-Margaret Shanley 2019

Several years ago I asked God what the point could be of all the celebrating, baking, cooking, and eating at Christmas time. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and pressured. God lead me right to this passage which is found in Mark 2:18-20: Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

I said something like this: “Wow, God. You are right. The church gets to celebrate the birth of our Bridegroom, Jesus—the savior of the world!” Christmas is the time to do that! Since then I have really embraced Christmas, especially as a time to gather with friends and family, have different decorations around the house, eat food I only make or buy once a year, and revel in the moment. Remember, Christmas actually lasts for 12 days. As a side note, did you know that Ethiopians celebrate for 3 days whenever they have a wedding? So we have plenty of time to make memories and to wish each other Merry Christmas.

This revelation about Christmas came back to me in full force this year as my family mourns the passing of my dad. He always enjoyed Christmas with the special music at church and gathering with family and friends. My mother really wants to decorate for Christmas this year but wonders if it would be appropriate as she wants to be sure to remember dad. I said that Christmas means Jesus is coming into the world to conquer death and we would see all our loved ones again because of Jesus’ give of eternal life!

I pray that we all can celebrate Jesus’ birth as we are led…whatever the circumstances and what this past year has brought.  I am going to rest in Jesus.

-Marsha Garrett, 2018

“I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27. (NLT)

With the birth of Christ came the gift of peace. Isaiah says Jesus is the prince of

peace and the giver of peace. “My peace I give to you,” Jesus told his disciples.

Galatians 5: 22 assures us that the Holy Spirit gives peace as a gift.

And peace can also be defined as harmony, calmness, and order.

The Jewish word for peace or peace unto you is Shalom. The word shalom was used often by a former missionary and pastor, Rev. Troy Bennett, a dear friend of ours, to greet individuals and the Spilman congregation. Each time I hear the word shalom used, it brings back many memories of Rev. Bennett and especially those of Christmas services that he led.

Christmas should be a time of peace and the most wonderful time of the year, but this is not always the case for many people. Peace is disrupted by worldly circumstances, such as death, loneliness, difficult family times, war, and more. We have had a few Christmases that were not so joyful, like when our children or family members were sick during the Christmas Season and the two Christmases that our son and daughter-in-law served in Iraq at war and away from family. Those Christmases definitely did not feel like ones of peace, tranquility, nor celebration and they are not fond memories for our family members.

So how do we find peace in the midst of such times?

For us, it was and is through the support of our family, our Oxford Baptist Church family, and friends…and far beyond that, it was and still is, God’s presence and peace through the Holy Spirit that allows us to go about our daily tasks during difficult times. It is through the worship of the birth of Christ, knowing Christ as one’s personal Saviour, and through the Holy Spirit that peace is given.

The peace of Christmas came the night of Christ’s birth and the promise declared by the angels, ”Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace.” In the midst of trials and struggles, may each of us look to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit to experience His gifts of peace and eternal life that He freely gives us all.

Shalom, peace be unto you!

Amen

-Kyle Yarbrough, 2017

As we come to the Christmas Season I read through the Christmas Story several times before beginning this devotional and one situation kept appearing – Fear of the unknown and then angels calming message of…

For unto you a child is born.  Having a child is one of a very small number of events in your life that can truly excite and terrify you at the same time.  How am I ever going to be a good dad?  Am I ready for this?  Or the real frightening question – Is she going to be ok?

Emotionally I didn’t know how to handle that question when, during our 3^rd pregnancy, we were told that there’s an abnormality with your baby’s heart and she will need intervention to survive.  I am one that likes to be in control or at least have a hand in keeping things under control, and this was the extreme opposite.

All of my efforts went into trying to find a way to change the game and gain some semblance of control. Google was my target—If I can’t find answers here then I’m out of luck.  So I started.  And there were so many possibilities of what could be wrong and the doom and gloom aspects that after about 30 minutes I stopped, put the computer away, and started praying—not for answers or truth or to make everything better.  No… for the first time I just talked and said that I knew that He was in control and that the outcome was in His plan.

Relinquishing this control brought a calming peace that I didn’t know could come under these situations.  The next few months showed me just how much God was in control when I couldn’t be; by giving us a great team of professional and personal supporters that gave the level of confidence and understanding that I wanted.  They also gave us the only material that we needed to look at for understanding; and to call with any questions.

Nothing could have prepared me for the shock, but nothing comforted me like knowing there was one source of information and someone that could help with the comprehension.  It took almost 39 years and a true-gut punch situation to truly understand this concept and relate it back to how to handle situations that are out of my control.

One Source – The Bible – is the place to go to find a truly calming peace for difficult situations.  The key to finding this calming peace however, is to go into the Bible with the openness to receive his plan and not to seek my answer.

Thank you God for loving us!  Please help us to understand that everything is in your hands and that you have a plan for us.  Please help us to trust that you have it all under control and to take the advice of the angels.

For Behold I bring you good tidings of Great JOY!!

Thank you for joining us for Christmas Reflection from OBC. The video reaches back to some of our most beloved memories to capture the promise and assurance of the Lord’s presence with us during this unique season. We hope this time we share together will be a blessing to you.

Good Morning!
Welcome to the Sunday of Advent, a season of anticipation and waiting for the Coming of Jesus Christ, our Messiah and King. We hope you find today’s service meaningful and inspirational as we worship the Lord together.

Here is a link to the Oxford Baptist Church YouTube Channel.

The Service LiveStream should begin about 9:50, but if it is not there, continue to check back, it should be up and running by 10am. Should you miss us at 10am eastern, you will be able to find the service in the Past Live Streams section of our YouTube channel.

As you join us for worship, you may want to use the bulletin to follow along with our prayers and hymns. The link for that is here:

Please consider worshiping with us in person for worship next Sunday, December 6th. Anyone willing to follow the protocols set by the Deacon’s Logistics team may call or email the office by Wednesday at 1pm to reserve a spot. Details about making a reservation are in other posts below.

God bless you and have a great week.

-Steve Timberlake, 2018

Of all the things we long for, I believe peace finds itself close to the top. Looking around us, we see little signs of peace while the stories that are “trending or breaking” from the news media offer little hope of peace. Often looking for peace in the busyness of our lives leads us to submit to life without peace.

 We sometimes think that to have peace all our problems and struggles need to go away, and everyone learns to get along. This is not a bad thought, but maybe this is looking in the wrong direction for peace.

For me, peace comes when I settle down, take a few deep breaths and reflect on God’s goodness, His mercy, and His gift of salvation through His Son Jesus. Then peace comes. Oh yes, life’s circumstances are still difficult, but they can’t rob me of God’s gift of peace.

In this season of Advent may we all unwrap God’s Gift of peace.

From John 14: 27  “Peace I leave with you: my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

To quote my Latin teacher “Pax vobiscum”! 

-Lynn Patiky – 2019

“There is a yearning in hearts weighed down by ancient grief and centuries of sorrow.” This is the first line of the anthem The Yearning, (words by Susan Boersma, music by Craig Courtney). We will be singing this anthem during Advent.  The words & music have been particularly meaningful to me and I hope they will speak to you also.

Yearning…it’s not a word we use in everyday conversation but I think we all yearn for many things.  There is a yearning…. for peace amid the frantic activity of this season, for simpler Christmases of the past, for loved ones that are no longer present, for something that truly satisfies our souls.

He is Emmanuel! (God with Us). The baby born in Bethlehem is the One who came to save us, that we might know Him and live forever.  This Advent let’s open our hearts anew to our Savior and Lord, knowing that He is the one that loves us more than we can imagine, the One who calls us his Beloved.  This is the reason we celebrate. It is He and He alone that can satisfy our every yearning!

The last part of the anthem states:  “There is a yearning when all our sorrows are erased and we shall see the One who placed within our hearts the yearning.”  I hope you will listen carefully to all the words when we sing this and that it will be a blessing to you as well. Emmanuel-(God is with Us)!

-Betty Fudge, 2018

The Bible is filled with scripture about hope. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future.” Wow! Infinite, YAHWEH God, creator of the universe, loves us so much he made PLANS to give us HOPE. That gives me chills.

Having hope is a good thing, and God knows how badly we need to feel hope in our lives. The challenge with being hopeful is how situational it can, at times, feel.

When life is going well, it is easy to be hopeful. When crisis enters the scene, those dark clouds of uncertainty can make hope evaporate. Circumstances can make hope feel very difficult at times, but as I have been reading scriptures about hope, I am continually learning how God helps us experience the kind of hope that will surpass our understanding. God’s hope is eternal, not driven by our circumstances, and will never disappoint us.

Advent is the ideal season to reflect on God’s plans to give us abundant, eternal hope. He came to dwell with us, redeem us, teach us. He remains with us now through the Holy Spirit, and he promises never to leave us. One of my favorite Christmas songs, O Holy Night, describes the scene:

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till He appeared, and the soul felt its worth.”

And then the description of this eternal hope:

“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”

The THRILL of hope! The eternal hope that God gives is a gift to us this Christmas.

The abundance of this hope is described in Romans 15:13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

-Jim Adcock 2017

The Jewish people had no Messiah throughout the Old Testament except God the Father. God used certain people, like Moses, to further His kingdom, but they still desired a messiah.

When did God start thinking about a messiah for His people, Jesus?
Maybe it was with Abraham, 2000 years before Jesus birth.
Maybe it was back even further, back to Adam, the first human.
Maybe God never started thinking about Jesus, as God the Son was always with God the Father.

The Jewish people had been waiting for centuries (700 years) for the Messiah promised by the prophet in Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel”. The birth of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this prophecy by Isaiah.

Mary was pledged to Joseph, but before marriage, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. The Lord told Joseph she would give birth to a son and you are to name Him Jesus. This was done to fulfill what God said through the prophet. Being a good man, Joseph did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

The Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will be the mother of the son of God. I know she has mixed feelings.  And being unmarried she could be ridiculed or worse. But, she believes that the angel Gabriel is a messenger of God and shows her feelings by singing “My soul glorifies the Lord”.

We as believers celebrate Advent as a period of 4 Sundays before Christmas when Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We take four weeks to get ready because, well, it’s overwhelming, isn’t?

Prayer: Father I am overwhelmed by the story of the nativity. Help me like Joseph and Mary to believe and we thank you for the birth of our personal savior the Messiah, Jesus – the babe of long ago. Amen

-Alicia Young 2019

I absolutely love this time of year. I love Advent. I love drawing near to the Lord through the study of His Word with other believers during Advent. I love all of the Church gatherings that are both beautiful and full of wonder. I love to watch my children get excited with every passing day, with every Advent craft and devotional. I love every evening that we are able to spend reading together as a family. I love that through the study of Advent we get to see God’s majesty and splendor. He is beautiful. And at Advent, we are most intentional with our time. It’s really one of the sweetest times of the year, albeit, it’s also one of the busiest times of the year.

This year leading up to Advent, God has brought me to the book of Psalms. I love Psalms. I love to see just how much God loves David. God loves David with all of his flaws.  And David, in all of his sin, loves God with everything in him. This love that God has for David gives me confidence that God loves me fervently, just as He says He does. The love that David has for God shows me that all God really wants from me is my heart. And for my heart to long for Him.

This Advent season God has given me this scripture to reflect on:

“Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” Psalms 27:7-8

There is no long to-do list from God on how I can please Him. He does not have these lofty expectations for me as His daughter. He is a tender, compassionate, faithful Father to His children. And He just wants me to seek Him; to seek His Face.

At this time of Advent, when I am filling my time with so many lovely engagements and activities, I am convinced that the best and sweetest way to do this is to find precious time with Him, however that may look. Some days I pray that it is time alone in a quiet house spent in the pouring out of my heart to my God. While at other times I hope it is finding Him in the midst of spending time with His people. However it looks, I pray I can be ever so intentional that this time of Advent is a time where I hear God’s voice because I have sought His face. I pray this for His Church. He is a good God. To Him be the glory forever, Amen.