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Vol. 47,
No.37 SOUTHSIDE ORACLE November
26, 2004
The Bulletin Board
Baptized – We welcome into our fellowship
James Allen who was baptized by Rodney Windell after the evening worship
last Sunday. Contact
the church office for his address or phone number. May God bless
him in His service.
The Sick – Patricia Young is improving at St.
Luke’s Hospital following her heart surgery last week. She also had a
pacemaker installed.
The
next Christian Workers’ Meeting will be Tuesday, December 14. This
is a week earlier than normal because of conflict with the holidays. The
topics will deal with the theme of unity in the body of Christ.
Building Improvements – The kitchen area was re-tiled last week. If you
haven’t been in the basement classroom area you may not be aware that the
hallway has also been completed. Our thanks to all who have been involved
in these projects.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
Two
years ago Last year Last week Goal
Bible
classes 143
128 126 170
Morning
worship 225
194 *249 250
Evening worship
71 65 67 80
Contribution $4091.30
$3228.85 $4308.49 $4500.00
(*) first service,
125; second service, 124
A United Body
If
the world was to be evangelized, unity was essential in the early church.
Paul called upon the believers “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to
the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all”
(Ephesians 4:3-6).
It
may be hard to understand how autonomous congregations of the first century
could maintain the unity so vital to spreading the gospel message. After
all, there was no bureaucracy to keep everyone in line and we are all aware
that some kind of pressure is necessary to achieve conformity. Our problem
is that we may not appreciate that the essence of Christian unity is not
structural. At least three things bonded the early disciples together.
First, they shared a common allegiance to Jesus as Lord. They
acknowledged him as the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22, 23) which united
them in a brotherhood of believers. Though they might be strangers to the
face, they were all part of the same fraternity. Second, they held a
common faith. So long as they taught the same things there was a
natural cohesiveness making them one. Third, because of the major
emphasis in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles on the importance of
love, they truly cared for one another and were motivated to
cooperate in the Lord’s work. Without this love the unity of the early
church would have been impossible.
If we are to recover the unity of the early
Christians it must be accomplished in the same way that they achieved it.
The ecumenical movement has sought unity through organization. It has
largely failed. The experience of denominational groups that have merged in
the interest of unity has shown that usually there are dissidents who refuse
to go along with the merger. Thus, instead of one body where there were
two, there are now three – one unified church plus two dissenting bodies.
It
is hard for most of us to appreciate the biblical picture of the church.
Our thinking is too geared to the concepts and structures of the
contemporary religious world. To perceive of the family of God as an
organism rather than an organization, as a body of the saved rather than a
denomination, and as a people in the world but not of the world goes against
everything that most of us have been taught. Nevertheless, if we are truly
to recover the early Christian faith we must go through the difficult
process of rethinking the nature of the church according to the biblical
norm. When we come to view it as the early disciples did we will have made
a major stride in that direction. __Monroe Hawley, in The Focus of
Our Faith, pp. 96, 97.
Small Group Report
–Milwaukee/Hawleys
The
midweek Bible study group that meets in the home of Monroe and Julia Hawley
is our only study group that has met at the same location since Southside
began its small group studies program, except for the class that meets at
the church building. There are currently about a dozen people in the
group. The class is taught by Monroe and has studied a wide variety of
topics since its inception. It has recently begun a study of the Gospel of
Mark. The class meets at 7:00 p.m. Wednesdays at 5626 S. Lorene Avenue in
Milwaukee, just south of Grange Avenue, a mile west of the church building.
If you are interested in joining the group come at that time or call Monroe
or Julia at (414) 281-8667 for further information.
Consider the Hammer
It keeps its head;
It does not fly off the handle;
It keeps pounding away;
It finds the point, then drives it home;
It looks at the other side too;
It makes mistakes, but when it does it starts all
over;
It is the only knocker in the world that does any
good.
__Selected
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