Southside Oracle Archive

Vol. 47, No.43                         SOUTHSIDE ORACLE                        January 7, 2004

The Bulletin Board

      New Arrivals –Baby girl Madison was born to Kevin and Trevonna Parker, January 1, the first child born in Kenosha in 2005.  Baby boy Luke Andrew was born to Tony and Jennifer Biermann Monday.  Congratulations to the parents.

      The Sick –Elfriede Wandsnider entered Froedtert Hospital last week and was scheduled for kidney surgery Tuesday….Joe Ebberly, father of Kathy Stankowski, has been in Waukesha Memorial Hospital for a heart condition….Martha Sepulveda was in St. Francis Hospital over last weekend for anemia….Duane Saunders, brother of Dennis, is having radiation treatments for a brain tumor….Remember all of these in your prayers.

      The Christian Workers’ Meeting will be Tuesday, January 19th at 9:00 a.m. and will deal with the faith struggles we have as Christians.  Chris Kunkle of Monroe will speak on “Doubts” and Dale Walker of Fond du Lac will discuss “Discouragement.”  These monthly meetings at Southside are attended by people from a number of congregations and are open to anyone interested.

      Praise and Palate will be Sunday at 6:00 p.m.

      Sunday Night Live, the inter-congregational youth program, will be Sunday evening at the Elkhorn Church.  Those wanting transportation should meet at our building at 3:30 p.m.   

ATTENDANCE RECORD

                                                 Two years ago       Last year        Last week         Goal

Bible classes                                           125                  132                  129            170

 Morning worship                                     234                  210                *228            250

Evening worship                                        68                    54                    48              80

Contribution                                        $4559.29         $8502.87         $4895.21   $4900.00

                                                        (*) first service, 130; second service, 98

      The church budget for 2005 has been posted on the bulletin board and calls for an increase in our contributions to $4900 weekly.

      Women’s Devotional Prayer Evening will be Thursday, January 20^th at 7:00 p.m. at the Valentine home, 3737 W. Ramsey.  Contact Pam Valentine or Jan Alexander for details.

      There will be a Holiday Party for our young adults at 7:00 p.m. this Friday at the church building.  Contact J. R. Frost for specifics.

      In Retrospect – As we begin 2005, it is appropriate to look back over our church events for the past year.  Eighteen were baptized, a number of whom were children in our families.  Several of these were baptized at Fallhall Glen during the summer camp session.  It is hard to over-emphasize the important role that the Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp plays in the lives of our youth.  Many lasting friendships are formed that affect relationships for years to come, and most importantly our young people are drawn closer to God.  We lost an elder in the summer when the McMillions moved to Arkansas and we are currently evaluating the addition of a new elder.  Our direct mail program resulted in visits from many in our community.  We send out 40,000 brochures annually.  A number of our members were initially contacted through this medium.  We lost one member, Esther Christensen, through death, but about a dozen of our members also lost parents during the year.  We considered purchasing a piece of land on which to erect a new building, but it did not materialize so we continue to evaluate our options for future growth.  We have added a number of new families, but we continue to be challenged by our opportunities to reach out to others and to minister to those of our spiritual body.  2004 was a good year.  Let’s make 2005 better.

 As We Purpose

      The little boy burst into tears.  The collection plate had passed him by without his realizing that it was time to make his offering.  I was sitting by his side and had neglected to remind him.  I felt a little tearful myself.

      The broken hearts of the very young heal rapidly.  When the little boy is grown, his elders will repeat stories like this one and chuckle.  He won’t think they are funny; in fact, he won’t even remember.

      In this little incident, however, there is a good principle.  The parents were teaching the child the grace of giving and he had learned part of the lesson well.  He was ready and willing, but not quite alert enough, and there was a grievous disappointment over the failure.  I have been wondering ever since how much we grieve about our own oversight in giving to the Lord.

      God’s word teaches us to give as we are prospered, and with a cheerful willingness.  When we have made up our minds to adhere to this principle, there is no such thing as missing the contribution plate.  The formality of the morning worship is an excellent medium and well approved by Scriptures; but that is not the only time one may give.  All that is required is that we be ready and willing; there is always time and opportunity.  We need to burst into tears only over our lack of desire.  We need not grieve over lost opportunities.  We can always make up the deficit if we do not wait so long that our span of life is ended.

                                                                          __J. H. McCaleb in What Is Your Life?

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