A Service of Word & Table


KIDS TIME

PRELUDE
Led by Cynthia
Prelude, Gilles Juilen

WELCOME , COMMUNITY LIFE & GREETING

PSALM
Psalm 8

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
    Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

HE REIGNS
led by Dana

It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe every tongue every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

chorus
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory glory hallelujah
He reigns He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory glory hallelujah
He reigns (He reigns)

Let it rise above the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word

CCLI Song # 4026635 CCLI License # 349090
Peter Furler | Steve Taylor © 2003 Soylent Tunes

OLD TESTAMENT READING
Genesis 1:26-2:4a

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

27 So God created humankind in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

GOSPEL LESSON
Matthew 28:16-20

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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
“In the Beginning”
Pastor Denise

WE ARE A NEW CREATION
We are a new creation
Of Christ, the living Word.
Our songs of jubilations
Shall everywhere be heard.
New life blooms fresh and glorious
For those who heed the call
Of Christ who reigns victorious
O’er sin and death and all.

We are a new creation
For service here on earth.
We live our faith in action
To tell our Savior’s worth.
Let love and justice blending
Now show for all to see
God’s grace is never ending.
It reaches you and me.

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

Church family who are educators: Beth A, Deb A, Chris B, Rodney C, James E, Judy E, Janelle H, Stacey J, Dave K, Trevor N, Maria P, Shari R, Mark S, Erin S, Maddie S, Kelly V, Sue W, Eli Y, RC4 teachers and staff

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, Pastor Bryan Kletzing, Shirley Nicholas, The Morales/Randall family, Esther Stoel, the family of Blanche Swedberg . 

Ministries & Mission
Karl & Mary Noren, serving in Cameroon
Barb & Steve Swanson, serving in Sweden

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
Gather Us In

Here in this place, the new light is streaming
Shadows of doubt are vanished away,
See in this space our fears and our dreamings,
Brought here to you in the light of this day.
Gather us in, the lost and forsaken;
Gather us in; our spirits inflame.
Call to us now, and we shall awaken;
We shall arise at the sound of our name.

We are the young, our lives are a myst’ry;
We are the old, who yearn for your face.
We have been sung throughout all of history,
Called to be light to the whole human race.
Gather us in, the rich and the haughty;
Gather us in the proud and the strong;
Give us a heart so meek an so lowly;
Give us the courage to enter the song.

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. 

CONFESSION OF SIN & PASSING OF PEACE

We confess to you, Lord, what we are: we are not the people we like others to think we are; we are afraid to admit even to ourselves what lies in the depths of our souls.

But we do not want to hide our true selves from you.

We believe that you know us as we are, and yet you love us.

Help us not to shrink from self-knowledge; teach us to respect ourselves for your sake; give us the courage to put our trust in your guiding and power.

We confess to you, Lord, the unrest of the world, to which we contribute and in which we share.

Forgive us that so many of us are indifferent to the needs of others.

Forgive our reliance on weapons of terror, our discrimination against people of different races, and our preoccupation with material standards.

And forgive us Christians for being so unsure of our good news, and so unready to tell it.

Raise us out of the paralysis of guilt into the freedom and energy of forgiven people.

And for those who through long habit find forgiveness hard to accept, we ask you to break their bondage and set them free.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PASSING THE PEACE
L:  Since in Christ we are reconciled to God, so also we are reconciled to each other, the members of his body, the Church.  May God’s peace extend throughout this congregation.

L: Peace of Christ be with you
P: And also with you.
L:  Let us extend to each other signs of that peace.

(extend greetings to those you’re with ,
comments on Facebook are welcome.)

INVITATION
WORDS OF INSTITUTION
Now hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ as they were delivered by the Apostle Paul. In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 it says: “The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said: ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying: ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

THE APOSTLE’S CREED
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into Hades; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead; I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy Christian church; the communion of saints; The forgiveness of sins; The resurrection of the body; And the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayer of Consecration
Receiving Communion Together

A SONG FOR OUR COMMUNION
If My People Will Pray,
thy lyrics of this song are based on II Chronicles 7:14
Cynthia playing

“….if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

BENEDICTION                             

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

SENDING HYMN
All Creatures of Our God and King

All creatures of our God and King,
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Alleluia, alleluia
O burning sun with golden beam,
And silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship him in humbleness,
O praise him, Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One:
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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

POSTLUDE
Third Mode Melody,
led by Cynthia

Zoom Bible Study
Beginning in June, 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. If you’re interested, please contact Gregory Sager in the church office at office@ravenscov.org or at 773-784-7091.

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.

Worship notes
Some of Max Hollingshead’s music that has been used in worship over the past few weeks can be found online in maxeltoft’s hymnal collection.

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).

Last week’s general fund giving:
$2.560

Scripture for Sunday, June 7
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Psalm 8
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20

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)