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
Music: TBA
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 Wor-ship 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 Septem-ber 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.

This 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
Children’s Message: Michael Savoia
Celebration of Found Coins:Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association
Music: TBA
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time(Room 20)
Summer Music Volunteers Still 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 a preferred week (August 9, 23 & 30 remain open) or speak with 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. Note:No one has signed up to sponsor Refreshments after next Sunday, August 16.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

Reminder:The Mission Committee has issued an appeal for some help with cleanup following the Pancake Breakfast and with resetting the chairs in the Sanctuary for Sunday service. A number of Mission Committee members are not available to help this weekend, so we are asking for folk from the congregation who might offer some time. We hope to begin taking down the tables and resetting the chairs between 11:00 and 11:15 AM. With the help of a good number of folk, it should not take very long to put the Sanctuary back in order. Thanks for whatever help you can offer.

Men’s Clothing Needed by August 16
Tookie Bacon has asked for donations of certain clothing items for men that will be distributed through the Job Corps. Items Needed at This Time:men’s T-shirts and dress shirts; ties; belts; and, men’s work boots. (Please do not bring other items—there will be a general appeal for clothing for women, children and men later in the fall.) The students at the Job Corps (16-24 years old) need these items for job interviews and office jobs. We would be most grateful if you could bring your donations to the church between now and next Sunday, August 16. Please leave them in the hallway area outside the Counter’s/Storage Room. Further information: contact Tookie Bacon at 732-548-0947.

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.

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.

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:
Only those who try to live near God and have formed the habit of faithfulness to him in the small things of our daily life, can hope in times of need for that special light which shows us our path. To do as well as we can the job immediately before us, is the way to learn what we ought to do next.— Evelyn Underhill.(From “Animating Illustrations” in Homiletics(July-August 2009. Copyright © 2009 by Communication Resources, Inc.)

In Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character, Atticus Finch, explains to Scout what real courage is: “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”(From “Animating Illustrations” in Homiletics(July-August 2009. Copyright © 2009 by Communication Resources, Inc.)

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with. – Mark Twain

The first sight of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left. – Chicago Tribune

The Christian is not one who has gone the entire way with Christ. None of us has. The Christian is one who has found the right road. – Charles Allen [adapted]

What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family. – Mother Teresa

Christianity can be condensed into four words: Admit, Submit, Commit and Transmit. – Samuel Wilberforce

Confidence on the outside begins by living with integrity on the inside. – Brian Tracy

Prayer always thrusts one out into action sooner or later. One of its main functions is to induce one to think creatively; it stretches the imagination; it enables one to see things and people not as they are but as they might be. – Muriel Lester, social reformer and pacifist (1883-1968)

Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work. – William Arthur Ward

Don’t wait for someone to take you under their wing. Find a good wing and climb up underneath it. – Frank C. Bucaro

The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear. – Maya Angelou

Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young. – A. W. Pinero

Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day. – Sally Koch

If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers. – Maya Angelou

The best portion of a good person’s life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. – William Wordsworth [adapted]

The only difference between stumbling blocks and steppingstones is the way in which we use them. – Unknown

For God’s faithful ones,
Good times become good memories.
Bad times become good lessons.
There’s always something good that comes out of every life experience.

Next Sunday at Centenary: August 16, 2009
The Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost

9:30 AM – Worship & Summer Sunday School
Guest Preachers:Uganda Missionaries Scott and Meg Rambo
{You can learn about the Rambos and their ministry at http://www.wgm.org/rambo}
Lectionary Readings: 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 Ephesians 5:15-20
Psalm 111 John 6:51-58
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time(Room 20)

Food Collection—Next 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

Summer Worship & Sunday School will be held 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.

Prayer for the Week of August 9:Great and wonderful God, you are greater than my wildest dreams and you are in places that I ignore. Your grace and love are beyond comparison. May I open my heart to you in this time of prayer, so that your Spirit might work to transform me into the person you have called me to be. Amen.

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