9:30 AM — Worship & Summer Sunday School
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: An Attitude of Gratitude
Lectionary Readings: 1 Kings 8: (1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43 Psalm 84
Ephesians 5:15-20; 6:10-20 John 6:56-69
Music: TBA
Celebration of Found Coins: Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
10:45 AM — Fellowship Time

Summer Worship & Sunday School will be held at 9:30 AM. through Sunday, September 6, 2009. (Note: There will be no Summer Sunday School sessions on 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 12th Grade 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 Sunday, 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.

Dear Centenary Church Family:

This Sunday at Centenary: August 23, 2009
The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost

9:30 AM– Worship & Summer Sunday School
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: An Attitude of Gratitude
Lectionary Readings: 1 Kings 8: (1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43 Psalm 84
Ephesians 5:15-20; 6:10-20 John 6:56-69
Children’s Message: Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight
Celebration of Found Coins:Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
Music: TBA
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time(Room 20)
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. Note:No one has signed up to sponsor Refreshments for this Sunday or for the next several weeks!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.
Since no one has signed up to provide refreshments for our Fellowship Time this Sunday, I invite you all to bring a small sampling of cookies or other finger foods to share. I will prepare the coffee, tea and juice in Room 20…you bring the “goodies.” Thanks, Pastor John

A Reminder of Three Upcoming Events as we begin our Fall Schedule:

CUMC BACK-TO-SCHOOL PICNIC

Come One, Come All

To the Back-To-School Picnic following service on Sunday, September 13 (rain date September 20). It’s going to be in Merrill Park, Colonia, (same as last year) where you can play volleyball, badminton, croquet and other assorted activities including softball, so bring your glove. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken and beverages will be provided. Please bring your favorite salad or dessert. Also bring a folding chair for relaxing afterward. Hope to see everyone there!

Directions: R on Dellwood. L on Grove Ave. R at light onto Middlesex Ave./Rte 27.
At 6thlight (2.5 miles), R onto Green St. Immediate L just after underpass onto Middlesex Turnpike.
0.5 miles to Merrill Park. Once in park, follow one-way road 0.5 miles to Grove 1B on the left.
Parking lot is just past Grove 1B, to the left.

Centenary United Methodist Church
Invites you and your friends to our
OPEN HOUSE
Sunday, September 20, 2009
10:15 AM service

As we return to our fall schedule of family and church activities, we invite everyone to bring one or more friends, neighbors, or family members to experience the warm welcome of
Centenary. The service will include some special moments designed to help our
visitors learn about us, Centenary, and Methodism.

Please invite your friends and family to join us for worship.

Our hearts, our minds, and our doors are always open.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Centenary United Methodist Church

Invites you and your friends to our

Roast Beef Dinner
With all the trimmings!

Saturday, September 26, 2009
6:30 PM

Served Family Style

$15.00 for anyone 13 years and over
$ 5.00 for anyone between 6 and 12 years
Under 5 years – FREE

Please invite your friends and family to join us.
Our hearts, our minds, and our doors are always open.

Centenary United Methodist Church
200 Hillside AveMetuchen, NJ08840
Phone 732-548-7622

Adult Class Resumes September 13 with “The Prayers Of Jesus”
Centenary’s Adult Class will reconvene on Sunday, September 13 at 9:00 AM in the Sunshine Room with a seven-week DVD study on “The Prayers of Jesus.”
From his baptism to his crucifixion, the Gospels portray Jesus as a man of prayer who knew and deeply valued intimate communion with God. This series, led by some of the country’s leading Bible scholars, will give us an in-depth look at the prayers of Jesus and provide new insights into prayer, the character of God, and how we can deepen our relationship with God.
The topics that will be covered and the scripture passages on which they are based include:
· Watch and Pray—Jesus’ Model Prayer Life(Mark 1: 32-39; 9: 9-29; 14: 32-42);
· Our God Listens—The Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8);
· Joining in Jesus’ Prayer—The Lord’s Prayer(Matthew 6: 9-13);
· Praying to a Good God—The Friend at Midnight (Luke 11: 5-13);
· Praying with Purpose—Jesus’ Final Prayer (John 17); and
· A Friend in High Places—Faith, Prayers, and Answers (John 14: 13-14).
We will conclude this series on Sunday, October 25, with a short film from the NOOMA series called “Open,” which focuses on the question, “Does God answer prayer?” and offers a fresh perspective on how we approach the things in life that compel us to pray.
We invite you to join us for a new year of Bible study, starting Sunday, September 13, from 9:00 to 10:00 AM in the Sunshine Room.

Donations Still Welcome For Heifer Project “Joy to the World” Fundraiser
Even though we have surpassed our $1,500 goal, the Missions Committee is continuing to accept donations for its Heifer Project “Joy to the World” mission outreach project for 2009.
The money we have raised so far ($1,762.61) through your generous giving, will enable us to donate nine animals—one heifer, two sheep, four goats, and two llamas—to impoverished families around the world to help them become self-reliant. Any additional money we collect between now and the end of the year will allow us to donate additional livestock.
If you would like to contribute to this life-changing program, place a check in the offering plate made out to Centenary United Methodist Church, and write “Joy to the World” on the memo line.

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.

Volunteers Needed to Teach Sunday School Beginning in September
Please speak with Maria Morgan (732-662-9391) or Cathy Jean Savoia (732-826-1921) if you can offer your time and love to our children…Pre-K through 6thGrade…on Sunday mornings at 10:15 AM. You do not have to commit to every Sunday…and “substitute teachers” are always welcome and needed. Thank you.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

Everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, it’s not the end. – Unknown

We see in the risen Christ the end for which humanity was made, and the assurance that the end is within our reach. – Brooke Foss Westcott [adapted]

We shall never have more time. We have, and always had, all the time there is. – Arnold Bennett

Being rich isn’t about money. Being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to take time to stop and eat the heart of the watermelon. And some of us will be rich without ever being more than a paycheck ahead of the game. – Harvey B. Mackay

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. – Maria Robinson

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are moments when everything goes well; don’t be frightened, it won’t last. – Jules Renard

To a worm, digging in the hard ground is more relaxing than going fishing. – Author unknown

Change your thoughts, and you change your world. – Norman Vincent Peale

God wants to be involved in our everyday life. We need to let God out of the Sunday morning box that we try to keep him in. – Joyce Meyer

God is found in two places—One of God’s dwellings is heaven, the other is in the meek and thankful heart.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. – Dale Carnegie

Is it possible for the rose to say, “I will give my fragrance to the good people who smell me, but I will withhold it from the bad?” Or is it possible for the lamp to say, “I will give my light to the good people in this room, but I will withhold it from the evil people”? Or can a tree say, “I’ll give my shade to the good people who rest under me, but I will withhold it from the bad”? These are images of what love is about. – Anthony De Mello

Prayer need not be long when faith is strong.

Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds. – Norman Vincent Peale

We come into this world crying while all around us are smiling.
May we so live that we go out of this world smiling while everyone around us is weeping.

An optimist is one who sees an opportunity in every difficulty. A pessimist is one who sees a difficulty in every opportunity. – L. P. Jacks

Patient endurance attains all things;
those who possess God are wanting in nothing;
God alone suffices. – Teresa of Avila [adapted]

Next Sunday at Centenary: August 30, 2009
The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost

9:30 AM – Worship & Summer Sunday School
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Hearing & Doing – Living & Giving
Lectionary Readings: Song of Solomon 2:8-13 James 1:17-27
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 (or Psalm 72) Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time(Room 20)
Music Volunteer Being Sought for August 30:Volunteers from the congregation have been providing music during the Offertory this summer…and we are still in need of someone to provide our music for next Sunday, August 30. 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.) If you are able to sing or play in our Worship service next Sunday, please speak with Shirley Mosteller.

Summer Worship & Sunday School continues at 9:30 AM. through Sunday, September 6, 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 Sunday, 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.

Pastor Painter to Attend Continuing Education Series at Ocean Grove Next Week
“Jesus’ Last Night with His Disciples”
As part of meeting the requirements for his ongoing continuing theological education, I will be attending a seminar this week on “Jesus’ Last Night with His Disciples,” led by Dr. James W. Fleming. A pre-eminent scholar of biblical archaeology, history and interpretation,. Dr. Fleming is the Founder and Director of the Explorations in Antiquity Center near LaGrange, Georgia. He also founded the Biblical Resources Study Center in Jerusalem, Israel, and was founder of the World of the Bible Archaeological Museum and Pilgrim Center at Ein Karem, Jerusalem. This course will be offered from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM Monday, August 24 through Friday, August 28, at Grove Hall in Ocean Grove. I also plan to attend the daily Bible Hour that Dr. Fleming is also leading in the Tabernacle at Ocean Grove from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. If needed for a pastoral concern, I am available to be contacted by cellular phone (201-463-5552) while attending these weekday morning continuing education sessions.

Prayer for the Week of August 23:O God, you have prepared in peace the path I must follow today. Help me to walk straight on that path. If I speak, remove lies from my lips. If I am hungry, take from me all complaint. If I have plenty, destroy pride in me. May I go through the day calling on you, O Lord, who knows no other Lord. Amen. (Galla, Ethiopia)

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

In Christ’s Love, Pastor John