Adult Sunday School convenes at 9:30 on zoom

Streaming Live
Facebook & YouTube


PRE-SERVICE MUSIC
AxiomBrass

KIDS TIME
Music & a visit from some friends

PRELUDE
Love Divine All Loves Excelling
led by Cynthia

WELCOME & GREETING

.

CALL TO WORSHIP                                   based on Psalm 92
Leader:  It is good to praise the Lord
People: And make music to Your name, O Most High,

L: proclaiming Your love in the morning,
P: and Your faithfulness at night.

L: You make me glad by Your deeds, Lord;
P: I sing for joy at what Your hands have done.

L: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
P: they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

L: planted in the house of the Lord,
P: they will flourish in the courts of our God.

Leader:  It is good to praise the Lord
People: And make music to Your name, O Most High,

PRAISE TO THE LORD THE ALMIGHTY
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
The King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him,
For He is your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear;
Now to His temple draw near,
Join me in glad adoration!

Praise to the Lord, above
All things so wondrously reigning;
Shelt’ring you under His wings,
And so gently sustaining!
Have you not seen
All that is needful has been
Sent by His gracious ordaining?

Praise to the Lord, who will
Prosper your work and defend you:
Surely His goodness and mercy
Shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
If with His love he befriends you.

Praise to the Lord!
O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that has life and breath,
Come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen
Sound from His people again;
Gladly forever adore Him.
Amen.

From the Covenant Hymnal, page 61

.

FROM THE FIRST TESTAMENT
2 Kings 2:1-12

1 Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10 He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

GOSPEL LESSON
Mark 9:2-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And He was transfigured before them, and His clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, He ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Leader: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

REFLECTING ON THE WORD
Steadfast Loyalty & Love
Pastor Phil

.

JESUS, LORD, WE LOOK TO THEE
Jesus, Lord, we look to Thee,
Let us in Thy name agree;
Show Thyself the Prince of peace,
Bid our strife forever cease.
Make us of one heart and mind,
Gracious, full of pity, kind,
Lowly, meek, in thought and word,
Altogether like our Lord.

Let us for each other care,
Each the other’s burden bear,
To thy Church the pattern give,
Show how true believers live.
Free from anger and from pride
Let us thus in God abide,
All the depths of love express,
All the heights of holiness.

Closer knit to thee, our Head,
Nourish us, O Christ, and feed;
Let us daily grace receive,
More and more in Jesus live.
Fill us with the Father’s love,
Never from our souls remove;
Dwell in us, and we shall be
Thine through all eternity.

From the Covenant Hymnal, page 586

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: The Hodgkinson family, Kathy Salzano, Ron Arden, Nikolas Arden, Katie Collier, Art and Rosa Hamilton, Shirley Nicholas, Paul Mounts, Joyce Andrews, Steve Hoden, Mary Spriggs, Alice Nilsson (Nancy Popovich’s sister), the Brandel-Tanis family, the Morales/Randall family.

Ministries & Mission
Jonathan & Faith Ro, serving in Argentina; 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

OFFERTORY
Jesus Lover of my Soul, led by Cynthia

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. 

Amen. 

.


RECKLESS LOVE
Before I spoke a word You were singing over me
You have been so so good to me
Before I took a breath You breathed Your life in me
You have been so so kind to me

(And) O the overwhelming never-ending reckless
Love of God
O it chases me down fights ’til I’m found
Leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it I don’t deserve it
Still You give Yourself away
O the overwhelming never-ending reckless
Love of God yeah

When I was Your foe still Your love fought for me
You have been so so good to me
When I felt no worth You paid it all for me
You have been so so kind to me

There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me

CCLI Song # 7089641 CCLI License # 349090
Caleb Culver | Cory Asbury | Ran Jackson© 2017 Cory Asbury Publishing

BENEDICTION                             
L: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
P: Thanks be to God

POSTLUDE
Toccata in Em
led by Cynthia

INVITATION & FINAL SLIDES
We’ll be back here next Sunday.
We hope you can join us.
Information on ravenscov.org.

music as we go, by axiombrass


Ash Wednesday
On Ash Wednesday the imposition of ashes will be available from 7am -8am and from 12 noon until 1, at the sanctuary entrance to church. Masks required. There will be no service.

“Remember you dust and to dust you shall return, repent and believe in the gospel.”

Faith Forum update

Next Sunday in Faith Forum the guest speaker will be Prajakta David, the manager of church relations for Serve Globally, which is the missions arm of our parent denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Faith Forum 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.

Monday Night Bible Study


The Thursday night Bible study is moving to Monday nights for a spell, and at a new time, 7 pm. The group is studying 1 Corinthians, and will examine the sixth chapter of the book tomorrow. The Bible study will meet every Monday at 7 pm via Zoom until further notice , 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 Monday night Bible study is https://zoom.us/j/95052558015?pwd=N3d1eFpUUmUwenhCSzNJNUk3WEV2QT09

Meeting ID: 950 5255 8015
Passcode: 141628

Zoom book study

Pastor Denise will be reading Rethinking Incarceration by Rev. Dominique DuBois Gilliard this winter. You are invited to join in reading and learning about ways churches can be involved in advocating for justice in the prison system. Rev. Gilliard is the Director of Racial Righteousness and Reconciliation for the Evangelical Covenant Church, our parent denomination. Please email Pastor Denise if you’d like to join us or have questions, and she will get a reading schedule out to you. denise@ravenscov.org.

The book can be ordered through InterVarsity Press. https://www.ivpress.com/rethinking-incarceration. It is also available on Audible.

2021 camp registration update from HarborPoint Ministries
There may be snow on the ground, and some houses may still have their Christmas lights up … 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 began Tuesday, January 5.

Day, overnight, and family camp options are posted at www.covenantharbor.org and www.cpbc.com.


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.

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:
January 31: $1,744

General fund giving:
February 7: $1,811

Scripture for next Sunday
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 12b-19
Psalm 48
Mark 3:1-6; 6:7-13

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.

"With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." (Mark 4:30-32 NRS)