Oxford Presbyterian Church

December 23, 2021

Good evening everyone.

Tomorrow afternoon, we will celebrate Christmas Eve worship with our brothers and sisters of Timothy Darling Presbyterian Church. At 2 p.m., we will have a “drive-in” worship service around the Timothy Darling building and in the vacant lot next to the church at 123 W. McClanahan St. From the warmth and safety of our cars, we will hear the Christmas story read from the prophets and Gospels via shortrange radio broadcast, and offer up prayers of thanksgiving and praise. The radio frequency will be 96.5 on the FM dial. Communion will be celebrated during the service, and therefore if you come you will need to furnish your own elements of the bread and the cup—we are once again being extra careful due to our pandemic conditions. If you wish to join the worship service via livestream, it will be broadcast by Timothy Darling on their Facebook page which is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1445672785720115.

Sunday is the First Sunday of Christmas, and to celebrate there will be a service of lessons and carols. Thus we invite you to participate in one or more of the following worship opportunities:

8:08 a.m. in the sanctuary. If you want to come and remain in your automobile, you may park on Gilliam Street and turn your FM radio dial to 89.50 and you will be able to listen to the worship service.

11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. This service is also broadcast via Facebook Live if you are unable to join us. If you have a computer or tablet or smartphone with an internet connection, you should be able to receive the stream. You do not need to have a Facebook account to participate. Our stream appears on the church’s Facebook page which is here à  https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/. If you miss the broadcast, the service will remain on our Facebook page for the next several days.

3:00 p.m. our worship is also broadcast on WCBQ 1340 on the AM radio dial. The radio broadcast of our worship is an easy way to listen in and participate. If you know of someone in our community that does not do computers or finds them frustrating to use, please let them know of this alternative. Please note that as we have returned to in-person congregational worship, the radio broadcast of each service is aired the following Sunday.

The Sunday worship bulletin for those who are unable to join us will appear in your emailbox late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, complete with hymns and sermon so that you may have your own house-church worship. As always, you can listen to sermons through our website right here: https://oxfordpres.org/media/#sermons, and at The Oxford Exchange, found here: http://theoxfordexchange.blubrry.net/. Sermons are posted the Tuesday following the Sunday they were preached.

As always, our website, www.oxfordpres.org, has calendars, newsletters, the OPC WEEKLY, sermons, and even ways to give your offerings (right here: https://oxfordpres.org/give/).

Oxford Presbyterian Church also has an offerings drop-box situated next to the door on the back side of the church at the top of the ramp if you want to drop off an offering. Or, you can mail offerings to Oxford Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 652, Oxford, NC 27565. They will be collected and deposited.

First Sunday of Christmas, December 26, 2021:

Scripture readings: 1Samuel 2:18-20 and Luke 2:41-52

Service of Lessons and Carols

Liturgist: Earron Couch

Thanks to Carolyn Steger, The Gould and Hamilton families, and Kathy Webb for leading our music.

7:00 a.m. – Faith 4 Five available for viewing on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/

8:08 a.m. – Worship in sanctuary with shortrange broadcast on 89.50 FM

11:00 a.m. – Worship in sanctuary also broadcast via Facebook Live. The stream can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/

3:00 p.m. – Worship broadcast on WCBQ 1340 AM

Mission of the Month – Our December mission emphasis is the annual Christmas Joy Offering that supports retired Presbyterian ministers here and current Presbyterian ministers abroad. For more information go here: https://specialofferings.pcusa.org/offering/christmas-joy/. Our January and February mission emphasis will be our annual blanket drive with Church World Service. More information on this critical ministry can be found here: https://cwsblankets.org/.

Announcements:

• 24^th – 2:00  p.m. – Christmas Eve worship at Timothy Darling Presbyterian Church with communion broadcast via shortrange radio and also broadcast via Facebook Live.
• 28^th – 7:00  p.m. – OPC Choir rehearsal in sanctuary

Hey Kids! Christmas is here! Don’t you want to know “Who has come?” Find out on Sunday morning on Faith 4 Five! as we complete our study of the hymn People, Look East. Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/.

Book Club – Will resume meeting in the New Year on Wednesdays at Strong Arm Baking Company and Thursday at Tobacco Wood Brewing Company and via Zoom. Come join us as we will jump into a new book!

Midday Prayer – Will resume meeting in the New Year on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. in the sanctuary.

Prayers for: Frank Anderson, Becky and Isabella Baird, Betty Baynes, Michael Boyd, Cynthia Broaddrick, Linda and Mike Diamond, Randy Downey, Julie Gaydon, Marlene Grenier, Millie Hartford, Heather Hightower, Randall Hightower, Hannah Hobgood, Cotina Jones, Barbara Laurent, Wiley Leonard, BK McCloud, Donnie Messer, Laura Messer, Jeanette Owen, Rufus Owen, Jason Parkin, Greg and Dottie Price, Mike Reavis, Kelly Ann Sterner, Lynn Stone, Melvin Weaver, and Alice Evans Woodlief.

Happy Birthday to: Stephen Baird – 27^th

Remember to utilize our website! – www.oxfordpres.org.

Also, if you are on Facebook, please friend us here:

And if you are on Twitter, please follow us here:

¹ Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
² Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!
³ Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.
⁶ He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.
⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
⁸ fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!
⁹ Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
¹⁰ Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
¹² Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.
¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 148 NRSV)

All blessings in Christ,

Alan