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
Immortal Invisible God Only Wise
led by Cynthia and Mary

WELCOME & GREETING

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OLD TESTAMENT READING
Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;
    see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
    I am exalted among the nations,
    I am exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.

RECKLESS LOVE
Before I spoke a word
You were singing over me
You have been so so good to me
Before I took a breath
You breathed Your life in me
You have been so so kind to me

(And) O the overwhelming never-ending
Reckless Love of God
O it chases me down
fights ’til I’m found
Leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it
I don’t deserve it
Still You give Yourself away
O the overwhelming never-ending
Reckless Love of God yeah

When I was Your foe still
Your love fought for me
You have been so so good to me
When I felt no worth
You paid it all for me
You have been so so kind to me

bridge
There’s no shadow You won’t light up
Mountain You won’t climb up
Coming after me
There’s no wall You won’t kick down
Lie You won’t tear down
Coming after me

CCLI Song # 7089641 CCLI License # 349090
Caleb Culver | Cory Asbury | Ran Jackson © 2017 Cory Asbury Publishing

GOSPEL LESSON
Matthew 22:34-46

34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42 “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

45 If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” 46 No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

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.

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.
Alleluia, alleluia,
And he will direct your paths.

REFLECTING ON THE WORD
What did you expect?
Pastor Phil

GLIMPSES OF GLORY
Sometimes it seems we’re standing on tip toe,
Sometimes it seems the future is now.
Sometimes the holy hush of God’s presence
Comes and then leaves us wondering how.

Sometimes it seems we’re caught up to heaven.
Or is it heaven that comes to us here?
Sometimes it seems that, just for a moment,
Things that are hidden are suddenly clear.

chorus
Glimpses of glory, glimpses of glory,
Hearts are now soaring as if they had wings.
He who once died is risen, ascended,
Regally splendid, King of all kings!

Sometimes a fire is there in the preaching,
Sometimes a glow when ev’ryone sings.
Sometimes a word, a phrase, or a sentence,
Convinces the heart of heavenly things.

Sometimes the Word proclaimed in our worship,
Sometimes a prayer when prayed from the heart
Gives us for Christ the ultimate longing
And brings us together though we are apart.*

chorus
Glimpses of glory, glimpses of glory,
Hearts are now soaring as if they had wings.
He who once died is risen, ascended,
Regally splendid, King of all kings!

Ears have not heard it, eyes have not seen it,
All that our future surely will be.
Even on days with life at its darkest,
God gives us a foretaste of wonders to be.

Can’t you now hear the fanfare they’re sounding?
Don’t you now sense the crowning is near?
Doesn’t your heart now throb with excitement
To thing any moment Christ will be here?

chorus
Glimpses of glory, glimpses of glory,
Hearts are now soaring as if they had wings.
He who once died is risen, ascended,
Regally splendid, King of all kings!

*words substituted for covid
Bryan Jeffery Leech © 1994 Fred Brock Music Company; arr A.J. Leimone

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: Bob Auger, Nikolas Arden, Katie Collier, Mike Sager and family, Art and Rosa Hamilton, Shirley Nicholas, Paul Mounce, Jane Auger, Joyce Andrews, Steve Hoden, Mary Spriggs, Alice Nilsson (Nancy Popovich’s sister), the Morales/Randall family.

Ministries & Mission
Phillip & Stephanie Voland, serving in Germany; Barb & Steve Swanson, serving in Sweden

GIVING OF OUR TITHES & OFFERINGS
& PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
O Love That Will not Let Me Go
led by Cynthia on violin

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. 

DAY BY DAY
By the Jenny Lind Choir

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

POSTLUDE
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
led by Cynthia & Mary

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

SONGS FOR THIS WEEK
… as we go out to love and serve the Lord:
The Jenny Lind Vocal Ensemble, Augustana College
“A Virtual Choir Tour”

Our own Mark Safstrom is the host of this concert, which he helped put together at Augustana College, where he is Associate Professor of Scandinavian Studies. Thanks, Mark! Mark would like us to know that this year on October 6, we celebrated what would be Jenny Lind’s 200th birthday. Jenny Lind, “The Swedish Nightingale,” and her story of music, generosity, and faith intertwines with our own, especially with our roots in the Swedish Pietist tradition. Enjoy.

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 tomorrow (Monday, October 26), at 6:30 pm in Nelson Lounge. Current health protocols (masks and social distancing) are required.

Reopening the sanctuary for worship
The Leadership Team of Ravenswood Covenant has decided that, beginning today, October 25, we are reopening 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.

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 11: $2,235

General fund giving:
October 18: $1,693

Scripture for next Sunday
Joshua 3:7-17
Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37
Matthew 23:1-12

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)