Sunday, December 30, 2007 – The First Sunday After Christmas Day
Dear Centenary Church Family:
We will gather in our Sanctuary at 10:15 AM on Sunday, December 30, 2007, for our first Worship Service after Christmas Day, and our final Worship Service in 2007. Our service this Sunday will primarily be a time of Christmas carol singing…you will be invited to select the carols we will sing together. While the Christmas season passes into memory in the secular arena, the church gathers to continue the celebration through Epiphany on January 6, 2008. Michael Savoia will bring a special message for the children. (Just a reminder that there are no Sunday School classes for adults, children or youth this Sunday. Child Care for infants and toddlers will be available during the Worship Service only.) During the Offertory, the Chancel Choir will sing the lively Echo Carol by Hugh S. Livingston, Jr. Following the Benediction, we will all join to sing the familiar text for O God, Our Help in Ages Past to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, as we prepare to relinquish this present year to history and receive the gift of a New Year. Our Celebration of Found Coins is 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Centenary Book Club—The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls: We hope will join us in the Sunshine Room on Friday, January 11, 2008, at 7:30 PM for what will once again prove to be a great read and even better discussion and fellowship.
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.
Some Thoughts for This Week:
The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history…Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart. – George Matthew Adams
Some people walk in the rain. Others just get wet. – Roger Miller
One night of heavenly peace,
One unexpected place.
One miracle of love
Redeemed the human race.
It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you…yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand. – Mother Teresa
Remember, if Christ isn’t found in your heart, you won’t find him under the tree. – Charlotte Carpenter
Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most. – Ruth Carter
The deep rewards of giving go to those who give out of a concern for others, and take pains to see that their giving is wisely done, to meet real needs or seize promising opportunities. – F. Emerson Andrews (1902-1978), Historian
Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare. – James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), Editor and poet
Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps, if you are not willing to move your feet. – Anonymous
The miracle is this – the more we share, the more we have. – Leonard Nimoy
We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it. – John Lennon (1940-1980), Musician
Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart. – Washington Irving (1783-1859), Novelist and essayist
May the hope, the peace, the joy, and the love represented by the birth in Bethlehem this night fill our lives and become part of all that we say and do. – Rev. Richard J. Fairchild
Next Sunday — January 6, 2008:
9:00 AM– Adult Study – Nooma Series (Sunshine Room
10:15 AM– Worship and Sunday School (PreK through 12th Grade Youth)
The Epiphany of the Christ / Sacrament of Holy Communion
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: Re-Solutions
Lectionary Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6 Ephesians 3:1-12
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Matthew 2:1-12
11:30 AM– Fellowship Time (Room 20)
12:30 PM– Dreaming FellowshipChurchWorship, SS, Fellowship
(Sanctuary, Parenting Room, Chapel, Room 20, Sunshine Room)
5:00-9:00 PM– CUMC Youth Fellowship “Friday Night Live”
(Bridgewater Jewish Community Center)
5:45 PM– Junior Choir Rehearsal (Music Room)
Prayer for the Week of December 30 (For the New Year): We come gratefully, our Creator God, to praise you for the New Year and the possibilities you have planned for us. May we enter it with our hearts, minds and spirits in communion with you. And, dear Lord, may we always be found in your will, for surely, there is no better place to be. Amen.
I look forward to sharing with many of you in Worship, Christmas Carol singing and Christian Fellowship this Sunday at Centenary. Tina joins with me in wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Shalom, John