NOTICE - Time of Service Change

 

Starting next Sunday January 5, 2025 we will be having our services at 11 AM.

Caroline Barclay Dec. 29, 2024

Christmas Break

 

Dr. Barclay will be celebrating Christmas with his family, so there will be no Bible Study or Something to Think about this week or next.

Rev. Daverro Smith

Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Book of Ephesians Part 4

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - WHY?

                                                                                                            

                 

                                          WHY?

At this time of year, when we recognize the coming to earth of God in the form of man, we should consider why such an event would have come to pass. After all, the most powerful entity in the universe humbled Himself in a way that He could have avoided. A being that can create the universe with a word certainly could do whatever He wished or needed by merely a similar gesture. But He did come to earth, being physically born in the usual way, growing up as a boy, developing a ministry, and eventually suffering an excruciating death on the cross. Was all this really necessary?

The book of Hebrews gives us four reasons why God became a man and ventured to earth to live for a time as a human.

According to the Bible, man was created in the image of God with a mandate to rule over the earth. 

…God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; 

have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, 

and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

(Genesis 1:28)

Man, however, apparently did not recognize the position he was given and succumbing to temptation, fell from this place and lost the power it represented along with the prestige it gave. As a result, mankind began to consider its position no more than that of any other animal. But the Bible says:

“What is man that You are mindful of him,

Or the son of man that you take care of him?

You have made him a little lower that the angels;

You have crowned him with glory and honour,

And set him over the works of Your hands.

You have put all things in subjection under his feet…” 

(Hebrews 2:6-8)

In order for man to regain what he had lost, God became man to help achieve that purpose.

God also became man to help regain the unity we once had with God. Hebrews goes on to state that:

…it was fitting for Him, for whom…and by whom are all things, 

in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, 

for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren. 

(Hebrews 2:10-11)

Because we relinquished our initial status in God’s plan and as a result lost the unity we once had with God, we became subject to other forces and lost the initial freedom we had at the time of creation. So God came to earth to help us regain that freedom.

…He Himself likewise shared in the same, 

that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, 

that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death 

were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 

(Hebrews 2:14,15)

Thus God became man to relate to us and so that we could relate properly to Him. As a result we have been able to regain that relationship we once had in addition to the unity we previously lost.

For indeed He does not give aid to angels, 

but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, 

that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, 

to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 

For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, 

He is able to aid those who are tempted. 

(Hebrews 2:16-18)

In addition to the trees, tinsel, presents, and feasting that take place this time of year, realization of and consideration for the reasons Christ came to earth should, in reality…

…give us plenty to ponder and think about.

Adapted from the Study Guide on Hebrews Chapter 2 by Dr  David Jeremiah

 

Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Book of Ephesians Part 3

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - TWO-FOLD PROPHECY

TWO-FOLD PROPHECY

It is believed that in many cases the prophecies that are given in the Bible have both a near application and a distant interpretation. One such instance involves a prophecy we often hear this time of year from the book of Isaiah.

Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign:

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, 

and shall call His name Immanuel. 

(Isaiah 7:14)

The confirmation that this indeed refers to the birth of Jesus as the Messiah comes from the book of Matthew where it states:

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, 

and they shall call His name Immanuel,” 

which is translated, “God with us.” 

(Matthew 1:23)

In Isaiah, this was initially given to the house of David as the prophecy.

Hear ye now, O house of David 

(Isaiah 7:13)

But it was also given to King Ahaz, who at that time was in a dispute with both Syria and Ephraim who were in a conspiracy against him, but…

 

thus says the Lord God, “It shall not stand, 

neither shall it come to pass.” 

(Isaiah 7:7)

Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying

Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God…

…But Ahaz said, “I will not ask…” 

(Isaiah 7:10-12)

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son,

and shall call His name Immanuel.

Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know 

to refuse the evil and choose the good.

For before the Child shall know [this]…

the land that you dread will

be forsaken of both her kings. 

(Isaiah 7:14-16)

The Lord will bring upon thee, and upon thy people,

and upon thy father’s house…even the king of Assyria.

(Isaiah 7:17, KJV)

So, Isaiah related a prophecy to the House of David regarding the distant future coming of the Messiah but he also related to Ahaz a more imminent prediction about an event that would result in both Syria and Ephraim forsaking their objectives and also that Syria would be taken over by Assyria. This also would bring ruin to Judah.  All this would happen within a few years of the birth of Ahaz’s own son in that, before the boy was of the age to distinguish good from evil, both Syria and Israel were deprived of both their kings and Assyria had taken control. It becomes complicated but an example of how prophecy can be both near meaning and distant in its application.

Certainly something to think about.

CHURCH IS CANCELLED

 

Dec. 8, 2024

After receiving road reports from many areas and seeing that the snow isn't supposed to stop until 8 or later, we've made the difficult decision to cancel this evening's service.

See you next week, weather permitting.

Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Book of Ephesians Part 2

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - TWO MORE FACTS

 TWO MORE FACTS

The fact that the Magi were not there at the time of Jesus’ birth and the lineage of Herod as it relates to the attempt on Jesus’ life are both interesting aspects of the Messiah’s birth not often mentioned. There are others that often do not warrant much attention including these two.

In the book of Ruth, we are told of the migration of Naomi and her family from Bethlehem to Moab due to famine. There, as events unfolded, a Moabite woman, Ruth, became a daughter-in-law of Naomi and later came back to live in Bethlehem when the famine was over. Ruth married Boaz and they had a son, raised by Naomi.

Then Naomi took the child and…became a nurse to him. 

[And] the neighbour woman gave him a name, saying 

“There is a child born to Naomi…” 

(Ruth 4:16,17)

This child “of Naomi’s” was called Obed.

He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. 

(Ruth 4:17)

It was to Bethlehem and to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, that the Lord sent Samuel to find David.

 

…For I have provided Myself a king among his sons. 

(1 Samuel 16:1)

And so from Bethlehem God provided a king for Israel just as He would many years later provide a king for the world from the same city.

The second interesting fact is the time between when something is requested of God and its’ fruition. For over 400 years, the Hebrew people languished in Egypt and prayed for deliverance without any apparent result. It’s evident that God’s timing is His own and that we must be patient and alert to recognizing His answer when it comes. The Israelites apparently did not and begged Moses to take them back to Egypt.

“Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying,

‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it

would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians that that

we should die in the wilderness.” 

(Exodus 14:12)

The Israelites did not recognize their deliverance when it was there for them. It was also 400 years from the time of the last Old Testament prophet and the predictions of a coming deliverer and the birth of Christ. Once again, the people were not alert to what was taking place and were not expecting the answer when it came. For when Christ was born, neither the leaders nor the people were ready. The Bible states that:

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(John 1:11)

Four hundred years and then not recognized when He came. Will the same happen to us? After all, it’s been many years since we were told that He would return. And so, as Peter says:

…scoffers will come in the last days…saying, 

“Where is the promise of His coming? 

For since the fathers fell asleep, 

all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 

(2 Peter 3:3-4)

In the Bible there are numbers which are important and the number three is indicative of completeness and divine perfection. We have already missed, in many ways, two occasions when God answered promises; hopefully we can do better with number three when it occurs.

At least, it gives one something substantial to think about.  

Dr Spencer Barclay Dec 1, 2024