April 22, 2022
In person
and Online
Worship
Sundays at 11:00 a.m.
Join us in our beautiful sanctuary or online at
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
8am-Noon

Contacts
804-648-8319
www.centumc.org

Email Addresses
Rev. Matt Bates

Rev. Tim Gerde

Stanley Baker

Office/Laura Nealley
Dear Centenary family,

Easter was wonderful! It was great to see so many of you here during Holy Week and particularly on Easter Sunday. I’m grateful to all our volunteers, staff, AV team and choir, who worked so diligently to prepare us for worship during the season of Lent and who came together to make Easter Sunday a joyful celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
 
Easter was wonderful. But Easter is not over. The power and presence of the risen Christ has changed the world. The resurrection changed Jesus followers in significant ways.
 
I’ve been reflecting on those post-resurrection changes in people’s lives by studying the lectionary readings from the Book of Acts. This week’s sermon is from Acts 5:27-32. We get a glimpse of the change the resurrection made in Peter’s life. Remember Peter? As we read the passion story from Luke’s gospel the Sunday before Easter, we encountered that troublesome scene of Peter denying that he’d ever known Jesus not just once, but three times. But here in Acts 5, Peter is proclaiming the good news about Jesus with no trace of fear. What happened? That’s what I want us to think about this week. My sermon is titled Easter Changes Everything—Even People Like Us!”

We know as a church what it has been like to persevere through the challenges, adversities, and sometimes dark days of racial division, political turmoil, Covid, and now a war. 
We’ve all been thrown off balance. We can’t go back to what we were in the past. And we’re uncertain about the future. But these stories we’ll look at between now and Pentecost Sunday from Acts remind us that it’s precisely in times like this that the power of the risen Christ can take ordinary, flawed, and often fearful people like us and turn us into faithful servants and witnesses through whom the love of God can flow and thereby see the world truly changed. 
 
Easter was wonderful. But Easter’s just begun!
 
Peace,

Matt
Fellowship, Study & Outreach
Wednesday Bible Study
at 10:00 am
Join us as we look at the scripture
for the upcoming Sunday.
Led by Rev. Matt Bates. An email with
more details is sent out on Mondays.
Keeping You Informed
You’re Invited for a UMFS Campus Tour
Visit United Methodist Family Services (UMFS) for a free tour of the Richmond campus. You’ll learn a bit about UMFS’ 122-year history and hear stories about the high-risk children, teens, and families they serve in Richmond and across Virginia. You’ll also get a peek inside the new UMFS residential treatment building. This brand new healing space serves youth ages 11 – 17 who are working to overcome trauma and significant mental health challenges.
 
Visit UMFS.org/campus-tour to learn more and sign up. Groups are also welcome.
Contact Jill Gaynor with any questions: jgaynor@umfs.org or 804-254-9463.
April 27 @ 10:00 am - Wednesday Bible Study




May 10 @ 4:00 pm - Church Council Meeting


May 11 @ 12noon - UMW Smethie Circle Quiche and Salad Lunch
CENTENARY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH