Dear Centenary Church Family:

This Sunday – August 10, 2008 – The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost

9:30 AM – Worship and Summer Sunday School
Children’s Message: Children’s Ministries / VBS Children & Staff
(Summer Sunday School for children following the Children’s Message)
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: The Dreamer in the Pit
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 Romans 10:5-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b Matthew 14:22-33
Special Music: Soprano Shirley Mosteller
Celebration of Found Coins: Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time

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

Saturday, August 9, 2008
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 2008
Volunteer-in-Mission Trip to either Mississippi or the Midwest to work with our United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) in flood/tornado repair and relief.

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

We could use some willing hands and bodies in the next few days to assist with setup and cleanup at Church:

Today, Thursday, August 7 @ 12:15 PM: Come and help us clean up the Sanctuary following the morning VBS session…we will be setting up the tables and chairs for Saturday morning’s Pancake Breakfast.

Saturday, August 9 @ 11:00 AM: Come and help us take down the tables after the Pancake Breakfast and set up the chairs for our Sunday morning Worship service.

Many hands make light work…and yours would be deeply appreciated
on either or both occasions.
And we look forward to greeting many of you at the Pancake Breakfast this Saturday morning.

You are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshments following our Sunday Worship service. Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the many available weeks on the 2008 Refreshment Chart in the Narthex. Information on what you need to provide is available on the information sheet attached to the Refreshment Chart. Thank you for providing hospitality on a Sunday morning. Thanks to many of you who are responding to sign up to provide refreshments in August and September…many weeks in the rest of 2008 remain open.
You are invited to sponsor flower arrangements for our Worship services. The 2008 Flower Chart is posted in the Narthex. Floral arrangements cost $25.00 each week to sponsor. (Please make your check payable to Centenary UM Church and write “Altar Flowers” in the Memo line.) Information is available from our Flower Chairperson, Linda Serentino (732-940-2135) or by calling the Church Office. Thank you for providing these beautiful tributes for our Sunday services.

Please faithfully use your offering envelopes during the Summer, and at every possible opportunity to help with the progress our Church is making in underwriting our ministry and mission this year. God is good to us, and one by one we can make a difference in sharing the gospel story, if we work together in the days ahead.
Thank you in the name of Jesus Christ for making ministry possible.

Save the Date!
Bishop’s Songfest and Celebration
September 21, 2008 @ 4:00 PM
Ocean Grove Auditorium, Ocean Grove, NJ
“Everyone Sing!” is the theme of this year’s Bishop’s Songfest in Ocean Grove. The celebration of God’s joy through music will fill the air of the Great Auditorium on Sunday, September 21, 2008, @ 4:00 PM, when United Methodists and friends from all over the state and beyond will gather to sing resounding praise to the Lord. Plus, this year we will be using the Songfest as a time to celebrate the return of Bishop Devadhar for another quadrennium here in Greater New Jersey.
A new feature this year will be The Bishop’s Songfest Choir. In addition to our ethnic and praise ensembles, a new feature of the SongFest will be a combined choir conducted by SongFest Musical Director Rev. Dr. Tony Godlefski. If you are interested and would like more information on how to participate, please contact Tony Godlefski directly at PastorTony@montgomeryumc.org. Other questions may be directed to SongFest Coordinator Rich Hendrickson at rhendrickson@gnjumc.com. Save the date! Celebrate the return of Bishop Devadhar! “Everyone Sing!”

Some Thoughts for This Week:

You should not suffer the past. You should be able to wear it like a loose garment, take it off and let it drop. – Eva Jessye

I believe the time we really look big in a child’s eyes is when we go to them and apologize for our mistakes and we say, “I was wrong. Will you forgive me?” – Kevin Leman

To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness. – Robert Muller

We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck… But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness. – Ellen Goodman

Our friends are those who know their own faults well enough to forgive us ours. – Moulton Farnham

Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has had an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference. – Nolan Bushnell, Entrepreneur

Don’t wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel, stride down there…and light the bloody thing yourself. – Dara Henderson, Writer

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead, anthropologist

We can never live in the past as if it were our true home…. And it is a good thing that God draws this veil over the past even without our asking. In so doing, He allows us to live today for tomorrow with just the few memories we need of what was. – Karl Barth, German theologian

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. – Abraham Lincoln

My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there. – Charles F. Kettering

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today. – William Allen White

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other people, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving. – Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Physicist [adapted]

Prayer is not a last extremity, but a first necessity.

The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances. – Martha Washington

The cross is a symbol reminding the world that God is at God’s strongest when God seems to be at God’s weakest. – Choan-Seng Song, Taiwanese theologian

Life is giving. Life is receiving. In short, life is being connected. – Tijn Touber, Editor

Prayer is not a pious instrument by which we move God to baptize our enterprises; it is entering the strength of him who moves history and binds the powers that be. – Melba Maggay, Filipina theologian

It takes more time to hide one’s talent than it does to use it for God.

Next Sunday – August 17, 2008
9:30 AM – Worship and Summer Sunday School
The Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost / Sacrament of Christian Baptism
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: That’s Bad. No, That’s Good.
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 45:1-15; 50:20 Romans 11:1-12a, 29-32
Psalm 133 Matthew 15:10-28
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time

Food Collection—Sunday, August 17: Please bring cereals, staple food items in plastic jars or cans, and paper products to share with persons in need in our area. We are deeply grateful for your generous sharing. Special Appeal for Diapers and Infant/Toddler Food for Amandla Crossing: Your assistance is needed to provide diapers (sizes #4, #5 & #6…not 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

Worship and Summer Sunday School will held at 9:30 AM through Sunday, August 31. (There will be no Sunday School classes on August 31.) On Sunday, September 7th, we will resume our Sunday morning schedule with Worship and Sunday School for Pre-K through 12th Grade Youth at 10:15 AM. The Adult Class will continue to meet at 9:00 AM.

Prayer for the Week of August 10: We give you thanks, gracious God, for the saving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank you for pastors and teachers who serve you by proclaiming that message, for ears that hear it, for mind and heart that work together to trust in it, and for a voice that allows us to call upon you asking that we might be saved. Thank you for calling us your children and for hearing us even now as we give you our praise and thanksgiving. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I look forward to sharing with many of you in Worship and Christian Fellowship this Sunday at Centenary.

Shalom, John