Dear Centenary Church Family:

This Sunday, July 6, 2008:
The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost / Sacrament of Holy Communion

9:30 AM – Worship
Children’s Message: Assistant Pastor Terrilisa Durham Bauknight
(Please Note: No Summer Sunday School on July 6)
Preacher: Terrilisa Durham Bauknight Theme: Not the Last Supper, but the First
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 Romans 7:15-25
Psalm 45:10-17 Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time / Reception for Assistant Pastor Bauknight
Celebration of Found Coins: ClothesLine Ministry

Please join us on
this Sunday, July 6th after worship
to share our best wishes with
Pastor Terrilisa
as she begins her year-long leave of absence!
We will have a cake to celebrate with her during our Fellowship Time.
See you there!
Jodi Mochel, SPRC Chair

Centenary will next be serving dinner at the Ozanam Shelter on Monday, July 7. Please check the information on the bulletin board in the Narthex and sign up to assist with food preparation or serving. The July Menu: Baked/Barbecued Ribs, Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Cookies, and Ice Cream Bars. 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.

Food Collection—Sunday, July 20: 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

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.
· Helpers Wanted to Share in Teaching, Assist with other Tasks. Please contact Cathy Jean Savoia for information or to sign up. 732-548-7622, Ext. 12 or (H) 732-826-1921.
· VBS Donations Wanted: bottled water; small-boxed raisins; seltzer water; apples and oranges; ice pops; yogurt; 6 boxes baking soda; 6 squirt bottles; 6 plastic pails; 6 hula hoops, balloons.

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:

Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor–that is the only way out of a hole. – C. S. Lewis

I want to bring people hope and laughter and a ferocious commitment to self-love. – Anne Lamott

Some people think the opposite of love is hate; but it is really indifference. – Elie Wiesel [adapted]

Giving of ourselves is the way we change the world at the end of our fingertips. – Richard F. Schubert, business advisor

Our faith and our friendship are usually not shattered by one big act, but by many small neglects. – J. Gustav White

The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduced yourself to had life not done it for you. – Kendall Hailey

If you get busy serving God, you’re too busy to sin. – Chuck Baker

The worst of all frauds is to cheat oneself.

You cannot take your money with you, but you can invest it for eternity.

One of the early signs of sophistication is not giving way to all inclinations but rather sending your emotions to school so they will learn how to behave. – Jim Rohn

Calmness is the cradle of power. – Josiah Gilbert Holland

If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then the world is yours and all that’s in it. – Rudyard Kipling

Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth. – Benjamin Disraeli

The good news is that God loves me long before I could have done anything to deserve it. – Desmond Tutu

Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence. – Hal Borland

I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work the more of it I seem to have. – Coleman Cox

When we have nothing left but God, then for the first time we become aware that God is enough. – Maude Royden [adapted]

Your children need your presence more than your presents. – Jesse Jackson

The kind word spoken today may bear its fruit tomorrow.

Next Sunday — July 13, 2008
9:30 AM – Worship & Summer Sunday School
The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost
Preacher: John D. Painter Theme: How’s That Working Out for You?
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 25:19-34 Romans 8:1-11
Psalm 119:105-112 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
10:30 AM – Fellowship Time

Prayer for the Week of July 6: In sickness and health, in poverty or wealth, we give you our thanks, O God. In good times or bad, whether joyful or sad, we give you our thanks, O God. Life is not about us. We are dependent on you. We complain and we fuss, but you see us through. Teach us to give thanks, no matter our need. Help us to fight our battles with greed. At the end of each day, may we honestly say, We give you our thanks, O God. Amen.

Painters on Vacation: Pastor John and Tina Painter are spending some vacation time in West Virginia presently, and will travel to Lake Junaluska, NC, tomorrow (Thursday, July 3). They expect to return to Metuchen on Saturday, July 12. Pastor John will be back in the Centenary Pulpit on Sunday, July 13.

During Pastor John’s absence, the Rev. Terrilisa Durham Bauknight, is “on-call” for pastoral care emergencies. Please contact the Centenary Church Office if you have need of pastoral care. Or when our Church Office is closed, you may contact Pastor Bauknight at 908-419-4101 (cellular).