An adult Sunday School class meets before church
9:30 on zoom
Streaming Live
Facebook & YouTube
God’s love has a long memory. As we come to the final Sunday of Advent, we remember that God’s promise of love is often kept in unexpected ways. Through acts as common as the birth of a baby, and as unexpected as birth in a barn, God transforms the world with His love in human flesh. In a world where even evergreens turn dry and brittle, where night grows long and cold darkness envelopes us, it is only God’s promise of love that keeps us in eager anticipation of when, in Jesus Christ, all things will be made new. Today we light the fourth candle of God’s eternal love that shines brightly especially in dark places.
KIDS TIME
Music & a visit from some friends
PRELUDE
O Come, All Ye Faithful
led by Cynthia
WELCOME, GREETING & COMMUNITY LIFE
.
LIGHTING OF ADVENT CANDLE
AND RESPONSIVE READING
led by Kyra, Lars, and Noah Anderson
L: In the midst of darkness, God brings a new light.
P: Thanks be to the God of light.
L: In the midst of confusion and fear,
God brings hope and peace.
P: Thanks be to the God of peace.
L: In the midst of strife and stress,
God brings times of joy and comforts us.
P: Let us praise God who truly loves us
and brings us new life. Amen.
WAIT FOR THE LORD
Wait for the Lord, whose day is near.
Wait for the Lord: be strong, take heart!
From the Covenant Hymnal, page 143
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON
led by Lars Anderson
Psalm 89, 1-4; 19-26
1 I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;
your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to my servant David:
4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever,
and build your throne for all generations.’”
19 Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said:
“I have set the crown on one who is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 I have found my servant David;
with my holy oil I have anointed him;
21 my hand shall always remain with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him,
the wicked shall not humble him.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him;
and in my name his horn shall be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation!’
GOSPEL LESSON
led by Kyra Anderson
Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
(verses 1, 2 & 4)
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light:
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond’ring love.
O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to all on earth.
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
From the Covenant Hymnal, page 154
REFLECTING ON THE WORD
Beautiful Savior
Pastor Phil
NOEL
Love incarnate love divine
Star and angels gave the sign
Bow to babe on bended knee
The Savior of humanity
Unto us a Child is born
He shall reign forevermore
chorus
Noel Noel
Come and see what God has done
Noel Noel
The story of amazing love
The light of the world given for us
Noel
Son of God and Son of man
There before the world began
Born to suffer born to save
Born to raise us from the grave
Christ the everlasting Lord
He shall reign forevermore
CCLI Song # 7050419 CCLI License # 349090
Chris Tomlin | Ed Cash | Matt Redman © 2015 Alletrop Music
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH & THE LORD’S PRAYER
Folks We Are Praying For:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Church family who work in and around hospitals & nursing homes:
Alex A, Kyra A, Hannah A, Sam A, Linda C, Carl G, Katie G, Eric H, Rachel H, Chona I, Abby H, Dana J, Bryan J, Kari J, Neal J, Eric S, Don T.
(If we missed any people’s names above please let us know.)
We continue to pray for: Bud & Audrey Hodgkinson, Kathy Salzano, Ron Arden, Bob Auger, Nikolas Arden, Katie Collier, Mike Sager and family, Art and Rosa Hamilton, Shirley Nicholas, Paul Mounts, Jane Auger, Joyce Andrews, Steve Hoden, Mary Spriggs, Alice Nilsson (Nancy Popovich’s sister), the Morales/Randall family.
Ministries & Mission
Carolyn & Jeffrey Stoker, serving in Cameroon; Renee Nicholas, serving local graduate students and faculty with InterVarsity.
GIVING OF OUR TITHES & OFFERINGS
& PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
giving opportunities: ravenscov.org/giving/
Zelle® to: giving@ravenscov.org
Beautiful Savior
by Axiom Brass
DOXOLOGY & PRAYER
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
.
O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord.
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
O sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above;
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;
O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord.
Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning,
O Jesus, to thee be all glory giv’n;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord.
From the Covenant Hymnal, page 147
BENEDICTION
L: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
P: Thanks be to God
POSTLUDE
Angels We Have Heard on High
led by Cynthia
A CUT & PASTE 2020 CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS
This week we offer some clips from Christmas Programs Past.
Enjoy.
INVITATION & FINAL SLIDES
with Beautiful Savior by Max
music by maxeltoft
We’ll be back here next Sunday.
We hope you can join us.
Information on ravenscov.org.
Christmas Eve
Lessons & Carols at 5:30 pm on Facebook & YouTube. Log in any time later if you like.
Axiom Brass Concert
Special thanks to the Axiom Brass quintet for their gift of our 2020 Axiom Brass Christmas Concert Live From Ravenswood Covenant Church. A recording of the concert is on our Facebook page and our YouTube channel. Enjoy any time you like.
Axiom uses our sanctuary as its practice space, and has blessed us for many years with brilliant Christmas concerts that have become a beloved part of the Ravenswood Covenant holiday tradition. We are so glad to partner with them in amazing music.
Sunday School for All Ages
Faith Forum update
Faith Forum, Ravenswood Covenant’s adult Sunday School class, will be taking this week and next week off and will return on January 3. It meets via Zoom at the traditional meeting time of 9:30 am on Sunday. This is the Zoom link for Faith Forum. The link is also provided at the top of the bulletin every week.
Thursday Night Bible Study
The Thursday night Bible study will be taking a break for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. It will resume on Thursday, January 7, when we will begin a study of 1 Corinthians. The Bible study meets every Thursday at 6:30 pm via Zoom , and if you are not conversant with Zoom, don’t let that stop you! We can teach you how to activate Zoom so that you can take part. If you’re interested, please contact Gregory Sager in the church office at office@ravenscov.org or at 773-784-7091.
The Zoom link for the Thursday night Bible study is https://zoom.us/j/95052558015?pwd=N3d1eFpUUmUwenhCSzNJNUk3WEV2QT09
Meeting ID: 950 5255 8015
Passcode: 141628
2021 camp registration update from HarborPoint Ministries
The calendar may show December … but at Covenant Harbor and Covenant Point Bible camps, the staffs are already thinking about summer! For those who are wondering about camp options for summer 2021, please be aware that online registration for next summer’s camping season will open on Tuesday, January 5.
Day, overnight, and family camp options are posted at www.covenantharbor.org and www.cpbc.com so that you can get familiar with your choices.
Prayer meeting canceled indefinitely
The church’s biweekly prayer meeting that gathers every second and fourth Monday night each month has been canceled until further notice as part of the church’s response to Chicago’s heightened Covid-19 infection rate and the mayor’s “Stay-at-Home Advisory.”
Prayer requests
A group of women in our church are meeting every night at 7 pm via phone calls and texts in order to keep our various needs before God in prayer. They are asking the congregation to bring their needs to them to be lifted up in prayer as part of this evening prayer time. If you have any needs that you would like to have added to their prayer list, please contact the church office.
Free masks available
The church is offering free masks to anyone in the congregation who is in need of one. If you would like, you may make a donation to our benevolence fund when you come to the church building to pick yours up. Please contact the church office at office@ravenscov.org or 773-396-6175 for more information.
We need your (in worship) videos and pictures
As part of our ongoing efforts to stay connected with each other during this time of physical separation, we’re asking members and friends of the church to send us pictures of themselves as they take part in online worship. You can, if you choose, accompany the picture with a short (one or two sentences) greeting, or a brief video of no more than ten seconds, so that we can share them as a part of Sunday morning worship. Please be aware that they may have to be edited for space reasons. You can send them as downloadable files to office@ravenscov.org.
Our response to the current health crisis
As a community of faith we continue to pray for the health and welfare of our church and community as we resist the temptation to fall prey to fear. We do, however, want to continue to look out for the welfare of our friends and neighbors. We are doing our best to stay current with best practices for this unique time — please stay tuned as these may change. Our primary place for timely communication will be our website, ravenscov.org. We will also offer reminders and notes on our Facebook page and by email. We are livestreaming our Sunday morning worship on Facebook Live and YouTube so that you may continue to be a part of our worship. Do not, however, become isolated. If you need any help there are folks in our church who can do so. Call the office (773-784-7091) or email the office (office@ravenscov.org).
General fund giving:
December 6: $2,685
General fund giving:
December 13: $11,143
Scripture for next Sunday
Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3
Psalm 148
Luke 2:22-40
Art Used in this Bulletin: Steve Erspamer, SM
Clip Art for Year A © 1992, Archdiocese of Chicago.
Our church exists to love and worship God, and love and care for others. By God’s grace, we commit to help people find and follow Jesus Christ through the guidance of his Spirit and his word.