Adult Sunday School convenes at 9:30 on zoom

Streaming Live
Facebook & YouTube


PRE-SERVICE MUSIC
Joe Clifton Music
Joe is a friend of our church and has played at our farmers market.
We recorded this music last spring.

KIDS TIME
Music & a visit from some friends

PRELUDE
led by Cynthia

WELCOME & GREETING

MAN OF SORROWS!
“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hal-le-lu-jah, what a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood:
Hal-le-lu-jah, what a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! Can it be?
Hal-le-lu-jah, what a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die,
“It is finished” was His cry;
Now in heav’n exalted high:
Hal-le-lu-jah, what a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew this song we’ll sing:
Hal-le-lu-jah, what a Savior!

Covenant Hymnal, page 220

CALL TO WORSHIP                                                                  
L: May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make His face shine on us—
P: so that Your ways may be known on earth,
    Your salvation among all nations.

L: May the peoples praise You, God;
    P: may all the peoples praise You.
L: May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    P for You rule the peoples with equity
     and guide the nations of the earth.

L: May the peoples praise You, God;
    may all the peoples praise You.

L: The land yields its harvest;
    P: God, our God, blesses us.
L: May God bless us still,
    P: so that all the ends of the earth will fear Him.

KING OF THE BROKEN
We, Your children, pray, Lord
Humbly seek Your face
We turn from our sin, Lord
You hear us as we pray

Healing King of nations
Let Your kingdom come
Purify Your church
Lord, Your glory over us

pre-chorus
Heal us, forgive us
Restore our hearts again
Fill us, breathe upon us

chorus
Jesus, Jesus
Healer of nations
Hope of salvation
Jesus, Jesus
King of our hearts
King of the broken

Lover of the wounded
Defender of the weak
Friend of the forgotten
You wipe our tears away

chorus 2
Jesus, Jesus
Healer of nations
Hope of the world
Jesus, Jesus
King of our hearts
Hope of the world
Jesus, Jesus
King of our hearts
King of the broken

CCLI Song # 5272897 CCLI License # 349090
Andy Park | Chris Tomlin | Darlene Zschech | Graham Kendrick | Israel Houghton | Martin Smith | Matt Redman | Michael W. Smith | Paul Baloche | Steven Curtis Chapman | Stuart Garrard | Tim Hughes © 2008 GloWorks Limited for CompassionArt

FIRST TESTAMENT LESSON
Read by Mary
Ruth 1:16-19a

16 But Ruth said,

“Do not press me to leave you
    or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
    where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
    and your God my God.
17 Where you die, I will die—
    there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
    and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”

18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem.

GOSPEL LESSON
Mark 3:31-35

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told Him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” He asked.

34 Then He looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

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

(sung)
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 without end. Amen, Amen.

REFLECTING ON THE WORD
Consider Yourself
Pastor Phil .

DRY BONES
Through the eyes of man it seems
There’s so much we have lost
As we look down the road
Where all the prodigals have walked
And one by one the enemy
Has whispered lies and led them off as slaves

But we know that You are God
Yours is the victory
We know there is more to come
That we may not yet see
So with the faith You’ve given us
We step into the valley unafraid

chorus
We call out to dry bones come alive come alive
We call out to dead hearts come alive come alive
Up out of the ashes let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones come alive

God of endless mercy God of unrelenting love
Rescue ev’ry daughter
Bring us back the wayward sons
And by Your spirit breathe upon them
Show the world that You alone can save
You alone can save

(So) breathe oh breath of God
Now breathe oh breath of God
Breathe oh breath of God now breathe (yeah oh)
(REPEAT)

CCLI Song # 6573588 CCLI License # 349090
Lauren Daigle | Michael Farren © 2012 CentricSongs

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, 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
Kent & Rhonda Egging, serving in Russia; 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 arr. Ken Medema
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.  

COMMUNITY LIFE


.


WHAT WONDROUS LOVE
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul;
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down;
When I was sinking down, singing down;
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul;
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, who is the great “I Am,”
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on ,I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free,
I’ll sing and joyful be,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And through eternity I’ll sing on.

Covenant Hymnal, page 226

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

POSTLUDE
Adagio by Jacques Boyvin (1653-1706)
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 maxeltoft


Reopening the sanctuary for worship
We have reopened the sanctuary for a small group of people to join in person for worship. Reservations are required, so if you would like to be a part of this group, contact the church office by phone (773-784-7091) or email (office@ravenscov.org) each week that you would like to attend. Ravenswood Covenant will continue to livestream worship each week on YouTube and Facebook; this is now a permanent feature of our ministry, so Sunday morning worship will remain accessible to anyone who has Internet access.

We have increased the number of people in the sanctuary we will accommodate to 35. We will continue to follow all of the current local and state safety protocols, including: temperature checks when you arrive; masks required at all times; sitting socially distant; avoiding handshakes and hugs; changes to communion and offering; and discouraging singing.

There will be no nursery, and all Sunday School classes will remain virtual at this time.

Faith Forum update

For four Sundays in Faith Forum this Lenten season the guest speaker is Jay Phelan, former professor of theology at North Park Theological Seminary. He is speaking about his new book, Separated Siblings: An Evangelical Understanding of Jews and Judaism.


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 eighth 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

Monday, March 22, at 7:00 pm will be the second Zoom conversation on Rethinking Incarceration. The discussion will focus on the second part of the book. If you are struggling to get the book or to find time to read it, Pastor Denise has a link to a series of videos which author Dominique Gilliard recorded that cover the topics in his book. https://walkingtowardslove.com/series/rethinking-incarceration/ . The book can be ordered through InterVarsityPress. 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 … 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 there is a $35 early-registration discount at both Covenant Harbor and Covenant Point ($10 for Covenant Harbor’s five-day Day Camps) for next summer’s camping season. The early-registration discount will end tomorrow, March 15.

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:
February 28: $4,476

General fund giving:
March 7: $1,141

Scripture for next Sunday
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Psalm 20
Mark 4:3-20, 23-34

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)