9:00 AM — Adult Study – The True Easter Story
10:15 AM — Worship and Sunday School (Pre-K through 12th Grade)
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Bearers of the Cross
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Romans 4:13-25
Psalm 22:23-31 Mark 8:31-38
Music — Chancel Choir: I Love You, Lord by Laurie Klein, arr. by Stan Pethel
11:30 AM — Fellowship Time
11:45 AM — Junior Choir Rehearsal
Celebration of Found Coins: “Nothing But Nets’ Campaign

Daylight Saving Time Returns at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 8, 2009
Don’t forget to turn your clocks and watches ahead one hour before you go to sleep Saturday evening, or you will arrive an hour late for Worship and Sunday School on Sunday morning. You may also consider changing the batteries in your residential smoke and carbon dioxide de-tectors at this time, as recommended by safety personnel.

ADULT CLASS OFFERS TWO SPECIAL EASTER PROGRAMS DURING LENT

During Lent, Centenary’s Adult Class will be offering two special DVD programs that will help make the celebration of Easter a deeper and more meaningful experience for you this year.

The first program, scheduled for March 1 and 8, is called The True Easter Story. We will travel with historian and teacher, Ray Vander Laan, to the land of Israel and discover fascinating truths about the death and resurrection of Jesus. Using his knowledge of ancient Jewish holidays and little-known customs, Vander Laan probes the true depth of the Easter story as it begins 2,000 years earlier with a simple promise between a man called Abraham and Almighty God. God’s keeping of that promise reveals a beautifully intricate masterpiece of love for humankind, a love fully realized centuries later in Jesus’ resurrection and his gift of eternal life.

Then, for the next four weeks (March 15, 22, and 29, and April 5), through a documen-tary 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, Jerusa-lem, 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 six-Sunday commitment to attend these Lenten programs, 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.

Wednesday Evening Lenten Bible Study
Three Simple Rules
March 4—April 1 @ 7:30 PM
Pastor John Painter will lead a five-week Wednesday evening Lenten Bible Study from 7:30-8:30 PM beginning on Wednesday, March 4, and continuing through Wednesday, April 1. The focus of the study will be Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living written by Reuben P. Job.

In this study we will encounter the three simple rules of John Wesley that have the power to change the world…your world. Bishop Job writes, “While they are ancient, they have seldom been fully put to the test. But when and where practiced, the world of things as they were was shaken until a new foundation, a new world was formed. The Wesleyan movement is a prime example of this new creation that is formed when these three simple rules are adopted as a way of living.”

This faithful way of living as a disciple of Jesus Christ was given to John Wesley in a time much like our own. During these days of Lent, we invite you to share in personal spiritual ex-amination and evaluation of your readiness for the radical change of life’s direction that is marked by these three simple rules:

1. Do No Harm
2. Do Good
3. Stay in Love with God

Copies of the Lenten Bible Study text, Three Simple Rules, are available in the Church Of-fice for those who will be participating in this series. As part of your Lenten discipline, you are invited to bring your favorite translation of the Bible and your copy of Three Simple Rules to participate in the readings and discussion on these five Wednesday evenings in Lent. Weekly attendance, while desirable, is not required…please come when you are able.

T.G.I.F. (To-Gether Intergenerational Fun)—Fridays, March 6th & 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

Upcoming Children’s Ministries Events:
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.
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.

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 in the March Lamplighter
and in the literature rack in the Narthex.

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.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

One way to become enthusiastic is to look for the plus sign. To make progress
in any difficult situation, you have to start with what’s right about it and
build on that. – Norman Vincent Peale

Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for
which you would not take money.

In matters of style, swim with the current; in
matters of principle, stand
like a rock. – Thomas Jefferson

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. – Aristotle

The only way to have a friend is to be one. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

To have a good friend is one of the highest delights of life; to be a good
friend is one of the noblest and most difficult undertakings. – Anonymous

To a friend’s house, the road is never long. – Danish Proverb

One who looks for a friend without faults will have none. – Hasidic Saying

Who finds a faithful friend finds a treasure. – Apocrypha Ben Sira 6 14

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think
aloud. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

God send me a friend that will tell me of my faults. – Thomas Fuller

The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear. – Maya
Angelou

If a friend is in trouble, don’t annoy him by asking if there is anything you
can do. Think up something appropriate and do it. – Edgar Watson Howe

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the
friend who for me does not consult his calendar. – Robert Brault

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. -
Walter Winchell

Get up in the morning and pray for the Lord’s blessings…Pray for
guidance. Pray for all these things. And then all the little things kind of slide in.
- Mike Piazza

A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the
tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in
this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded,
if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl. – Stephan
Hoeller

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can
be the source of your joy. – Thich Nhat Hanh

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of
trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and
success achieved. – Helen Keller

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. – Beverly Sills
Habit is like a soft bed, easy to get into but hard to get out of. -
Unknown

You are younger today than you ever will be again. Make use of it for the
sake of tomorrow.