Southside Oracle Archive

Vol. 45, No. 47                             SOUTHSIDE ORACLE                   January 24, 2003

The Bulletin Board

      Baptized – Wanda Capitonoff was baptized Sunday afternoon by Bobby Valentine.  May God’s blessings be with her in her Christian life.

      Spirit Fest Youth Rally – About sixteen youth and adults are traveling to Duluth, MN this weekend for the big youth rally.  Bruce and Karen Williams are driving two vehicles.

      Trustees Chosen – As required by law, two trustees were chosen on Sunday evening to serve two years.  They are John Dickson and Troy Jensen.  They join Brad Stanger, Rodney Windell, and Kevin Parker who still have a year to serve.  The  trustees represent the church in business affairs regarding the handling of property.

      The Sick – Lisa Gustafson is scheduled for treatment and probable throat surgery in Cleveland.  The time of surgery will be determined after her examination.  This is a very serious process so let us continue to remember her in our prayers…….

Russell Kleinhans and Tammy Shilts are home from the hospital following surgery….Debbie McMillion was able to be with us Sunday only a week after going home after her surgery….Jean Jensen’s father is scheduled for surgery in the near future….Allen Saunders had recent knee surgery and is doing well.

ATTENDANCE RECORD

                               Two years ago         Last year      Last week          Goal

   Bible classes                                            139                  165                   143            170   

   Morning worship                                        205                  230                 *251            250

Evening worship                                        42                      59                    65              80

Contribution                                     $2787.37           $3739.38         $3403.12   $4200.00

                                               (*) first service, 143; second service, 108

      Coming Events – The annual Southside dinner and auction to benefit the Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp will be February 15^th from 6:00 – 9:30 p.m.  See the bulletin board or contact Wayne Alexander for details….The Southside area-wide men’s breakfast will be Saturday, March 1^st from 8:30 a.m. to noon.  See Bruce Williams for additional information.

      The Parent to Parent 2000 program will have its second meeting Saturday.

      On the 5^th Wednesday, January 29^th, at 7:00 p.m., all of the mid-week study groups will meet jointly at the church building.  Dana McMillion will be in charge of the program.

      Daryl Miller will be our speaker Sunday evening at the 6:00 o’clock worship.

The Lord’s Supper (4)

The Time of Observance

      Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper while eating the Jewish Passover meal with the twelve disciples.  As he did so he instructed them, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:25).  So far as we are informed Jesus did not tell them when to partake of the sacred meal, so we turn to the example of the early Christians for help.

      Initially, after the establishment of the church on Pentecost, the Jerusalem Christians apparently met together daily.  Their observance of the Lord’s supper is noted in the statement that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).  It is generally agreed that in this place the “breaking of bread” designates the Lord’s supper.  A few verses later we are told that “every day they continued to meet in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” (Acts 2:46).  It is widely debated whether this daily “breaking of bread” refers to the Lord’s supper or to eating a common meal.

      At any rate, the daily assembly did not seem to continue elsewhere.  Christians met on the first day of the week (Sunday) as we learn in 1 Cor. 16:2 and Acts 20:7.  The day was called “the Lord’s day” (Rev. 1:10) because on this day Jesus arose from the dead.

      The disciples in Troas assembled on the first day for the stated purpose of observing the Lord’s supper.  “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7).  The context indicates that this was the fixed weekly practice.  The practice continued into the post-apostolic period.  The Didache, dating to the late first century, enjoins Christians to “come together each Lord’s day of the Lord, break bread, and give thanks.”  Justin Martyr in the mid-second century describes in detail how the Christians would meet on Sunday, and among other things would eat the Lord’s supper.  Everett Ferguson says of the practice:

      “The Lord’s supper was a constant feature of the Sunday service.  There is no second century evidence for the celebration of a daily eucharist.  The eucharist was the climax of the Christian worship service and that which distinguished it from the Jewish synagogue service. The central place of the Lord’s supper in early Christian-ity is abundantly indicted by all types of sources” Early Christians Speak, p. 94, 95.

      To sum the matter up, then, the Biblical record indicates that the disciples of Jesus ate the Lord’s supper when they met every first day of the week.  During the next hundred years the Lord’s supper was still at the heart of the Christian weekly assemblies.  If we truly seek to pursue the apostolic example, we, too, will meet on the first day of the week to remember Jesus’ sacrifice.  Remember, it is a privilege to be enjoyed, and not just an obligation to be observed.                    __Monroe Hawley