THE INFORMER. St. Peter Lutheran Church 6745 Palms Road PO Box Fair Haven, MI

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1 THE INFORMER St. Peter Lutheran Church 6745 Palms Road PO Box Fair Haven, MI May 2017 Jesus lives! The vict ry won! Death no longer can appall me; Jesus lives! Death s reign is done! From the grave will Christ recall me. Brighter scenes will then commence; This shall be my confidence. The Time of Easter continues as we celebrate the Sundays of Easter. These Sundays of Easter lead up to the commemoration of the Ascension of our Lord, which takes place on May 25 th this year. This time of the Church Year provides us an opportunity to recognize the cosmic significance of what our God has done for us. Through Jesus victory over sin, death, and the grave, we are assured that physical death is not the final moment of our lives. Since Jesus has been raised from death, we are confident that we shall also be raised from death. Jesus lives! To Him the throne High above all things is given. I shall go where He is gone, Live and reign with Him in heaven. God is faithful: doubtings hence! This shall be my confidence. Our God s work of salvation is complete. Our heavenly Father sends His only begotten Son into our flesh, anoints Him with His Holy Spirit at His baptism, and Jesus sacrifices Himself as He carries the sinfulness of this world into the condemnation of death. But death is not able to hold Jesus. He rises from the dead that first Easter morning, triumphing over all the powers of sin and hell. Jesus retakes His throne as the King of all creation! Jesus lives! For me He died, Hence will I, to Jesus living, Pure in heart and act abide, Praise to Him and glory giving. All I need God will dispense; This shall be my confidence. Jesus victory gives us new life. That victory gives us His life. We have been brought out of death into life through Jesus. The life we now have is the life of Christ in us which is to reveal itself as Jesus life being lived through us. We now live as lights in this world of sin s darkness. We trust our heavenly Father s care for us as we live as His beloved children. Jesus lives! I know full well Nothing me from Him shall sever. Neither death nor pow rs of hell Part me now from Christ forever. God will be my sure defense; This shall be my confidence. The fact of Jesus resurrection from death provides us with the confidence to live our lives as the children of God. We trust our heavenly Father s providential care for all our needs in this life and His welcome in eternity. We trust in Jesus completed work of salvation for us and face the trials of this life knowing that nothing can separate us from that salvation. We trust the Holy Spirit s leading as He allows us to join in our God s work in this world and His keeping us safe for eternity. Jesus, risen from the dead, is our sure and certain hope. Jesus is our confidence! Jesus lives and now is death But the gate of life immortal; This shall calm my trembling breath When I pass its gloomy portal. Faith shall cry as fails each sense: Jesus is my confidence!

2 Choir News Your St. Peter Choir continues to hone their musical skills as they begin preparing for the Festivals of Pentecost and Trinity. The Festival of Pentecost will be enhanced by the song called Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God, and the Festival of Trinity will hear the choir s new rendition of a favorite hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy. If you enjoy singing and would like to add your voice to these joyful songs, please join us on Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm. Your St. Peter choir only exists because members like you are willing to share their talents. Join this joyful group of sweetly-singing serenaders! St. Peter s Trusty Trustees Your Trusty Trustees have been considering the projects needing to be accomplished as good weather begins to settle in around the area. The exterior of the building has borne the brunt of exposure and is in need of some freshening up. The driveway s need for routine maintenance is an annual consideration. Other needs are also being considered. Please contact one of your Trusty Trustees if you notice our facilities needing maintenance or improvement. The following are our Trustees: John Harper ~ ~ Head Trustee Bill Boike ~ Charlie Jones ~ Ken Brockmiller ~ Dan Stahl ~

3 The Ladies Aid is planning on having a Rummage Sale for May 12 th and 13th. We are taking donations and it will be run again as it has been in the past. We do not mark prices on anything, we just take a donation. The customer will give us a donation of what they think the item is worth. So if you think you have antiques and will get upset if we just take what they offer, than please do not give us that item. This makes it very easy for the ladies to set up the sale and run it and since we are a church, people usually give us more than what the item is worth. You always get those few who will not give you what an item is worth, but in the end it all evens out. There are a few items we do not want: Encyclopedias TV s Shoes Large Christmas trees (table top is OK) We will be taking donations from now till the day of the sale. If you want to bring items to the church please have it in boxes and marked clearly Rummage Sale. Any of the trustees can give you the key to the garage to put the items in. So as you start your spring cleaning please remember us! Bake Sale Along with the Rummage Sale we will hold a bake sale. A signup sheet will be going up at the end of this month and we hope you will all bake us something and come and shop. FROM THE CHAIRMAN Has spring finally arrived? Of course it has along with the Pollen, Sinus infections, sneezing & coughing. For those of you who have survived the above, hooray for you. For those who have it now hang in there, and those of you who are lucky enough to miss all the hacking, sneezing, coughing, nose blowing, stuffy head & headaches with Kleenex laying around, you are very lucky! Thank You to all the guys who prepared the Easter breakfast. It was very tasty and it was nice to see new faces enjoying feast. You guys were a well oiled machine, Thank You! In the month of May we would like to honor those who gave all to keep us safe. Our service men and women deserve to be honored this month and we will be putting new flags in the cemetery for Memorial Day. Don t forget the Rummage Sale May 12 th & 13 th ; it is a great way to help the Ladies Aid make some funds to support all their charities. As the old saying goes, Many hands make the work go fast. Kevin Patrick J Klenner, FIC, CLTC Greater Mack Ave Ste 206 Financial Associate St. Clair Shores, MI Lakefront Financial Associates /Cell: Patrick.klenner@thrivent.com Fax: Connecting faith & finances for good.

4 Scrapbook Friday There will not be scrapbooking in May! But we hope to see you in June! SUNDAY School As we approach the end of the end of Sunday School I have a few notes. On May 14 th, Mother s day we will be singing in church. may 21 st, is our Sunday school picnic. We will have games, hot dogs and cupcakes. Hopefully we will have nice weather for this fun day. Thanks to all for bringing the children to Sunday school, it has been a great year. If anyone would like to teach or help in September please see me or pastor. Your friend through Christ Linda lelacheur Flowers on the Altar for APRIL May 7 th Gail & Darryl Watt May 14 th Ruth Smith May 21 st Sue & Allyn Gerds May 28 th Ellen & Charlie Jones LADIES AID NEWS The May meeting of the Ladies Aid will be on Tuesday, May 2, We hope you will attend, as we are trying to tie up loose ends before summer. OK, Ladies it s that time of year to dig into your garage, basement and other little hidey holes to find all those little items that you have been meaning to get rid of. And just in time the Ladies Aid is having their annual Rummage &Bake Sale. We are now accepting items for the rummage sale to be held on May 12 & 13, We will be setting up on Thursday May 11. We also hope that the Ladies of the Congregation will get their aprons on and help to donate for the bake sale. We will accept those donations as well on Thursday or Friday. There are signup sheets on the bulletin board for workers- all three days. C mon and join us, it will be lots of fun. Who knows you might find a real treasure among the junk. Don t forget the Ladies Aid Mystery Trip is coming up in June. Look for a signup sheet on the bulletin board. If you have any questions contact me at It should be lots of fun. Marie Brockmiller Paul R. Wills Vice President Marketing Church Extension Fund of the Michigan District LCMS 3773 Geddes Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan paul.wills@mi-cef.org

5 The Elders Corner Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. ~ Proverbs 22:6 Our God has blessed us with faith and has given us the responsibility of passing that faith along to the next generation. Confirmation instruction plays an important role in helping our parents pass along the truths of Scripture and the teachings of the faith to the children of the congregation. Our second year Confirmation class; Hailey DeMerritt, Ryan Osterland, and Abby Sanchez, are preparing for their Confirmation examinations. As May continues, these students will be given three opportunities to display their understanding of the Christian faith. The first opportunity takes place before Pastor as he helps them prepare for this important life-event. After successfully completing this first examination, the class will then have the opportunity to confess their faith in front of some of the Elders of the congregation. Finally, after confessing before the Elders, our Confirmands will have the opportunity to express the facts of the faith before the congregation. This will take place before the Sunday Service on the Festival of Pentecost, which is held on June 4 th this year. After this examination they will be welcomed into Communicant Membership through the Rite of Confirmation during the service. Please keep Hailey, Ryan, and Abby in your prayers as they prepare for these times of examination! Collections for Those in Need Your food donations, placed in the box on the collections table, are regularly delivered to the food pantries in Algonac and Marine City. If you know of other food pantries that serve our area, please let us know so we can add them to our list. Thank you to Gary & Margaret Nizza and Gary & Sandy Carr for their work in dropping the donated food at the food pantries, and a big thank you to everyone who regularly donates to this worthwhile work! We continue to collect needed items for the Veterans in the VA hospital. The list of needed items is posted on the Veterans Box located on the collections table. The list varies, so, if you re interested in providing items for our Veterans, please refer to the list prior to shopping for items. We certainly appreciate Bob and Linda Wasil s dedication in championing this effort and in helping us remember those who have served in our nation s armed forces.

6 A Schedule for Reading the Bible in 12 Months ~ May Day Old Testament New Testament 1 st 1 Kings 10 & 11 Luke 21: nd 1 Kings 12 & 13 Luke 22: rd 1 Kings 14 & 15 Luke 22: th 1 Kings 16, 17, & 18 Luke 22: th 1 Kings 19 & 20 Luke 23: th 1 Kings 21 & 22 Luke 23: th 2 Kings 1, 2, & 3 Luke 24: th 2 Kings 4, 5, & 6 Luke 24: th 2 Kings 7, 8, & 9 John 1: th 2 Kings 10, 11, & 12 John 1: th 2 Kings 13 & 14 John 2 12 th 2 Kings 15 & 16 John 3: th 2 Kings 17 & 18 John 3: th 2 Kings 19, 20, & 21 John 4: th 2 Kings 22 & 23 John 4: th 2 Kings 24 & 25 John 5: th 1 Chronicles 1, 2, & 3 John 5: th 1 Chr 4, 5, & 6 John 6: th 1 Chr 7, 8, & 9 John 6: th 1 Chr 10, 11, & 12 John 6: st 1 Chr 13, 14, & 15 John 7: nd 1 Chr 16, 17, & 18 John 7: rd 1 Chr 19, 20, & 21 John 8: th 1 Chr 22, 23, & 24 John 8: th 1 Chr 25, 26, & 27 John 9: th 1 Chr 28 & 29 John 9: th 2 Chronicles 1, 2, & 3 John 10: th 2 Chr 4, 5, & 6 John 10: th 2 Chr 7, 8, & 9 John 11: th 2 Chr 10, 11, & 12 John 11: st 2 Chr 13 & 14 John 12:1-26 Looking Ahead I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." ~ John 10:11-18 We considered this passage of Scripture last month as we realized that our God had never had any doubt about His ability to save His creation from the ravishes of sin, death, and the devil. Jesus bears the condemnation of our sin and He carries it to the cross. Jesus dies the death we deserve to die, but, in His righteousness, death cannot hold Him. Jesus rises from the grave and wins all power and authority back from our enemies. Another wonderful thought from this passage is the familiar imagery of Jesus as our Good Shepherd. Jesus is not like the hired hand, who, when he sees danger coming for the sheep, runs away and allows the sheep to fall into their enemies hands. No! Jesus watches over us. He gathers us together as His flock each Sunday. He strengthens our faith as His Word is read and preached. He refreshes us as we join in receiving Him through the Sacrament of the Altar. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, lays down His life for His sheep and, as we celebrated on Easter Sunday, He takes His life back up again as He willing submits to His heavenly Father s will. This is why we live in such great confidence toward our Savior: He has promised, and He has proved, that nothing can take us out of His loving hands!