Autumn Excitement at CPC!

Our 2nd and 3rd Sunday youth missions are attracting lots of interest from youth as well as having a big impact in the communities where we are serving meals to those in need. 
 

4 Middle Schoolers and Pastor Cynthia serving dinner at SHIP on Oct. 14th

   

Senior High Students preparing to serve a meal at Las Amistades de Front Street Soup Kitchen in Plainfield on Oct. 21





Agape Worship followed by a Drum Circle at CPC on Oct. 21



Our Sunday School, Confirmation, and Adult Spiritual Development Programs are also offering great opportunities for members of all ages to learn, grow, connect, and serve!



Spark Sunday School for ages 3 & 4 on Oct. 21 with their teacher Melissa MacPherson.

AGAPE WORSHIP & DRUM CIRCLE

AGAPE CELEBRATION

The Lord's Supper

at the Table of Christian Fellowship

Sunday, October 21, 2012 at 5 pm

A thought to frame our evening together: 
When and where do you see, taste, hear, smell, feel, and know the goodness of God?

The Agape, or “Christian love feast,” is a fellowship meal and worship service.  The Agape Meal reminds us of the many meals Jesus had with his disciples in the Jewish tradition.  After Jesus had gone up into heaven, the new church gathered for worship Sunday evenings.  Since they went to Synagogue on the Sabbath (Saturday), their Sunday evening Christian service was a different kind of experience as they embraced their new identities as followers of Christ.

We will take the opportunity to taste traditional Seder meal food items and imagine sitting at table with our Lord Jesus and his disciples.  In addition, we will share potluck meal offerings and dessert.

Our guest percussionist tonight is Richard Reiter.  He has a B.A. in Psychology, M.M. in Music Education, New Jersey Music Teacher Certification, as well as being a nationally acclaimed jazz musician and Emmy Award winning composer. Reiter has become one of the area's most prominent drum circle facilitators.   
Check him out at http://richardreiter.com/DrummingCircle.html

Childcare will be offered from 5 to 7 pm free of charge.

This worship service will begin immediatly after the CPC New Members' Class.  It is a chance for current members, friend sof the congregation, and new members to be at table together.

Sounds of the Season

 Central Presbyterian Church is hosting a
“Sounds of the Season”
Family-friendly Organ Concert
on Saturday, Oct. 27th at 4:15 pm

We will be sharing refreshments as we listen to music
that has been associated with spooky movies in our modern culture
but we will reclaim it for its composers' original intent;
it's use as worship music.

 

Here are some reasons why some Christians feel that Halloween should be ‘reclaimed’.

Reclaiming our celebration

Christians are faced with alternatives: to ignore Halloween altogether; to go along with it without making any comment or protest; or to reclaim the festival for ourselves. The name ‘Halloween’ means ‘All Hallows’ Eve’, as it marks the evening before All Hallows’ or All Saints’ Day, celebrated in the Christian calendar on 1 November. It was the Christians who adopted the celebration of All Saints at the same time as the Celtic start of winter, based on the fact that through Jesus, the light of the world, all darkness is banished. All Saints should be and can be a celebration of good over evil, recognizing the power and authority of Jesus, surrounded by his saints and followers in all ages.

Light is better!

There is certainly a morbid fascination in darkness, death and fear that is attractive to children. Many children live in a hard world, where there are many things that cause them pain and put them in danger. The society we have created is a difficult place for children, and there is enough darkness and evil to be going on with. We can take this opportunity to celebrate light: the light in the world which makes it open, good and bright, but also the light of Christ, who brings light to the dark places. Light is better for children.

Fear or love?

Christians can reflect on what motivates us, and what we stand for in our world. We have the spirit of love, and all the attributes associated with love that we read about in 1 Corinthians 13. Love conquers fear, and love defeats hatred and pain. Why then support or be ambivalent about a festival based on fear and horror, the superstitions of an earlier age, before the love of Christ was known and shared?

Cutting commercialism

In the same way that Christmas has been taken over by items and attractions that have nothing to do with Christ being born, so Halloween has been absorbed into our materialist world. The ever-increasing profile of Halloween puts pressure on individuals to go along with the crowd, and within that the truth of the light of Christ and the celebration of All Saints is lost, and the sinister and worrying aspects of Halloween are trivialized and hidden under cheap plastic horns and tacky outfits.

Communion Readiness

As we look ahead to next Sunday, we are preparing our headrts for the reality of World Communion Sunday when churches around the world join in community through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.  Each church on earth is invited to break bread and share the cup within the same 24 hours as all other churches no matter their denomination or nationality.

At CPC, World Communion Sunday is a festive day of worship and breaking bread together.  The 10 am worship service usually lasts longer than the traditional hour allowing for more music, praise, prayer, and the sacrament.  Our Sunday School students remain in their classroom for a bit longer this day as well.

One step in preparation was for our 3^rd graders and their families to join together last night for a Communion Readiness class and Seder meal at church.  We gathered first in the sanctuary to gaze at the stained glass window that depicts the Lord's Supper.  The students, their families, and I had the opportunity to retell the story of Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples.  We then joined together in a traditional Seder meal, as the disciples did that last evening with Jesus during Passover.  This was a great chance to learn some history about the heritage of Jesus and the Jewish faith, as well as discover how Jesus gave new meaning to many traditions familiar to his disciples thereby transforming them for use in the reality of the salvation found through Jesus Christ.

As we look toward this coming Sunday, and every day, may we remember the sacrifice of Christ which results in the grace we receive through forgiveness.  Jesus used the simple elements of food and drink to trigger the memory of who He is and what He has done for us, so each time we eat and drink we can remember we are loved by God.

~Pastor Cynthia