Southside Oracle Archive

Vol. 49, No. 44                    SOUTHSIDE ORACLE                    January 5, 2007

The Ultimate Humiliation

The Sunnis are in mourning. Saddam Hussein is dead, hanged for barbarity in killing thousands of his fellow Iraqis. The Sunnis are infuriated that someone is circulating on the internet pictures of his execution on the gallows. To them hanging is the ultimate humiliation. In the Moslem world nothing is worse than to be stripped of one's honor. How can you honor one you esteem when he dies in total ignominy?

We turn the calendar back two thousand years. An itinerant Jewish rabbi named Jesus has been crucified by the Romans at the behest of his own people. His death is not so much a threat to the Roman power as a response to the Jewish leaders who are intimidated by the rabbi's teaching. His followers claim he is the Messiah foretold by the prophets who will deliver them from the oppression of the hated Romans. But haw can this be? Does not Moses pronounce a curse on one who is hanged on a tree (Deut. 21:22, 23)? What self-respecting Jew would ever follow one whose honor has been so totally stripped from him in a torturous death?

The Apostle addresses this impediment to Jewish faith in Christ when he declares that "we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24).

Today we highly esteem the cross. People proudly wear crosses as badges of honor. But the cross has been cleansed of its blood and has become a thing of beauty. Let us never forget that the gory picture we see at Calvary repelled the onlookers. That picture is still with us if we will but look. It represents the price that Jesus paid for our redemption from sins. He "endured the cross, scorning its shame" (Heb. 12:2) that that we might live. What was once a symbol of dishonor has become a badge of honor because it represents God's love and mercy in granting us eternal life. The beauty of the cross is not seen in the pendants we wear, but in the shame Jesus suffered on our behalf. Saddam Hussein died for his own sins, but Jesus died for others.

                                                                        Monroe E. Hawley

The Bulletin Board

Bible Bowl - On Sunday, January 21st at 6:00 p.m. the Tweens (pre-teens) are challenging the rest of us in a Bible Bowl on the life of Elijah. The scriptures to be covered are 1 Kings 17:1 - 19:21; 21:17 - 29; 2 Kings 1:1 - 2:12; Mark 9:12; Matthew 17:3, 10. If you would like to participate, see John or Glynda Giemza.

New Sunday Classes - Beginning Sunday we will offer three new adult Sunday morning Bible classes that will continue for the next four months. There will be a special ladies' class taught by Judy Nowiin entitled Boundaries. Bruce Williams will direct a study of The Gospel of John that will be extended to the second trimester. Monroe Hawley will teach a class on The Church After the Apostles. This study will explain what happened in the two centuries after the last of the apostles, primarily examining how doctrinal changes were made in such areas as the Lord's Supper, baptism, and church organization.

Sunday Speakers - Monroe Hawley will preach at the morning services Sunday and Daryl Miller will bring the lesson Sunday evening.

Address Change - Scott and Christine Saunders. Contact us for details.

Bobby and Pamela Valentine moved to Tucson, AZ on Tuesday. We wish them God's blessings as Bobby begins a work with the Palo Verde Church in that city.

ATTENDANCE RECORD

(*) first service, 125: second service, 108

In Retrospect - As we begin a new year it is appropriate that we look back to 2006 with a view to better serving God in 2007. Fourteen were baptized but we lost two members to death - Esther Gray and Vic Kurmis. In September we lost an elder as Rodney and Coleen Windell moved to Texas. In the summer Daryl Miller's responsibilities were shifted away from his directing the youth work and that is now being carried out by a youth committee. In December Bobby Valentine resigned as one of our ministers and the family has just moved to Arizona where Bobby will preach for a congregation in Tucson. A search committee is now considering possible preachers to replace Bobby. The search will take as long as necessary as we seek the right person and in the meantime, we have considerable talent to take care of the preaching responsibilities. A major highlight of the year was the July mission trip to the Dominican Republic of twelve of our number led by Daryl Miller. Our goals for 2007 include a more evangelist outreach to the many seekers in our community. May God help us to better serve him.

We extend our condolences to the Wainscotts in the death last week of Tim's sister, Judy Jongkind, who died in Neenah after a battle with cancer.

Sunday Night Live - The Northtown Church will host the youth Sunday Night Live program on January 21^st beginning at 4:30 p.m. This event is for all junior and senior high school students from area congregations. The speaker will be Justin Worley of the Elkhorn Church.

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