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Vol. 47,
No.38 SOUTHSIDE ORACLE December
3, 2004
The Bulletin Board
New Arrival – Isabella Maria, 8 lbs., 10 oz.,
was born November 27th at West Allis Hospital to T. J. and Stacy Anguiano.
The Sick – Diane Santana’s mother had a
successful pacemaker installed at Waukesha Hospital last week and is doing
well….Patricia Young is also doing well at home following her open-heart
surgery and installation of a pacemaker….Jose Valdez had corrective eye and
ear surgery on October 23rd following a recent accident. Incidentally, as a
member of the St. Francis High School football team, he was named on the
first all-state football team by the Journal/Sentinel.
Congratulations, Jose!…..
Esther Christensen fell at home last week and suffered
some serious bruises, but is recovering.
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.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
Two
years ago Last year Last week Goal
Bible
classes 152 no count
143 170
Morning
worship 245
224 *248 250
Evening worship
66 72 55 80
Contribution $3734.93
$4473.18 $3912.51 $4500.00
(*) first service,
141; second service, 107
The
church in Fond du Lac will host a Sunday Night Live program from 5:00
– 7:00 p.m. for youth 7th through the 12th grades.
Those interested in going should meet at our church building by 3:30 p.m.
They should be home by 8:30 p.m.
Where Do You Go to
School?
There are two schools of thought alive in the Christian world today. One
school may be called the school of law. It insists that salvation comes to
us when we qualify for it through our obedience. The other school, the
school of grace, insists that we cannot qualify for salvation through
obedience, but obedience flows out of our having been redeemed through the
work of Christ on the cross.
A
friend of mine was studying law at the University of Texas. One day the
class considered a case in which the law supported a group of unscrupulous
scoundrels who cheated a widow out of her land holdings. My friend
protested the injustice of the law. His professor reminded him, “This is
the University of Texas School of Law. If you want justice, go enroll in
the Philosophy department.” The professor correctly recognized that law
taken on its own merits cannot produce justice, mercy, love, grace, and
pardon.
Sometimes Christians seem to think the gospel is nothing more than a refined
and streamlined version of the Law of Moses. Paul exposes the inadequacy of
that kind of thinking when he says, “Clearly no one is justified before God
by the law, because ‘the righteous shall live by faith’” (Galatians 2:1).
In the original language there is no “the” before the word law. Paul is
saying that men can’t be justified by the law principle. As Christians our
enrollment must be in the school of grace, not the school of law.
This
doesn’t mean that we’ve been turned loose to live sloppy and undisciplined
lives. Jesus invites us to take on his “yoke” (Matthew 11:28-30). The yoke
suggests discipline and control. The difference between the yoke of the law
and the yoke of Christ is in its source. John says, “No one born of God
will continue to sin” (1 John 3:9). He’s not suggesting that the
possibility of sinning has been taken away, but it’s no longer appropriate
for him to live a sinful life because he has taken on the yoke of Christ.
That’s the way the school of grace operates. The school of law says you
have to take on the sinless lifestyle before you can qualify for the new
birth. The salvation is reduced to human effort.
In
the school of grace we obey God because we want to be Christ-like. In the
school of law people obey God because they’re afraid not to. Where do you
want to go to school?
__Norman
L. Bales
Small Group Report
–Wind Lake/Windells
The
group that meets at the home of Rodney and Colleen Windell at 7:00 p.m. on
Wednesdays has been meeting in Wind Lake for nearly three years. The group
began in order to give Southside members that live in the rural areas
southwest of Milwaukee an additional opportunity for a mid-week study
without the extended drive to the church building. It started with three
couples but quickly grew. Currently there are 14 people that meet not only
to study God’s word but to support each other when there are problems and to
celebrate when great things happen. We have learned that prayer is powerful
and God has answered many of our prayers. Cael Frost is currently the
center of attraction, but we are also looking forward to welcoming Tony and
Jennifer Biermann’s baby sometime in January. Suzanne Roberts also attends
our study which gives Colleen additional opportunity to practice her signing
skills. Currently the group is using “The Purpose Driven Life” as a spring
board for lively discussions about how we can learn to serve God better by
living our lives with a “purpose” driven by God rather than by the world.
For more information about this group, please contact Rodney Windell.
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