Oxford Presbyterian Church

May 7, 2021

Good evening everyone,

Please read the attached letter (Letter from Reopening Committee) from our Committee on Reopening before reading the rest of this OPC Weekly. Changes that are forthcoming beginning this week regarding our worship are addressed in it. Thank you.

Beginning this Sunday, we will have a short, outdoor worship service that will meet at 8 a.m. on the parking pad behind our church. We will ask that you socially distance by “bubble” and that you continue to mask. If you want to come and remain in your automobile, you may park in the office lot next door and turn your FM radio dial to 89.5 and you will be able to listen to the worship service.

We will also continue to broadcast our worship via Facebook Live. The livestream service 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.

Please note, in certain web browsers sometimes our livestream does not appear due to bugs on the Facebook side (meaning they have to make repairs). So far, we have found Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari to be the most reliable browsers for our livestream (more than Microsoft Edge or Microsoft Internet Explorer). If our livestream does not appear on Sunday morning, try a different browser and see if that makes the difference. Thanks.

Our worship is also still 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! Be on the lookout for another Faith 4 Five. 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.

6^th Sunday of Easter, May 9, 2021:

Scripture reading: Acts 10:44-48

Sermon title: “Beside Ourselves: Converting the Already Converted”

Thanks to George and Cathy Yancey and Kathy Webb for providing 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

Mission of the Month – Our monthly mission emphasis for May is Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. The offerings are used for communities both near and far that have suffered natural disasters. Some of these funds used to help communities that have been hard hit by COVID-19 outbreak. Online gifts can be made here à https://pma.pcusa.org/donate/make-a-gift/gift-info/DR000148/.

We will also receive offerings to support Area Congregations in Ministry (ACIM), which assists local families with food needs, paying utilities, and other necessities.

Announcements:

• 12^th – 12:30 p.m. – Midday Scripture and Prayer (and coffee!) on our parking patio behind the church
• 12^th – 5:30 p.m. – Book Club via Zoom where we will be discussing our latest book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• 13^th – 12:00 p.m. – Ascension Day Worship via Livestream

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.

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

Happy Birthday to: Sue Hinman – 14^th; Benjamin Parham – 14^th; Abby Hamilton – 14^th

¹ O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.
² The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
⁴ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
⁷ Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
⁸ Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
⁹ at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity. (Psalms 98 NRSV)

All blessings in Christ,

Alan

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