9/25/2023 - Edition #40
In this week's Collegeside Family Devo:
- Meet The Family: The Cross and Crumley Families
- Collegeside Family Devotional:  Melissa Masters
- Check out this week's reading plan.
- Learn about what's happening at Collegeside.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT COLLEGESIDE

Celebrate Recovery: Tuesday Night
Bread For Life: Wednesday at 4pm
Singing Night: Wednesday at 6:30pm
No Wednesday 6:30pm classes on October 4th and 11th for Fall Break
Trunk or Treat: October 29th
Homecoming: November 5th

What are we reading this week?

The Collegeside family has been challenged to read through the Bible in 2023. The reading plan shared will help us accomplish this together.  Click the link below to download this year's reading plan.
This Week's Reading Plan:
9/25- Luke 2-3 / Psalm 113
9/26- Luke 4-5/ Psalm 114
9/27- Luke 6-7 / Psalm 115
9/28- Luke 8-9 / Psalm 116
9/29- Luke 10-11 / Psalm 117
9/30- Luke 12-13 / Psalm 118
10/1- Luke 14-16 / Psalm 119:1-32

Family Devotional

By:  Melissa Masters
Hi, we are Sam, Melissa and Tucker Masters. We started visiting Collegeside in January and placed membership in February. We have two other children with their spouses who attend here as well. Hannah and Chad Campbell with their sweet twins Jensen and Jameson, and Rachel and Dakota Bateman. We love being part of Collegeside. As soon as we walked through the doors, it felt like home.

Sam and I have been married for almost 30 years and live in Overton County in Rickman. Sam is about to retire from TTU as the Director of Maintenance in November, and I am a retired School Counselor. Tucker is attending TTU majoring in Mechanical Engineering and will graduate in May 2024.

What do we love about Collegeside? In one word...people!! We have met many wonderful people who are so loving and encouraging, and demonstrate what we think heaven will be like. It didn’t take us long to realize that this is a reflection of the leadership. We have never met such a wonderful group of men who serve as shepherds, and we are excited about the new men who are also willing to serve the congregation as our shepherds. The Bible classes we have attended have been so amazing. There is so much Bible knowledge that not only the teachers have, but also the members in the classes. We are excited to be here at Collegeside, to be involved in the work of the church, and look forward to many years of service!


Family Devotional by: Melissa Masters

Do you have trouble seeing at night? You walk through the house trying not to wake anyone up by turning on a light, and you break your little toe by running into a table and start yelling and groaning, realizing if you had just turned on the light you wouldn’t have gotten anybody up! I have trouble seeing in the dark. Especially while driving at night time. One night after Sunday evening worship, I got in the van with my girls and one of their friends. We were meeting some people for supper, and I was in a bit of a hurry. I did all of the normal things you do when you get in your vehicle, buckled my seatbelt, waited til everyone else was buckled in, adjusted my rearview mirror, you know, all the things you do by habit. Now my van’s headlights are set to turn on automatically, but that night I couldn’t see them. I asked my daughter, Rachel, if she could see the lights. She said she could. I asked her if she was sure. I told her to get out and make sure both of them were working. I was positive that something was wrong. When she got back into the van and assured me that everything was working, I realized the problem. When I had gotten into the van doing everything I normally did out of habit, I had put my sunglasses on. At night. In the dark. No wonder I couldn’t see my headlights! For years after that, I was a continuous source of laughter for my family. Yes, even for myself.

Why is it hard to see in the dark? Because darkness is the absence of light. It is the direct opposite of light. In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Why is it hard to see/walk/drive in the dark? Because we’re not supposed to! We are supposed to walk in the light—in Jesus Who IS the light. John 12:35-36, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” 


If darkness is the opposite of light, and Jesus is the light, then what is darkness? The devil of course. If we are in darkness we stumble and fall into the trap of sin. We need to stay away from darkness and anything that comes close to it if we want to be with Jesus. We are even supposed to shine our own Christian light as a refection of Him. Matthew 5:16, “...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”

Follow the light. Be the light. Shine your light! “This little Christian light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine...”

Meet Our Collegeside Family

The Cross Family

We are Bob and Jane Cross. In a nutshell, Bob is aways smiling, he loves people and loves to get to know you. Jane is reserved, quiet and a good listener. We have been married 44 years. We have a son and a daughter and a son-in-law.

We were both born in the small town of Byrdstown, TN. After a year of marriage, we moved to Harriman, TN for a job opportunity. When the plant closed down in Harriman, we moved to Cookeville for another job opportunity. God has always provided paying jobs for us and we are both still working but are dreaming of retirement very soon. 

Throughout our lives we have always cherished our church family. This family at Collegeside has opened their arms of love to us, as only the body of Christ can do. You have given us opportunities to serve which is so fulfilling to us as we help others. May we continue together to be the hands and feet of Jesus. You have given us opportunities to make new friends through Heartfelt, working at camp, men’s meetings, ladies connect lunch. You have challenged us to dig deeper into God’s Word. We see so many things that Collegeside does with excellence and in the name of the Lord. 

In the coming years, we hope to see a change in the hearts of people who don’t know Jesus. We hope they see the Collegeside family living out loud the message of Jesus and the hope found in Him. We pray that God is preparing us in these present moments to be ready for whatever He sends our way. God’s plans are always better – maybe not easier, but better.

The Crumley Family

We are Patrick and Melissa Crumley. We have 3 children, Paige, Daniel and Sam! We are from middle Tennessee and we worshipped with the Southern Hills congregation in Franklin, TN prior to relocating to Navarre Beach, Florida where we lived while caring for Melissa’s dad prior to his passing. We stayed until our one and only Hurricane and then decided to move back home. 

We have always loved the Plateau area as we visited often for Bible Bowl and Melissa’s brother is a physician in Cookeville. We quickly found Collegeside and settled into serving here. We love all the ministry opportunities we found at  Collegeside! We love the people we found at Collegeside!

We’d love to see the congregation continue to grow and love on this community through our ongoing outreach efforts! Prodigal parenting is near and dear to our hearts and we hope to share our journey with others!