KIDS TIME
music & a visit from some friends

PRELUDE
Led by Cynthia
Be Thou My Vision

WELCOME , COMMUNITY LIFE & GREETING

HYMN
Amazing Grace
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.

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Then when we’d first begun.

OLD TESTAMENT READING
Genesis 22:1-14
Monica-Kaye Gamble reading

After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

GOSPEL LESSON
Matthew 10:40-42
John Morales reading

40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

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
On the way to Moriah
Pastor Phil

WAY MAKER
You are here moving in our midst
I worship You I worship You
You are here working in this place
I worship You I worship You

chorus
(You are) Way Maker Miracle Worker Promise Keeper
Light in the darkness my God that is who You are

You are here touching ev’ry heart
I worship You I worship You
You are here healing ev’ry heart
I worship You I worship You

You are here turning lives around
I worship You I worship You
You are here mending ev’ry heart
I worship You yeah I worship You Lord

tag
That is who You are
That is who You are
That is who You are
That is who You are

bridge
Even when I don’t see it You’re working
Even when I don’t feel it You’re working
You never stop You never stop working
You never stop You never stop working

CCLI Song # 7115744 CCLI License # 349090 Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu © 2016 Integrity Music Europe

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH & THE LORD’S PRAYER
Folks We Are Praying For:

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, Theresa Bates, the Carlson family, Katie Collier, Dan Erickson, Art Hamilton, Shirley Nicholas, the Morales/Randall family, the family of Blanche Swedberg . 

Ministries & Mission
RC4 staff & teachers as they open back up
Janet & Robert Ziegelbaur, serving in Cameroon
Carlos & Karen Feijoo, serving in Ecuador

All:  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.

GIVING OF OUR TITHES & OFFERINGS
& PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

SPECIAL MUSIC
led by Cynthia
Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above

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. 

NEVER WALK ALONE
You are my shepherd faithful forever
Your hand is strong where my faith is weak
Close as my heartbeat You won’t forsake me
You are the love that will carry me

pre-chorus
And I won’t be afraid
I will trust Your heart and say

chorus
I will never ever ever walk alone
You are with us for us always holding on
Though I wander Your love goes further
You are my hope and future
I will never walk alone

Questions may haunt us casting a shadow
Still You’re the hope and the fire in me
I will not tremble I will not stumble
You are my courage my bravery

bridge
Surely Your goodness and mercy
Will light up the way set before me
Surely Your grace will pursue me
All my days all my days

CCLI Song # 7047088 CCLI License # 349090
Rend Collective © Thankyou Music

BENEDICTION                             

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

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

POSTLUDE
Andante
led by Cynthia

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.

Zoom Bible Study
Beginning this Thursday, RECC will once again offer an adult Bible study. It will meet weekly via Zoom, with day, time, and topic yet to be determined. 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 returns!
This past Wednesday was the second farmers market of the 2020 season 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, it was still great to once again 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 was once again small but promising. 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. 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 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 along 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:
June 7: $5,870

General fund giving:
June 14: $2,261

Scripture for Sunday, July 5
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Psalm 45:10-17
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

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)