First Sunday in Lent

Message from Pastor Mori 

Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church The Weekly Newsletter    Message from Pastor Mori Dear Ravenswood Fellowship Family, Last week, I saw the snow, and the next day I saw snow, and the next day I saw snow. I've never seen this much snow pile up in this short amount of time. I hope this letter finds you well and safe.  Our daily Lenten prayer group has been praying for people and the world, for our loved one's safety and health, and our loved one's wellbeing. We also pray every day for you. Especially, this week, we pray for the people of Texas. The very first day of the snowstorm this week, three million people in Texas were without electricity.  And during the prayer I realized that we need to pray for our postal and delivery workers.  I read that deliveries have an exceptional on-time rate considering 80 million packages are being delivered to U.S. households each day. Eighty million packages! However, with winter storms bearing down on parts of the United States, deliveries are slowing. If you have not received your mail, you are not the only one! Before complaining about delayed packages, I have been trying to think about their stress.  This snowstorm weather has frozen deliveries and online shoppers could experience even more delays. Now the snow has stopped and we expect better weather in the coming week, but the delivery workers are still needed to deal with the pile up of deliveries which have been delayed. And their stress will be higher than at any other time. "No snow or rain or heat or darkness of night stops these couriers from the swift completion of their rounds." This is translated from a Greek text from around 500 BCE about deliveries and still today we receive the mail because the USPS manages to deliver hundreds of billions of pieces of mail each year.    I appreciate every delivery worker and our USPS workers. And I want to invite you to pray for their safety and consider their stress when we are stressed about delayed packages. Thank you, God, for their hard work.       Please be safe all!  Blessings,  MORI        Give on PayPal Community Info & Links The United Methodist Church joins with others in celebrating February as Black History Month, the annual observance of the history of the African diaspora. And, it is a time to reflect on the history of Black Americans and to honor the individuals and groups who have worked tirelessly toward racial justice. As we embark on Black History Month, I want to share poems during February.    WHO KNOWS? BY SAFIYAH FOSUA Who knows what signal, what internal sentry, prodded Rosa to sit when the bus driver said: "Get up and move."  Was it her aching feet as some have said? Was it her pounding head that could not wrap itself around the concept of such inequality? Or was it her aching heart, bruised from years of injury compounded with interest?  Perhaps, it was just impossible for her to walk any longer with the spiny pebble of injustice in her shoe, in her life, in her spirit. Only God knows the signal, the sentry, the prod required for each of us.  Oh God, let there be enough feeling left in me to feel your nudging when it comes. Amen.   https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/worship-resources-for-black-history-month                                          Lent Bible Study Book   This Lent ponder the themes of justice, poverty, freedom, and love. Victor Hugo's Les Misérables is a truly epic story. Whether you've read the novel, seen the Broadway musical, heard its soundtrack, or seen the several screen adaptations, you already know the power in the story. In the six-week Lenten study The Grace of Les Misérables, author and pastor Matt Rawle dives into six ideals found in the story—grace, justice, poverty, revolution, love, and hope—each represented by a character in Hugo's story. In keeping with his previous works, Rawle brings us to the intersection of Church and Pop Culture by drawing parallels between the iconic story and musical and our Christian calling, inspiring us to both understand our faith and live it out in the world. Lent Bible Study  Feb 25 - April 06 2021 Every Thursday 7:00-8:00 PM   Zoom link - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85235718340 Meeting ID: 852 3571 8340 +13126266799,,85235718340# US (Chicago)                                                                    Lent Daily Prayer  (Feb 17- April 03 2021)                                                                       We will be sending a prayer sanctuary booklet for the Lent 2021 to you. Please join us every day in daily prayer on Facebook live 8:00-8:20 AM.   We hope the Lent daily prayer helps you faithfully journey through Lent as we prepare to experience the joy of the Resurrection.   Lent Prayer Link   https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88005037516 Meeting ID: 880 0503 7516 Or call  +13126266799, (Chicago) Prayer Request   https://tinyurl.com/2tgdtu8z Lent Prayer Scripture Reader https://tinyurl.com/q4x1l2f1                           APPLY FOR THE JACL CHICAGO 2021 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM The Chicago Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) offers scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 to undergraduate and graduate students who have demonstrated a commitment to JACL's mission. Scholarships are awarded based on an applicant's understanding of and alignment with JACL's mission, as well as academic performance and extracurricular involvement. Scholarships are open to all, regardless of race or ethnicity. Previous JACL Chicago scholarship winners applying for a second award must demonstrate sustained engagement with JACL. Funding for scholarships is provided by generous donations from JACL Chicago members and the greater Chicago Japanese American community. Applications are due on March 1, 2021. Tentative: Awards will be distributed at the annual Scholarship Luncheon on May 16, 2021.  For more information and to download an application, click here. If you have any questions, please contact Christine Munteanu, JACL Chicago Scholarship Committee Chair, at scholarships@jaclchicago.org.                                                                     NIJFON Kicks off "More Justice, More Love" Campaign with Sunday, February 21 Event NIJFON special to her heart as she helped to start the Chicago clinic back in 2014. And of course they will be honoring their 10 years in special ways! Don't miss the NIJFON 10th Anniversary Celebration and Kickoff of their new "More Justice, More Love" campaign! Join via Facebook Live on Sunday, February 21 at 4pm. COVID-19 Vaccines and Appointment  Go to your county website for local information. Sign up for alerts. Offer encouragement and resources. Click here for an interactive map of vaccination sites by zip code. The City of Chicago is partnering with the Zocdoc online scheduler for people to find vaccination appointments when they're available.  Click here for the link. For more information to share, check out the  Illinois Department of Health Services' vaccination FAQs. Want to know more about preparing your church for re-opening? View the NIC's ReTurn Team Plan here.               Church Office Hours   We will continue to follow Governor Pritzker's guidelines during the COVID 19 pandemic. Currently, the mandate is to stay at home as much as possible.  The office staff will continue to work remotely until this mandate is lifted.  We will follow the guidelines issued by the Governor as well as the Chicago CDC and provide an update when possible.  Please be assured that the church mailbox and voicemail are checked daily. Pastor Mori can be reached by email at rfumcpastormori@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at the church office at (773) 561-2610.        Weekly Sermon Phone Service  If you do not have computer access or cannot access our Sunday worship service through a smart phone, we now have a sermon by phone service, which is available at any time!  The phone number is (773) 219-0861.  You can listen to a recent version of Pastor Mori's Sunday sermon and it's free!   Meeting Announcement  Re-Opening Team Meeting  Tuesday March 02 7:00 PM  (Zoom Online) Trustee Meeting  Sunday March 07  After worship (Zoom Online)  Trustee Chair Training  Tuesday Feb 23 7:00 PM  (Zoom Online)  Lent Bible Study  Thursday Feb 25 7:00 PM  (Zoom Online) After Covid-19 Updates.  Read about the Phases for Re-Opening here. Is that document too long? Read the summary version here.  Our Regions 10 and 11 are still at Tier 2 Mitigations     Here our Interim Bishop Hokin's letter          Links for Worship.  Join Zoom worship by going to this link at 10:30 AM on Sunday: https://zoom.us/j/806489040. Or call in at 1-312-626-6799 (Meeting ID: 806 489 040).  Let's boost our worship! Please sign-up for Worship service Bible reader Sign-Up here. Young People's Bible Study. Ages 12-18 are invited to join the Zoom discussion of Jesus stories at 9 AM on Sunday mornings. Join the Zoom call here (Meeting ID: 828 2305 3546, One-tap mobile+13126266799) Want prayer? During our Prayers of the People, we will read your prayer requests. Submit your prayer requests here. Download. Get your bulletin here. Having trouble? Try logging off and logging back on to Zoom during the video. Or simply log off and call in.  Missed last week? Check out the Facebook Live video on our page here.  Give on PayPal Our mailing address is: 4511 North Hermitage Ave. Chicago, IL 60640 Contact us at: ravfelumc@yahoo.com (773) 561-2610 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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