Dear Centenary Church Family:

With the lighting of the fourth candle on our Advent Wreath by the Valentine Family…the candle of “Inner Peace”… we begin our final Sunday in the Season of Advent and await the celebration of the birth of Christ at our Christmas Eve services on Monday and in our homes on Tuesday. I hope many of you will gather at 10:15 AM on December 23 to share in the praise and worship of God and to sing some of the festive songs of the season. I will offer a morning message for the children, after which those from pre-K through 12th grade will be invited to join together for a special Birthday party for Jesus offered by our Children’s Ministries program. My morning Message, Joseph Prepares to Take His Place, will be based on the Gospel reading from Matthew 1:18-25. We will also share in the Epistle reading from Romans 1:1-7. Our Chancel Choir will sing Christmas Day (Choral Fantasy on Old Carols) by Gustav Holst, as arranged by Dale Wood. Our Celebration of Found Coins will be designated for the United Methodist Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery Appeal. Further information about the Bishops’ Appeal and the opportunity to donate online are available at http://bishops.umc.org//interior.asp?ptid=21&mid=11099

Adult Study for Sunday, December 23, 2007: Charles Wesley’s Three-Hundredth Birthday. In honor of the tercentennial of Charles Wesley’s birth (December 18, 1707), the Sunday morning Adult Study will reflect on his life and his poetry. Writer of more than 7,000 hymn texts, John Wesley’s “kid brother” Charles had a significant impact upon the birth of the Methodist Movement in Great Britain and in the early days of American Methodist expansion across the frontier. Wesley’s hymns continue to influence us today. Come and learn about this “Sweet Singer of Methodism” in our Sunday morning Adult Study this week at 9:00 AM in the Sunshine Room. (Please note: There will be no Adult Study or Sunday School classes on December 30. The Adult Study and Sunday School classes will resume on Sunday, January 6, 2008.)

Thank You: A Heartfelt Thank You to all those who assisted with removing chairs from and moving furniture in the Sanctuary and hallways so the carpets could be cleaned at the church this past Monday…and to all who returned on Tuesday evening to move chairs and furniture back into place. We appreciate your sharing of time and energy.

United Methodist Women
The Metuchen Fair is over and a good time was had by all! Thanks to all who have purchased items from our table by the church office. Special thanks also to Pat Thompson who took a selection of our handmade items to her Curves gym and made some sales.

We realized a profit of a $1,000. this year. This is our main fundraiser for the United Methodist Women and will help us provide scholarships to graduating high school seniors and for Camp Aldersgate. So, thank you again.
MITTEN TREE: The Mitten Box has been mailed to Red Bird Mission in Beverly, Kentucky, courtesy of Dick Lake. We sent: 20 scarves, 27 pairs of gloves and mittens, 16 hats, and 7 hat, scarf and glove sets. This is a United Methodist Mission and these gifts are greatly appreciated by the folks who live in the area and go to the Red Bird Mission School. Thanks again for your generosity!
PECANS, PECANS, PECANS: There are some pecans, mixed nuts, bridge mix and chocolate pecan candies still available. These items will be left on the table outside of Room 20 for a couple of weeks. There is a blue box on the table in which you can place your money (checks can be made out to Centenary United Methodist Women.

Campbell Soup Labels – or rather the barcodes- are still being collected. There is a listing of exactly what is collected located on the United Methodist Women’s bulletin board adjacent to the men’s room off the narthex. You can put what you have collected in the basket in the library.

These barcodes are sent to the Red Bird Mission in Kentucky, a United Methodist Mission. They use these coupons to acquire educational equipment for their mission school.

Refreshments: Persons are invited to sponsor the time of coffee and refreshments following our Sunday Worship services in the New Year. Please consider sponsoring a refreshment time and signing up for one of the many available weeks on the new 2008 Refreshment Chart in the Narthex. Information on what you need to provide is available on the information sheet next to the Refreshment Chart. Thank you for providing hospitality on a Sunday morning.

Flower Arrangements for 2008: Persons are invited to sponsor flower arrangements for our Worship services in the New Year. A new 2008 Flower Chart has been 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.

2008 Offering Envelopes Available: Weekly offering envelopes for 2008 are now available on the table in the hallway beneath the Mission bulletin board (near the Men’s Room). Please check the boxes and take your packet of envelopes (arranged alphabetically) home with you…and please take a packet for a neighbor or friend, if you see it still there. Mailing out these offering envelopes costs quite a bit per set, so by taking them with you, you assist us greatly in reducing mailing costs. If you do not find a packet of envelopes with your name on them and wish to have a set, please notify the Church Office, and Sue Brownlow, our Financial Secretary, will prepare a set for your use. We encourage everyone to use these envelopes to share their gifts with the church as it makes it much easier for our financial teams to maintain accurate giving records throughout the year. Thank you.

Have You Returned Your 2008 Financial Commitment Card? The financial support of everyone at Centenary is imperative if we are to meet our ministry and mission goals for 2008. If you have returned your Financial Commitment Card indicating your pledge for the coming year, thank you. If you have yet to return your Commitment Card indicating your intention to share from your resources, we request that you do so as soon as possible. Additional Commitment Cards are available from the ushers during Worship each Sunday, and from the Church Office. Thank you for your faithful support of our shared ministry.

The 2008 Deluxe Christian Family Appointment Calendars for Centenary United Methodist Church are now available in the Narthex. Please pick up a copy for your use at home or work, and you may want to take an extra calendar or two to share with neighbors and friends. We are grateful to Costello-Runyon Funeral Home for again providing these beautiful calendars to the congregation.

ADULT CLASS BEGINS 2008 WITH POPULAR NOOMA SERIES: Centenary’s Adult Class will begin the New Year with a five-week course focusing on the popular Nooma series of spiritual short films featuring Rob Bell. Bell is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan. With several others, he started the church in an abandoned strip mall in 1999 when he was 28. Within a few years, Mars Hill was attracting 10,000 worshipers to three Sunday services. Pastor Bell is a gifted communicator with a knack for cutting to the heart of the gospel message. Like the parables of Jesus, each of Bell’s short films uses common daily experiences to explore topics like forgiveness, discipleship, anger, grief, and unconditional love. Summarizing his approach to the gospel, Bell says, “As a Christian, I am simply trying to orient myself around living a particular kind of way, the kind of way that Jesus taught is possible. And I think that the way of Jesus is the best possible way to live.” Join us in the Sunshine Room on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 AM, starting January 6, as we explore tough questions about faith, authenticity, and living as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Bring Water for the Service of Reaffirmation of our Baptismal Covenant on Sunday, January 13, 2008: The First Sunday After the Epiphany is traditionally observed as “The Baptism of Christ” in the liturgical calendar. On Sunday, January 13, 2008, we will have the opportunity to share together in a Congregational Reaffirmation of the Baptismal Covenant during our 10:15 AM service of Worship (using The Baptismal Covenant IV in our United Methodist Hymnal). Our worship service will encourage us to recall our baptismal covenant with God. As we remember our Baptism, the visual symbol will be the basin and water. Water is a central Christian symbol which reminds us of the cleansing power of God’s presence, and of our own Baptism, in which God has claimed us for all time.
We invite everyone who comes to the service on Sunday, January 13, 2008, to bring with them a small container of water. It can be water straight from the tap; a portion of bottled spring water; or water from a different source. For example, if you will be traveling to a different part of the state, nation or world between now and January 13, you might consider bringing a small amount of water back from your travels. We will all be invited to pour our gifts of water into a single container that morning, and from this mixture of many different waters from many different sources we will draw forth the basins of water which will be used during our Baptismal Covenant Reaffirmation.

Centenary will next be serving dinner at the Ozanam Shelter on Monday, January 7. Please check the information on the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up to assist with food preparation or serving in January. The January Menu: Hearty Soups, Hearty Breads, Jell-O Molds and Cupcakes. For further information, please contact Glenna Gundell (732-463-1431) or Mary Ellen Heim (732-548-2587). Thanks.

Some Thoughts for This Week:

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. – Teilhard de Chardin

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass—it’s about learning how to dance in the rain. – Anonymous

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

All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others. – Michael Carr

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. – George Bernard Shaw

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the year. – Spanish proverb

Why not make the best of things? Any fool can make the worst of them. – Charles L. Bromley, Cleric

Let’s approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last-minute rush. – Unknown

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. – Norman Vincent Peale

This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ. – Frank McKibben

For many of us, sadly, the spirit of Christmas is “hurry.” And yet…the hour comes when the rushing ends and…Christmas itself is eternal. – Burton Hills

O Come, All Ye Faithful!

Celebrate the Birth of Jesus the Christ at Centenary
Monday, December 24th – Christmas Eve
7:00 PM — Christmas Eve Service for the Young of Heart and Spirit
Special Children’s Message, Junior Choir, Carols and Candle lighting
Preacher: Terrilisa Durham Bauknight Theme: A New Old Story

11:00 PM — Christmas Eve Service of Carols, Candlelight and Holy Communion Chancel Choir, Carols and Candle lighting
Preacher: John D Painter Theme: Jesus Puts a Face on God
Lectionary Readings: Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14
Psalm 96 Luke 2:1-20

Next Sunday at Centenary — December 30, 2007:
(Note: There will be no Sunday School Classes on December 30th)
10:15 AM – Worship / The First Sunday After Christmas Day
Christmas Carol Sing—
A Final Opportunity to Select Your Favorite Carols to Sing
Lectionary Readings: Isaiah 63:7-9 Hebrews 2:10-18
Psalm 148 Matthew 2:13-23
11:30 AM – Fellowship Time (Room 20)
12:30 PM – Dreaming Fellowship Church Worship, SS, Fellowship
(Sanctuary, Parenting Room, Chapel, Room 20, Sunshine Room)

Prayer for the Week of December 23: O God, we thank you that you made unlikely people and places holy and worthy of bearing your life. We thank you that we can believe that Godliness may be born among us, whether we are poor or rich, important or insignificant. We thank you that, in this Christmas season, we can wait with faith that love will come and that peace is always born anew. Thanks be to you, O God. Amen.

I look forward to sharing with many of you in study, Worship and Christian fellowship at Centenary on this Fourth Sunday of Advent.

Shalom, John