Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - THE BRIDEGROOM

THE BRIDEGROOM

If the Bible is looked upon in its totality, it really is a story of love and marriage between a groom and his bride, and is told along the same lines as that of a Jewish betrothal in the time it was written. At that time, marriages were arranged and the future groom would come, at the proper time, to the home of the future bride’s parents to meet with them and become “engaged,” after which the groom would leave and return to his own place to prepare a place for his new wife.

Early on, the Bible talks about marriage between a man and a woman in that…

…a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 

and they shall become one flesh. 

(Genesis 2:24).

Thus in the New Testament, we have Christ leaving his heavenly home and the persona of the Father and coming to the place where His bride would be - Earth. So too, when the church was formed to become Christ’s bride, it was to prepare itself to later join with Christ to become “one flesh” as described in the earlier chapters of Genesis. During the time of its earthly existence, the church, meaning all Christians, was to prepare itself to become the New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ.

Then I, John, saw the holy city New Jerusalem, 

coming down out of heaven from God, 

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

(Revelation 21:2)

And while the bride is apparently becoming prepared, Jesus, as any good Jewish male would do when expecting a future marriage, has gone home to His father to prepare a place for the bride.

In My father’s house are many mansions; 

if it were not so, I would have told you. 

I go to prepare a place for you. 

And if I go to prepare a place for you, 

I will come again and receive you to Myself, 

that where I am, there you may be also. 

(John 14:2-3) 

Christ has made a promise to his bride to come back to, in essence, marry the church as the New Jerusalem and essentially to be one with His bride as man and woman were to be one flesh as told in Genesis. Jesus has promised to come back for His bride and to be united with the church in a ceremony called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And then it will be said:

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, 

for the marriage of the Lamb has come…

(Revelation 19:7)

…Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!… 

(Revelation 19:9)

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, 

and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

(Revelation 21:7)

…God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; 

there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying… 

(Revelation 21:4)

…Write, for these words are true and faithful. 

(Revelation 21:5)

Being united with Christ for eternity is certainly something wonderful to think about.

 

Pastor Matthew Trott May 10, 2026

 

Pastor Matthew Trott - Service of May 10, 2026

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Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - OUR DAYS

OUR DAYS

Do you ever wonder how many days you’re allotted? It’s perhaps better we do not know, but that doesn’t mean that God is unaware of such days. It states in Jeremiah:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you

…to give you a future and a hope. 

(Jeremiah 29:11)

We also read in Psalms:

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they were all written, 

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them. 

(Psalm 139:16)

This tends to verify what Drs. Lundahl and Widdison talk about in their book The Eternal Journey. When discussing the purposes of earthly life they quote Huffman who says:

I learned that the most important thing we can do on this earth 

is to show consideration, love and kindness to others. 

There are no bonuses for position alone, nor power and wealth. 

We are judged by how we treat people, and what we do for others.*

This all came from an examination of the findings from near death research and various NDE cases that suggest the meaning and purposes of life.**

This in turn agrees with what is said in Ephesians:

 

For we are His workmanship, 

created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

(Ephesians 2:10)

Now, if God has ordained beforehand the good works that we are prepared for, it certainly indicates that He, beforehand, had thoughts towards us and fashioned the days for us. And this, in turn, indicates that we had an existence in Heaven before our earthly birth and that a plan was laid out for us at that time. That plan being in His Word that we were too follow.

Now, we all know that the future is not all rosy for any of us and contains a lot of misery for many. Perhaps that is why we are not to look into the future and to take each day as it comes so that we can more readily concentrate on the good works God had previously ordained for us to do. After all, He did say:

…do not worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will worry about its own things. 

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 

(Matthew 6:34)

Additionally, we are warned about consulting fortune-tellers for…

…the Lord your God forbids you to do such things. 

(Deuteronomy 18:14, NLT)

So, if we are to believe that God has, and knows, the plans He created for us and we aren’t supposed to know the future, we must, therefore, take each day as it comes and not worry about tomorrow even though we all do to some extent. We should concentrate on those good works we were destined to do and that God had prepared beforehand for us to do. And the main good work is, as He has previously told us, to love God and each other. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:

…Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all. 

(Ecclesiastes 12:13)

It really is something to think about.

*The Eternal Journey p.g. 55 by Craig R. Lundahl, PhD and Harold A. Widdison, PhD

**The Eternal Journey p.g. 53

 

Pastor Caroline Barclay May 3, 2026

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Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 41

 

Dr. Barclay's Bible Study - The Gospel of Mark Part 41

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Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - ISHMAEL

ISHMAEL

One of the main stories in the Bible concerns Abram and his sons, Ishmael and Issac. In the book of Genesis, God promised a son to Abram by Sarai his wife. But Sarai, being elderly and feeling that:

 

…the Lord has restrained me from having children… 

(Genesis 16:2)

implored Abram to go

…to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her… 

(Genesis 16:2)

But when this happened, Sarai became upset and 

…when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.

(Genesis 16:6)

Now, we know that Abram did have a second son, this time by Sarai, called Issac and it was with Issac that God promised to:

 

…establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, 

and with his descendants after him. 

(Genesis 17:19) 

However, when Hagar (Sarai’s maid) fled an Angel of the Lord found her in the wilderness and said to her:

…Return to your mistress, 

and submit yourself under her hand. 

(Genesis 16:9)

…I will multiply your descendants exceedingly…

(Genesis 16:10)

Then,

Behold you are with child, 

And you shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael, 

Because the Lord has heard your affliction.

He shall be a wild man; 

His hand shall be against every man, 

And every man’s hand against him… 

(Genesis 16:11,12)

And so when Issac was only very young, and Ishmael was in his early teens, Sarah again said to Abraham (previously Sarai and Abram but God commanded their names changed).

…Cast out this bondwoman and her son… 

(Genesis 21:10)

Therefore, both Ishmael and Hagar were sent again into the wilderness without provision.

As a result, Ishmael had no status, birthright, or inheritance even though being the firstborn, these and other amenities should have been afforded to him according to the custom of the time. Perhaps it was because, at least in part, that Ishmael was not from Abraham’s wife as was Issac, that this developed but this is what occurred. And it can only be expected that as a result, Ishmael would be upset and angry and embittered over these circumstances.

In spite of his beginnings, God told Hagar to:

…lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, 

for I will make him a great nation. 

(Genesis 21:18) 

And so He apparently did, for Ishmael’s descendants became the Arab nations of today and from this body seemingly came Mohammed, the founder of Islam.

At the same time, the descendants of Issac also became a great nation known as Judah (Israel), home to the Jewish people. Of course from them would come Jesus, from whom the Christian church developed.

It’s interesting to see how many of the world’s problems of today between nations and religions began centuries ago when a man, Abraham, committed adultery (even if at his wife’s suggestion) and conceived a son by one other than her. 

For when Abraham had made a feast for Issac on the occasion of him being weaned, it is said that:

Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian…scoffing 

(Genesis 21:9)

The animosity between Ishmael and Issac, which began at a time when they were both young, apparently continued through their descendants up to the present day and results in the world’s continuing problems. It’s hard to realize how one act centuries ago can have such longstanding and far-reaching consequences.

And it does give one something to think about.

Pastor Matthew Trott April 26, 2026

 

Pastor Matthew Trott April 26, 2026

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