Live Second through serving (guest blog post by Kassie Milner)

Kassie Milner

1-17-13

-         Passion: serve/ worship (one of the seven P’s)

-         Live second through serving 

My Testimony:

-         Parents divorced at a very young age
-         Biological father never cared, never wanted me
-         Three older brothers one younger sister
-         God has blessed me with an amazing step dad that has been there for me ever since I was 2, he’s my dad
-         Raised in a Christian home
-         Accepted Jesus into my heart at a very young age, but growing up I still struggled with some things and when I got in to HS I started to backslide and live my life the way I wanted to live it
-         Never got into drugs and alcohol or anything, just wasn’t living for the Lord
-         I was one of those people who acted like a Christian on Sundays and did whatever I wanted outside of church
-         Summer between my Junior and Senior year at church camp got a hold of my life and radically changed me
-         I had the fire and passion to serve God and to do whatever He wanted me to do with my life…I was sold and I told God that I would do whatever He wanted me to do and go wherever He wanted me to go
-         Senior year I was looking into colleges, I wanted to move away from home when I signed my life away…..to a 3 month missions trip called Mission One Elven based off the scripture Joshua 1:11, 6 weeks in Cali for training and 6 weeks in Ethiopia where we spent our time sharing the gospel with tribes who have never heard before
-         When we were in Ethiopia we drove as far as we could South until there was no more road and we couldn’t drive anymore and from there we were helicoptered out into the Borana tribe
-         We lived with them, slept in tents that we brought like we were camping and we only got to shower if it rained, and every day we would walk to surrounding villages and share the gospel with them, telling them bible stories from the creation to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
-         Who has heard the gospel before? EVERYONE right? Can you imagine, living life without knowing what Jesus did for us on the cross?
-         When me and my team went to the Borana tribe that was the first time they had EVER heard the gospel, EVER!!
-         After we told the resurrection story and old man in the tribe asked us, “If you guys have known about these stories for so long, how come this is the first time anyone has ever come to tell us?”
-         Think about it: we come to youth Wednesday nights, church on Sundays and other events that the church puts on and we are comfortable just coming to church, that’s all we do…when there are people out there who have never had the chance to hear the Gospel before because people who have heard, people like us don’t go and share with others the good news of Jesus Christ
**- while I was in Ethiopia I felt a call to student ministry
-         I live in a very small town 3,000, high school 220, graduating class 57, my dad pastors a church of about 75
-         Our student ministry has always struggled, on average there were about 5 kids who would come to youth on a regular basis, me, my brother and sister and our worship leaders sons, every now and then we would bring our friends
-         When I left for my trip 5-8 youth when I got back from my trip 5-8 youth…sad right?
-         I talked to my youth pastor about serving under her and helping her, gave her some ideas that I had, she was so excited she put me in charge of making it all happen and I was preaching every other week
-         Within 3 to 4 weeks our youth group exploded, 5 to 30
-         I don’t take credit for that, it was definitely all God but I had to have that passion to serve and live second for God to use me like that
** a year later our youth group was still growing and going strong when I got call from the director of mission one eleven to come back and be a leader for the next trip and take them into Ethiopia…this time I took one of the young ladies in my youth group that just graduated and my mom…we just got back in December
-         This last trip we went to the Karo tribe and they live along the Omo river so we were able to take showers everyday… with crocodiles and I almost got eaten by one but I’d rather not share that story because I might have nightmares tonight
-         Ya’ll are probably like, “Eww, who does this white girl think she is, coming up in here telling us that she’s been there and done that AND she doesn’t shower for 6 weeks at a time!!”
-         Really, camping and not showering for 6 weeks is the least of my favorite things to do but Jesus was beaten, bruised, spit on, walked through town half naked and died on the cross for me, the least I could do is take time out of my life and go share His love with some people who have never had the chance to hear
-         I’m nothing special, just a normal 19 year old girl, who still goes through life struggling with stuff but I LIVE SECOND because God forgave me when  I was doing my own thing and gave me the chance to live for Him

Matthew 28 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,* baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

• If you put yourself aside, live second with a passion to serve God, you can’t even begin to image the ways that God can use you
• Don’t think that your too young or the things you’ve done in the past are two bad…the bible says that your never to young, God will forgive you and He’ll take you just as you are
• But you have to want it, you have to want to live second…in the end living second is way better than living first

Live Second

We are asking that you each buy the book Live Second-365 ways to make Jesus first by Doug Bender. It will be a daily reader for the year of 2013.

• Yes we are asking that you invest in your God relationship with money, time, education, energy and prayer.

Genesis 1:27 (NLT) "So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them."

• We look like God.
• We resemble the Creator of the universe.
• When we ignore the hurting, oppose the neglected, and forget the unwanted, we are not just sinning against some vague moral code; we insult God’s masterpiece—the one thing on this planet, and perhaps the universe, made to look like Him.
• Violence, prejudice, selfishness, hateful language, they stain the canvasses painted to reflect God.
• We honor a few, our favorites.
• We construct museums for the art worlds greats, Halls of Fame for our athlete superstars.
• But what have we done for everyone else?
• What have we done for the artwork living next door or sitting in the adjacent cubicle?
• Have we looked the beggar on the street corner in his eyes and treated him with the respect he deserves?
• Do we see the thousands of people around us each day and stand in awe at God’s creation?
• We must choose to be passionate after God despite circumstances, despite what others do, despite what others think, feel, or criticize me into thinking.
• Living out our belief in Jesus Christ, living out our trust in His eternal love and promise for mankind.
• Stay determined this year not to back down, not to quit, not to get cold, indifferent, ashamed, or fearful of being a Christian.
• Live second by allowing God to guide, allowing God to speak, allowing God to love and live through you.

Live second-a demonstration.

Daniel 6:3-4,10-11,26-27 (NLT)
"Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel's great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. [4] Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn't find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. [10] But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. [11] Then the officials went together to Daniel's house and found him praying and asking for God's help. [26] "I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he will endure forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his rule will never end. [27] He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."

• Daniel stood alone.
• Although he knew about the law against praying to anyone except the king, he continued to pray three times a day as he always had.
• Daniel had a disciplined prayer life.
• Your prayer life is to show God, yourself, and the world about your strong, undeniable, unbreakable belief in and love for Him.
• It shows who's first in your life.
• Daniel lived second.
• Second to others, second to his calling, second to his passion, second to his friends, enemies, relatives, & neighbors.
• Second to his leaders, second to his mission, second to his God.
• The world needs to hear about hope, peace, life.
• That's the kind of presence we need to be in the life of others, everywhere we go, and in everything we do.
• It's imperative that we hear what God is speaking to us, the world lives without it, the church, Christianity, and Christians can not.

Acts 10:42-43 (NLT) "And He ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all-the living and the dead. [43] He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in Him will have their sins forgiven through His name.

• Preach and testify.
• Testify-Serve as evidence or proof of something's existence.
• I am to testify that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus was virgin born, that Jesus came to save people from their sins, and that Jesus is coming back for the church in the rapture.
• I am to testify to people, I am to the world what God has done in me to declare to the world that God still exists, God still forgives, and that God still embodies hope and love.
• Living second is living out that existence.
• God created humanity to be kind, wise, and good rulers of the earth, to love our neighbors and our God. 
• But too often we hurt rather than heal.
• We create disunity and strife rather than love and goodness.
• We use our mouths to gossip rather than defend or encourage.
• We spend our thoughts on vengeance and greed instead of forgiveness and contentment.
• But how would our lives and even our world change if God were First, if we thought of his love before we swung our fists, waged our wars, or sought our glory, wealth, and comfort?
• How would our lives change if the concerns of others and the will of God came before our own?

Prayers:

God, teach me to make you my first thought and your love my highest concern.

God, so often I forget the love and passion you poured into making my neighbors and coworkers, my friends and even my enemies. Help me see them and love them the same way you do.

God show me how to love like you love, forgive as you forgive and teach me to live second to the world.