Oxford Presbyterian Church

October 15, 2021

Good afternoon everyone. As I did last week, I have attached last Sunday’s sermon manuscript and also have included links below if you would want to read it or listen to it or watch it from last Sunday’s livestream. The reason I have done so is because the Revised Common Lectionary leaves large gaps in the Book of Job. The lectionary does this for expediency, but the Book of Job and its elusive meaning become even harder to grasp as a result. For example: when the Lord finally responds to Job’s entreaties, the response is one that runs from chapters 38 through 41, but the Revised Common Lectionary will have us read only chapter 38 (again, for expediency). Therefore, take the time to read all four chapters of the Lord’s word to Job.

Here are the sermon recordings: à https://oxfordpres.org/living-upright-in-an-upside-down-world/ or à http://theoxfordexchange.blubrry.net/2021/10/03/living-upright-in-an-upside-down-world/. Here is where last Sunday’s livestream can be watched à https://www.facebook.com/Oxford-Presbyterian-Church-152011345379561/. And if you are old-fashioned, you can simply read the manuscript. ?

Here are our worship options:

At 8:00 a.m. on Sundays, we have our short, outdoor worship service that meets on the parking pad behind our church. 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.

At 11:00 a.m. we gather together in our sanctuary for our Service for the Lord’s Day.

 Our 11:00 a.m. service is also be 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.

At 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 à https://oxfordpres.org/media/#sermons, and at The Oxford Exchange, found here à 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 à 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.

21^st Sunday after Pentecost, October 17, 2021:

Scripture reading: Job 38:1-38

Sermon title: “I will question you”

Thanks to Carolyn Steger, Lindsay and Judy Miller, and Kathy Webb for leading our music.

8:00 a.m. – Worship outdoors on the parking pad behind the church. Pennies for Hunger will be collected.

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

12:00 p.m. – Nominating Committee meets in Sanctuary

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

Mission of the Month – This month, our mission emphasis is collection donations to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Nick Jackson will be informing us this Sunday during 11 a.m. worship about how this fund is used to address issues of childhood health and poverty in at-risk populations around the world.

Announcements:

• 12^th – 7:00  p.m. – Choir meets in Sanctuary

Book Club – Will resume meeting Wednesday, October 27^th and Thursday, October 28^th at our normal times and places. We are discussing The Plague by Albert Camus, a moving story about human response and meaning-making as a deadly virus sweeps through an Algerian city in an epidemic.

Midday Prayer – Will resume meeting Wednesday, October 27^th in the Sanctuary

Breast Cancer Awareness Month:  At its September 2021 Stated Meeting, the OPC Session noted that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. During the month, we are encouraged to remember those who have been challenged by the disease and to look for ways to be proactive and supportive of those who suffer from the effects of breast cancer and those who care for them. We are also asked to support scientific research that seeks to end this devastating disease that impacts one in eight women as well as men. At the request of the OPC Missions Committee, Session members voted unanimously to receive a special offering in memory and in honor of OPC family members who have dealt with breast cancer over the years. The offering will be donated to organizations that have as their purpose to fight breast cancer and assist those who are fighting the disease.

Therefore, on October 24^th, we will receive our special offerings. Please remember those who have experienced breast cancer, seek to find ways to encourage our sisters and brothers who are currently on their breast cancer journey, and pray for them and the families who love them.

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

Happy Birthday to: None this week

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:

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
¹⁰ no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
¹² On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
¹⁴ Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
¹⁵ When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation. (Psalms 91:9-16 NRSV

All blessings in Christ,

Alan