Dear Centenary Church Family:

This Sunday – August 3, 2008 – The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
9:30 AM – Worship and Summer Sunday School
Children’s Message: Pastor John Painter
(Summer Sunday School for children following the Children’s Message)
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Wrestling with God
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 29:15-28; 32:22-31 Romans 9:1-5
Psalm 17:1-7, 15 Matthew 14:13-21
Special Music: Alison Williams
Celebration of Found Coins: Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
10:45 AM – Fellowship Time

2008 Vacation Bible School—“Power Lab”—August 4—8 – 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
Registration is $15.00 per child. Children’s groups will be made up of mixed ages. Children will learn that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful, help others, be brave, live forever, and tell others about God. The program includes science experiments. To register, or to seek information and/or offer assistance, please call Cathy Jean Savoia (Church: 732-548-7622 X12 or Home: 732-826-1921), or speak with Cathy this Sunday…or you can register Monday morning beginning at 8:45 AM.

Centenary will be serving dinner at the Ozanam Shelter on Monday, August 4. Please check the information on the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up to assist with food preparation or serving. The August Menu: Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Green Beans, Cupcakes, and Ice Cream. For further information, please contact Glenna Gundell (732-463-1431) or Mary Ellen Heim (732-548-2587). Thanks.

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. Please Note: No one has signed up to sponsor refreshments for the remaining Sundays in 2008 after this Sunday, August 3.

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

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

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:

A house is built by hands;
A home is built by hearts.

The seven last words of the church: ‘We never did it that way before.’

Our likeness of Christ is measured by our sensitivity to the sufferings of others.

Rather the bite of a friend than the kiss of an enemy. – Shalom Aleichem [Sholem Rabinowitz] (1859-1916), Humorist

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even. – Ann Landers

A weed is but an unloved flower. – Ella Wheeler Wilcox

One thing we can’t recycle is wasted time.

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. – Khalil Gibran, poet

The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open. – Unknown

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is that little voice at the end of the day that says: “I’ll try again tomorrow.” – Anne Hunninghake

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. – Arthur Ashe,

God’s requirements are met by God’s enablings.

May you live all the days of your life. – Jonathan Swift

If we lack the courage to start, we have already finished.

Next Sunday – August 10, 2008
9:30 AM – Worship and Summer Sunday School
The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
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
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time

Prayer for the Week of August 3: In your grace, dear God, you open your hand and provide for the needs of all living things. You provide sunshine and rain to make the earth a garden, a source of food for all. You teach us how to grow things and we become your partners in nurturing the earth and making food. Jesus reflected your abundant goodness in feeding the multitudes with bread and fish and was revealed as the “bread of life.” We give you thanks, O God, for our daily bread, and we ask your grace that we might express this gratefulness in all that we do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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

Shalom, John