9:30 AM — Worship & Summer Sunday School
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: The Message in the Munchies
Lectionary Readings: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a Ephesians 4:1-16 Psalm 51:1-12 John 6:24-35
Music: Emma Stern, vocal; Ed Stern, guitar – The Climb (Miley Cyrus),
by J Alexander, J. Mabe
Celebration of Found Coins: Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
10:30 AM — Fellowship Time

Summer Worship & Sunday School at 9:30 AM
Worship and Summer Sunday School will held at 9:30 AM through Sunday, September 13. Please make note of this seasonal change in our Worship and Sunday School schedule for the Summer. (There will be no Summer Sunday School sessions on the holiday weekend of September 6.) On Sunday, September 13th, we will resume our regular schedule with Worship and Sunday School for Pre-K through 12th Grade Youth at 10:15 AM. The Adult Class will also resume its sessions at 9:00 AM on September 13. Save the afternoon of September 13 for our annual “Homecoming Picnic” at Merrill Park in Colonia. Details in the September edition of The Lamplighter, weekly Worship bulletins, and in weekly Centenary E-pistles to those for whom we have E-mail addresses.

Dear Centenary Church Family:

Just A Reminder: We need your help around mid-day today (Thursday). Because we are planning to hold the Vacation Bible School session and family picnic at Roosevelt Park on Friday, we would like to restore the Sanctuary today, right after the morning VBS session concludes. So, if you have some available time and can spare a few minutes with us, please plan to come to the church around 12:15 PM today. We’ll be removing the tables and temporary partitions, and resetting the chairs for Sunday morning worship. Your assistance will be gratefully received. Many hands make light work…

This Sunday at Centenary: August 2, 2009
The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost /
Sacrament of Holy Communion

9:30 AM– Worship & Summer Sunday School
Preacher:John D. Painter Theme: The Message in the Munchies
Lectionary Readings: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a Ephesians 4:1-16
Psalm 51:1-12 John 6:24-35
Children’s Message: Pastor John Painter
Celebration of Found Coins:Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
Music: Emma Stern, vocal; Ed Stern, guitar – The Climb(Miley Cyrus)
by J. Alexander & J. Mabe
10:45 AM – Fellowship Time(Room 20)

Summer Music Volunteers Being Sought:Volunteers are providing music during the Offertory. The selection needs only to be about two minutes and can be vocal, piano or instrumental of any kind (accompaniment, if needed, will be provided by Jonathan Benjamin, Jim Sabo or Steve Mosteller.) A sheet has been posted on the Choir Room door for you to choose your preferred week, or contact Shirley Mosteller.

Persons are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshmentsfollowing our Sunday Worship services.Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the many available weeks on the2009Refreshment Chart in the Narthex. No one has signed up to sponsor Refreshments after Sunday, August 9.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.

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

Saturday, August 8, 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 Carolinato 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

Food Collection—Sunday, August 16
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 assistance is needed to provide diapers (sizes#3, #4, #5 & #6…andpull-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

Centenary United Methodist Women
DO YOU KNIT, CROCHET, OR DO ANY OTHER CRAFT??It is not too early to think about doing something for the Women’s booth at the Metuchen Fair. The Metuchen Fair is the first weekend in October and we need many items to sell at the fair. This is our only fund raiser for the year. If you have any ideas or can make some items for the fair, please talk to Sylvia Woodfield (732-549-9042) and give her your suggestions. If you have an idea for a craft, let her know and we can arrange for a workshop so that others may share in the craft.
CAMPBELL SOUP LABELSand other related products: We are still collecting these labels for the Red Bird Mission. There have been BIGchanges to the Labels program. The part of the label that we need is the UPC section along with the Labels for Education symbol.Please check out the UMW bulletin board (in the area near the Men’s Room) for more information on how these labels need to be collected. There is a basket in the Church Library to receive your labels. The Red Bird Mission, in Beverly, Kentucky, is a Mission Project of the United Methodist Church. The latest newsletter from the Red Bird Mission says they expect to be able to acquire a van in 2009 with their 1,600,000 points received from all the Labels that they received for the last two years.

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.

Some Thoughts for This Week:
JUST WONDERIN’ Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, “I think I’ll squeeze these pink dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out”? — Unknown

The least said is the easiest mended. – Grandma Allen
Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you’re alive, it isn’t. – Richard Bach
What you do when you don’t have to, determines what you will be when you can no longer help it. – Rudyard Kipling.
Bulletin Blooper: “ERRATA Correction — the following typo appeared in our last bulletin: ‘Lunch will be gin at 12:15 p.m.’ Please correct to read ‘12 noon.’”

Hope is like a road in the country; there wasn’t ever a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. – Lin Yutang

Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure; where your treasure, there your heart; where you heart, there your happiness. – Augustine of Hippo

There is little room left for wisdom when one is full of judgment. – Malcolm Hein

We are not here merely to make a living. We are here to enrich the world. – Woodrow Wilson

The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality. – John Quincy Adams

Faith is not making religious-sounding noises in the daytime. It is asking your inmost self questions at night—and then getting up and going to work. – Mary Jean Irion

Faith is kept alive in us, and gathers strength, more from practice than from speculations. – Joseph Addison

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

True prayer is a way of life, not just in case of emergency.

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. – Yiddish proverb

Next Sunday at Centenary: August 9, 2009
The Tenth Sunday After Pentecost

9:30 AM – Worship & Summer Sunday School
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Where Do I Go to Give Up?
Lectionary Readings: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Psalm 130 John 6:35, 41-51
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time(Room 20)
Summer Worship & Sunday School at 9:30 AM through September 6
Worship and Summer Sunday School will held at 9:30 AM. through Sunday, September 13, 2009. (Note: There will be no Summer Sunday School sessionson the holiday weekend of September 6.)On “Homecoming Sunday,” September 13th, we will resume our regular schedule with Worship and Sunday School for Pre-K through 12thGrade Youth at 10:15 AM. The Adult Class will also resume its sessions at 9:00 AM on September 13 in the Sunshine Room. Save the afternoon of September 13 for our annual “Homecoming Picnic” at Merrill Park in Colonia(Rain Date: September 20).Details in the September edition of The Lamplighter, weekly Worship bulletins, and in weekly Centenary E-pistles to those for whom we have E-mail addresses.

Prayer for the Week of August 2:Bread of Life, Ever-Flowing Water, Sustainer and Redeemer, I call out and you answer. I praise you and thank you for your presence with me this day. For the gifts I recognize, for every breath I draw, for those things unseen and unknown that sustain me, I give you thanks and praise. Amen.

I look forward to sharing with you in Worship, Holy Communion and Christian Fellowship this Sunday morning at Centenary.

In Christ’s Love, Pastor John