Sunday, August 26, 2007 – Guest Preacher David Gutierrez / Baptism
Dear Centenary Church Family,
On this final Sunday in August, we will gather in our Sanctuary at 9:30 AM for Summer Worship and praise. Michael Savoia will bring a word to the children. Just a reminder: that there will be no children’s Summer Sunday School this week (or on next Sunday, September 2). The Sacrament of Christian Baptism will be administered to Johanna Grace Indyk, daughter of Michael & Susan Indyk. Mr. David Gutierrez will be our Guest Preacher for the service, and he will share with us his Message Making a Difference in the World, based on New Testament texts from Romans 12:1-2 and Colossians 3:12-14. Pianist Laura Vasile will share special music with us during the Offering. Our Celebration of Found Coins for August is designated for the Metuchen-Edison Interfaith Clergy Association to assist with meeting short-term emergency needs for families and individuals in our communities.
We will welcome Mr. David Gutierrez to the Centenary Pulpit this Sunday morning. Dave Gutierrez is the father of Centenary member Valerie Agtarap, and grandfather of Samantha and Patricia Agtarap.
Dave Gutierrez is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from the University of the East, Manila. He had a Special General Management Course in Arden House, Columbia University, NY. After spending a full three decades of his professional working life as Corporate Finance and Administrative Executive of American Multinational companies in the Philippines, he accepted an overseas job in Saõ Paulo, Brazil in 1996-1997 as an expatriate of a Malaysian Direct Selling Company. Upon his return to the Philippines, he was back as Managing Director of his own consultancy firm, Research Management and Marketing Consultancy Services, Inc.
Born of Methodist parents, Dave practically grew up in the Methodist way. He was Chairman of the Methodist Commission on Resource Development (1992-1996); one-term member of the Board of Trustees of Wesleyan University of the Philippines; and, presently is Chairman of Board of Trustees of Kapatiran Kaunlaran, Foundation Inc., the socio- economic arm of The United Methodist Church in the Philippines.
Dave was elected as President of the Philippine Haggai Institute Alumni Association, Inc. (PHIAA) for an extended term (1999-2000) during which he served as full-time Regional Representative of Haggai Institute from June 1, 2000, to June 30, 2005. Presently, his continuing ministry with Haggai Institute is serving as a volunteer Resident Coordinator for the Men’s Session twice a year; one month in Singapore and one month in Maui, Hawaii, USA. He has come to NJ this week directly from the men’s session in Hawaii.
Dave and his wife Fanny reside in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila. They have four daughters and six grandchildren.
BECOMING PASSIONATE DISCIPLES OF JESUS IS ADULT CLASS STUDY
How passionate are you about your walk with Jesus? Do you think of yourself as a church “member” or as a “disciple” of Jesus Christ? Why is it often easier to be excited about hobbies, sports, homes, and occupations than about our Christian faith?
On Sunday, September 9, at 9:00 AM in the Sunshine Room, Centenary’s Adult Class will kick off a new year with a five-week video series called Walk As Jesus Walked: Making Disciples. The series features Ray Vander Laan, whose video tours of the Holy Land are the next best thing to being there. In this series, we will travel to archaeological sites in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) that few people ever see, where the geographical and historical contexts of the Bible take on powerful relevance for modern believers.
A gifted historian and teacher, the Rev. Vander Laan delivers a powerful message in each episode of the Bible’s timeless call to Christians of every generation to impact the culture they live in. Join us as we follow in the footsteps of the earliest Christian disciples as they loved the Messiah with all their heart, all their soul, and all their might–every moment of every day.
Centenary Book Club: Members of the Club are reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen during the summer, and we will use this as the basis of our discussion for our first session on Friday, September 14, 2007, at 7:30 PM in the Sunshine Room. If you still need a copy of the book, please contact Rev. Bauknight at (908) 419-4101 or by e-mail at REVTDB395@aol.com. The Book Club looks forward to any and all who wish to join, male or female and 18 years of age. We look forward to seeing you in September and hope that the returning to Friday night will continue to boost the participation and support of TGIF as well.
United Methodist Women News: Metuchen Fair—Saturday, October 6: October will be here before we realize it. Don’t let your hands and brains go on vacation. Use them to make some items for the United Methodist Women to sell at their table at the Metuchen Fair. This is our only fund raising activity so we need all the help we can get. If you need patterns for knitting or sewing, please see Sylvia Woodfield or Millie Pleuler. Marion Banks has been keeping up with her knitting of afghans for the fair even while she has been recuperating from her recent illness. Millie is always knitting something. Gladys Lehman, who now lives in Illinois, sent us a box of knitted items which she made for us for the fair. Wendy Woodfield is crocheting some scarves. Äli Woodfield has already made some fur scarves which have already been sold. Watch the Bulletin for details of upcoming workshops we will have for the Metuchen Fair.
Refreshment Sponsors Needed: Persons are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshments following our upcoming Sunday Worship services. Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the available weeks on the 2007 Refreshment Chart posted in the Narthex. Thank you for providing hospitality on a Sunday morning.
Flower Arrangements: Persons are invited to sponsor flower arrangements for our Worship services on Sunday, mornings. Please sign up on 2007 Flower Chart posted in the Narthex. Floral arrangements cost $25.00 each week to sponsor. 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.
Higher Education Goodie Packs to Be Sent Soon: Just as the ClothesLine Ministry has recently issued the appeal for school items for the various materials that students will be in need of as they return to school, so to the Higher Education Ministry Team continues to prepare to send care and welcome packages to our students of higher learning as some begin their new academic careers and others who continue to forge ahead. We are in need of the following items (24 of each) by no later than Sunday, September 2, 2007. Packages will be prepared and sent by the end of that same week: pens and pencils, hi-liters (various colors), erasers, white-out pens/bottles, post-it packs, oodles of noodles, sugar free bubble gum, lifesavers (gummy or rolls), snack bags (chips, etc.), pocket tissue packs, assorted boxes of band-aides and other items for make-shift first aid kits (enough to make 24), soup to go, granola bars, mini sewing kits, small note books or date books, pads of paper (writing tablets) and any other items (including assistance with mailings) that you might be willing to donate that will help demonstrate the Centenary family support and make our students’ beginning or returning to school a little more enjoyable. Please know that the ministry team will also be looking to send cards during the year to celebrate birthdays and contact local United Methodist Churches in areas where our students are so that they can have additional support and fellowship. Updated information sheets are needed concerning student’s school and home addresses, birth date and more as soon as possible. As always, we thank you for your support.
Centenary United Methodist Youth Fellowship
The CUMYF will come back together on Sunday, September 9, 2007, for their first meeting of the 2007-2008 Fellowship Year. At this meeting the calendar that was presented to the Church Council, as well as activities, service projects, district plans and more will be decided. It is understood that the fellowship will increase with some six (6) new members this year. This will allow CUMYF to once again become two groups within one fellowship—a Jr. and Sr. High Section. This does not prevent the groups from participating in joint activities and projects but allows for the two ‘sections’ to do those things that are age-level appropriate.
Pastor Bauknight Away Through Early September: Assistant Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight is on vacation through Monday, September 3. Our prayers are with her during these days of refreshment and re-creation.
ART AUCTION
Saturday, September 29, 2007
7:00 PM Preview — 8:00 PM Auction
Door Prizes – Silent Auction – Refreshments
Tickets Are Available at $10.00 per Person
Sundays following Worship
or Call the Church Office to Reserve
732-548-7622
Some Thoughts for This Week:
If an idea, I reasoned, were really a valuable one, there must be some way of realizing it. – Elizabeth Blackwell (The first woman to earn a medical degree)
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
He who helps a friend in woe is like a fur coat in the snow. – Russian Proverb
How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. – George Washington Carver
My life is an indivisible whole, and all my attitudes run into one another; and they all have their rise in my insatiable love for [humankind]. – Mahatma Gandhi [adapted]
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. – Leo F. Buscaglia
Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. – Suzanne Somers
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. – Douglas Adams
Be yourself. Everybody else is already taken. – Unknown
When everyone is looking for gold, it’s a good time to be in the pick and shovel business. – Mark Twain
The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over. – Aesop
I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. – Laura Ingalls Wilder
Next Sunday, September 2, 2007:
9:30 AM – Summer Worship / The 14th Sunday After Pentecost /
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
(Final 9:30 AM Service for the Summer)
There will be no Summer Sunday School session on September 2nd
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Jesus, the Beggar
Lectionary Readings: Jeremiah 2:4-13 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Psalm 81:1, 10-16 Luke 14:1, 7-14
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time (Room 20)
12:00 PM – Dreaming Fellowship Church Worship, SS, Fellowship
Sanctuary, Parenting Room, Sunshine Room, Room 20
Summer Worship will held at 9:30 AM through Sunday, September 2. (There will be no Children’s Summer Sunday School program September 2.) On Sunday, September 9, 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.) Watch for further details in the September edition of The Lamplighter.
Prayer for the Week of August 26: O God, we thank you that you are willing to speak through us, giving us brave words to say into our moment in history. We feel your hands upon the earth and upon our lives, and our hearts sing with gladness. We look and see the offerings of others in our lives, bringing things of goodness, kindness, and strength for the journey. Thanks be to you, O God. Amen.
I look forward to sharing with many of you in Worship and Christian Fellowship this Sunday at Centenary.
Shalom, John