Central's Pastoral E-Letter: Saturday, March 26, 2011

 

Dear Central Family,

 

I am really looking forward to this Sunday as we continue our series, SIMPLY JESUS!  I am enjoying being able to point us to the person of Christ and what powerful truths I am learning.  I will be speaking in both contemporary services and Jared will be teaching in the 9:30 Classic Service.  I am thankful for the way you are inviting your friends and family.  This whole series is a great opportunity to do that!  I hope to see you on Sunday!

 

Can you believe we are only 4 weeks away from EASTER?  Seems like we just celebrated Christmas!  I want you to know that we have put together plans for a dynamic Easter Weekend!  We will start on Good Friday evening at 7:30 pm as the Classic Worship Choir will lead us in a celebration of the grace of God through the sacrifice of Christ called Portraits of Grace.  This is going to be an intimate time of worship and contemplation as we worship our Savior.  That’s Friday! 

 

Then comes SUNDAY!  We will have THREE dynamic Easter Sunday Services on April 24. All of these are being designed for you to invite and bring your family and friends.

 

8:30 CLASSIC EASTER WORSHIP -  We will meet in the Worship Center and participate in all the elements that make traditional worship a powerful time of praise.  Featuring our Classic Worship Choir, organ, piano, handbells, all the traditional Easter hymns that have impacted us for so long, and a message that I have called More than Conquerors.  Note the time and the location. If you connect best in traditional Easter worship, this service will be for you.  Nursery will be provided birth-age 5.

 

9:45 and 11:00 CONTEMPORARY EASTER WORSHIP -  We will again meet in the Worship Center and all CELEBRATE what Christ has done.  Both services will be identical, and we will be led to the KING by our Praise Team, Gospel Ensemble and much more!  My message again will be More than Conquerors as we focus on the victory that is ours!  We will have dynamic Children's Programs both hours.  So if you have friends and family who would love to worship in a contemporary setting, these services are for you!  Come early to enjoy time of fellowship in our cafe and to get a good seat!  NOTE: The first service will start at 9:45 not the normal 9:30.  This will allow us to have better flow of people coming and going.

 

In order to help you invite your friends, we are going to be providing you invitations at the beginning of April that you can give out, so keep looking for those.  In order to make Easter Sunday an inviting time for our guests, we are going to be needing extra help in setting up a parking posse, greeters, hosts, etc.  You will hear more about that in the next couple of weeks.

 

And I almost forgot: One of the things we are going to do on Easter Sunday is give everyone in the congregation an opportunity to give input into our next message series which will start the week after Easter.  We are going to ask everyone to mark down a question they wish they heard an answer to from a Biblical perspective.  Then the following 5 weeks we will answer those top submitted questions.  I am really looking forward to this series!

 

So that gives you a picture of what we are working on.  Start praying now about whom you will invite to hear about the love and grace of Christ!  I am looking forward to what God is going to do.

 

A Grateful Pastor

 

Ps.  If you did not participate in the Church Health Survey, this Sunday will be your last opportunity to do so. Just come a little early, pick up a survey from an usher, fill it in, and drop it off at the welcome center.  Thank you for your feedback!

 

 

Central's Pastoral E-Letter: March 18, 2011

 

Greetings Central Family,

 

I hope that you will make plans to be with us this Sunday for one of our three worship services.  We will be starting a new message series we have entitled Simply Jesus where we will be examining accounts of the life of Christ through the Book of Luke.  This week we will be examining Jesus as Teacher; He had a powerful way of imparting truth in yet such a simple way.   Jared Alcantára will speak at the Classic Service and I will be teaching in the Contemporary Services.  I hope you will be with us for this new series; I know it is impacting my life as I prepare.

 

             I also want you to know that during all three worship services, we will be giving you a chance to participate in a Church Health Survey.  Similar to what we did last year, this is your chance to give feedback to our elders and staff concerning your thoughts and opinions about the health of the ministry.  This is very important as we make plans and set priorities for the next few years.  So please plan to come early so you can take time to take this survey.  If you are not going to be present this Sunday, go to the website (www.worshipatcentral.org) and click on the link for the survey, print it and fill it out, and either drop it off at the church or mail it in.  Your voice is important for us to hear!

 

             We have all been deeply impacted by all that we read and see and hear about the catastrophic events in Japan.  We as a church want to reach out in a tangible way with a special love offering that will be sent to missionary connections that we have in Japan.  On Sunday, March 27, we will receive a special love offering for the relief efforts in Japan.  This offering will go to assist the work being done by both the Kato and Koike families in both Tokyo and relief in Sendai.  Please begin to pray about how you can sacrifice something of comfort so that others can have the needed food, water, and gasoline as well as the tools necessary to rebuild their homes and churches.  I thank God for your generous hearts, and I know this gift will be put to good use.

 

             Do you have technical abilities?  If yes, are you interested in using them on Sunday morning?  We are looking for people to help us operate cameras during our worship services, as well as help in recording the services and making copies of cd’s and dvd’s so that they can be available after the 11:00 worship service.  In order for us to do this, we need more help.  You would only need to serve one Sunday a month, and we will train you.  We believe that more cd’s and dvd’s could be going out to impact others if they were only available for pickup on Sunday mornings.  However, for that to happen, we need more help.  If you are interested, please email iknott@cbcnj.org  and we will get back to you more information.

 

             I am still rejoicing over the announcement that Jeremy Bell has been appointed Pastor of Worship and Student Ministries and Jackie Maina has been appointed as Business Administrator.  Many of you have asked if Jeremy has been given more help with both of these ministries.  The answer is YES!  The Overseeing Elders appointed Gem Perkins and Bryan Bunagan to serve with Jeremy on worship administration and Student Ministries, respectively.  We are thankful for both of these individuals and their commitment to Christ and to Central and I know that they will be of great help to Jeremy as he leads us in both ministries.

 

             That should bring you up to date to all that is happening here at 2015 Pennington Road!  I look forward to seeing you Sunday!

 

In His Grace,

 

Pastor Gay

 

Central's Pastoral E-Letter: March 11, 2011

 

Dear Central Family,

 

What a super weekend we had last weekend here at Central! 

 

I praise God for the way so many of you indicated an interest to serve through VOLUNTOUR! 

 

I am thankful for the response we had to announcing the hiring of Jackie Maina as our new Business Administrator and the appointment of Jeremy Bell as Pastor of Worship and Student Ministries! 

 

Add to this the kick off of a new program for the children at 11:00 called 252!  This place was abuzz with excitement!

 

Finally, I am rejoicing at the way God has worked through the CHAZOWN series to challenge all of us to find God’s purpose for our lives. 

 

As you are thinking about the vision that God has for your life, many of you have asked, “What next step can I take to make this clearer as I want to do what God has called me to do, but I am not sure what that is.”  I want to encourage you to go our website www.worshipatcentral.org, click on the button that says Get Connected, then click on the link Discover Your Purpose.  This will take you to information where you can go to a website that will guide you on an exciting step by step journey to discovering and putting into action your CHAZOWN, or vision!  I hope you will do this, and if you do, let me know how it goes.

 

I hope that you are planning on being with us this weekend!  I will be ministering in the Classic service, and we have a guest speaker in the two contemporary services at 9:30 and 11:00.  Rich Sparling, Director of Latino Ministries for Baseball Chapel, will be our featured speaker.  He and his wife have ministered directly to the Philadelphia Phillies through the chaplaincy program for the last eleven years. God has recently led him to establish BuxMont Torch Sport Ministry which utilizes sport as a means to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to disciple and train sports ministers.  Rich spoke recently at our men’s breakfast and we were impacted powerfully. 

 

I am also thankful for the largest group of women EVER to go on our Women’s Retreat!  102 women will be away for a weekend of recharge.  So guys don’t let us down!  Don’t forget to change your clocks on Saturday night (one hour forward!), come dressed in your baseball garb, and enjoy a great challenge in our contemporary services from Rich Sparling.  Even if you are coming to the classic service I would encourage you to consider coming to one of the contemporary services as well, as Rich is a great speaker who loves Jesus and it shows!

 

So there you have it!  Look forward to seeing you on Sunday morning!

 

Pastor Gay

 

Prayer Request: Teri Van Schoick

Teri Van Schoick has been admitted to the hospital for dehydration and pancreatitis.  Please pray for Teri’s health, for wisdom for the doctors who are treating her, and for relief and comfort for Teri.

Central's Pastoral E-Letter: March 3, 2011

 

Dear Central Family,

 

I am really excited about this coming Sunday’s Worship Services! 

 

We will be finishing our series CHAZOWN as we wrap up our study in Ephesians, and we will be looking at the number one enemy that we all face from fulfilling our God given purpose.  We will also be putting together a battle plan to fight back and live the life God desires for us.  I will be finishing the series in the contemporary services and Jared Alcántara will be preaching in the classic service.  Each service will feature dynamic worship and celebration of Communion as we all rejoice in what God has done for us. 

 

Following each service, we invite you to spend time in the Fellowship Mall as you explore opportunities to fulfill your God given purpose in our VOLUNTOUR.  Different ministries will be present so you can examine different opportunities and see firsthand how to pursue your own CHAZOWN.  This will be a powerful next step to the challenges we have all been receiving these past weeks.

 

I also want to thank you for the prayers that you have given on behalf of the ministry of Central as we have sought to fill two crucial ministry positions.  This past Tuesday evening, the Overseeing Elders made decisions regarding these positions, and we will make an announcement at all three services to inform you.  You will meet our new Business Administrator who will be starting in the next 2 weeks.  We will also be making a very special announcement regarding the filling of our staff position of Pastor of Worship.  So please make plans to be present on Sunday morning!

 

We will be starting a new message series on March 20 that we are calling Simply Jesus!  This will be an in-depth study of the life Christ through different accounts in the book of Luke.  This series in all three services is designed for you to invite and bring a friend.  I would like to ask you to begin to pray now as to whom you could invite to come with you for one of the weeks of this series.  The series will go from March 20 to April 24, which is Easter Sunday.  We have designed these six weeks so that each Sunday you can be assured you can invite your friends to come with you and they will be introduced to the Savior through this study that we know will impact all of us.  Once you have decided on someone you would like to invite, please shoot me an email at dgay@cbcnj.org and give me their first name as well as your name, because we as a staff want to pray for that person.  It is going to be exciting to see how God will working during these six weeks of impact, finishing on Easter Sunday.  Speaking of Easter, plan now, as we will have three dynamic Easter Sunday services: 8:00 Contemporary, 9:30 Blended, and 11:00 Contemporary.  I can’t wait for you to experience what we have planned.

 

One last item: I want you to know that at both contemporary services on March 13, Rich Sparling, Director of Latino Ministries for Baseball Chapel, will be our featured speaker.  He and his wife have ministered directly to the Philadelphia Phillies through the chaplaincy program for the last eleven years. God has recently led him to establish BuxMont Torch Sport Ministry which utilizes sport as a means to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to disciple and train sports ministers.  Rich spoke recently at our men’s breakfast and we were impacted powerfully.  So even though over 100 of our women will be away at our Women's Retreat, plan to come dressed in your favorite team baseball garb and enjoy the chance to hear what God has done and is doing.  Great opportunity for you to invite a friend to come along with you.  For those who attend the classic service, why not plan to come to both hours that Sunday!  It is going to be a fun Sunday for sure!

 

See you Sunday morning!

 

Pastor Gay