Change directory and execute file in one command

Question

When I want to execute a file, it seems that I always have to first 'cd' into that file's directory before executing it, unless it fails on a can't-find-my-dataz type error.

How can I get around typing two commands to just execute a program?

Example:

cd /usr/local/bin/minecraft/
java -Xms512M -Xmx2048M -jar minecraft.jar

How can I make that into one line, so as I can put it as my Exec=_ line when creating a custom launcher in Gnome3?