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

Streaming Live
Facebook & YouTube


KIDS TIME
Music & a visit from some friends

PRELUDE
O Worship the King
led by Dana

WELCOME & GREETING

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WHO YOU SAY I AM
Who am I that the highest King
Would welcome me
I was lost but He brought me in
Oh His love for me
Oh His love for me

chorus
Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am

Free at last
He has ransomed me
His grace runs deep
While I was a slave to sin
Jesus died for me
Yes He died for me

chorus
In my Father’s house
There’s a place for me
I’m a child of God
Yes I am

bridge
I am chosen not forsaken
I am who You say I am
You are for me not against me
I am who You say I am

CCLI Song # 7102401 CCLI License # 349090
Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan © 2017 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia

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OLD TESTAMENT READING
Psalm 96:1-9

1O sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
    he is to be revered above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before him;
    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering, and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
    tremble before him, all the earth.

O WORSHIP THE KING, ALL GLORIOUS ABOVE
O worship the King all glorious above,
And gratefully sing his wonderful love;
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilion’d in splendor and girded with praise.

O tell of his might and sing of his grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space;
His chariots of wrath the deep thunder clouds form,
And dark is his path on the wings of the storm.

Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light,
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

Amen.

Words: Robert Grant, 1779-1838
Music: William Gardiner’s Sacred Melodies 1815;

arr. Johann M. Hadyn, 1737-1806.

GOSPEL LESSON
Matthew 22:15-22

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21 They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

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
God’s Stamp Collection
Pastor Phil

TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY
Take time to be holy,
Speak oft with your Lord;
Abide in him always,
And feed on his Word.
Make friends of God’s children;
Help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing
His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy,
The world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret
With Jesus a lone.
By looking to Jesus,
Like him you shall be;
Your friends in your conduct
His likeness will see.

Take time to be holy,
Let him be your guide,
And run not before him,
What ever be tied.
In joy or in sorrow,
Still follow your Lord,
And looking to Jesus,
Still trust in his Word.

Words: William D. Longstaff, 1822-1894
Music: George C. Stebbins, 1846-1945

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
Helen & Timothy Smith, serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Covenant Mountain Mission Bible Camp

GIVING OF OUR TITHES & OFFERINGS
& PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Variation on Slane, arr by Austin C. Lovelace
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. 

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL NAME
You were the Word at the beginning
One with God the Lord Most High
Your hidden glory in creation
Now revealed in You our Christ

What a beautiful Name it is
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a beautiful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

You didn’t want heaven without us
So Jesus You brought heaven down
My sin was great Your love was greater
What could separate us now

What a wonderful Name it is
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a wonderful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

bridge
Death could not hold You
The veil tore before You
You silence the boast of sin and grave
The heavens are roaring
The praise of Your glory
For You are raised to life again

You have no rival
You have no equal
Now and forever God You reign
Yours is the kingdom
Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name above all names

What a powerful Name it is
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

CCLI Song # 7068424 CCLI License # 349090
Ben Fielding | Brooke Ligertwood © 2016 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia

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

POSTLUDE
Ash Grove, arr by James W. Loeffler
led by Cynthia

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! Check this out 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 time change
The church’s weekly prayer meeting that gathers every second and fourth Monday night each month is moving up the meeting time
from 7 pm to 6:30 pm. This is a permanent change in meeting time. The next scheduled date for the prayer meeting is Monday,
October 26, at 6:30 pm in Nelson Lounge. Quarantine protocols (masks and social distancing) are required.

Reopening the sanctuary for worship
The Leadership Team of Ravenswood Covenant has decided that, beginning next Sunday, October 25, we are going to reopen 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 will be able to accommodate up to 25 individuals in the sanctuary, and will 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, discouraging singing, and restricting access to certain parts of the church used by the daycare.

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

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
Thank you so much! This last week we concluded our 2020 Farmers Market Season. Sneha, our market director, led the charge. Pastor Denise, Pastor Phil, and Sarah became the regular crew. Bekah, Bobby, Vivek, Chris, Dave, Gregory, Roxanne, Jose, Sandy, Jermayine and others helped frequently. We are grateful for our partnership with the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce, who helped this year with PR, web presence, encouragement, and occasional vendor communication. There was a solid 300 people from the neighborhood who participated weekly in the market (over 400 at our last market) and over a dozen vendors. Our regular vendors were so faithful: Patyk Farms, Tamales Express, Empanada Bike, Hilary’s Cookies, Cookies & Carnitas, Moon Magic Apothecary. We had frequent guest appearances too: Bhoomi Chai Co., The Fat Shallot, Ms. Tittle’s Cupcakes, Smoke Daddy BBQ, Piko Truck, Stan’s Donuts and Coffee Chicago, A Sweets Girl, Mediterranean Express, Da Pizza Dude, Caption Call, We Events, Fit City Kids. We also had talented weekly musical participation from local musicians: Teel Short Music, Joseph Clifton Music, Tommy Carroll Music, Red 255, and Laura Doherty Music. THANK YOU EVERYBODY!

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 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:
October 4: $2,294

General fund giving:
October 11: $2,235

Scripture for next Sunday
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
Psalm 1
Matthew 22:34-46

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)