"God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile." – Max Lucado

This Sunday in worship, we will explore the thought-provoking story of Jonah, as a profound reminder of how God's plans for us are often challenging but ultimately fulfilling. Jonah, a prophet called by God, initially resisted his divine mission. His journey was far from easy, but it led to a remarkable and worthwhile outcome, illustrating the truth of Max Lucado's words: "God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile."

Jonah's story begins with a clear command from God to go to the city of Nineveh and deliver a message of repentance. However, Jonah fled in the opposite direction, boarding a ship to Tarshish to escape God's call. This act of defiance led to a tumultuous journey marked by a violent storm and Jonah being thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. For three days and nights, Jonah found himself in the belly of the fish, a place of utter darkness and despair.

In the depths of his distress, Jonah prayed to God, expressing his repentance and renewed commitment. God heard his plea and commanded the fish to release Jonah onto dry land. Despite the initial hardship, Jonah's journey was far from over. He still had to fulfill his mission to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeyed, delivering God's message, which led to the entire city repenting and turning to God.

Jonah's journey teaches us several important lessons about faith, obedience, and God's unwavering purpose for our lives. Like Jonah, we may face difficult and seemingly insurmountable challenges. We might even resist God's calling, opting for paths that seem easier but lead us away from His plans.

However, Jonah's story also shows us that God's grace is always available, even when we stray. When we turn back to Him, He can guide us back to our true purpose. The journey may be arduous, filled with storms and dark moments, but God's presence is constant. He uses every part of our journey, including our mistakes, to bring about His greater plan.

Max Lucado's quote beautifully encapsulates this truth. The journey God sets before us is rarely easy, but it is always purposeful. Our trials refine us, strengthen our faith, and draw us closer to Him. The arrival, the fulfillment of God's promises, is always worth the struggle. For Jonah, the worthwhile arrival was the salvation of Nineveh and a deeper understanding of God's mercy.

As we reflect on Jonah's journey, let us find encouragement in our own lives. Whatever challenges we face, let us remember that God is with us, guiding us towards a worthwhile destination. Let us trust in His plans, remain steadfast in our faith, and embrace the journey, knowing that the arrival will indeed be worth it.

I hope to see you on Sunday for worship as we seek a deeper relationship with God and the power of His Holy Spirit to strengthen us and offer us hope and perseverance in the knowledge that God's promises are true and His plans for us are always for our good. Invite a friend or neighbor to join you on Sunday as we worship, are inspired by great music and come to the table together and celebrate holy communion.

In Christ,

Pastor Tony

We look forward to joyfully worshiping with you at another inspiring worship service this Sunday, August 4,  at 9:30 a.m. at Lee-Scott Academy!

This Sunday we will gather around the Lord's Table and celebrate Holy Communion. Pastor Tony will be preaching on the Scripture, Jonah 1:1-17,  recounting the story of Jonah. The message is entitled "Pushing the Pause Button on Life."  We have enjoyed the Summer Sermon Series on great characters of the Old Testament and we look forward to this next message. The Christ Methodist Chorale will be sharing two beautiful anthems on Sunday. The first is an original composition by one of our favorite composers, Mary McDonald, entitled "Come Into God's Embrace." The beautiful text, written by Her Frombach, poignantly depicts how the act of receiving communion is like coming into God's embrace to receive His forgiveness, love, and grace. "Here we remember Your sacrifice, God's plan for all, forgive!  Come into God's embrace."

The Chorale's second anthem is "How Beautiful" which was written by Twila Paris several years ago and is still beloved today. The soaring text "And as He laid down His life, we offer this sacrifice that we will live just as He died, willing to pay the price," is a powerful reminder of the beautiful love of Jesus in our daily lives.

Please invite your friends to come and be a part of our Spirit-filled worship services. Come and be blessed!

We look forward to celebrating with you on Sunday!  9:30 Worship and 10:45 Sunday School for all ages!

Director of Student Ministries/Youth Pastor

Church Nursery Worker

A church nursery worker is responsible for providing a safe, nurturing, and engaging environment for young children during church services and events. To apply, send your information to the church office (info@christmethodistauburn.com) Here are some common duties and responsibilities: 

Duties and Responsibilities 

1. Child Care: Provide age-appropriate care, including feeding, changing diapers, escorting children to the bathroom, etc. 

1. Safety and Cleanliness: Maintain a clean and safe environment. This includes sanitizing toys and surfaces, ensuring the nursery is well-organized, and following universal precautions when handling bodily fluids12. 

1. Engagement: Cheerfully interact with children through games, stories, play, and prayer. Create a welcoming atmosphere for both children and parents12. 

1. Communication: Greet parents and children warmly, and ensure children are released to a responsible adult. Communicate any issues or emergencies to parents promptly12. 

1. Attendance and Punctuality: Arrive on time for scheduled shifts, typically during Sunday services and other church events.  

Skills and Qualifications 

• Experience: Previous experience in caring for children, particularly ages 0-4, is often required. 

• Certifications: CPR and First Aid certification for infants and children. 

• Background Check: Satisfactory completion of Ministry Safe and a background check.

• Interpersonal Skills: Ability to interact with children and parents in a friendly and professional manner. 

Join us for worship on Sunday, August 11th at 9:30am as we celebrate Blessing of the Backpacks with our school-aged children. All students, of any age, are invited to bring their backpacks and during the Children's Moment we will pray over the students and their backpacks for the coming school year. Following the Blessing of the Backpacks, we will invite all educators and school support staff present to stand and recieve their own blessing from Pastor Tony. All teachers, administrators and support staff from all schools in the Auburn/Opelika region are invited to participate. There will also be a drawing for a special gift to bless the winner! 

On Sunday, August 11, the FAMILY ESSENTIALS SUNDAY SCHOOL GROUP will host a time of Fellowship including enjoying a Brunch. 

This Brunch and Fellowship time will begin at 10:45 immediately following the 9:30 worship service.

The Blessing of the Backpacks will take place during the 9:30 service and we invite all parents of the children and youth who participate in this to join us while your children and youth go to their Sunday School groups which also meet at 10:45.

The Family Essentials Sunday School group wants all of those interested in being a part of a Sunday School group, to make plans to come and join us for this time and get to know us!

This Fellowship and Brunch will be in the 6th grade hall which is behind the Cafetorium where the Children's classes are held. There will be guides to help you find this area, if needed.

Please put this on your calendar and plan to join us! 

Student Discipleship Bible Study

On Wednesday nights at 7:15 p.m. at Greystone, John Hall, our summer intern, is leading a Discipleship/Bible study for all youth 6th through 12th grades. They are studying the Gospel of John. This is a time of fellowship and spiritual growth. There will be dessert provided!

Please put this on your calendars and spread the word! See you there!

*The Tuesday morning group  has concluded this study for the summer. 

*The Wednesday night group meets on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at Greystone.

This is an 8-week study of the book “Women in the New Testament” by Suzanne Nicholson. 

The stories of these women help us to better understand not only our calling, but also the very nature of the Gospel itself. We invite all ladies of CMCA to come and bring a friend! Please contact the church office at 334-209-0074 or email info@christmethodistauburn.com to sign up or if you have questions.

The Wednesday group will be discussing Week 7 on 8/7. Please read the appropriate week of the study and be prepared to discuss the questions at the end of each day at the meeting. 

Please be listening out for information on Ladies' Bible studies which will start in September.

We are creating a Christ Methodist Church pictorial directory! We need your help!

This will be an online directory using our church software, Breeze. 

We are asking for pictures of you and your family. Please submit a family group photo, a picture of you as a couple, or a picture of you as an individual. You may send these to info@christmethodistauburn.com 

We appreciate your help in getting our directory compiled. This will be a great resource for all of us to use to get to know each other and communicate with each other.

Thank you for your submissions and help!

In an effort to make volunteering easier for any area of ministry at Christ Methodist Church of Auburn, we are giving you the link below.

This is a centralized master link that allows you to sign up for a variety of areas at the push of one button.

Some of the examples of the areas you could volunteer are:

Sunday morning greeters, Sunday morning ushers, Hospitality, Greystone greeters, Parking Lot Attendants, Nursery workers, Children's and Youth Sunday School leaders, Congregational Care needs, making Chrismons, Flower ministry,  and so many more. If you don't see an area listed that you were looking for, just know that on the central link it will be listed.

Another urgent area for volunteers is in our nursery.  We need workers for the birth to 3-year old nursery and preschool shifts from 9:00 to 10:45 and from 10:45 to 12:00. Volunteers can work all four hours or just one shift. If you haven't previously volunteered through a Sunday school class, please use the SignUp Genius to volunteer. You must have Ministry Safe training to work in this area.

Mark your calendar! The CMCA Children's Ministry will host a Back to School Bash on Sunday, August 25th - 5:30 pm - Grove Hill Clubhouse in Auburn.

Please join us for pizza, ice cream, swimming, and games as we celebrate and fellowship together!

See you then!

Crossroads – Library – Contact: Laura Braswell (lkbraswell@gmail.com). An adult multigenerational class, studying various Biblical topics and their application to life. Members present book studies, Biblical theme studies, or videos for discussion. Crossroads is in the last two weeks of Dr. David Jeremiah’s "Slaying The Giants." Then they will be studying the Wesleyan Covenant.

Family Essentials – Back Locker Room - Contact: Abby Adams (abbyadamsdmd@gmail.com). A group of adults who are raising children and growing in our faith as a community. We study a variety of topics including first and foremost Scripture, but also Methodist theology, family development, and Bible application books and studies. Taught by Debbie and David Smalley.

Fellowship – Auxiliary Gym – Contact/Teacher: Will Mooty (wsmooty@gmail.com). Middle age and older adults, couples, and singles, studying various Biblical topics and their application to life with discussion through book studies and video series. Currently they are studying the book of Genesis.

Open Door – Sixth Grade Hall – Contact: Patsy Cotney (patsycotney@gmail.com). Middle age and older adults, couples, and singles, studying various Biblical topics and their application to life. Taught by Jeff Harte and Kevin Phelps.

Open Hands – Main Gym – Contact/Teacher: Randy Woodham (rmwoodham@yahoo.com). Middle age and older adults, couples and singles, studying various Biblical topics and their application to life. In the Open Hands Sunday School Class, we are presently studying a book written by Max Lucado entitled "They Walked with God: 40 Bible Characters Who Inspire Us."

Sojourners – Room 441 – Contact: Judy Felkey (judy.felkey@gmail.com). The Sojourners Class is currently studying a Max Lucado book titled,  "Help Is Here: Finding Fresh Strength and Purpose in the Power of the Holy Spirit."  The class has two teachers who alternate months during the year, Philip Tyler and Bill Felkey.  The class is middle-aged and older adults, couples and singles, who enjoy a Scripture-based format taught in an interactive, discussion-based format.  New books are selected and proposed by the teachers with class suggestions and input as well. Our class tries to get together socially from time to time and our Sojourner ladies have been scheduling a monthly lunch get together for the last several months.  We are currently reviewing options to select our next topic for the class.

Our CMCA Widow’s Care Ministry met on June 19th at Greystone for our second get- together. We had 14 ladies attend. Fun and fellowship was had by all.

We signed up for Focus groups which include Prayer Warriors, Breakfast Buddies, Lunch Ladies, Movie Goers, Day Trippers, etc. We also expressed our Praises and Prayer Requests, which will be emailed to all our widows, asking for prayer.

If you are a widow who wants to join our group, or if you could not attend our gathering this week, please let us know how we can help you. You can still sign up for any of the Focus groups by calling Annette McGhee 334 740-2227 or Marsha McCord 334 559-5014.

We will meet again as a whole group at Greystone on August 7th at 10:00. Come and fellowship with us, as we all live, love, laugh, learn and grow together in this chapter of our lives.

Please pray for these brothers and sisters in our family of believers:

Prayer Concerns

Pat Boblett

Tomilu Braxton

Jim Carroll

Cary Dowdle

Patricia Gentry

Pat Giddens

Harry Gill

Sherry Guenther

Ruth Register

Keith Ryland

John and Connie Staton

Sherwood and Betty Thomas

Rita Tuck

Gary Webb

Beverly Webster

Bill Wilkinson

Betsy Windle

Kay Yeager

Extended Friends and Family

Billy Arrington, Tanya Byrd's father

Tim Boosinger

Steve Buckner, Carol Ham's brother

Max Bush, Craig and Lisa Leonard's grandson

Cindy Cleveland

April Coulter

Dixie Connor, Nancy Teel's mother

Hudson Early, Sandra Fisher's great grandson

Tad Gidcomb, Ann Thompson's nephew

Alan Hampton, Rick Hampton's brother

Matthew Hood

Elizabeth and Jason Moore, Butch Foster's daughter and son in law

Stephanie Philpott, Gayla Seller's daughter

Dan Pope, Dannelle Fogal's father

Ray Porterfield, Nancy Flurry's son

Brent Wilson, Craig and Lisa Leonard's friend

Christopher Wyatt, relative of Judith Gibson

Chuck Dupree and Martha Cauthen, friends of Beverly Webster and Sue Daniel

Our church family sends their deepest sympathies to Mary Kuhn and family, on the death of her husband, Dr. Rick Kuhn.

To ensure the local church remains a place to allow for people to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly, it is vital that the safety and protection of children, youth, and vulnerable adults be a top priority for every congregation within the Global Methodist Church and for Christ Methodist Church.

We have resources available to include a comprehensive safety system that incorporates awareness training, a library of videos and print resources, policies and procedures, and monitoring and oversight. 

Local church leaders and volunteers are trained to recognize and respond to signs of abuse and misconduct. With this knowledge, congregations can empower their members to be vigilant, prevent abuse by creating a culture of responsibility, and when necessary, remove and hold abusers accountable for their actions. By implementing thorough background checks, churches can do all in their power to ensure that only individuals with a clean record and a heart for ministry are allowed to serve in positions working with children, youth, and vulnerable adults.

If you are interested in volunteering with children, youth or care ministry for homebound vulnerable adults contact Sherry Roby for more details on how to train and have a background check at info@christmethodistauburn.com