Our Purpose is to:
Praise God through worship,
Grow as disciples through study,
Share our faith through testimony, and
Serve others through ministry.

Once again, I'm riding to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis on May 19 by riding 25 miles in the Coast-the-Coast Bike Ride. I plan on riding tandem with my son, Bill, and his wife, Lisa, will also be riding. We are hoping to be able to raise a lot of money for MS. A cure is needed! If you wish to join me by supporting my ride, you can see me during the 9 a.m. service or mail it to me. Make checks payable to National MS Society. Thank you for your support in the past and your anticipated support in 2012!

Bill St

The next Administrative Board scheduled will be on Monday, May 21, 2012 at 7:30PM.  All leaders in the church are asked to attend and everyone is encouraged to attend. If you have any business you wish to bring up before the board please submit a written proposal by Sunday May 13^th.  All leaders are requested to attend.

It is that time of year again. Spring has sprung and walking outdoors is wonderful at this time of year! The Sunday school will again be walking in order to raise money for Missions. The students will be asking for donations between services beginning the last week of April until the day of the walk on June 3^rd. The rain date is June 10^th.

We are keeping the focus of the Sunday school walk to missions that help children. We will be collecting Pop Top can tabs again to support the Ronald McDonald House in Long Branch, NJ. The tabs may be brought in thru June 3^rd. There is a collection box in the Sunday school Office and beginning in May there will be a collection container in the Narthex as well. The proceeds of the walk will help with children's scholarships for Christian summer camp programs or children and youth going on mission trips.

Scholarship applications are available through the Sunday school office and must be returned by June 10, 2012.

Please reach out to the Sunday school classes by sponsoring a child (or two) and help them make this Mission a success!! Please look for the classes between services. God bless you for your help.

Please join Jen, Paul and Carley Jova on June 10th, as they walk in remembrance of their son and brother, Andrew. Andrew was 17 years old and he died as a result of head injuries he sustained in an accident on Aug. 23, 2008. Jen and Paul donated Andrews organs and are participating in the Share NJ 5K Walk/Run in memory of Andrew, on behalf of those who received, and with hope for those who continue to wait for organ donations. We ask that you consider making a contribution in support of NJ Sharing Network Foundation's goal to increase the number of lives saved through education, research and public awareness about the life-saving benefits of organ and tissue transplantation.

You can join our team, 'Team Andrew', or make a donation by going to: http://www.sharenj5k.org/.

To Register:

1. Click "sign up today"
2. Click "join a team"
3. Select "Team Andrew"

To make a donation:

1. Click "give to a participant"
2. Enter Jen Jova
3. Click "my team page" to donate to "Team Andrew"

See Jen Jova if you have any questions or call her at 732-814-6574.

Help Needed
for Nortern Shore District Conference

On Saturday May 19th 8:30-12:30 a Northern Shore District Conference Brunch and Meeting is being held at St. Paul's for Pastors and Lay Representatives. We are asking the congregation to lend a hand to set-up, serve and clean up. Friday evening we need people at 7 PM, Saturday from 7:30 AM - 2PM. If you can help any time during these hours, please contact Cathy P. Your generous support of this event last year was appreciated. We hope we can count on you again. "Many hands make less work"

Listed below are some items most needed but just about any non-perishable is appreciated:

• Peanut Butter,
• Powdered Milk (1 qt packages),
• Tea, Coffee

Please leave all donations in the round tub by the mailboxes outside the Narthex.  Thank you for all you do.

For more information contact foodpantry@stpaulsbrick.org.

We're in! We're going!
Come travel to the beautiful
Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky with us!
No experience necessary! All tools and materials supplied!
Must be at least 13 years old.
Let’s be God’s hands and feet in one of
the poorest areas of the United States.

Cost: Approximately $200-250

We presently have 10 people going and we would LOVE to have more! Let’s show Dianne & Steve the support of their home church!

Unable to come? You can still be a part of the team by praying for us while we prepare to go and while we are there. Support us through the fundraising events that will take place.

Questions? Contact missions@stpaulsbrick.org

Holy Communion
May 6^th

We celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month. The other day I had someone come up to me and ask if we were going to have communion in April. I told them we skipped Sunday morning Communion in April because Palm Sunday fell on the first Sunday of the month. We celebrated Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday during Holy Week. It would have been interesting to have communion on Palm Sunday because we had an extra 100 people in services this year.

Through April our Sunday School has been taking time to educate and communicate with our children and their parents the meaning and importance of Holy Communion.

When is a child ready to receive Holy Communion? Since each child’s development varies, the age of readiness also varies from child to child. The determination of a child’s readiness is primarily the responsibility of the parents; however, it is also the responsibility of the whole church, and its leaders, to assist and help the parents. Our desire together is to prepare children for a meaningful experience of Holy Communion.

On May 6th we as a church body will be receiving Holy Communion during both morning services. During the 9 am service, parents who would like to celebrate Holy Communion with their children will be asked to go to their Sunday School class and bring their child(ren) back with them to the sanctuary. Those with children will be invited to come to the altar as a family to receive communion. The rest of us as a church we will receive Holy Communion in the pews.

Children are important to God and they are important to us. Please keep our Sunday School teachers in your prayers as they teach our children. And continue to pray for our children. That God will protect them, watch over them and they would continue to grow in God’s grace and mercy.

Pastor John DiGiamberardino

The Sr. High youth group has been doing discussions on dating and how we can pursue relationships in a healthy manner. It’s actually kind of fun to talk about a topic that’s a little awkward at first but soon moves into interesting discussions with the teenagers.

On one of the recent weeks we discussed the issue of recognizing when something significant needs to change in a relationship – when the relationship becomes unhealthy for one or both of the people involved. In particular, we talked about the nature of idolatry, how to recognize it in one’s own life, and determining whether or not we are seeking something in a boyfriend or girlfriend that only God can provide. In a dating relationship, things certainly need to change when another person has become the primary source of one’s worth and meaning in life – when the relationship completely defines who a person is.

The issue of idolatry really broadens the issue to how we relate to all people and things, because anything that has become our source of worth, significance, and meaning in life is the thing that we can rightfully say is our "god." It begs the question: "Is Jesus my God?"

In wrestling with this question, I’ve found that these further questions (adapted from a series by a pastor named Tim Keller) to be particularly helpful:

• To whom do I look to fulfill my deepest needs and desires?
• Who or what do I have the biggest fear of losing?
• Who or what is the one thing that I must have in order to live joyfully?
• Who or what to I turn to for my sense of self-worth?
• Who or what do I rely on to get me through the struggles of life?

In the Gospel, we have a God who comes to satisfy our deepest need for love and acceptance, a God is never going to leave us or forsake us, a God who is strong on our behalf when we are weak, and a God who showed us how much we are worth to Him by paying an infinite cost at the Cross to have us as His own.

May this good news be ours today through faith in Jesus, and may it change our lives so much to the point that we no longer use others to get what we want, but love others to give what they need – just as Christ has first loved us!

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…”

Philippians 2.3-5

- Matt Kay

What is the nature of sin? This might seem an odd start to a marriage moment article, but bear with me.

Let’s start with relationships, because the Bible is, at the core of every story, about relationships; between people and God, and between people and other people. Relationships are never static. They are either growing and getting better, or are regressing and getting worse. Stagnation is not a healthy state for a relationship, so I consider that in the latter category of getting worse.

Our relationship with God is no different. We are either growing in this relationship and getting closer to God, or we are getting farther away from Him. It is interesting in regard to sin to consider a word often used in conjunction: repentance. We are called to repent from sin. This is often taken to mean to ask forgiveness, but looking at the Greek word we translate as repent, it means at its root “to turn around.” Constantly doing things and asking forgiveness is not repenting. Turning towards God, and consciously walking towards Him is. If repenting then, is turning around, turning to God, sin could be taken to mean turning from God.

Let’s take this one step farther. If God is love (1 John 4:8) then sin is nothing more than choosing not to love. Whether it be your self, a family member, a spouse, a neighbor, a complete stranger or even the world God has given us to live in, if we choose not to love, we sin. When we regret that, and choose to love instead, that is the very heart of repentance.

Now, apply that thought to your marriage. How often do you choose not to love? If you consider your choice not to love your spouse as “sin” would that change how you interact with your spouse? And not just the big things. I’m not just talking about hitting, or infidelity or lying. What if every snide comment, every sarcastic response, every cold shoulder, every angry shout were all seen as the sin they are... as choosing not to love?

Sometimes it is hard to love. As imperfect beings all of us on occasion choose not to, and then become unlovable ourselves - by human standards. Yet God loved us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8) and sent Christ to die for us, cleanse us and redeem us. In so doing he set the example, and provided the motivation to act as he did, to love as He loved. We do not love to get a reward; it is not our actions by which we are saved. We are to love as a joyous response to what has already been done for us. Choosing to love when it is not deserved brings us closer to God, and can also drastically improve our earthly relationships as well. Next time your toes get stepped on, your feelings get hurt or your heart gets broken, choose to love. Turn, and move towards God, and see if you don’t pull your whole marriage in the same direction.

+++++

Brian