KIDS TIME
music & a visit from some friends

PRELUDE
For the Beauty of the Earth
Led by Cynthia

WELCOME , COMMUNITY LIFE & GREETING

ZOOM CALL RIGHT AFTER CHURCH
Hey friends, right after church, so around 11:45 we’ll gather over a zoom call just to see each other and say hi. If there are enough people we’ll split into smaller rooms (Pastor Denise knows how 🙂 ). Here’s the link: https://zoom.us/j/96130375638?pwd=YndlNVl3V0NJSWFHNHN2d0M2elgyUT09

BLESSED BE YOUR NAME
led by Kara, Leah & Dana

Blessed be Your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name

Ev’ry blessing You pour out I’ll
Turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all as it should be
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name

CCLI Song # 3798438 CCLI License # 349090
Beth Redman | Matt Redman © 2002 Thankyou Music

OLD TESTAMENT READING
Psalm 119:129-136 (Pe)

Your decrees are wonderful;
    therefore my soul keeps them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light;
    it imparts understanding to the simple.
131 With open mouth I pant,
    because I long for your commandments.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    as is your custom toward those who love your name.
133 Keep my steps steady according to your promise,
    and never let iniquity have dominion over me.
134 Redeem me from human oppression,
    that I may keep your precepts.
135 Make your face shine upon your servant,
    and teach me your statutes.
136 My eyes shed streams of tears
    because your law is not kept.

GOSPEL LESSON
Matthew 14:1-12

 At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; 10 he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. 12 His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

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

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER
Glory be to the Father
And to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning
Is now and ever shall be
World with out end
Amen, Amen

REFLECTING ON THE WORD
Nested in a Messy Reality
Pastor Phil, a first step into Matthew 14-16

HYMN OF RESPONSE
Healer of Our Every ill

Healer of our ev’ry ill
Light of each tomorrow
Give us peace beyond our fear,
And hope beyond our sorrow.

You who know our fears and sadness,
Grace us with your peace and gladness.
Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts.

In the pain and joy beholding
How your grace is still unfolding,
Give us all your vision, God of love.

Give us strength to love each other,
Ev’ry sister, ev’ry brother.
Spirit of all kindness, be our guide.

You who know each thought and feeling,
Teach us all your way of healing.
Spirit of compassion, fill each heart.

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: Nikolas Arden, Katie Collier, Dan Erickson, Art and Rosa Hamilton, Shirley Nicholas, the Morales/Randall family.

Ministries & Mission
RC4 staff & teachers as they open back up
Anna & Peter Kim, serving in East Asia
Renee Nicholas, serving local graduate students and faculty with InterVarsity

GIVING OF OUR TITHES & OFFERINGS
& PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

SPECIAL MUSIC
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
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. 

SENDING HYMN
O Seek the Lord in Prayer

O seek the Lord in prayer
And fall down at Christ’s feet
As two or three are gathered there
En-treat-ies shall Christ meet!
Be whole! (Be whole!)
Be well! (Be well!)
Be holy in the Lord!

Though we were reckoned lost
And numbered with the dead,
Christ came to suffer on the cross
To grant us life instead!
Be whole! (Be whole!)
Be well! (Be well!)
Be holy in the Lord!

The touch of Christ brings strenth,
Makes well and makes a live;
All who are languishing in pain,
Christ ventures to revive!
Be whole! (Be whole!)
Be well! (Be well!)
Be holy in the Lord!

Be calm and do not fear;
Be thoroughly restored!
May joy replace each anguished tear:
The joy of Chirst the Lord!
Be whole! (Be whole!)
Be well! (Be well!)
Be holy in the Lord!

BENEDICTION                             

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

POSTLUDE
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
led by Cynthia

INVITATION
We’ll be back here next Sunday
We will partake in Communion
We hope you can join us. More information on ravenscov.org.

A SONG FOR AS WE GO
Simple Gifts

led by our friends from AxiomBrass.
Trumpeter Dorival Puccini, Jr., Trumpeter and Bass-Baritone singer Michael Hawes, French Horn player Matthew Bronstein, Trombonist Corey Sansolo, Tuba player Kevin Harrison.

Music lessons
Cynthia Arden will offer piano and violin lessons to students of all ages on Wednesdays during farmers market hours. Thirty-minute lessons are available each week. Fees apply. Contact Cynthia at 847-912-0992 or email violincynthia@yahoo,com.

Book discussion
You are invited to join us for a book discussion on the book The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. In his book, Tisby describes the history of the American Christian church in relation to race in the United States.  Please contact Pastor Denise for more information if you’d like to be part of the discussion or if you need help to get a copy of the book. 

Zoom Bible Study
Our Thursday night Bible study has resumed meeting. For the next few weeks we will be going through the book of James. 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. There are also a limited number of spaces available for those who wish to attend the Bible study in person in the lounge using social-distancing protocols. If you’re interested, please contact Gregory Sager in the church office at office@ravenscov.org or at 773-784-7091.

Farmers market update
Our farmers market continues to meet every Wednesday afternoon in our church’s parking lot. Although the city’s social-distancing and food-handling restrictions during the pandemic are limiting what the market can offer in terms of crowd size, vendors, and programming, we nevertheless continue to welcome our community back into our space for what has become a tradition for many of our neighbors. Right now, our object is to continue re-establishing our presence as a farmers market and to welcome people back into the routine of frequenting our vendors every Wednesday afternoon and early evening. The turnout is improving from week to week, and we have re-introduced food trucks as part of our market for the first time this summer. It’s good to welcome our neighbors and vendors back for another summer, restrictions or not!

Thursday night dinners
While the coronavirus pandemic continues to prevent us from hosting our weekly community dinners on Thursday night, we are now offering those Thursday night meals on a pre-order, takeout-only basis. Chef Bobby is back to making his delicious meals, which are offered for now on an every-other-Thursday schedule. Contact the church office for more details.

UNITE rescheduled
The Covenant has made the difficult decision to postpone UNITE 2021, the tri-annual gathering of Covenant youth from across the country and around the world that was formerly known as CHIC (Covenant High In Christ). The denomination’s current plan is to reschedule this gathering for July 2022, with a full, denomination-wide youth ministry event at that time. While the Covenant’s youth ministry leadership is grieved to make that decision, it is made in solidarity with the whole church community across the United States and Canada.

As Covenant churches recover both physically and financially, the denomination is hopeful that our youth will once again gather together in July 2022 to go deeper in faith and further in mission together. 

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 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:
July 12: $2,683

General fund giving:
July 19: $2,693

Scripture for Sunday, August 2
Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 17:1-7, 15
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21

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)