Central's Pastoral E-Letter: May 31, 2013

Dear Central Family,   I am looking forward to being part of a crew that will meet here on Saturday morning to spread through our communities to show the love of Christ.  Central Cares Day is going to be a defining moment in our church as over 200 of us spread the love of Jesus in ways that cannot be ignored.  I hope you have signed up to be a part of this exciting day!    I also am looking forward with anticipation to this weekend’s worship services.  We will be concluding our series Getting Past Your Past, and we have called this week’s message, This is Your Story!  As such, I have asked a special speaker to join us in our two Modern Services at 9:30 and 11:00, Pastor Jeff Bell (brother of our Pastor of Worship and Mission Jeremy Bell) who is on staff at Northland Church in Orlando Florida.  Jeff is a dynamic communicator who has been through many trials in his walk with Christ, and I know he will have a special message to share with all of us, including an update on his daughter Lauren.  We all prayed for Lauren as she underwent brain surgery due to her struggle with epilepsy, and since that surgery, she has been seizure-free!  So I hope you will plan to come to hear what the Spirit has to say through our friend Jeff Bell.    I also know that if you enjoy the Saturday Night Service at 6 pm, the Classic at 9:30 or the new Unplugged at 11:00, our own Teaching Pastor, Jared Alcántara has a special message for you!  I just had lunch with Jared yesterday, and I know that God has given him a special word for all who attend those services.  So once again, Central, you have five different options to choose from, and I hope that you won’t let the beginning of summer hold you back from growing in your connection with God.  We look forward to seeing you here!   Speaking of connecting with God, we are very pleased with the beginning of our summer Life Group session which began this past Wednesday evening at 7 pm and will kick off our new Sunday morning groups THIS Sunday at 9:30 and 11:00.  You can check out the list of options at our website.  You also need to know that on Wednesday night and Sunday morning, we offer full children’s programs from birth-5th grade, so bring the kids, pick up your Bible, and join the journey…you will be glad you did.   One last item… next weekend we will kick off a new series we are calling Forgotten Virtues.  We will be focusing our study on the book of Matthew and what are better known as the Beatitudes.  This passage is filled with encouragement, challenge, and instruction as we seek to be the disciples that Christ has called and equipped us to be.  This is a great time to invite a friend to come with you and for you to commit to be here for this entire series.  We kick it off June 8-9.   See you this weekend!   Pastor Gay

 

 

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To e-mail Pastor Gay, please send a message to dgay@cbcnj.org. 

 

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Central's Pastoral E-Letter: May 24, 2013

Dear Central,   Thank you for all your prayers and support this past week as I was away caring for my Dad.  Our family could sense your prayers and the power of the Spirit was evident in giving us wisdom, discernment, and strength for each day.  My Dad also wanted to thank you for praying, because as he said, “I could tell they were praying.” We praise God that my Dad was able to come home on Monday and is getting stronger every day.  We realize this is a journey we are all on, and we will choose to trust God and celebrate the good days as we are given them.  Thank you for your support.   I am looking forward with anticipation to what God will do this weekend, so if you are not going away, I hope that you will be with us at one of our 5 worship celebrations as we continue our series Getting Past Your Past.  We will be looking at something that can definitely hold us back if we don’t know how to walk through it—we are going to be looking at the topic of grief.  How can we as believers grieve well?  As we approach this Memorial Day weekend, this is an appropriate topic and the Scripture has so much to teach us. Jared Alcántara is back from his time in India and will be teaching in both the Classic at 9:30 and the Unplugged at 11:00.  I will be teaching in all three Modern Services, which includes Saturday night at 6.  I am praying that God will use this message to minister to those of you who are grieving a loss, but also equip us to minister to others in our lives who are walking the path of grief.  I know God has a word for us!   Central Cares Day is coming up on June 1st!  We are praising God for over 200 volunteers who have committed to serve!  If you have already volunteered and have any questions about serving, please contact Heather Stoffel at hstoffel@verizon.net or stop by the Central Cares table this weekend in the Fellowship Mall.   If you are not able to serve the on Central Cares Day, here are other ways that you can help.   ~Can you make a batch of chocolate chip cookies or macaroni and cheese?  If yes, please contact Cathy Brown at 609-818-1480 or tnc.brown@verizon.net.  Simple recipes will be provided, and if it’s mac and cheese, a pan to make it in.  The food is needed at Meals and More at Salvation Army, which is one of the work sites for Central Cares Day.  Food can be brought on Saturday morning, June 1st or we can make arrangements to have it stored at the church a few days before.  Contact Cathy or stop by the Central Cares table at the Fellowship Mall this weekend.    ~We are doing some work on a resource room at the Preservation House in Trenton, and in order to equip this room, we are looking for donations of a DVD player, DVDs (instructional in nature OR clean entertainment), and books in excellent shape (the classics, Christian literature, appropriate fiction and non-fiction, resource materials for kids doing homework, or life skills for adults such as parenting, finance, and job search).  If you have any of these items, please drop of them off at the Central Cares table this Sunday or contact Heather Stoffel at hstoffel@verizon.net.     New Life Groups are starting up soon!  The Wednesday night groups (two NEW groups being offered!) are starting up on May 29 and childcare will be provided.  The Life Group fair will continue this Sunday and it’s a chance for you to check out the Life Groups and meet the facilitators.  Don’t put your spiritual growth on hold because of the summer!  For a list of Life Groups and to sign up electronically, go to http://worshipatcentral.org/lifegroups.aspx.    See you this Weekend!   Pastor Gay

 

 

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This e-mail address (pastorgay@cbcnj.org) is only used to send out weekly pastoral e-mails. 

To e-mail Pastor Gay, please send a message to dgay@cbcnj.org. 

 

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Central's Pastoral E-Letter: May 17, 2013

Dear Central Family,   I hope that you will be at Central this weekend as we continue our series Getting Past Your Past.  God has been really using this series to touch people’s lives as we examine these different issues.  This weekend, we are looking at the subject of guilt and how we can experience freedom in Christ.  Our Pastor of Worship and Mission Jeremy Bell will be teaching in the Modern Services on Saturday night at 6:00 and Sunday morning at 9:30 and 11:00.  Damon Missouri, chaplain for the New Jersey National Guard and longtime member of Central, will be teaching in both the 9:30 Classic and the 11:00 Unplugged services.    A couple of things this weekend:   ~ We are having another Life Group Fair this Sunday at the Fellowship Mall!  For a list of groups or to sign up electronically, click here.  Get connected and come check out the new groups being offered this summer.    ~The church is leaving the building again!  Sign up to serve at Central Cares Day, which is happening on Saturday, June 1.  Teams of volunteers will meet at Central that morning for a kickoff pep rally at 8 am, then fan out into the community from 9 am to 12 pm to a variety of service opportunities, gathering back together at Central at 1 pm for a celebration, including a meal and a time of testimony. To sign up, go to the Fellowship Mall this weekend or sign up electronically here.    Finally, thanks for your prayers while I am away with my family this weekend as my dad is ill.  I am thankful for my siblings and rejoicing for Dad’s steadfast faith, hope, and joy in the One who is carrying him through this journey.    In Christ,   Pastor Gay

 

 

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This e-mail address (pastorgay@cbcnj.org) is only used to send out weekly pastoral e-mails. 

To e-mail Pastor Gay, please send a message to dgay@cbcnj.org. 

 

Like us on Facebook!  https://www.facebook.com/worshipatcentral.

Follow us on Twitter at @CentralChurchNJ! 

Missed a message/sermon?  Download audio or video at our iTunes podcast.

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Central's Pastoral E-Letter: May 10, 2013

Dear Central Family,   I hope that you are going to be with us this weekend as we continue our series Getting Past Your Past.  We are looking at the subject of control and the joy and peace that awaits us when we truly learn to let go of trying to run our lives.  Tough, challenging lessons, but so liberating!  I will be teaching in the Modern Services on Saturday night at 6:00 and Sunday morning at 9:30 and 11:00.  Dave Buschman, chaplain at Princeton University, will be teaching in both the 9:30 Classic and the 11:00 Unplugged services.  So you have one of five different services to choose from, depending on which style of worship you most connect with God.    I also want to encourage you to check out our new Unplugged service at 11:00.  I had the opportunity to teach in that service last Sunday, and if you are looking for a warm, inviting, café style environment to worship and grow, this service is for you!  We have remodeled Adult 1-3 into what we are now calling Central Hall and it is the perfect environment for this service.  So give it a try, and let me know what you think.   I am thankful for the way that God is working through our body to give to both the general fund and our GREATER vision campaign.  If you have not yet made a commitment to help us eliminate our building debt and expand our vision, please pick up a commitment card in the Welcome Center.  If you have made a commitment, you can start to give online or by marking your check GREATER and putting it in the offering.  Thank you for your generosity!   A couple of things this weekend:   ~ Due to projected rain on Saturday, the Mother’s Day Car Wash has been CANCELLED.  Sorry ladies!    ~ Life Group Fair this Sunday at the Fellowship Mall!  Get connected and come check out the new groups being offered this summer.  For a list of groups, click here.   Finally, I would ask you to pray for the family of Paige Aiello as they grieve her passing.  Paige would have graduated from The College of New Jersey next week.  I would also ask you to please pray for the entire TCNJ family as they process this tragedy.  May the God of comfort comfort those who are hurting.   Hope to see you this weekend!   Pastor Gay

 

 

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This e-mail address (pastorgay@cbcnj.org) is only used to send out weekly pastoral e-mails. 

To e-mail Pastor Gay, please send a message to dgay@cbcnj.org. 

 

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Central's Pastoral E-Letter: May 3, 2013

Dear Central Family,   I hope that you were with us this past Sunday for our Celebration Sunday!  We all experienced a wonderful time of worship and celebration as we met together at TCNJ for a combined service at Kendall Hall.  Just under 500 of us gathered and gave thanks to God for His powerful acts in our church and rejoiced in the vision He has given us to impact our communities for Christ!  Then we all moved over to Central’s campus for an outstanding time of fellowship as we all enjoyed the culinary expertise of Les Enterline and crew.  It culminated with an announcement that $327,000 was committed to date to our GREATER Vision!  God is certainly doing things that only He could do, and we are rejoicing in every commitment and every penny that has been faithfully committed to this Vision!  If you have not had a chance to make your commitment towards the GREATER Vision, commitment cards will be available on Sunday in the Welcome Center.  If you have made a commitment, you can start giving towards this Vision this weekend by writing “GREATER” on the memo line of your check or by giving on line.   Words cannot express how thankful I am for all the volunteers, staff, and church leadership who worked so hard to make this time a true celebration that honored Christ!  I am looking forward to what God is going to continue to do!       This weekend, we begin a brand new series that I am very excited about!  We are calling it GETTING PAST YOUR PAST!  We are going to be examining Old Testament characters over the next five weeks and how they can help us all get over our hurts, habits, and hangups.  We are going to be studying the subjects of bitterness, control, guilt, grief, and acceptance.  This is a great series for you to invite your friends to come with you as well as for you to plan to be present, as you will not want to miss any of these messages.  We will kick the series off this weekend, with Pastor Gilmer teaching in all the Modern Services including Saturday night, and I will be teaching in the Classic at 9:30 and Unplugged at 11:00.  So you have five options to choose from and I hope you will come and bring a friend!   Upcoming Events:   ~Interested in learning more about Central? Want to become a member? Discover Central, which starts THIS Sunday, May 5th, is a 4-week series where you will learn more about what our church believes and is one of the steps towards becoming a member of Central. It meets at 9:30 am in Adult 3 (formerly the Board Room). Please note that this series skips Memorial Day weekend and will meet until June 2. Questions? Contact Pastor Anthony at agilmer@cbcnj.org.   ~Come join the Women’s Ministry for Girls Night Out, an evening of comedy, music, and dessert featuring Sue Duffield on Tuesday, May 7 at 7:00 pm.  RSVP to attend this event (and to request childcare if needed) by e-mailing info@worship@central.org by May 5th.    ~Mom, it’s time for you to shine!  FREE Mother’s Day Car Wash at Central on Saturday, May 11 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.  Did we mention it’s FREE?    ~Central Cares Day is Saturday, June 1st! The church is leaving the building once again to move out into the communities surrounding Central in a day of service. Teams of volunteers will meet at Central in the morning for a kickoff pep rally at 8 am, then fan out into the community from 9 am to 12 pm to a variety of service opportunities, gathering back together at Central at 1 pm for a celebration, including a meal and a time of testimony. To sign up to volunteer, please go to http://vols.pt/6XWcrn or stop by the Fellowship Mall table this Sunday!   See you this weekend!   Pastor Gay   P.S. Central is now on TWITTER!  Follow us at @CentralChurchNJ.

 

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This e-mail address (pastorgay@cbcnj.org) is only used to send out weekly pastoral e-mails. 

To e-mail Pastor Gay, please send a message to dgay@cbcnj.org. 

 

Like us on Facebook!  https://www.facebook.com/worshipatcentral.

Missed a message/sermon?  Download audio or video at our iTunes podcast.

For Central’s upcoming events, go to http://www.worshipatcentral.org/events.aspx.

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