Southside Oracle Archive

Vol. 50, No. 46          SOUTHSIDE ORACLE                   January 25, 2008

The Bulletin Board

Our "Partners In the Gospel" seminar led by Wayne Hawley last Sunday was well attended. In it Wayne stressed that the relationship between preachers and congregations should be that of a partnership rather than employer-employee.  It is the responsibility of all to work together as a team.  We thank Wayne for his presentations.

The blood drive last Saturday had twenty who gave blood. Our thanks to Sarah Borges who planned the drive and all who gave of their time and were blood donors.

Bible Bowl - the Tweens (pre-teens) will host a Bible bowl on Sunday, February 10th from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. This is a fun, non-threatening way to have some fun with Bible knowledge. The Bible Bowl will focus primarily on facts, not applications. Questions will be multiple choice. Put together a team of four people.  Adults can form teams, too. A sign-up list is on the bulletin board. We will need adult volunteers for judging. See the Orlovskys or the Giemzas with questions.

ATTENDANCE RECORD

{*) first service, 116, second service, 73

The Sick - Christine Saunders has been diagnosed with multilple sclerosis. It is hoped that since the disease in its early stages that treatment will alleviate the illness .... Ann Tevik is doing well following her recent hip replacement.

Southside's annual dinner and auction to benefit the Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp will be Saturday, February 16th. If you would like to attend, donate a NEW or Craft item for the auction, or make a monetary donation, contact Bill or Denise Eppler.

Aline Sturomski is a certified CPR instructor. She is willing to teach a course of this life saving technique in February for Southside.    If you are interested in participating, see the sign-up sheet in the hall outside the fellowship area.  Indicate which day would best fit your schedule. Because you will receive a book and be certified at the end of the course, there is a fee.  See information on sign-up sheet.

Calendar of Events

January 25-27 - Spirit Fest, Duluth, MN, for youth

February 10 - Tween Bible Bowl 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

February 16 - Camp auction and dinner for Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp

February 19 - Christian Workers' Meeting, 9:00 a.m.

February 23 - Southside area-wide men's breakfast, 9:00 a.m.

March 2 - 50th anniversary of the Southside Church

March 28 - 30 - Southside youth rally

July 11, 12 -50th anniversary celebration and reunion of Southside Church

Authentic Christianity (4)

It is likely that most church leaders of the Evangelical Christian community would define authentic Christianity in terms of the early faith. This certainly includes the witness of the New Testament Scriptures. But many evangelicals would point to the Christian faith of the early fourth century, the Constantinian period, as the faith to which we should return.

Why the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine? In the first three centuries of the Christian faith, the church was severely persecuted. Only when Constantine came to the throne were followers of Jesus allowed freedom of religion. During this same period the church also faced serious internal problems in dealing with false teachings. To combat these heresies creeds were developed to define authentic Christianity. The Old Roman Symbol, forerunner of The Apostles' Creed, emerged about the year 200. The Nicene Creed, was adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325. It was designed to combat Arianism, and reflected the orthodox view of the nature of God, specifically the relationship between the Father and the Son. Thus some conclude that the early Christian creeds define the genuine Christian faith, and that we should look to this era predating the development of the Papacy as representing authentic Christianity.

It is true that many of us would agree that these creeds express basic Christian truths. Personally I find nothing in the Apostles' Creed with which I disagree. However, these creeds were not written by the apostles or other inspired people and should not be accepted as divinely inspired. The Constantinian age, while representing a more primitive form of the Christian faith than found in later centuries, still reflected departures from the early faith.  Infant baptism had already been introduced.  Sacrificial ideas that later led to the development of the Mass were changing the biblical concept of the Lord's supper. A hierarchy of church leaders had been developed to cope with false teachers, and distinction between clergy and laity had been made.  So while the consensus of truth in the church in the early fourth century has much to commend it, we must go even farther back to the very beginnings to discover Authentic Christianity.                                                                                                               

Monroe Hawley

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