Earlier this week, I watched a yellow school bus zoom past our home and was reminded again that schools are going back into session for the fall semester. The beginning of the school year is a time of anticipation, joy, fear, excitement, new routines and celebration. As a parent of school-aged children, I am reminded of the array of emotions that accompany a new school year, especially those feelings that are present with a change in schools. The change may have come from a move to a new community, a “graduation” to a higher grade, or for any number of circumstances that can leave students (and parents) nervous about what the future holds. 

In one of the most quoted verses of the Bible we hear the words of the Apostle Paul: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” He is echoing the comforting words of Jesus to leave tomorrow’s worries for tomorrow. Philippians 4:6 points us to an antidote for anxiety: prayer. The problem we often face is that each day can seem to carry more than its abundance of issues that drive us to falter, fear, and reduce our thoughts to a place that is not rooted in the expectant attitude of Paul to leave all of it at the feet of Jesus Christ.

You may not be encountering circumstances around schooling or raising children, but there are many other situations that can easily generate anxiety in our lives. We cannot see the way ahead. Just bow our heads to petition for help. What could be simpler?

But our requests reveal much about our understanding of ourselves, of anxiety in general, and of God. Our prayers in anxious moments can actually lead to greater anxiety unless we pay close attention to the kinds of petitions Paul has in view when he gives his encouragement.

We are, indeed, anxious about what the future holds, wondering about what to do when difficulties arise in our friendships, our finances, and our families. If we could just know a bit more about what is coming next, surely we could lay to rest our anxieties and take a proactive stance. And certainly, we could relax and trust God!

It is one thing to tell God that we are anxious about the future. It is another to ask him to reveal the future to us. We reason that if God would show us a sure sign, we would have peace. We reason that if we knew what tomorrow would bring, we would use that information wisely to make good choices. Our call is to obedience to our loving, omniscient God who walks with us, leading and guiding our steps through the power of the Holy Spirit. Take heart today that through Jesus, God has already overcome the world (and all of your anxiety) so submit all your prayers and petitions, with thanksgiving, to God. 

My prayer is with all of those who are experiencing “back to school” at any level, and know that as a church family you are in our prayers. Join us this Sunday as we collectively seek our Heavenly Father in worship. We will offer a prayer over students (and their backpacks) and all educators for a blessed school year, to remind them that God is always by their side, guiding and protecting them, that they may not lose sight of how He has called and equipped them for His purposes. See you Sunday!

In Christ, Pastor Tony

We look forward to joyfully worshiping with you at another inspiring worship service this Sunday at Lee-Scott Academy!

• Message: "Unlocking the Power of Faith and Trust" from Proverbs 3:1-8 NRSV
• Blessing of the Backpacks: Students of all ages are encouraged to bring their backpacks for a blessing during the children's moment
• Teacher Recognition: A prayer of blessing will be prayed over all teachers, professors, and administrators as they begin a new school year. There will also be a drawing for all educators for a wonderful gift basket.
• Acolyte Installation: 5 new acolytes will be installed during worship.
• Special music by Jessica Walters & Mark Wilson: "Death was Arrested" composed by North Point Worship
• Amazing Chorale Anthem: "In This Very Room" composed by Ron Harris

• We look forward to a wonderful worship service together! Please invite your friends to come and be a part of our Spirit-filled worship services. Come and be blessed!

 9:30 Worship and 10:45 Sunday School for all ages!

Director of Student Ministries/Youth Pastor

We are seeking a Spirit-filled, passionate, creative, and energetic leader who would build young disciples for Jesus Christ by developing and implementing a comprehensive approach to student ministry emphasizing small groups, worship, discipleship, mission, and outreach.

The Director of Student Ministries will serve as a spiritual leader, mentor, and role model for students, between 7th and 12th grades, within the church and community. This is an exciting opportunity to build a relational discipleship-based student program from the ground up in a youth-oriented environment of Auburn, Alabama. For more information, email us by clicking on the link: Hiring Contact Link

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 or for more information, send your information to the church office (info@christmethodistauburn.com).

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 receive 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! 

Family Essentials is a Sunday School group of singles and couples with school-aged children. They invite anyone in this stage of life to join them on Sunday for a time of fellowship and brunch in the 6th grade hall (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! 

Pianist Randall Atcheson in Concert – Sunday, August 18^th @ 6:30pm (Trinity Methodist Opelika)

Internationally renowned pianist Randy Atcheson will be featured in concert on Sunday, August 19th, at 6:30 p.m. at Trinity Methodist in Opelika. The concert is sponsored by Christ Methodist Church in cooperation with Trinity Methodist benefiting the Stegall Seminary Scholarship Foundation. The Stegall Seminary Scholarship Foundation was founded in 2007 in honor of Dr. Karl Stegall.  

 AUSTRIA & SWITZERLAND MUSIC TOUR UPDATE

We're excited to share some additional information about the exciting musical tour to Austria and Switzerland. Tentative dates are May 23 - June 4.  We're thrilled to announce that working with us are guest composer and conductor, Dan Goeller, and also internationally renowned pianist, Jan (Ian) Mulder. Singers from all across the US and Europe will be invited to join the mass choir and orchestra for performances in Vienna and Salzburg. Guests not in the choir are encouraged to join us. 

While there we will see the many sights and sounds of the region including all of the Sound of Music filming sights, the Shoenbrunn Palace, the Hoffburg Palace, and the Lipizanner stallions. We will hear the music of Haydn and Mozart in a European concert hall, and gaze on the beauty and majesty of the Alps as we experience the wonders of God's creation. Switzerland sites are still being selected. 

If you are interested in being a part of this tour, please email our Director of Music and Arts, Gary Klarenbeek, at Gary@christmethodistauburn.com.  Don't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity!

Children's  Handchimes Coming Soon

We're excited that a summer introduction to Handchimes for rising 4th - 6th graders (3rd grade for those with previous piano experience) will begin on August 21and meet from 5:15-6:00. If you have a child who would like to participate, please email our Director of Worship and Arts, Gary Klarenbeek, at Gary@christmethodistauburn.com. We'll collect names and potential times that will work best. 

Cherub Choir Coming This Fall

We're excited to announce that a Cherub Choir for children ages 3-5 will start on August 21 and will meet from 3:45-4:15. If you have a child or grandchild those ages, we'd love to welcome them to Cherub Choir where they will learn about the love and promises of Jesus through music.

The Cherub Choir will be led by Jacquie Cruz. Please email our Director of Worship and Arts, Gary Klarenbeek, at gary@christmethodistauburn.com for further information.

Genesis Childen's Choir 

This children's choir is for those in grades 1-6 and will meet from 4:30 - 5:15 on Wednesdays.

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

*The Wednesday night group will meet Wednesday, 8/14, at 6:30 p.m. at Greystone, for the final lesson. We will be discussing Week 8, so please read the appropriate week of the study and be prepared to discuss the questions at the end of each day at the meeting. 

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. 

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 photos 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.

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In conjunction with the Congregational Care Team the Flower Ministry Team repurposes our Sunday Altar flowers and takes them to those who could use a bit of cheer. The Flower Ministry team is in need of the following: * SMALL bud vases (delivered to Greystone kitchen only please)  * Volunteers to arrange bud vases (usually 6 vases) * Delivery volunteers  This opportunity for service takes place at Greystone usually on Monday mornings around 10:00, with floral arrangements ready for delivery by Noon. You will be given names and addresses for the deliveries. If you would like to help, please contact Loretta Baker at 334-618-3505 or Lobaker75@gmail.com Thank you!

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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.

The Widow’s Care Ministry group met on August 7th at 10:00 at Greystone. After a short devotional from the book A Widow’s Song, the focus groups were reviewed. The movie, breakfast, and lunch groups have met, and a book group will be starting. Ladies were encouraged to share/swap books they have enjoyed reading.

Praises and prayer concerns were shared. One of our main purposes for this group is to share and pray for one another and our families.

The Widow’s Care Ministry meets as a whole every other month. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 9th, at 10:00 at Greystone. All widows are encouraged to join us for fellowship and to participate in the various focus groups.

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.

 Come and fellowship with us, as we all live, love, laugh, learn and grow together in this chapter of our lives.

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

Prayer Concerns

Pat Boblett

Tomilu Braxton

Jim Carroll

Rita and Gene Chandler

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 Ellyn and Bob Hix and Paul and Starling Grisham, in the death of their sister and daughter, Cheryl Grisham.

Congratulations to Bailey and Will Divers on the birth of their son, William Wallace Divers. Proud grandmother is Lee Beckwith.

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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

Click here to sign up

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