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The concept of our Universal Church of Christ (U.C.O.C.), is in doing that which is right. Jesus Christ is the ultimate Head of our church. Our belief and guidance is based upon the teachings of Christ and the Scriptures in the New Testament. Not only our spiritual church, also our physical church, which has yet to find a permanent home.
We will have the services of the deacons and deaconess. They who give to the supply of the needy and take care of the church's practical needs. In reference to this, they will partake in the leading andthe quality first in diligence. They must have compassion, mercy and by sympathizing and rendering help. Our Universal Church, is to show and provide the normal Christian life which is the necessary base for the practice of the church life. This life is described in five aspects: (1) towards others, (2) toward God, (3) toward ourselves, (4) toward the persecutors and enemy, and (5) in general before all men. A life that is complete and proper in the five aspects a life of surpassing quality with an excellent issue.
As Christians, we are under a blessing. Thus we should not curse anyone. But only bless. The Lord blessed us when we were His enemies. In the same way, we should bless our enemies and persecutors. To live a normal Christian life for the church life, we need a proper emotion that can rejoice or weep with others. Since we are living not only before God but also before men, we need to take forethought for things honourable in the sight of all men. God is Souvereign. We should not avenge ourselves in any way but should leave the situation in the Soverein Hand of the Lord, giving Him the ground to do whatever he likes.
We must learn not to pass judgment on the doctrinal views of others, as long as oneis a genuine Christian and has the fundamental faith of the New Testament, we should not exclude him even though he may differ from us with respect to doctrine; rather we should receive him in the same one Lord.
The basis on which we have in our Universal Church, receive the believers is that God received them. When a person receives that person immediately and of all He has prepared and accomplished in Christ for us.
We receive people in the same way and do not present a narrow heart than God, regardless of how much they differ from us in doctrinal concepts or religious practices, we receivethem. When we receive people according to God and not according to doctrine or practice we demonstrate and maintain the oneness of the Body of Christ. Knowingly, God sets up Christ Jesus as the standard for the church life that we may do everything in the church life according to HIM, not taking any doctrine or knowledge as the standard.
Truly, we should receive people according to God's receiving. In this paragraph we learn what Christ's receiving is God's receiving; what Christ has received, God has received; those whom God and Christ received, we must receive. Regardless of how they differ from us in doctrine or practice, this will be to the glory of God.
As Paul, being a priest of the gospel of God to minister Christ to the gentiles was a priestly service to God, and the gentiles he also gained. Through his gospel preaching was an offering presented to God by this priestly service. Many gentiles who were unclean and defiled were santified in the Holy Spirit and became such an offering acceptable to God.
Based on Christ's redemption, the Holy Spirit receives, transforms, and separates unto holiness those who have been regenerated by believing in Christ.
Paul teaches us that we must not only have fellowship with the people but we must also have fellowship among the churches. If we as one body in Christ and in God find whole heartedly God's complete salvation is for producing and building up of the church. We must include the triune God Himself as the Father, as the Son, the Son being the Lord, being Jesus, being Christ, being the man, and being the root of Jesse and as the Spirit (the Spirit being the first fruits). His mercy, His compassion, His lvoe, His kindness, His grace, His free gifts, His righteousness, His Spirit of Holiness, His Spirit of faithfulness, His peace, His hope, His joy, His endurance, His encouragement, His riches, His wisdom, His knowledge, His authority, His power, His life, His law of life, His Sonship, His glory and His kingdom, His foreknowing, His selection, His predestination, His preparedness, His preparation, His receiving, His salvation, His justification, His reconciliation, His freedom, His santification, His transformation, His renewing, His confirmation, His redemption of our body, and His glorification, His indwelling, His life giving, His leading, His witnessing, His helping, His interceding within us, His interceding in the heavens, His giving all things to us, and His causing all things to work for us, plus His incarnation, His crucifiction, His blood, His ending of the law, His resurrection, and His ascension. All have been made available and most of these have been applied to the producing and building up of the church for the fulfillment of God's purpose according to His will.
As stated earlier, the churches are the ultimate salvation of the gospel of God revealed in the New Testament, which was written not in the way of doctrine but in the way of practicality. In the following steps, we can see the full meaning: Step 1, "we are regenerated and saved," Step 2, "we are sanctified," Step 3, "we are received and transformed," Step 4, "In the practical church life, Satan is crushed under our feet and we are able to fully enjoy the Lord's grace and peace."
Certainly, we must understand the churches are not the personal possession or private work of anyone. They are the churches of Christ. Our unity is Universal in that we must at all costs preserve the oneness of the Body of Christ so that we may have the normal church life.
When we read Romans 16:20, here God promises that He will crush Satan under the feet of those who live the church life, showing that the crushing of Satan is related to the church life. Dealing with Satan is a body matter, not an individualmatter. It is only when we have a proper local church as the practical expression of the body that Satan is crushed under our feet. The church life enables us not only to crush Satan under our feet and to experience the God of peace but to enjoy the rich grace of the Lord.
In Romans chapter 16: We also comprehend that our need is no longer to be saved or to be sanctified but to be established, since everything has been accomplished. This establishing is according to the pure and full gospel of God, that is proclaiming and ministering of the all-inclusive Christ, and according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept in silence in the timeof ages. Only the pure gospel, the living Christ, and God's revealed mystery can establish us and keep up in oneness for the church life.
The mystery of God, which has been kept in silence in the time of the ages, is mainly of two aspects: The mystery of God, which is Christ (Col.2:2), who is in the believers (Col.1:26-27), as their life and their everything that they may become the members of His Body. (Eph.3:4-6), to express His fullness (Eph.1: 22-23). Therefore, Christ and the church arethe great mystery. (Eph. 5:32). Note: Romans 16:25, referring to the time since the beginning of the world.
Notably, based on the revelation and the teachings in Romans chapters 14-16, we live the life of the local church in different localities as the appearance of the Body of Christ, the Universal Church.
By becoming the build-up church, a church against which the gates of Hades cannot prevail, in different localities, we afford God the opportunity to crush Satan under our feet that we may enjoy Christ as our rich grace and the God of peace as our surpassing peace. In our experience of the various aspects of the saving in the divine life, as mentioned earlier, we are being conformed to the image of the first born Son of God (Rom: 8: 28-29). Through "all things" arranged under God's sovereignty, so that we may express the Glory and Beauty of Him, the God-man.
In the process of our experience in the divine life, the splendor of the divine life gradually saturates us until it saturates our body, issuing in redemption of our body (Rom: 8: 23), thatour spirit, soul, and body may all enter into the glory of God, (Rom: 8:30,17). This glorification is the peak attained by us by the saving in the divine life, and is the climax of God's full salvation.
The Universal Church of Christ, in its place must be free to define the mission it believes it has received from God. Likewise, individual Christians and other believers msut be free to practice their faith in whatever manner they believe necessary, commensurate with their not violating the same freedom of others. In addition, we affirm the understanding of religious freedom embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and other international covenants. While some actions taken in the name of religious rights may be ambiguous and will have to be addressed on a case-by-case basis, we believe that religious rights include at least the following:
1. Every person has the right to determine his/her own faith and creed according to conscience.
2. Every person has the right to his belief; to express his religious beliefs in worship, teaching, and practice, and to proclaim the implications of his beliefs for relationship in a social and productive community.
3. Every religious organization, formed or maintained, has the right to determine its policies and practices for the accomplishment of its chosen purpose, which implies the right:
a) To assemble for unhindered private or public worship,
b) To formulate your own creed,
c) To give its religious instruction to its youth, including preparation for ministry,
d) To preach its message publicly,
e) To receive into its memberhip those who desire to join it,
f) To carry on social services and to engage in missionary activity both at home and abroad,
g) To organize local congregation,
h) To publish and circulate religious literature,
i) To control the means necessary to its mission and to secure support for its work at home and abroad,
j) To co-operate and to unite with other believers at home and abroad,
k) To determine freely the qualification for professional leadership of religious communities, freely naming their religious leaders at all levels and designating their work assignments.
According to a recent survey, most people believe in the existence of angels. Numerous books on the subject fill bookstore shelves. Still our only reliable source on angels and their activity is the Bible. Just who are these mysterious creatures? What do they look like? Do they wear long, flowing robes and have birdlike wings? What is their purpose?
You might call angels "God's secret agents." They basically work undercover. Most of the time these secret agents remain invisible, except on those special occasions when God allows people to see them. No doubt God realized that if we were allowed to see them all the time, they would become an object of our worship, which is reserved for God alone. Let's take some time to see what the Bible has to say about angels and their role in this world.
1. Why did God create angels? God created angels as unique spiritual beings who worship Christ and care for His followers (Heb: 1: 4-14).
2. What do angels do in the life of a Christian? God has ordered the angels to protect His followers and keep them from harm (Acts 27: 23-24).
3. What role will the angels play in the end of times? Angels will play a strategic role in spreading the everlasting gospel (Rev. 14: 6-7).
Money is such an important topic in the Bible that it is the main subject of nearly half the parables Jesus told. In addition, one out of every seven verses in the new Testament deals with the topic.
To give you an idea of how this compares with other topics: Scripture offers about five hundred verses on prayer and fewer than five hundred on faith, while there are more than two thousand verses on money.
You may be wondering what money has to do with your faith. Now that Jesus Christ has come into your life, He wants to be Lord (to be in command) of your every aspect of it. That includes your finances. Martin Luther astutely observed, "There are three conversions necessary: The conversion of the heart, the mind, and the purse [or wallet]." When we experience this, "conversion of the purse" and give freely of our finances to the Lord's work (to our church, a missionary, or a ministry), we will make the best investment possible, and investment with eternal dividends. With that in mind, here are five questions to consider about wealth and giving.
1. Why should you give a portion of your financial resources to God? God wants to prove His faithfulness through your regular giving, or tithes (2 Cor. 9:6-11).
2. How much should you give? God encourages us to give sacrifically (Mark. 12:21-44).
3. What happens when you give? When you give with the right motives you will experience joy in God's generous blessing (2 Cor. 9:6-14).
4. How should you view material wealth? Accumulating wealth should never be a high priority because it is eternally worthless (Matt. 6:19-34).
5. Can you enjoy wealth? God may bless you materially, but you are responsible for using your material blessings wisely (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Sincerely, In Christ.
Rev. Alphonse B. Gucci, D.D.
"Two other men, both criminals, were led out with him to be executed. When the came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. 'Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!'
But the other criminal rebuked him. 'Don't you fear God,' he said, 'since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'
Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.' " (Luke 23:32,33,39-43)
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