Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Message from Pastor Mori 

Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church The Weekly Newsletter    Message from Pastor Mori Dear RFUMC Family What is your first of memory of prayer?  For me at Sunday School before the snack time we followed the prayer of the Sunday School teacher saying, "God is good and loves me, thank you for this snack. Amen"  I believed that every time we pray God received whatever we said. And as I became a youth, I learned that prayer is conversation. Through prayer, I brought my worries and plans and fears to God in hopes of God's protection and guidance.  And, as I have grown to be an adult and went to the seminary, I learned to listen for God,how to attune our heart and mind and ears and seek God through scriptures. I try to listen to the Holy Spirit and hope that the Holy Spirit leads and becomes my navigator.And, as a pastor I want to learn how to pray by being with God, how to live in relationship with God.  So I got the book Being with God: The Absurdity, Necessity, and Neurology of Contemplative Prayer by A.J. Sherrill.    In the book, the author writes that there are four types of prayer:    Talking at God  Speaking to God  Listening for God  Being with God   At, to, for, with: these are the four basic way to pray.   I agree with the author's point that when we talk about our prayer, we mostly examine only the words we speak to God and the impressions they claim to feel from God.This is a good way to pray to God, but sometimes we forgot that prayer is "being" than "doing"   Sherill notes that, "at some point, our relationship with God demands that we move away from words, away from noise, and away from the mental chatter and toward discovering God in the quiet."    I think this direction is a beautiful way to meet myself and God.    Where is your prayer? If you want to begin to explore this, sit down, take a deep breath, and open yourself to God.    With prayer for you,    Mori  PS) Do you need prayer?        Please send your prayer request. I will pray for you.         Here is my email and prayer request form    Give on PayPal   Community Info & Links            Re-Opening Team winter survey    As Chicago provides us with new guidance regarding the suggested vaccination of people who are participating in public events, we would like to update our congregational safety survey.  In this revised survey, we want to ask three questions to improve safety during the recent spike in COVID-19 infections. Click here to take the survey      Pastor Mori's phone visiting                     During January and February, Pastor Mori will be making phone calls to members of the congregation to "check in" on how everything is going and to say hello  Currently with the spike in the Omicron variant, it is suggested to keep "in-person" contact to a minimum.  Pastor Mori misses visiting with members who are unable to attend in-person worship and enjoys conversations with the congregation.                                               Lake North Leadership Training                    Lake North District LEAD Training Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 8:30 am to 12 noon UMW Mission U 2022 NIC UMW Mission u - (Jan. 21 - 22) ONLINE Mission u is presented by United Methodist Women for all (children, youth, men and women). Fees $15 for each virtual adult, $5 for each child or youth with a maximum of $15 for children and youth per family. Another session will be held Feb. 4 -5 at Hinsdale UMC. Click here for details. Winter Mission Academy 2022 - (Jan. 31 - Feb. 5.) Join United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) for the 2022 Winter Mission Academy. Register for as many workshops as you would like. All sessions will be on Zoom at 11:00 am CST. The Zoom link will be sent out to all registrants a few days before the Mission Academy begins. Click here for details. Rental Assistance Program                           If you or someone you know is at immediate risk of homelessness due to missed payment of rental costs due to unforeseen crises, they may be eligible for the Department of Family and Support Services Rental Assistance Program. The deadline to apply has been extended through January 31, 2022. Learn more and apply here or call the North Area Community Service Center, 845 W. Wilson, at 312- 744-2580.       Free COVID Test Kits                     There's a new federal resource to get free FDA-authorized coronavirus test kits. At COVIDtests.gov, you'll find information about testing and a link to the U.S. Postal Service – special.usps.com/testkits – where you can order up to four rapid tests to be sent to your home address. You may also order your kits by calling 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489). Your kits will be mailed through the U.S. Postal Service within 7 to 12 days.                       Upcoming Meetings Early Adopter Team with Rev Beth Wednesday Jan 26  Zoom online  AD Council  Sunday Jan 23  11:30 AM (In Person + Online)             Sermon by 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!         RFUMC Building Ministry                                                   Ravenswood Fellowship UMC February 2022 Calendar click Here Church Room Reservation Form (to request use of the common areas of the church) Click Here                                                    After Covid-19 Updates.    The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH)  announced Illinois' first known COVID-19 case caused by the Omicron COVID-19 variant (B.1.1.529), identified in a Chicago resident and known contact of a confirmed Omicron case from another state who visited the city.. Read the full news release here.                                                                                                  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. January Scriptures and sermon titles are 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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