
The Hebrew understanding does not refer to a place, called “heaven,” where God’s people will go after death. It refers to the rule of heaven or God, being brought into the present world. That is why Jesus asked us to pray, thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
I like the picture Elizabeth Achtemeier, paints of the Kingdom of God (in her sermon, “Of Children and Streets and the Kingdom,”) she calls the Kingdom of God, “a public park”. “A public park where old people are no longer cold, lonely, ill or senile, but participants in a community. A public park where the elderly can sit together and bask in the sun, talk and laugh over the good old days in full vigor and clear mind and satisfaction of life. A public park where little children can run and play in its squares, in safety and fun and delight…. The Kingdom of God is a place where no child is abused or unwanted or malnourished, and where there is not even a bully among the group, shoving and taunting the littler ones until they break into tears. The Kingdom of God, says Zechariah, is a public park where the streets are safe for children”. (Read Zech. 8:1-8)
In short, the Kingdom of God is not some imperialistic power that will rule with ruthless might and trample the rights and freedom of the people. It will not be a place where people will have to bear with the king, live in fear and wait wistfully for the demise of a despot. It will be a place where love will rule.
Where there will be a community, where relationships will bloom. Where there will be acceptance of people of all races, all gender, color and station in life. The Bible depicts the Kingdom is where we become its subjects by the grace of God and live by the grace of God and love. As we enter the Church Season of Kingdom Tide, we want to look at the Parables of the Kingdom through which Jesus taught some powerful truths about the Kingdom of God. My prayer is that we may be inspired to live by the principles and ethics of the Kingdom and experience in a small measure the joy and peace of the Kingdom of God. Let us share the good news of the gospel of the Kingdom of God to all the people and lead others from darkness into the marvelous light of Christ.
God Bless You!
In Christ
Pastor John R. A. Simeon
(On behalf of the Pastoral Team)
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