A few of this week's highlights!

• You can view this email in its entirety here.
• We look forward to Pentecost and seeing the power of Jesus at work. See Pastor's Ponderings for more.

Our weekly list of those in need of urgent and ongoing prayer.

Weekly charitable contribution updates and stewardship information.

Weekly updates on the Covering the Next Generation Capital Campaign.

This coming Sunday we celebrate the Day of Pentecost. As Jesus was about to ascend into heaven, he promised His disciples that He would send them “power from on high.” Ten days later, He did just that, sending the Holy Spirit to strengthen their faith and empower their witness to the world. In that power, the disciples boldly proclaimed the Good News of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. We have that same power today.

A great example of this power at work is seen whenever our youth stand up in front of the congregation, publicly confirm their Christian belief and boldly share their personal statement of faith . . .

Click here to see the rest of Pastor Biermann's article!

A Summer 2023 Calendar of Youth events can be viewed HERE. Printed copies are also available at our Welcome Centers.

Chilungamo Orphanage Offering Thank You: The Board of Social Ministries, myself, and Blessings Phiri of Chilungamo Orphanage would like to thank everyone who contributed to the offering we gathered for the children in Malawi. There was overwhelming support for this organization - over $2500 was donated! I have been in contact with Mr. Phiri and he is very excited to put this to good use towards learning materials, medical supplies, food and clothes. I have received a thank you letter from Mr. Phiri that I will post on the Social Ministry bulletin board. Thank you again for supporting God's children in this very special way. -Marcy Montez

Welcome Center News: With your help over this past year, we are greeting more and more people as they return to worship at Faith, and it's feeling more like old days with every passing Sunday. Sometimes it can be difficult to greet everyone with the hustle and bustle on a Sunday morning. Or, maybe you just enjoy socializing while standing outside the Welcome Center. A gift of four welcome sashes was recently made to our Welcome Center. They are available in two sizes and can be found at the Welcome Center. It's your choice whether you'd like to wear one or not. Stop by anytime and try one on. They are monogrammed using the beautiful royal blue in Faith's logo. We have four of them so family members can feel free to be part of the effort. Or invite your guest, or someone who hasn't yet returned to in-person worship to assist you. Our Lord smiles on all who share a greeting in His Holy House. We're blessed with many more people returning to attending worship in-person. The volunteer calendar for July-December is now available for signing up. Sign up early and claim all the Sundays your schedule will allow HERE. An account is not required, and the system will send you a reminder for your convenience. All four sashes are shown below for your preview, as well as where they're stored for your use.

Summer Bible Study Series: Join us Sunday mornings this summer (June 4th-September 3rd) for our 2023 Summer Bible Study Series on the Gospel of John. The key to a richer prayer life is right where it has always been: The Bible. Throughout the history of the Church, the Holy Scriptures have been the bedrock of Christian prayer and devotional meditation. This Bible study series offers Scripture readings, short meditations and prayers based on the Gospel of John, adapted from Light of Life: A Personal Journey of Prayer and Meditation on the Gospel of John (CPH). See the full schedule HERE. Due to copyright restrictions, we will be unable to live stream this Bible study series.

June 3,6,9,12 Women's Event: Join us Saturday, June 3rd, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. for our next 3,6,9,12 Women's Event! June's activity will focus on service by handmaking cards to send to female prison inmates in Michigan. All supplies and materials will be provided (but you can still bring your favorite crafting supplies!). 3,6,9,12 is a Social Ministry for women (and their older daughters) that meets the third, sixth, ninth and twelfth month of the year. Contact Deaconess Christie Hansard with any questions at parishnurse@faithgb.org.

An end of the school year ice cream celebration will be held Sunday, June 4th, following the 10:45 worship service. Ice cream will be served under the canopy at door 1S. Join us in celebrating our teachers and another blessed year of teaching!



2023 High school graduates are invited to attend the 10:45 a.m. worship service on Sunday, June 4th, for an optional photo opportunity following the service! Bring your cap and gown and be sure to grab an ice cream on your way out!

VBS Registration is OPEN! VBS Registration is OPEN for children 4 years old to 5th/6th grade! Be sure that your calendars are marked for Stellar: Shine Jesus’ Light this June 19th-23rd from 9 a.m. to noon! Kids will go on a cosmic quest where they’ll have a blast shining Jesus’ light to the world! See more and register at faithgb.org/vbs.

You can view a running list of our regular service opportunities HERE.

Faith Happenings Events! Not going up North? Please Join us tomorrow, Friday May 26th, at 4 p.m. (30 minutes earlier than previously communicated) to treat families to Ziggy’s! We will meet at Physicians Park at 4:00, walk over to Ziggy’s Ice Cream, and hand out gift cards with the message of love and peace from our Savior. It should be 72 degrees! Wear your Happenings shirt! The event should take no longer than 30-45 minutes.

VBS Decoration Party! The next VBS decorations day will be next Wednesday, May 31st, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please bring paint brushes (big and small) and scissors if you have them and wear clothes that can get paint on them. We will be creating scenes for VBS to go throughout the building. We will meet by the Barn in the rear of the parking lot. We hope to see you there! If you have any questions, please call Alicen Dub at 810-694-9351.

Donation Collection: Our Jr. High youth are collecting items for the Flint Mission Network to be gathered at the MI District Jr. High Youth Gathering in Frankenmuth on June 2nd-4th. Please consider donating the following items. A collection tote will be located at the youth bulletin board near the library.

• Baby wipes
• Full-size shampoo/conditioner
• Full-size body wash
• Toothbrush (in individual packaging)
• Full-size toothpaste
• Full-size deodorant (men or women)
• Laundry soap
• Hoodies-all sizes (especially larger ones)
• Jeans-all sizes (especially larger ones)

Grand Blanc Beautification! We are planting Thursday, June 8th! The ground at our location, I75/Holly Road, is being prepped! Check it out! We'll meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Barn behind the church so we can carpool due to limited parking at McDonalds. We'll have Donna's Donuts and go to the site at 9:00. Grand Blanc will provide flashing lights for safety, vests, flowers and instructions on site. Plants will be laid out. Bring gloves, trowel and kneel pads. Hope you can join us and make GB beautiful! Sign up and shirts in the Narthex.

Volunteer at Family Fun Fest! Family Fun Fest 2023 is June 15-18. If you haven’t attended, it is a carnival sponsored by the Grand Blanc Chamber of Commerce held at Grand Blanc High School. Thousands attend annually, and hundreds visited our booth at Fun Fest previously. We are planning to have a booth at this year’s event, and this is where we need your help. We need volunteers! Our main booth goal at Fun Fest is for Faith to provide a friendly face to the community. We do this with our free prize wheel, temporary tattoos, and other fun activities. That’s it - just helping folks have a good time - just for fun! It's a very short commitment - just an hour or two of your time - with no prep work involved! So we know we can proceed with plans by having enough volunteers, please sign up ASAP! You can see more details and sign up to help on the SignUpGenius page HERE.

VBS Volunteer Registration is OPEN! Please consider how you might join Jesus in sharing His love and promises to children this summer at VBS! VBS is June 19th-23rd from 9 a.m. to noon. We need a variety of volunteers 6th grade through grandmas and grandpas to help with the program and also to prepare and decorate in the weeks prior. Please prayerfully consider how you might volunteer for this “stellar” mission! See more and register at faithgb.org/vbs.

Preschool Job Openings: Faith Lutheran Preschool is hiring assistants for the 2023-2024 school year. Assistants must love children and have experience being with children. Assistants must be willing to help with preparing class work for the children and working with the teacher to discipline the children according to our discipline plan. These are part time positions of no more than 20 hours total/week; morning and afternoon positions are available. All our staff must get training each year for our state license. Please send your resume to Cindy LaFontaine at Faith Lutheran Church. If you have any questions, please contact Cindy LaFontaine at 810-694-9351 or clafontaine@faithgb.org.

Mission Endeavor Support: Faith member Becky Survant and her grandson Alex Urbytes will be serving at a mission organization in France and Germany this summer. The organization, Parole de Vie ("Word of Life"), holds Christian camps for youth 13 to 17 years of age. You can see more about the mission and how you can help support this endeavor financially or by prayer HERE.

The Church Extension Fund in Michigan ("CEF") has helped to build God’s Kingdom with affordable loans to congregations throughout the Michigan District. It also provides affordable housing loans for ministry workers. At the same time, CEF has offered individual Lutherans a growing variety of savings and investment services. CEF's interest rates for May can be viewed HERE. You can see more about CEF on their FAQ page, plus much more on their website www.mi-cef.org. You can also speak to Greg Baehr, Faith's CEF representative.

Worship Anew for this Sunday: Lutheran Ministries Media, Inc. produces a weekly, 30-minute Lutheran broadcast worship service called Worship Anew. Each service includes music, scripture readings, prayers, and a Pastor delivering a message that is designed to feel one-on-one to the viewer. Broadcasts can be viewed on Worship Anew's homepage at https://worshipanew.org or on TV on TCT, AFN, and several more stations (click here for local stations and times). The sermon for this Sunday, May 28th, is "The Holy Spirit" based on John 7:37-38.

Office Hours: 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Monday-Friday

SUNDAY - May 28th

8:15 a.m. - Worship/Communion

10:45 a.m. - Worship/Communion - Click here for the livestream.

MONDAY - May 29th

Office Closed

TUESDAY - May 30th

6:30 p.m. - KOOL Ministry (KOOL Room)

WEDNESDAY - May 31st

5:00 p.m. - VBS Decoration Party (meet at the Barn)

7:00 p.m. - Worship/Communion - Click here for the livestream.

THURSDAY - June 1st

10:00 a.m. - Women's Book Club

FRIDAY - June 2nd

SATURDAY - June 3rd

10:00 a.m. - 3,6,9,12 Women's Event

SUNDAY - June 4th

8:15 a.m. - Worship/Communion

9:30 a.m. - Adult Bible Study

10:45 a.m. - Worship/Communion + Graduate Recognition

12:00 p.m. - End of School Year Ice Cream Celebration

Readings: Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8; Acts 2:14a,22-36; Matthew 28:16-20

See the full schedule of our summer Bible study series on the Gospel of John HERE.

Our Sunday morning 10:45 a.m. service can be viewed HERE.

NOTE: To keep in compliance with copyright laws, our services can legally be livestreamed, but we are not able to keep recordings of several parts of our services. Our Sunday service is streamed at 10:45 a.m. and Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. After this, the full service will not be available; however, the pastor's sermons will be archived on our YouTube channel after the service.

The complete order of service for Sunday, May 28th, can be found HERE.

We also have Sunday morning children's bulletins for the children in our Faith family. You can print them from the following links:

• 3-6 year old HERE
• 7-12 year old HERE

Our Covid-19 response plan can be found HERE.