Are you looking for a church home, but you have still have questions?  Would you like to know why dozens of people from many different religious backgrounds have found a home here in our undenominational fellowship of believers?  Have you been visiting with us here at College Avenue and have been wondering what it means to be a member here?  Would you like to be part of a small group of seekers who will be participating in a casual, no-obligation opportunity Bible study?

If the answer to any of those questions is “Yes” I invite you to visit a new study group I will be directing called the “Son Seekers.” This class is offered each Sunday during the Bible class hour at 9:00 a.m. in our library.  This study group is for new members and for any other interested individuals.  The class will review an 8-week study of the "Abundant Life."

Here are the topics we will cover in our “Son Seekers” class:

Week 1   Principles and Basic Facts for Understanding the Bible

Week 2   Inspiration of the Bible

Week 3   Seeking God

Week 4   Knowing God

Week 5   Abundant Life

Week 6   Jesus

Week 7   Come Follow Me / New Birth

Week 8   Your New Family / Blessed to be a Blessing

The format of the class is specifically designed so that everyone can feel comfortable participating, even if they’re not a “Bible scholar.”  In addition, you will have the opportunity to ask any questions you wish in a low-key, non-threatening environment.

Based on our past experiences we expect to learn, laugh, and grow together over the course of the eight weeks.

P.S. -  Please take a minute to read over the following article by a friend of mine.  It expresses perfectly the spirit of our class!  We hope you won't "sit under the porch" any longer!

-Mike Meadows

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DON’T SIT UNDER THE PORCH

In his book Connecting Larry Crabb shares the following story:

"A friend of mine was raised in an angry family.  Mealtimes were either silent or sarcastically noisy.  Down the street was an  old-fashioned house with a big porch where a happy family lived.  My friend told me when he was about ten, he began  excusing himself from his dinner table as soon as he could without being yelled at, and walking to the old-fashioned house down the street.  If he arrived during dinnertime he would crawl under the porch and just sit there, listening to the sounds of laughter."

The author continues by relating that he asked his friend to imagine  what it would have been like if the father in the house discovered  him huddled beneath the porch and sent his son to invite him in.  What would it have been like to sit around that table and be part of this happy family?  Where, when you accidentally knocked over your glass of milk, there was laughter rather than anger?

Would it change your life?

When life has beat down your defenses and you "come to yourself" a long way from home.....when you've make a lot of wrong turns to get where you are……would it be a blessing to know that when your father saw you coming home, he would run out with his arms wide open, crying and laughing with happiness and throw his arms around you and kiss you?

Don't sit under the porch!  You don't have to be lonely.  There's a loving Father and a caring family waiting for you to join them.

–Ken Stegall
El Dorado, Arkansas