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Vol. 47,
No.22 SOUTHSIDE ORACLE
July 30, 2004
The Bulletin
Board
Our Condolences – We extend our sympathy to Ann Tevik and the Rick
Bass family in the death last Sunday of their father and grandfather,
Julius Baas. There will be a memorial service this Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
preceded by visitation at 5:00 p.m. at the Brookfield Presbyterian Church,
1485 N. Brookfield Road in Brookfield.
Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp – Our intermediate campers are
returning from Fallhall Glen Saturday and the seniors will be leaving
Sunday. Campers are Tierra Britton, Jered Giombi, Justin Santana, Evan
Stanger, Alex Van Handel, Meagan Van Handel, and Tim Williams. Staff
members will be Leonard Ditsworth, Daryl Miller, Juan Santana, and Holly
Shilts.
The Sick – Elfriede Wandsnider went home from the hospital
Tuesday….Kevin Parker’s mother, Janette Baker, who lives in Memphis,
suffered a light stroke, but is now home and doing well.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
Two years ago Last
year Last week Goal
Bible classes
123 146
137 170
Morning worship
220 227 *255 250
Evening
worship 48 72
58 80
Contribution $4491.45
$4414.65 $3954.11 $4500.00
The Lake Geneva Family Encampment will be at Williams Bay August 9
– 13. This is open to families or individuals. Bobby Valentine will be
one of the speakers. If you are interested in attending, see the brochure
on the bulletin board.
Ladies! Plan now to attend the Southside Ladies retreat at Camp
Winneconne on Friday and Saturday, September 24 & 25.
Calendar of Events
August 1-14 – Senior camp session, Wisconsin
Christian Youth Camp
August 9-13
– Lake Geneva Family Encampment, Williams Bay
August 14 –
Inter-congregational picnic, Estabrook Park
August
15-19 – Quest, camp for all ages, Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp
September
24-25 – Ladies’ retreat, Camp Winneconne
September
27-29 – Midwest Preachers’ Retreat, Falllhall Glen
I Have Changed
From the beginning of my preaching experience I have kept my sermon
outlines. They now tightly fill seven loose-leaf notebooks. I don’t
suppose I have lost a dozen of them. The outlines represent thousands of
hours of study and are one of my most valued possessions.
I
will never use most of them again. Many are too shallow or no longer
correctly represent my thinking. Why do I keep them? I suppose they help
keep me humble by reminding me how often I have been wrong. Beyond that
they help me appreciate the progression of my thinking on spiritual
matters. No, I haven’t altered my basic perceptions of the Christian
faith nor my fundamental understanding of the Scriptures. But I have
matured in my view of the Bible and have gained many insights that I did
not have over sixty years ago when I began preaching. I have discovered
that the answers to some questions are not so simple as I once thought.
My appreciation of God, Christ, and the church has been vastly enhanced.
I have drunk deeply of the inspired Word and am not so prone to see the
message of Jesus as another Law of Moses.
Some people boast that their views of the Bible and the church have never
changed. Then they have never matured in knowledge and spirituality. It
is not a sign of weakness to admit that one has altered his views.
Spiritual growth is essential if we are to truly know the mind of Christ.
__Monroe E. Hawley
The Letter Over
the Door
A
student at Amherst College, soon after entering, put over the door of his
dormitory room the letter V. Because of it he endured all sorts
of ridicule and withstood questioning. But he paid no attention to
either, nor would he disclose the secret of the letter. When his four
years were over and graduation day came, that student was appointed to
deliver the valedictory. Then the mystery of the letter was revealed. It
stood for valedictory.
That letter on the door held before him during his four years the ideal he
had set for himself. Not every boy puts a letter over the door of his
house. But, nevertheless, somewhere, if only in his mind, there is a
letter that he pastes there and that holds before him his ideal.
Some put up the letter M for money. Others put up F for
fame. Others put up S for self or for service. It is a good thing
once in awhile to step outside your door and look at the letter you have
put there. It may be that when you realize what it is that you will want
to change it.
__Selected
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