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Vol. 46, No.
20 SOUTHSIDE ORACLE July 25,
2003
The Bulletin Board
Camp News – Our intermediate campers will
be coming home from Fallhall Glen this weekend and the seniors will be going
to W.C.Y.C. for the next session. Campers are Andrea Eufinger, Jered Giombi,
Justin Santana, Tabitha Santana, Holly Shilts, Sonja Shilts, Bethany Stanger,
Meagan Van Handel, and Tim Williams. Staff members include Leonard
Ditsworth, Daryl Miller, and Juan Santana.
The Sick – Martha Sepulveda entered West
Allis Hospital last weekend with severe dehydration and other problems. She
will be having tests to determine the source of her recurring illness….Lisa
Gustafson has had surgery in Cleveland… .Pat Young had shoulder surgery
Tuesday at St. Mary’s Hospital in Racine.
Study Groups - Next Wednesday, July 30th,
all of our midweek study groups will assemble at the church building at 7:00
p.m. instead of at their usual places. We do this every 5th
Wednesday.
Two years ago Last
year Last week Goal
Bible
classes 95 116
135 170
Morning worship
181 217 *207 250
Evening worship
44 54 71 80
Contribution
$3499.27 $2849.91 $4156.97 $4200.00
Our Tweens are offering a free car wash Saturday
from 10:00 a.m. to noon. If you would like to help them or have your car
washed, go at that time.
Calendar of Events
July 26 – Tween car wash at church building, 10:00
a.m. – noon.
July 27 – August 9 – Senior camp, Wisconsin Christian
Youth Camp
July 30 – Joint meeting of all midweek study groups at
church building, 7:00 p.m.
August 4 – 8 – Lake Geneva Encampment, Williams Bay
August 9 – Inter-congregational picnic, Kletzsch Park,
6560 N. Milwaukee River, Parkway
August 10 –16 – Family week, Wisconsin Christian Youth
Camp
August 10 – Elders & deacons meeting, 4:30 p.m.
August 10 – Praise and Palate, 6:00 p.m.
Spiritual Osmosis
If you have studied biology you are familiar
with “osmosis.” A junior dictionary defines it as “the tendency of two
fluids which are separated by something porous to go through it and become
mixed.”
Some people apparently believe the same process
operates in the spiritual realm. Some years ago we had a booth at the state
fair. A boy who passed by observed, “I don’t need to study the Bible. I
live right next door to the church.” He evidently thought that physical
proximity to the place of worship would cause knowledge to be absorbed by
his spiritual system.
Some years ago I inquired of a man as to his
religion. He responded that his wife and children went to church regularly
and he guessed they had enough religion for the family. He seemed to think
that enough of their devotion would rub off on him to get him to heaven.
While we are influenced, often unconsciously, by
those who are devoted Christians, no one can live your spiritual life for
you. “So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans
14:12). Neither does exposure to righteous things cause righteousness to be
absorbed into the spiritual blood stream without conscious effort on our
part. You can’t learn the Bible by living next door to the church building.
No one can experience eternal life without
determined personal effort Spiritual osmosis is a fantasy resulting in
tragic consequences to the one relying on it as his means of pleasing
God. __Monroe
E. Hawley
The City Church
God bless the church
on the avenue
That hears the
city’s cry.
The church that sows
the seed of the word
Where the masses
of men go by.
The church that makes,
midst the city’s road,
A place for an
altar of prayer
With a heart for the
rich and the poor
And rejoices
their burdens to share.
The church that is
true to the call of Christ
Who wept o’er the
city’s need,
And who sent disciples
to work for him
Where the forces
of evil breed.
The church that gives
and the one that lives
As seen by the
Master’s eye –
God bless the church
on the avenue
That answers the
city’s cry.
R. Walker
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