Adult Sunday School Before Church at 9:30
on zoom


Streamed Live
Facebook & YouTube

KIDS TIME
Music & a visit from some friends

PRELUDE
When Morning Gilds the Skies
led by Cynthia & Mary

WELCOME & GREETING

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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

OLD TESTAMENT READING
Psalm 25:1-9
led by Chris

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
    do not let me be put to shame;
    do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
    let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
    teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
    for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
    according to your steadfast love remember me,
    for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
    and teaches the humble his way.

FORWARD THROUGH THE AGES
Forward through the ages,
In unbroken line,
Move the faithful Spirits
At the call divine;
Gifts in differing measure,
Heart of one accord,
Manifold the service,
One the sure reward.

chorus:
Forward through the ages,
In unbroken line,
Move the faithful spirits
At the call divine.

Wider grows the kingdom,
Reign of love and light;
For it we must labor,
Till our faith is sight.
Prophets have proclaimed it,
Martyrs testified,
Poets sung its glory,
Heroes for it died. (chorus)

Not a lone we conquer,
Not alone we fall;
In each loss or triumph
Lose or triumph all.
Bound by God’s far purpose
In one living whole,
Move we on together
To the shining goal. (chorus)

GOSPEL LESSON
Matthew 21:23-32

23 When [Jesus] entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

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.

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REFLECTING ON THE WORD
The Vigneron and the Vineyard

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GOD OF THIS CITY
You’re the God of this city
You’re the King of these people
You’re the Lord of this nation
You are
You’re the light in this darkness
You’re the hope to the hopeless
You’re the peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like You God

Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done
In this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done here

You’re the Lord of creation
The Creator of all things
You’re the King above all kings
You are
You’re the strength in the weakness
You’re the love to the broken
You’re the joy in the sadness
You are

Greater things have yet to come
And greater things have still to be done
In this city
Where glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for You and love for You
In this city

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
There is no one like You God
There is no one like You God

CCLI Song # 5037070 CCLI License # 349090
Aaron Boyd | Andrew McCann | Ian Jordan | Peter Comfort 

Peter Kernoghan | Richard Bleakley © 2006 sixsteps Music, 
worshiptogether.com songs

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

Ministries & Mission
Katherine Choi-Lee and Peter Lee, serving in France; Covenant Mountain Mission Bible Camp

GIVING OF OUR TITHES & OFFERINGS
& PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Largo, by G.F. Handel
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. 

GOD BLESS YOUR CHURCH WITH STRENGTH
God bless your church with strength!
Wherever we may be,
Build up your servants as we work
In common ministry.
Urge us from fledgling faith
To venture and to soar
Through open skies to sing the praise
Of Christ, whom we adore.

God bless your church with life!
May all our branches thrive
Unblemished, whole-some, bearing fruit,
Abundantly alive.
From you, one holy vine,
In freedom may we grow,
Sustain us in our mission, Lord,
Your love and peace to show.

God bless your church with hope!
Despite chaotic days,
May we in darkness shine to light
A path-way through life’s maze.
May justice be our aim
And kindness ours to share,
In humbleness O may we walk,
Assured our God is there!
Amen.

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

POSTLUDE
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
led by Cynthia and 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:
A Few Laborers
Harvestmen

A FEW LABORERS
based on Luke 10
Max & Janelle: maxeltoft.com

Oh, how many laborers, a tell a me Luke?
Seventy two, two and two
Seventy two, two and two
Seventy, two and two

How many carry a purse, a tell a me Luke?
Zero do, two and two
Zero do, two and two
Zero carry a purse

How many carry a scrip, a tell a me Luke?
Zero do, two and two
Zero do, two and two
Zero carry a scrip

How many carrying shoes, a tell a me Luke?
Zero do, two and two
Zero do, two and two
Zero carrying shoes

Saluting by the way, a tell a me Luke?
Zero do
Zero do
None salute by the way

And, how many laborers, a tell a me Luke?
Seventy two, two and two
Seventy two, two and two
Seventy, two and two

HARVESTMEN
instrumental: maxeltoft.com

Book discussion
This coming Tuesday, September 29, at 7 pm, we will conclude discussion of The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby on Zoom by looking at chapters 10 thru the end of the book. Tisby focuses on the history of the American church to present day in regards to race relations. If you don’t have the book and happen to have Amazon Prime, there is a video series where the author Jemar Tisby talks through each chapter. The videos are about 20 minutes each. Contact Pastor Denise if you have any questions. 

Zoom Bible Study
Our Thursday night Bible study has resumed meeting. Next week we will conclude our look at the book of Ruth. 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.

Prayer meeting dates change
The church’s weekly prayer meeting that gathers on Monday nights is moving to a new format for the time being,. It is now meeting only on the second and fourth Mondays of the month, so the next meeting will be tomorrow (September 28). 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.

MOPS is back
Ravenswood Covenant’s MOPS group continues to meet via Zoom during this time of social distancing. MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is a ministry devoted to the needs and concerns of mothers with children under school age. Contact Pastor Denise for the date of the next MOPS meeting and the Zoom link. Mothers with babies to elementary-age children are encouraged to connect with one another.

Farmers market update
Our farmers market continues to meet every Wednesday afternoon in our church’s parking lot. Although the city’s social-distancing and food-handling restrictions during the pandemic are limiting what the market can offer in terms of crowd size, vendors, and programming, we nevertheless continue to welcome our community back into our space for what has become a tradition for many of our neighbors. Right now, our object is to continue re-establishing our presence as a farmers market and to welcome people back into the routine of frequenting our vendors every Wednesday afternoon and early evening. The turnout is improving from week to week, and we have re-introduced food trucks as part of our market for the first time this summer. It’s good to welcome our neighbors and vendors back for another summer, restrictions or not!

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 this Thursday.

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 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 13: $5,989

General fund giving:
September 20: $4,125

Scripture for next Sunday
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:7-15
Philippians 3:4b-14
Matthew 21:33-46

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Art Used in this Bulletin: Steve Erspamer, SM
Clip Art for Year A © 1992, Archdiocese of Chicago.

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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.

By the way:
It’s Bud & Audrey’s 65th anniversary
on the 1st of October.

Congratulations!

"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)