An adult Sunday School class meets before church
9:30 on zoom

Streaming Live
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KIDS TIME
Music & a visit from some friends

PRELUDE
Beautiful Savior
led by Cynthia & Dana

WELCOME & GREETING

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STRONGER
There is Love that came for us
Humbled to a sinner’s cross
You broke my shame and sinfulness
You rose again victorious

Faithfulness none can deny
Through the storm and through the fire
There is truth that sets me free
Jesus Christ who lives in me

chorus
You are stronger
You are stronger
Sin is broken
You have saved me
It is written
Christ is risen
Jesus You are Lord of all

No beginning and no end
You’re my hope and my defence
You came to seek and save the lost
You paid it all upon the cross

bridge
So let Your Name be lifted higher
Be lifted higher
Be lifted higher
repeat

CCLI Song # 5060810 CCLI License # 349090
Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan © 2007 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia

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OLD TESTAMENT READING
Isaiah 25:1-9
Dave reading

1O Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you, I will praise your name;
for you have done wonderful things,
    plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
For you have made the city a heap,
    the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of foreigners is a city no more,
    it will never be rebuilt.
Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
For you have been a refuge to the poor,
    a refuge to the needy in their distress,
    a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.
When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
    the noise of foreigners like heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
    the song of the ruthless was stilled.

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
    of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
    the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
    the sheet that is spread over all nations;
    he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
    and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
    Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
    This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

THE TABLE
I will feast at the table of the Lord
I will feast at the table of the Lord
I won’t hunger anymore at His table

chorus
Come all you weary come and find
His yoke is easy His burden is light
He is able He will restore
At the table of the Lord
(At the table of the Lord)

There is peace at the table of the Lord
There is peace at the table of the Lord
I won’t worry anymore at His table

There is healing at the table of the Lord
There is healing at the table of the Lord
Oh and I won’t suffer anymore at His table

I’m invited to the table of the Lord
I’m invited to the table of the Lord
He says come just as you are to His table

bridge
I know He has a place for me
Oh what joy will fill my heart
With the saints around the mercy seat of God

CCLI Song # 7028956 CCLI License # 349090
Chris Tomlin | Ed Cash | Wayne Jolley© 2014 Alletrop Music

GOSPEL LESSON
Matthew 22:1-14

1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

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
Are you ready to party??
Pastor Denise

THANK YOU, GOD, FOR SISTERS, BROTHERS
Thank you, God, for sisters, brothers
Keeping faith with us and you,
Joining heart to heart with others,
As your call to us comes true.
With the cross our only standard
Let us sing with one great voice:
“Glory, glory, yours the Kingdom,
Churches in your Church rejoice.”

God be praised for congregations
By the love of Christ set free!
Many tongues of many nations
Sind the greater unity.
Sweet the psalm and sweet the carol
When our song is raised as one:
“Glory, glory, yours the power,
As in heaven your will be done.”

May your name be honored ever,
Heal our differences of old.
Bless your churches new endeavor
For your Kingdom, make us bold.
One our Christ and one our Gospel
Make us one we now implore:
“Glory, glory, yours the glory,
Through the ages evermore.”

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, Mike Sager and family, Art and Rosa Hamilton, Shirley Nicholas, Paul Mounce, Jane Auger, Joyce Andrews, Steve Hoden, Mary Spriggs, the families of Dan Erickson, Joe Heikes, and Vernon Gustafson, the Morales/Randall family.

Ministries & Mission
Faith & Jonathan Ro, serving in Czech Republic; Renee Nicholas, serving local graduate students and faculty with InterVarsity

GIVING OF OUR TITHES & OFFERINGS
& PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Who Will Carry Me?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpBZeEoC2io)
led by Trevor and many friends

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. 

O LET YOUR SOUL NOW BE FILLED WITH GLADNESS
O let your soul now be filled with gladness,
Your heart redeemed, rejoice indeed!
O may the thought banish all your sadness
That in his blood you have been freed,
That God’s unfailing love is yours,
That you the only Son were given,
That by his death he has opened heaven,
That you are ransomed as you are.

If you seem empty of any feeling,
Rejoice-you are His ransomed bride!
If those you cherish seem not to love you,
And dark assails from every side;
Still yours the promise, come what may,
In loss and triumph, in laughter, crying;
In want and riches, in living dying,
That you are purchased as you are.

It is a good, ev’ry good transcending,
That Christ has died for you and me!
It is a gladness that has no ending
There in God’s wondrous love to see!
Praise be to you O spotless Lamb,
Who through the desert my soul are leading
To that fair city of joy exceeding,
For which you bought me as I am!

Words: Peter Jonsson Aschan, 1726-1813, tr Karl A. Olsson, 1913
© 1972, 1996 Covenant Publications
Music: Swedish melody; arr. A. Royce Eckhardt, 1937-. © 1972, 1996 Covenant Publications

BENEDICTION                             

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

POSTLUDE
led by Cynthia and Dana

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

SONGS FOR THIS WEEK
by AxiomBrass… as we go out to love and serve the Lord:

AxiomBrass–Congratulations, Axiom! From their Facebook feed: “We are grateful and so honored to be on the ballot for this year’s Grammy Awards under the category of ‘Best Chamber Music Performance’ for our recording of Augusta Read Thomas’s remarkable piece ‘Avian Capriccio’, on her album The Auditions. Written for us in 2016, this recording is also included on our recent album First Impressions.

Chicago Trivia Program for seniors
In collaboration with Sulzer Regional Library and the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce, the NE Levy Center Village is hosting a virtual Chicago Trivia Program for Seniors on Thursday, October 29 at 10 am. There will be four different rounds (with ten questions in each round). The organizers are looking to recruit at least four older adult participants to be guest quiz contestants (and participate in one of the rounds)! If you are interested in being a contestant, please email gene@ravenswoodchicago.org. And if you are interested in participating as an audience member, please register for the event by visiting https://business.ravenswoodchicago.org/events/details/chicago-trivia-for-seniors-virtual-game-show-4375?calendarMonth=2020-10-01.

Book discussion
During the month of October a group will be reading Rediscipling the White Church, From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity by Rev. David W. Swanson, pastor of New Community Covenant Church in the Bronzeville neighborhood in Chicago. “In this simple but powerful book, Pastor Swanson contends that discipleship, not diversity, lies at the heart of our white churches’ racial brokenness. Swanson proposes that we rethink our churches’ habits, or liturgies, and imagine together holistic, communal discipleship practices that can reform us as members of Christ’s diverse body.” 

We will be reading individually in October and having discussion via Zoom on Tuesday, November 10 on the entire book. Please contact Pastor Denise (denise@ravenscov.org) if you have questions or would like help getting a copy of the book.

Thursday night Bible study
This week the Thursday night Bible study will continue a four-week look at the book of Malachi. 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.

The Zoom link for the Thursday night Bible study is https://zoom.us/j/95052558015?pwd=N3d1eFpUUmUwenhCSzNJNUk3WEV2QT09

Meeting ID: 950 5255 8015
Passcode: 141628

Prayer meeting dates change
The church’s weekly prayer meeting that gathers on Monday nights is moving to an every-other-week format for the time being, so the next meeting will be tomorrow, October 12. This is to reduce the scheduling conflict between the prayer meeting and RECC’s ongoing women’s prayer circle that has been convening daily during the COVID-19 pandemic. As long as attendance remains low enough to accommodate the meeting under the church’s current guidelines, it will be held live in the Nelson Lounge, beginning at 7 pm. Quarantine protocols (masks and social distancing) are required.

Church reopening survey
The church’s Leadership Team and staff have put together a survey that is designed to gauge the congregation’s desires and concerns regarding the resumption of in-person worship in our sanctuary. The survey has been sent online, and paper copies have been mailed to regular attenders who do not have an email address or who share an email address with a person receiving the online survey. It’s only five questions long, so your prompt reply would be appreciated. If you have not obtained a copy of this survey, please contact the church office as soon as possible.

Faith Forum update
Faith Forum, Ravenswood Covenant’s adult Sunday School class, is back in session! The class meets via Zoom at the traditional meeting time of 9:30 am on Sunday. For the next several weeks, Gregory Sager will be leading a series on the book of Colossians.. This is the Zoom link for Faith Forum. The link is also provided at the top of the bulletin every week.

Farmers market update
Only one Wednesday markets left! We hope you can join us this coming
Wednesday from 4-7 pm for our annual Harvest Fest that concludes the 2020 farmers market season.

Thursday night dinners
Chef Bobby, Hannah, Marlene, and Mary are once again providing our church’s Thursday night community dinners on an every-other-week basis. The dinners are sign-up-and-pick-up only. The next dinner will be a week from this Thursday. Contact the church office to be put on the sign-up email list, and follow the prayer email and the Sunday bulletin on the church’s website at www.ravenscov.org for more details.

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:
September 27: $2,041

General fund giving:
October 4: $2,294

Scripture for next Sunday
Isaiah 45:1-7
Psalm 96:1-9
Matthew 22:15-22

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)