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Vol. 47,
No.15 SOUTHSIDE ORACLE
June 11, 2004
The Bulletin
Board
Our Condolences – We extend our
sympathy to the families of two of our members whose fathers died last
week. The funeral of Ralph Surdyk, father of Denise Eppler, was
Monday in Spooner, WI. The funeral of Estefan Ortez, father of Maria
Anguiano, was Thursday of last week. He died after a battle with cancer.
Congregational Picnic – The weather
cooperated last Sunday as over 100 of us enjoyed a congregational picnic
at Whitnall Park.
Our thanks to our youth group who sponsored
the building clean-up last Saturday. About thirty of the young people and
adults participated.
Address Change – Donna Wright, (contact
us for details).
The Thursday morning Ladies’ Bible
Class has stopped meeting for the summer. It will resume in
September.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
Two years ago Last
year Last week Goal
Bible classes
114 170
156 170
Morning worship
205 234 *257 250
Evening
worship 64 70
49 80
Contribution
$3310.15 $5362.50 $4252.76 $4500.00
Praise and Palate will be at 6:00
p.m. Sunday.
As Bobby Valentine will be out of town,
Monroe Hawley will preach Sunday morning.
The Elders and deacons will meet at 4:30
p.m. Sunday.
Calendar of Events
June 12 – Juan and Diane Santana renew marriage vows
on their 25th anniversary – 1:00 p.m.
June 13 – Elders and deacons meeting, 4:30 p.m.
June 13 – Praise and Palate, 6:00 p.m.
June 20 – July 3 – Junior camp session, Wisconsin
Christian Youth Camp
July 4-17 – Middle camp session, Wisconsin Christian
Youth Camp
July 6-11 – Menominee (MI) Youth Service Trip
July 18-31 – Intermediate camp session, Wisconsin
Christian Youth Camp
July 24 – Blood Drive at Southside
August 1-14 – Senior camp session, Wisconsin
Christian Youth Camp
August 9-13 – Lake Geneva Family Encampment,
Williams Bay
If the
Foundations Are Destroyed
When King Solomon died, Israel
splintered into two parts. Though Judah was still faithful to the house
of David, most of the tribes chose Jeroboam as their king. He led Israel
away from God. In spite of brief periods of reform, the ten tribes
drifted farther and farther away. As their political fortunes declined,
it was clear that their days were numbered.
However, during the reign of Jeroboam
II, the nation experienced a political and economic resurgence. Jeroboam
“restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the
Sea of the Arabah” (2 Kings 14:25) and prosperity returned to the land.
All was not as well as it appeared. The
prophets pointed to the nation’s moral decay. The Lord cried out, “I
hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not
accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no
regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to
the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river;
righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Amos 5:21-24).
Israel was corrupt. Her prosperity was
illusionary. In less than fifty years she would be carried into
captivity, never to return. David had declared, “When the foundations
are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). Israel
died because her outward prosperity masked her real spiritual condition.
There is a lesson in this for today’s
church. Our relationship with God is not determined by our house of
worship, our Sunday morning attendance, nor the size of our
contributions. The church can manifest outward signs of growth while
spiritually drifting from God. The post-apostolic church grew rapidly and
eventually conquered Rome, but in the process it slipped off the
foundation of the apostles and prophets and apostasy resulted.
We must continually re-examine our
beliefs, morals, and attitudes in the light of God’s eternal Word. There
is a danger in allowing the thinking of preceding generations to become
the norm against which truth is measured. The restoration of the
apostolic teachings is a never-ending process. When we think we have
arrived, it is usually a sign that we are off the foundation. And “if the
foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” __Monroe E.
Hawley
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