Southside Oracle Archive

Vol. 49. No. 20                          SOUTHSIDE ORACLE                           July 14, 2006

The Bulletin Board

New Arrival - Brolan James was born to Brian and Tara Frost last Friday at the hospital in Elkhorn. Unfortunately, the baby has severe breathing problems and has been transferred to the Wisconsin Children's Hospital where he is undergoing treatment. Remember the baby and Brian and Tara in your prayers.

Wedding Bells - Congratulations to Leah Alexander and Craig Anderson on their wedding this Friday night. May God bless them in their home.

Camp Notes - The middle session of the Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp ends Saturday and the two-week intermediate session begins Sunday. Southside campers are Dustin Dickson, Nayja Mudd, Ashley Eppler, Daniel Eppler, Brandon Schraven, and Abby Miller. Staff members from here are Denise Eppler and April Alexander.

Service Trip - Our twelve youth and adults are scheduled to leave this Wednesday for the service trip to the Dominican Republic, flying out of Chicago. Their schedule calls for them to return next Wednesday, July 19th.

Elders' Forum - Every fifth Sunday night at 6:00 o'clock the elders address questions from the congregation. On July 30th they will explain the ministerial responsibilities shift for Daryl Miller and how we plan to address the needs of our youth without a full-time youth minister.

ATTENDANCE RECORD

(*) first service, 136; second service, 83

The Sick - Martha Sepulveda was in St. Francis Hospital over the weekend but is expected to go home soon .... Brian Galecke's mother has been seriously ill.

A Request - An accident occurred last week because of our children running in the church building. It could have been very bad, but fortunately did not cause serious injury. The elders request that we have no running in the church building. Since this involves our children, we ask that parents be responsible for stopping their own children from running as very serious injury could result.

We have been making efforts to improve the quality of our congregational singing. This involves wider participation by the congregation itself, but we also wish to help our song leaders gain greater experience. To that end Cliff Copass and Bruce Williams will be attending a seminar for song leaders this week at Abilene Christian University.

Calendar of Events

July 12 - 19 - Mission trip to Dominican Republic

July 16 - 29 - Intermediate session, Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp, Fallhall Glen

July 30 - August 12 - Senior session, Wis. Christian Youth Camp, Fallhall Glen

July 30 - Elders' Forum, 6:00 p.m.

August 13 - Elders/deacns meeting, 4:30 p.m.

August 13 - Praise and Palate, 6:00 p.m.

August 13 - 17 -Quest Family Camp session, Fallhall Glen

Forgive Yourself

Recently while traveling across the state, I drove up to a church building with words like these on the bulletin board: "FORGIVE EVERYONE BUT YOURSELF." Whoever put the words there undoubtedly felt that they expressed a noble and biblical sentiment. But does the Bible really teach us not to forgive ourselves?

Several times God's word says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." This teaches a certain amount of self-love. We are told not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think (Rpm. 12:3) and with humility of mind to regard others as more important than self (Phil. 2:3), but these teachings simply limit self-love rather than to exclude it.

The man who hates himself will find it hard to love others. He will very likely dislike his neighbor as he dislikes himself.

Since forgiveness should stem from love, and since we need to love self as well as others, we also need to forgive self as well as others. This doesn't mean that we should ignore our faults and quit trying to be better people, but it does mean that we should remember that we are loved by God even though we are imperfect.

If we really believe that God loves us, accepts us, and forgives us, then we will be as forgiving of ourselves as God is of us. Yes, it is healthy to forgive -- both others and self.

__Edwin Broadus

To Top