Oxford Presbyterian Church

January 2, 2020

A Merry Christmas to you all on this ninth day of Christmas! As we step into the year 2021, let us be reminded the calendar that matters most is the one that is still celebrating the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of time, and his time is permanent. His calendar outlasts the provisionality of our current pandemic.

Our live-streamed worship will again be broadcast from the sanctuary via Facebook Live. Worship begins at 10:00 a.m. 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. If you have prayer requests or announcements, please email them to me (opcpastor@ncrrbiz.com) or text them to me (919-323-7192) and they will be included in the worship.

Our worship is also being broadcast on WCBQ 1340 on the AM radio dial at 3 p.m. on Sundays. If you are not a computer hound, then 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.

The Sunday worship bulletin 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. Worship is always critical, but especially at a time like this. Our faithful witness in this difficult time and world is nourished by lifting our hearts to the Lord. As always, you can listen to sermons through our website right here à https://oxfordpres.org/media/#sermons, and at The Oxford Exchange, found here à http://theoxfordexchange.blubrry.net/.

Hey kids! A short Christmas series of Faith 4 Five begins in this week. As always, the video will be posted on Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. Continue to tune in every week and watch for five minutes of fun and learning about God’s love. The video can be viewed on the church’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/. You do not need to have a Facebook account to watch.

Our website, www.oxfordpres.org, has calendars, newsletters, the OPC WEEKLY, sermons, and even ways to give your offerings (right here à https://oxfordpres.org/give/). It is a great resource in times like these.

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.

Here is our schedule for the week:

The Second Sunday of Christmas, January 3, 2021:

Scripture readings: John 1:1-16 and Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon title: “Calendars”

Thanks to Ellen Gould for preaching, to Walter Gould for leading our liturgy, to Kathy Webb and Lindsay and Judy Miller for providing our music, and for Lindsay Miller for operating our livestream this Sunday.

9:00 a.m. – Faith 4 Five video posted at https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/

10:00 a.m. – Worship 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 January and February mission emphasis will be our annual blanket drive with Church World Service. As the below image shows, the blanket ministry of CWS continues amid pandemic conditions. More information on this critical ministry can be found here: https://cwsblankets.org/.

Announcements:

• 6^th – 10:30 a.m. – Morning Scripture and Prayer (and coffee!) on our parking patio behind the church

On Wednesday mornings, we will resume gathering for a brief time to read scripture and to pray. If you would like to join your brothers and sisters, we ask that we each bring a chair if possible (if not you can use a folding chair from the church), that we observe our distance (6ft from each other), and that we mask. Please come and take the opportunity to safely fellowship, and to lift up one another and our world to God in prayer.

 Volunteer opportunity: ACIM (Area congregations in ministry) is in need of volunteers who can unpack boxes of food and place food items on shelves. Times to serve are Tuesday and Thursday at 6PM. Saturday mornings are also a possibility. If you would like to serve, please call ACIM at 919-690-0961.

Happy Birthday to:  Nikki Yancey – 3rd; Robin MacDowell – 4th; Mike Diamond – 5th;  Gray Yancey – 5th; Lene Cash – 9th;

Ade and Sowande Omokunde, sons of our friend Rev. Dr. Omotolokun Omokunde of Timothy Darling Presbyterian Church, have both contracted COVID-19 and are currently hospitalized in Wisconsin. Ade is in ICU. Please keep both of them, as well as Tolokun and Dawn Marie, in your prayers.

Prayers for: Frank Anderson, Becky and Isabella Baird, Betty Baynes, Michael Boyd, Cynthia Broaddrick, Linda and Mike Diamond, Charlene Dickey, Randy Downey, Julie Gaydon, Marlene Grenier, Fred Heath, Hannah Hobgood, Marie Hobgood, Terry Hobgood, Cotina Jones, Barbara Laurent, Donnie Messer, Ally Milton, Jason Parkin, Greg and Dottie Price, Mike Reavis, Lynn Stone,  and Alice Evans Woodlief.

¹ The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
² Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³ Fire goes before him,
and consumes his adversaries on every side.
⁴ His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
⁵ The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
⁶ The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
and all the peoples behold his glory.
⁷ All worshipers of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.
⁸ Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgments, O God.
⁹ For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
¹⁰ The Lord loves those who hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
¹² Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name! (Psalms 97 NRSV)

All blessings in Christ,

Alan

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