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St. Stephen Lutheran Church West & East Bay, Central Valley, and Southern California

Member congregations of the Church of the Lutheran Confession (clclutheran.org)

320 Moorpark Way - Mountain View, California 94041-1600

Pastor: Luke Bernthal

Email: lbernthal@live.com Cell: (402) 389-2147

Home: (650) 282-5752

Online Video Production: Chris Holt

Websites: ststephenclc.org (East Bay) - sslcwest.org (West)

Church Office: (650) 964-5915

St. Stephen Lutheran School Teachers: Kirsten Gullerud (Principal), Rebecca Lillo

School Office: (650) 961-2071 School Website: ssls.org

June 28, 2020 Pentecost 4

We Welcome Our Visitors who are with us this morning.

We hope that you are uplifted by the Gospel at our worship service.

We invite you to join us every Sunday.

Preparation for Worship: Read Psalm 32 (Lutheran Service Book or Pew Bible)

To Watch our Worship Service Online Please Click This Link:

https://www.sslcwest.org/worship.html

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Opening Hymn: 649 Blest Be the Tie that Binds LSB 649

Public domain

Invocation We invoke (“call upon”) the name of the one true God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

P In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

Confession and Absolution We come before our Holy God recognizing that we are sinful and daily need His forgiveness.

P Beloved of God: Let us draw near with a true heart, and confess our sins to God our

Father, asking Him, in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to grant us

forgiveness.

C Almighty God, Merciful Father, we are sinful by nature, and have sinned

against You in our thoughts, words, and actions. But we are sorry for our sins

and pray that You would be gracious and merciful unto us. Forgive us for

Jesus’ sake, renew us by Your Spirit, and lead us in the way everlasting.

Amen.

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P Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for

the sins of the whole world. We are forgiven! With boldness and confidence we

may approach God’s throne to find grace to help in time of need. In the peace of

forgiveness, let us praise the Lord!

P O Lord, open my lips,

C And my mouth will declare Your praise!

P Make haste, O God, to deliver me;

C Make haste, to help me, O Lord!

825 v. 1 Rise, Shine, You People LSB 825 v. 1

© 1974 Augsburg Publishing House; admin. Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission: CCLI, no. 2222647.

Prayer of the Day

P We pray:

Almighty God, You have built Your Church on the foundation of the apostles and

prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. Continue to send Your

messengers to preserve Your people in true peace that, by the preaching of Your

Word, souls may be saved, faith may be strengthened, and Your Church may be kept

free from all harm and danger. We pray this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

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First Reading Psalm 27 (Selected Verses - RESPONSIVE) (NKJV)

P The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?

C The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

P Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear;

C Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.

P For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;

C In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

P Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!

C Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

P When You said, "Seek My face,"

C My heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek."

P Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger;

C You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me,

O God of my salvation.

P When my father and my mother forsake me,

C Then the LORD will take care of me.

P I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

C That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

P Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage,

C And He shall strengthen your heart;

A Wait, I say, on the LORD!

Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:1-9 (EHV)

L Our second reading is from 2 Corinthians 5:1-9.

C Sanctify us by Your truth, O Lord. Your Word is truth.

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Now we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a

building from God, an eternal home in heaven, which is not made by human hands. 2

In

fact, the reason we groan is that we long to be clothed with our dwelling from

heaven. 3

If we do indeed put it on, we will certainly not be found naked. 4

To be sure,

while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not want to be

unclothed, but to be clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5

Now

the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as the

down payment. 6

Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body,

we are away from the Lord, 7

for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8

But we are confident

and would much prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9

And for

this reason we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home or away.

L Here ends our Scripture readings.

C Praise to You, O Christ.

825 v. 3-4 Come, Celebrate… LSB 825 v. 3–4

© 1974 Augsburg Publishing House; admin. Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission: CCLI, no. 2222647.

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Apostles' Creed We boldly confess what we believe. LSB 207

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

Hymn of the Day: 718 Jesus Lead Thou On LSB 718

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Public domain

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (ESV)

9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of

man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these

things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches

everything, even the depths of God.

Sermon Theme: Imagine What God Has in Store for You!

According to our text, what could no human being have ever imagined on their

own? (v. 9)

How then can you know about the salvation God has prepared for you?

(see v. 10)

When was the last time you thought about heaven and tried to imagine what it is

going to be like?

When was the last time you thought about the fact that you will be there

someday because of Jesus?

How can these thoughts help you through some of the troubles and struggles of

this life? (see also Romans 8:18)

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Offertory LSB 956

Public domain

Offering We offer our gifts to the Lord, remembering that He has first given to us that we might have to give to Him.

( Please see the notes about how to give your offerings at this time in the Announcements

at the end of the bulletin )

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Sermon Hymn: 686 Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing LSB 686

Public domain

Prayer of the Church / Prayer Requests We bring our prayers to God.

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Lord’s Prayer LSB 209

C 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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass 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 and ever. Amen.

Benediction We hear God’s blessing to us. The “Apostolic Blessing” (2 Corinthians 13:14)

P The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the

communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all!

Choir Song: “A Benediction”

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you well.

May the peace of the Holy Spirit dwell in your hearts, blessing you,

in all things that you do, till we come together again.

As you go through the week, may the Father’s care be known.

May the words that you speak, display the love He’s shown

in your life, blessing you, in all things that you do,

till we come to His house again.

Acknowledgments Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

Announcements

Today (Sunday - 6/28) - Outdoor Worship – St. Stephen-West (Mt. View) – 10am

Farewell for Principal Kirsten Gullerud – 11am

East Bay - Worship in Hayward – 1pm

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This Week: Wednesday – Zoom Online Bible Class – 7pm

Next Sunday: Online Worship Services - https://www.sslcwest.org/worship.html

7/5/20 Outdoor Worship – St. Stephen-West (Mt. View) – 10am

East Bay - Worship (Hayward) – 1pm

Farwell for Kirsten Gullerud @ 11am – Following our worship service today we will be

bidding a bittersweet but fond farewell to our teacher and friend, Kirsten Gullerud. Thank

you for your 7 years of service to our school and our congregation, Kirsten. You will be

dearly missed! May the Lord bless your move to Wisconsin and may He bless this new

chapter in your life in ways that you can’t imagine!

“I thank my God every time I remember you. Every time I pray for all of you, I always

pray with joy, because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. I am convinced of this very thing: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on

to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:3-6

Share the Good News by Sharing our Worship Service Link – Please remember:

You can invite many others to our online worship services by copying and pasting this link in

an email or on your Facebook page, etc.: https://www.sslcwest.org/worship.html

Share the Good News!

East Bay Worship Services Resume Again in Hayward – TODAY (Sunday 6/28) @ 1pm –

Alameda Co. lifted some of their restrictions and are now allowing for houses of worship to

reopen under some restrictions and guidelines. We will be meeting for worship with

communion at our usual location, Grace Lutheran Church (1836 B Street, Hayward),

beginning TODAY (Sunday, 6/28) at 1pm.

Zoom Bible Class – Wednesdays @ 7pm – Currently our Zoom Bible Class on the Psalms

will be held on Wednesdays at 7pm. The link is below. I will re-email the Zoom link as well

as send a PDF of the material we will be going through before each Bible Class. Please let

me know if you have any questions. Pastor Luke's Zoom link:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8729663333

Lutheran Spokesman Subscriptions - If you are interested in receiving (or renewing your

subscription to) the Lutheran Spokesman devotional magazine please let Pastor Luke know.

Please sign up by the end of this month, June 30th

, to receive the reduced congregational

subscription rate of only $14 per year.

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“Daily Rest” & “Meditations” Daily Devotionals Available – The latest issues of “Daily

Rest” and “Meditations” are available for pick up at St. Stephen-West in Mt. View. Please let

Pastor Luke know if you’d like a copy mailed to you.

Thank You - to Chris Holt for his work in producing, editing, and posting the video and

music for our worship service today.

Classroom Flooring and Teacher Apartment Project – Volunteers Needed – We will be

needing volunteers periodically, mainly on the weekends, over the next few months to help

with these projects. Please speak with Michael Horrillo if you’d like to volunteer your time

and talents to these projects (408) 891-5331. A big “THANK YOU” to all who have given so

much time and effort to this project so far. We pray that this will be a blessing for Mikkela,

as well as a blessing for our school and congregation.

Volunteers Requested for Saturdays @ 2pm for Online Worship Recording -

We are looking for 2-6 volunteers each Saturday afternoon at 2pm to participate the

video recording of the worship service and help add a few voices to the liturgy responses and

hymns that are spoken and sung each worship service. Please let me know if you'd like to

volunteer for one or more of the Saturday worship service recordings. We hope this will be a

blessing to those who volunteer as well as to those who watch our online worship services.

Offerings - The well-being of our members, both spiritual and physical, is our foremost

concern. At the same time, it is important to support our mutual work for the LORD, even

during this unusual time. Please mail in your offerings to the following addresses:

West Bay (Mt. View) & Southern California

- Please mail your offering to our financial secretary: Chris Holt

4517 Catalina Dr.

San Jose, CA 95129

East Bay & Central Valley

- Please mail your offering to our financial secretary: Jan Messerschmidt

6220 Robin Court

Pleasanton, CA 94588

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KINSHIP Disaster Relief - The COVID-19 epidemic has affected many of us in a variety of

ways. We’ve also been learning of the suffering our brothers and sisters in Christ around the

world have been facing in the current epidemic. Between COVID-19 Aid and cyclone relief,

monetary aid has been sent overseas from KINSHIP. There remain additional needs among

our various sister synods (see Mission Opportunities Prayer List on the back pages of this

bulletin). The CLC Board of Missions is requesting that you consider offering your financial

support to replenish the KINSHIP funds, so we can be ready to respond when the next need

comes along. If you would like to donate, please mark your offering “KINSHIP,” or you may

send your offerings to CLC KINSHIP, 501 Grover Rd., Eau Claire, WI, 54701.

CLC News - Pastor Chad Seybt has returned the call extended to him by Bethel, Morris, MN.

<> Pastor Paul Tiefel has returned the call extended to him by Redeemer, Bowdle, SD and

Zion, Ipswich, SD. <> Professor John Ude has returned the cal extended to him by St. Luke’s,

Lemmon, SD. Mark