St. Stephen Lutheran Church · 2020. 5. 10. · Second Reading 1 Peter 2:2-10 (EHV) L Our second reading is from 1 Peter 2:2-10 C Sanctify us by Your truth, O Lord. Your Word is truth.

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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: [email protected] 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

May 10, 2020 Easter 5

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 33 (Lutheran Service Book or Pew Bible)

To Watch our Worship Service Online Please Click This Link:

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

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

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Opening Hymn: 909 Christ is Made the Sure Foundation LSB 909

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.

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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.

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!

895 v. 1 Now Thank We All Our God LSB 895 v. 1

Public domain

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Prayer of the Day

P We pray:

O God, You make the minds of Your faithful to be of one will. Grant that we may love

what You have commanded and desire what You promise, that among the many

changes of this world our hearts may be fixed where true joys are found. We pray

this in Jesus’ name, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now

and forever.

C Amen.

First Reading Psalm 33 (selected verses – RESPONSIVE) (NKJV)

P Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.

C Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

P For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in truth.

C He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

P By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,

C And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

P Let all the earth fear the LORD;

C Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

P The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

C He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.

P The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.

C Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as

His own inheritance.

P From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth;

C He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works.

P No king is saved by the multitude of an army;

C A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

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P Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy,

C To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.

P Our soul waits for the LORD;

C He is our help and our shield.

P For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name.

C Let Your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.

Second Reading 1 Peter 2:2-10 (EHV)

L Our second reading is from 1 Peter 2:2-10

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

2 Like newborn babies, crave the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow up

with the result being salvation. 3

Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good! 4

As you come to him, the Living Stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and

precious, 5

you also, like living stones, are being built as a spiritual house to be a holy

priesthood, in order to bring spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through

Jesus Christ. 6

For it says in Scripture:

See, I lay a stone in Zion,

a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who believes in him will certainly not be put to shame.

7 Therefore, for you who believe, this is an honor. But for those who do not believe:

The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,8

and,

a stone over which they stumble

and a rock over which they fall.

Because they continue to disobey the word, they stumble over it. And that is the

consequence appointed for them. 9

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are

God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out

of darkness into his marvelous light. 10

At one time you were not a people, but now you

are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been

shown mercy.

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L Here ends our Scripture readings.

C Praise to You, O Christ.

895 v. 2-3 Oh, May This Bounteous God LSB 895 v. 2–3

Public domain

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.

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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: 526 You Are the Way; Through You Alone LSB 526

Public domain

Sermon Text: John 14:1-12 (NKJV)

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My

Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to

prepare a place for you. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again

and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 "And where I

go you know, and the way you know." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not

know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I

am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on

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you know Him and have seen Him." 8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father,

and it is sufficient for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and

yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so

how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 "Do you not believe that I am in the

Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My

own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 "Believe Me that

I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the

works themselves. 12 " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the

works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I

go to My Father.”

Sermon Theme: “I Am…”

What was Jesus claiming about Himself with His “I AM” statements recorded in

the Gospel of John?

What is Jesus clearly claiming about Himself in v. 6 of our sermon text?

Application: Martin Luther once called these verses part of “the best and most

comforting sermon given by Christ, our Lord, on earth.” What words of Jesus in these

verses do you find the most comforting?

Offertory LSB 956

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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 )

Sermon Hymn: 912 Christ is Our Cornerstone LSB 912

Public domain

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

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!

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

Announcements

This Week: SSLS - Online Classes / Learning from home continues

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

5/17/20 Online Bible Class via Zoom – 11am

Blessed Mother’s Day! to all the mothers and grandmothers (and

great-grandmothers!) who are with us this morning. What an

irreplaceable blessing Christian mothers and grandmothers (and all

Christian women) are! We thank God for the blessings He has given us

in you! “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who

fears the LORD, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30).

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

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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!

We hope that these online services will be a blessing to all during this time when we are not

able to worship together in person. Let’s all continue to pray that we are able to join again

together in worship soon, and pray for the health and safety of us all.

Email and hard-copy mailings of the sermon and bulletin for each worship service are also

available. Please let Pastor Luke know if you’d like to have the sermon and bulletin mailed to

your home.

Southern California Worship Service Cancelled for May - Because the shelter-in-

place/safer at home orders for the State of California were extended through the month of

May we are unfortunately had to cancel the Southern California worship service originally

scheduled for today.

The Southern California worship service for the month of June will be scheduled for June

14th, Lord willing, but that will also be subject to change depending on how things play out

regarding our state's response to this pandemic. Pastor Luke will be conducting that worship

service, if we are able to have it.

Private Communion During the Month of May – With the shelter in place extending

through this month I want to remind all of our communicant members of our St. Stephen

congregations that if you would like to partake of communion this month please let me

know so that I can make arrangements with you to have private communion. 402-389-2147

(cell). - Pastor Luke

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

music for our worship service today.

Volunteers Requested for Saturdays @ 2pm -

We are looking for 2-4 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.

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

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Zoom Bible Class - Sundays from 11am-12noon - Starting TODAY Sunday, May 10th -

During the shelter in place order we are planning on conducting a Bible Class on the Psalms

each Sunday via Zoom beginning this Sunday from 11am-12noon. The link is below, and I

will re-email the Zoom link as well as send a PDF of the material we will be going through

before each Sunday's Bible Class. We hope that you'll be able to join us and not only study

God's Word, but also get a chance to re-connect--or even meet for the first time--some of

your brothers and sisters in Christ from our St. Stephen congregations from across

California! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Pastor Luke's Zoom link:

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

Mask Donations Update & Request – Over the past two weekends we’ve been giving away

masks at church to the people in our community. We have distributed over 50 disposable

masks and over 15 cloth masks. We are giving them away again this weekend. Please let

Pastor Luke know if you are in need of masks. If you are willing to make masks to be given

away please let him know as well. Whatever we don’t end up distributing here at church we

can donate to a local hospital or police department.

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

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

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