Oxford Presbyterian Church

January 7, 2022

Good afternoon everyone.

I hope you all are hanging in there as we weather this surge of the Omicron variant. While appearing to be not as dangerous (thankfully) as previous variants, it is nevertheless more contagious than others, and thus we need to keep vigilant for the immunocompromised among us. Let us keep praying to receive what we need from God to endure, and may we hope that this will be the year when we turned a big corner and received back the freedoms we are used to.

This Sunday is the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, and 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.

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/).

We also have 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.

Baptism of the Lord, January 9, 2022:

Scripture readings: Isaiah 43:1-7 and Luke 3:15-22

Sermon title: For Us

Liturgist: Paul Hesse

Thanks to Carolyn Steger, Ellen and Walter Gould, and Kathy Webb for leading our music.

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 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:

• 10^th – 6:30 p.m. – Presbyterian Women’s Circle meets in the choir room
• 11^th – 7:00  p.m. – Choir meets in sanctuary
• 12^th – 10:30 a.m. – Book Club meets at Strong Arm Baking Company to discuss our new book, Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
• 12^th – 12:30 p.m. – Midweek Prayer in Sanctuary
• 13^th – 7:00  p.m. – Book Club meets at Tobacco Wood Brewing Company and via Zoom to discuss our new book, Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

Book Club – Meets this week on Wednesday at Strong Arm Baking Company and Thursday at Tobacco Wood Brewing Company and via Zoom to discuss Nobel prize-winning laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights, a book about traveling throughout the world as well as traveling into the human soul.

Midday Prayer – Meets Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in the sanctuary.

Prayers for: Frank Anderson, Becky and Isabella Baird, Betty Baynes, Michael Boyd, Cynthia Broaddrick, Earron Couch, 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: Lene Cash – 9^th; Chandler Hobgood – 11^th; Carol Barnes – 11^th; Faye Newell – 15^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 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
² Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy splendor.
³ The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
⁷ The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forest bare;
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
¹⁰ The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
¹¹ May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace! (Psalms 29 NRSV)

All blessings in Christ,

Alan