Oxford Presbyterian Church

January 23, 2020

Good morning everyone. I hope this email finds all of you safe and warm.

Our live-streamed worship will once again be broadcast 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.

As always, 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! Another Faith 4 Five is on the way. The video will be posted 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:

3^rd Sunday after Epiphany, January 24, 2021:

Scripture readings: Jonah 3:1-10 and Mark 1:14-20

Sermon title: “Get busy living or get busy dying”

Thanks to Walter and Ellen Gould and Kathy Webb for providing our music.

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

4:00 p.m. – Presbyterian Women’s Circle meets via Zoom

Mission of the Month – 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:

• 27^th – 10:30 a.m. – Morning Scripture and Prayer (and coffee!) on our parking patio behind the church
• 27^th – 6:30 p.m. – Session meets via Zoom
• 28^st – 5:30 p.m. – Book Club meets via Zoom. We are discussing Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory

On Wednesday mornings, we will continue 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.

Our Book Club has reconvened and will be reading Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, a story of a not-so-pious drunk priest during a difficult political era in Mexico. If you need a copy you can get it from the big behemoth here: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Glory-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143107550/ref=sr_1_1?crid=326WCX4Q3MLH6&dchild=1&keywords=the+power+and+the+glory+graham+greene&qid=1611239108&s=books&sprefix=the+power+and%2Caps%2C175&sr=1-1. If you are interested in joining us, please let Alan know so you can receive the link.

 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:  Cathy Yancy – 24th; Fred Heath – 25th; Boyd Phillips – 25th; Lynn Currin – 25th; Sharyl Shelton – 25th

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, Francis Kirly, Barbara Laurent, Donnie Messer, Ally Milton, Ade Omokunde, Sowande Omokunde, Jason Parkin, Greg and Dottie Price, Deelane Reavis, David Reavis, Mike Reavis, Lynn Stone, and Alice Evans Woodlief.

¹ For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
² He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

³ How long will you assail a person,
will you batter your victim, all of you,
as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
⁴ Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.
Selah

⁵ For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
⁷ On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah

⁹ Those of low estate are but a breath,
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
¹⁰ Put no confidence in extortion,
and set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
¹² and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
according to their work. (Psalms 62 NRSV)

All blessings in Christ,

Alan

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