9:00 AM — Adult Study – Victory at Jerusalem
10:15 AM — Worship and Sunday School (Pre-K through 12th Grade)
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Lenten Distractions
Lectionary Readings: Exodus 20:1-17 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Psalm 19 John 2:13-22
We will welcome four new members to the Centenary Church Family:
Joseph & Christine Cullin, Susan Granski, and Maria Morgan
Music — Chancel Choir: Amen, So Be It! By Natalie Sleeth
11:30 AM — Fellowship Time
11:45 AM — Junior Choir Rehearsal
6:30 PM — Centenary Youth Fellowship
Celebration of Found Coins: “Nothing But Nets’ Campaign

FOOD COLLECTION—Sunday, March 15

Please bring cereals, staple food items in plastic jars or cans, and paper products to share with senior residents in Perth Amboy. We and they are deeply grateful for your generous sharing.

Special Appeal for Diapers and Infant/Toddler Food for Amandla Crossing: Your assis-tance is needed to provide diapers (sizes #3, #4, #5 & #6…and pull-ups) and infant & toddler food for children at Amandla Crossing. Please bring the items to Centenary and leave them in the boxes provided in the Narthex. Thank you. —Your Mission Committee

ADULT CLASS OFFERS SPECIAL EASTER PROGRAM DURING LENT

During Lent, Centenary’s Adult Class is offering a special DVD program that will help make the celebration of Easter a deeper and more meaningful experience for you this year. For the next four weeks (March 15, 22, 29, and April 5), through a documentary called Victory at Jerusalem, we will travel back in time to visit, site by site, the climactic last days of Jesus Christ. This DVD traces Jesus’ steps leading to the Crucifixion and retells in full the story behind his resurrection. Sites visited include the Mount of Olives, Bethany, Jerusalem, the Kidron Valley, the Upper Room, Gethsemane, Potter’s Field, Golgotha, the Garden Gate, and Herod’s family tomb.
Instead of “giving up” something for Lent this year, we invite you to “take on” a com-mitment to attend this Sunday morning Adult Study, which will enrich your understanding and appreciation of the Easter Story. The Adult Class meets Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM in the Sunshine Room.

T.G.I.F. (To-Gether Intergenerational Fun)—Friday, March 13th:
Come join the fun for dinner & Lectionary discussions. A barrel offering is taken.

Centenary Book Club—Friday, March 13th @ 7:30 PM in the Library: Book Discussion Eat, Pray and Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. If you like to read, then we invite you to come and join the Centenary Book Club. The Club is open to women and men ages 18 and older.

PANCAKE BREAKFAST

Blueberry Pancakes
Plain Pancakes
Waffles
Scrambled Eggs
Bacon and Sausage
Orange and Apple Juice
Coffee, Tea, and Milk

Saturday, March 14, 2009
8:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Only $7.00 per person
Children 10 and under – $5.00

Proceeds will be designated to support a proposed November 2009
Volunteer-in-Mission Trip to North Carolina to work with our United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) in flood repair and relief.

Centenary United Methodist Church
200 Hillside Avenue, Metuchen, NJ
732-548-7622

Kids’ Night Out—Sunday, March 29: Come and have some fun at the Roosevelt Park Skating Rink after Church. Sunday, March 29 from 12:00 Noon to 2:00 PM. Admission will be paid by Children’s Ministries. Bring your own snacks.

2009 Summer Camp Programs
Aldersgate Center and Pinelands Retreat Center
Information about the 2009 Summer camping programs for children and youth (and some specialized adult and family programs) are posted on the Children’s Ministries bulletin board in the hallway alongside the Sanctuary, near the Narthex. Children’s Ministries Director Cathy Jean Savoia also has brochures available…and several copies of the brochure are in the literature rack in the Narthex. Please check out the dates and programs to see if your elementary-age child or Junior/Senior high youth may want to participate in a summer camp experience at Aldersgate Center (Swartswood, NJ) or Pinelands Retreat Center at Mt. Misery (Browns Mills, NJ). You may also check out the offerings and register online at either www.aldersgatenj.com or www.mtmisery.com. Scholarship assistance is available through the Church. Please speak with Children’s Ministries Director Cathy Jean Savoia or Pastor John Painter to get additional information about these programs, scholarship assistance, and appropriate registration forms.

Scholarship Opportunities
Information about scholarships and loans available to United Methodist students in higher education is now available. A poster listing many of these scholarships has been posted on the bulletin board in Room 20. In addition, an extensive booklet—The United Methodist Loans and Scholarship Program—is available on the literature rack in The Library. Scholarships and loans are available for those who will be beginning their studies in fall 2009, and for those who are continuing to matriculate. Several programs support students in graduate study, as well. The deadline for applying for many of these scholarships and loans is March 31, 2009. Please speak with Student Assistant Pastor Keith Swatzel for additional information about these scholarship and loan programs.

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN
PLEDGE LETTERS were mailed to the women of Centenary Church during the month of February. A budget was enclosed with a financial report for the year 2008. This and the Metuchen Fair are our only fund raisers for the United Methodist Women. We hope you will support our projects with your pledges.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS – Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. is the date for our annual Women’s Communion Breakfast.

Hold The Dates!
Spring 2009 Spiritual Growth Retreat
April 17-18, 2009
@ Pinelands Center at Mount Misery in Browns Mills, NJ
Theme: Jesus’ Prayer
Reflections and Conversations Around The Lord’s Prayer
Led by the Rev. E. Randall Bean
Brochures & Registration Forms will be in this Sunday’s bulletin
and on the table and in the literature rack in the Narthex.

Sight and Sound Theater: If you are interested in attending a show at Sight & Sound Theater in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area during the Spring, please contact Cathy or Michael Savoia. Reservations need to be made well in advance. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board in the Narthex on which you can indicate your interest. We will charter a bus to transport everyone. More information will be coming soon about the program. Tentative date is Saturday, June 20, 2009.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation it would be the ability of each individual to learn to laugh at himself. – Charles Schulz

The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.

I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. – Dr. Seuss

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading. – Jim Elliot

A rumor is about as hard to unspread as butter. – Unknown

One reason for doing the right things today is tomorrow.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Language has power. Based on the way you choose to name and describe people, you send different messages. – Leslie C. Aguilar

Appreciative words are the most powerful force for good on earth. – George W. Crane

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. – Mother Teresa

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love. – Mother Teresa, The Simple Path

To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people. – C. S. Lewis

What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander. – Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate

Worry is negative goal setting. – Brian Tracy

Do not give any time to your past, you can’t change what happened 5 minutes ago. – Jan Ruhe

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. – Martin Luther

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. – Booker T. Washington

Live in such a way that those who know you but don’t know God will come to know God because they know you. – Unknown

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity. – St. Augustine