May 15, 2022 | Ravenswood Evangelical Covenant Church

May 15, 2022
Children’s Sunday School for ages K-7th grade at 9:30 am in-person
Adult Sunday School at 9:30 am in-person and on Zoom.

PRE-SERVICE MUSIC

PRELUDE
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
J.S. Bach
led by Mary and Cynthia

WELCOME & GREETING, COMMUNITY LIFE

CALL TO WORSHIP
All: We gather together to worship
the Lord of heaven and earth,
the Maker of the universe and all it contains;
who gives life and breath to all things,
and satisfies every need.
This is the God we worship!

* HOLY IS THE LORD
We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He
And together we sing

chorus
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing
Everyone sing

chorus

It’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown
Repeat

And together we sing,
Everyone sing

chorus

W&M: Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio. ©2003 worshiptogether.com
Songs/sixsteps Music (adm. by EMI CMG Publishing). ARR. UBP. CCLI#349090

WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS INTO THE CHURCH
Renee and Trevor Nicholas

ADDRESS TO THE CONGREGATION

ADDRESS TO THE NEW MEMBERS
Congregation: We the members of Ravenswood Evangelical Covenant Church now welcome you with joy into our church family. We pledge to you our love and support, our friendship and our prayers, so that together we may continue to grow in the knowledge and love of God.

PRAYER

GOD, CREATOR OF YOUR PEOPLE
God, Creator of your people,
You have called us to be one;
Grant us grace to walk together
In the joy of Christ, Your Son.
Challenged by your Word and Spirit,
Blest with gifts from heav’n above,
As one body we will serve You
And bear witness to Your love.

May the grace of Christ, our Savior,
And the Father’s boundless love,
With the Holy Spirit’s favor,
Rest upon us from above.
May we now remain in union
With each other and the Lord,
And possess, in sweet communion,
Joys that earth cannot afford.

Covenant Hymnal, #585

GOSPEL LESSON
(Stand as you are able for the reading of the Gospel.)
John 1:16-18

¹⁶From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, Himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made Him known.

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

* WE COME, O CHRIST, TO YOU
We come, O Christ, to you
True Son of God and man,
By whom all things consist,
In whom all life began.
In You alone we live and move
And have our being in Your love.

You are the way to God,
Your blood our ransom paid;
In You we face our Judge
And Maker unafraid.
Before the throne absolved we stand,
Your love has met Your law’s demand.

You are the living truth,
All wisdom dwells in You,
The source of ev’ry skill,
The One eternal True!
O great “I Am!” in You we rest,
Sure answer to our ev’ry quest.

You only are true life,
To know You is to live
The more abundant life
That earth can never give.
O risen Lord, we live in You:
In us each day Your life renew!

We worship You, Lord Christ,
Our Savior and our King,
To You our youth and strength
Adoringly we bring:
So fill our hearts, that all may view
Your life in us and turn to You!

Covenant Hymnal, #318

NEW TESTAMENT LESSON
Acts 17:16-31

¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and also in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this pretentious babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ¹⁹So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” ²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

²²Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. ²³For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it, He who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, ²⁵nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. ²⁶From one ancestor He made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and He allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, ²⁷so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for Him and find Him—though indeed He is not far from each one of us. ²⁸For ‘In Him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we, too, are His offspring.’

²⁹“Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. ³⁰While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now He commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because He has fixed a day on which He will have the world judged in righteousness by a Man whom he has appointed, and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Children ages 3-5 are dismissed to the fellowship hall for Children’s Church

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
Don’t lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him
And He will direct your paths.
Al-le-lu-ia, Al-le-lu-ia, and
He will direct your paths.

REFLECTING ON THE WORD
Courageous Curiosity
Pastor Jill Lind

GIVE US CLEAN HANDS
We bow our hearts. We bend our knees.
O Spirit, come make us humble
We turn our eyes, from evil things
O Lord, we cast down our idols

chorus
Give us clean hands. Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
repeat

And O God, let us be
A generation that seeks
That seeks Your face
O God of Jacob

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH & THE LORD’S PRAYER
We continue to pray for: Kristine Brandel’s family, Nikolas Arden, Pastor Phil and Kerry Staurseth, Jon and Jamie Kratowicz and baby Sullivan, Shirley Nicholas, Art & Rosa Hamilton, Esther Stoel, the Koeller family, Mary Smith, Delores and Steve Staurseth, Jane Auger, Mary McKirchy, Michael Bucci, Barb Cannon, and Laura Smith

Ministries & Mission
Peter & Ruth Dutton, serving in Thailand, Barb & Steve Swanson, serving in Sweden.

THE LORD’S PRAYER:
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 & OFFERING
giving opportunities: ravenscov.org/giving/
Zelle^® to: giving@administrator

OFFERTORY
led by Trevor Nicholas

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.

* GOD OF GRACE AND GOD OF GLORY
God of grace and God of glory,
On Your people pour your pow’r;
Crown Your ancient Church’s story,
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom,
Grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil ’round us
Scorn your Christ, assail His ways!
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom,
Grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.

Cure Your children’s warring madness;
Bend our pride to Your control;
Shame our wanton, selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom,
Grant us courage,
Lest we miss Your kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Your kingdom’s goal.

Save us from weak resignation
To the evils we deplore;
Let the search for Your salvation
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom,
Grant us courage,
Serving You whom we adore,
Serving You whom we adore.

Covenant Hymnal, #608

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

POSTLUDE
Third Mode Melody
Thomas Tallis
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 axiom.brass

About our guest preacher
Pastor Jill Lind is the director of congregational care for the Central Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. We welcome her to Ravenswood Covenant today as she brings us the Word.

Worship update
Due to an uptick in Covid-19 cases in Chicago, the Leadership Team of Ravenswood Covenant Church recommends mask use during services, but this is not mandatory.

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.

Worship schedule change
On Sunday, May 29, we will make our annual move to our summer hours for worship. The worship service will begin at 9:30 am, continuing every Sunday from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. There will be no Children’s Sunday School or Faith Forum during the summer.

Graduation recognition
Please let Gregory in the office know if you have a student in your family who is graduating from elementary school, high school, college, or graduate school. Please let us know so we can celebrate with you with a cake reception on Sunday, June 5!

Fellowship hour returns
Fellowship hour is back! The aim is to hold fellowship hour every other week until there is a full roster of volunteers for each of the fellowship hour serving teams, at which point it will again be a weekly aspect of our community life. We are in need of people who are willing to make coffee and set out food downstairs as well as clean up afterwards. If you would like to bake or bring treats to donate, you can also volunteer in that way. Please connect with Kari Johnson or Beth Anderson if you are willing to help out. We will teach you what you need to know for making coffee and finding what you need in the kitchen. We will pair people up so that no one has to do it all themselves. Contact Kari by email at Karinelson88@gmail.com.

Aid for Ukrainian refugees
Jeremy and Amanda Foster, who attend our church, have a direct connection to a mission that is serving refugees who have fled Ukraine following the Russian invasion. Jeremy’s parents Don and Beatrice Foster are in Hazebrouck, France as tentmaker missionaries and have prepared rooms in their home for refugees coming from Ukraine.

If you would like to donate to help the Fosters pay for extra food and supplies, please give a donation to Ravenswood Covenant that is specially designated for Ukrainian refugees. If you would like to give directly online, the website for the Fosters is https://ukraine.la-ferme-de-la-papote.com/ .

The Covenant denomination is also raising funds for Ukraine through Covenant World Relief. Here is the link if you would like to donate through the Covenant’s program. https://giving.covchurch.org/priorities-detail/ukraine-response

2022 RECC church picnic
This year’s church picnic will be held next Sunday, May 22, on the church grounds after the worship service. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided by the church; those whose last names begin with A through J are encouraged to bring a dessert to pass, while those whose last names begin with K through Z are encouraged to bring a salad or side to pass. There will be activities for the children, including the bounce house!

Wanted: Church directory coordinator
Ravenswood Covenant is in the process of updating its online church directory, with the intention of eventually making paper copies of the directory available. We are seeking a volunteer who is willing to take on this project, which means gathering information and photographs and inputting them onto the church’s WordPress-based website. If you are interested in coordinating the directory update, please contact Gregory Sager in the church office at 773-784-7091 or office@ravenscov.org.

Farmers market season begins June 15
Farmers market season is almost upon us! The first farmers market of the year will be held on Wednesday, June 15, and the season will run until our annual fall festival on Wednesday, October 12. This year’s markets will run from 4 pm to 7 pm, and as always they will be held in the church parking lot.

As always, we are looking for market volunteers to help out with set-up, assisting with kids activities, and take-down on Wednesdays. If you can assist, even if it’s only for one Wednesday, please contact Sneha John, Pastor Denise, or the church office.

Thursday evening adult Bible study
Our weekly Bible study meets on Thursday evenings at 7 pm. We are currently studying the book of Romans. We welcome anybody to the upstairs lounge on Thursday evenings who wants to take part in the Bible study. If you would prefer to participate remotely, or if you are out of town, the Bible study will continue to provide Zoom access as well for online participants.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95052558015?pwd=N3d1eFpUUmUwenhCSzNJNUk3WEV2QT09

The Zoom meeting ID for the Bible study: 972 871 4458
The Zoom passcode for the Bible study: 1qa3CD

Join Us in Sponsoring a Student in the NPTS SRA Program
North Park’s School of Restorative Arts offers a MA in Christian Ministry and Restorative Arts, allowing free and incarcerated students to study together. This unique degree program is designed to prepare individuals for ministries of restoration in contexts susceptible to violence and includes courses in trauma, race relations, nonviolent communication, conflict transformation, restorative practices, and transformative justice, in addition to Bible, theology, and history. In partnership with the Illinois Department of Corrections, this four-year degree is currently offered at Stateville Correctional Center with 80 incarcerated men and a first cohort of 20 women at Logan Correctional Center.

We, Ravenswood Covenant Church, have partnered with North Park Theological Seminary by committing to sponsor a student in this program. To help us support an SRA student please send a check to church or give online and in the memo line write: “SRA Sponsorship.”

RECC preaching schedule for May
May 1: Pastor Nengsuanthang Phaipi
May 8: Pastor Denise
May 15: Pastor Jill Lind
May 22: Chaplain Jim Stoel
May 29: Gregory Sager

Scripture for next Sunday
Luke 9:46-48
Philippians 1:1-18a

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.