Do you want fries with that?

Ok so this week i have had servanthood on my mind. One of the main characteristics a servant must have is humbleness. Humbleness is when we put ourselves below others and serve them. As a Christian we are servants of God. By being defined as servants of God we must therefore serve Him in everything we do. I am reminded of the story where Abraham offered up his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. Abraham went to sacrifice his only son because God told him. Not only was Abraham very faithful in this, but he was also very humble in that Abraham dropped everything he had planned for that day and did something that he did not want to do at the time. By doing that, Abraham showed us how to serve with a humble heart. I get the title "Do you want fries with that?" from because even though the person taking the order may be having a bad day or may just not want to do anything decides to serve us by putting their feelings down. Granted, its not nearly what Abraham did, it is still serving, and sometimes its the little services we provide for people that make the biggest differences. So as we go through the rest of the week lets try to find some little way to serve someone else when we may not necessarily feel like it.

-Kevin Kassakatis

Mine, Mine, Mine!

So apparently it sounds like I'm stealing everything from Matt, but im not. I was at my band competition on Saturday where we competed against East Davidson. We lost just like the other four years I have been in band, and I became so self-centered on me winning and taking all the trophies. And then on the way to our next competition, I thought to myself "WOW, I have been really selfish, why cant I look at the previous competitions and years and be content with what we have won?" One thing we all struggle with at times is wanting everything, literally everything. There is a verse that says something to the affect of God provides everything the birds need and we don't see them crying for more. We all have plenty of stuff to make it through. Life is so much more enjoyable when we look at what we have and not what we do not have. This is because when we look at what we have we are proud of the effort and time we put into getting that certain possession, rather than looking at what others have and becoming envious of them. So as we go through the week lets all look at all the stuff that we do have and that we have accomplished and be content with that.

-Kevin Kassakatis

Little Things that Make a BIG Difference

Hey everyone! Isn't it amazing how God uses the smallest of things and turns them into big things. So, relating to friendships and relationship, which is what Matt is talking about on Wednesdays, What things make the biggest difference in a relationship? is it the things a person gives you, or is it the thought, the easiest of things to do, that matters the most? See, most of us would agree that the thought is what matters the most in a relationship or friendship. Its the same in every aspect of life. The little things can make the BIGGEST difference. For instance, this email chain started as just a class email, and now has turned into a church-wide thing. In Matthew 13:31 and 32 Jesus refers to the mustard seed and how it is the smallest of all the seeds, however, it produces one of the largest plants in the garden. As we go through the week, look for the little things to do for others that are really easy to do. It shows and means a lot to people when a person says "hey, you look good today" or "how have you been." Have a FANTASTIC week!

-Kevin Kassakatis

Patience

Hey there all of my super awesome friends from church! i hope your week has been fun filled and awesome. I know this week has been super awesome for me because God has shown me just exactly why i am at ledford high school and why i didn't transfer schools after my sophomore year. God put this young girl in my life on Sunday and by Tuesday she was calling me her big brother and now i get to have a positive impact on her life. But see the thing is patience, kinda like Job he had everything going for him and then God took it all away and Job had to have patience in the Lord that he was going to bring him through it. Or Noah, he was asked to build an arc because it was going to rain when it had never rained before and it took him around 100 years to build the arc. If you think about what happened to these guys, Job was rewarded 10 fold of all of his previous possessions and God gave Noah everything on the earth including the plants and the animals (Genesis 9:1-3). So as we finish up the week be patient and know that God will reward you for your patience just as he did Job and Noah. I LOVE you all and hope that this email has been somewhat of an encouragement to you this week. Hope to se you all Sunday!

-Kevin Kassakatis

Miracles

Well Hello everyone, as usual I hope you all are having a FANTASTIC week! So ya know I got to thinking this week because i saw this accident while on my way home from school where a car had completely flipped over and later found out that everyone had come away from the accident with just minor scratches, most people, not knowing what theyre really saying, would say what a miracle. So I got to thinking what is a miracle? is it just the miracles that happened in the bible like walking on water or raising someone from the dead or changing water to wine? And then a quote from Bruce Almighty came into mind, "Finding a suit is not a miracle bruce, its a magic trick. A single mom who's working two jobs and still finds the time to take her kids to soccer practice, thats a miracle. A teenager who says no to drugs and yes to an education, thats a miracle. People want me to do everything for them and what they dont realize is THEY have the power. You want to see a miracle, be the miracle." Miracles happen ALL the time in todays world, maybe not in the same sense as the bible times, but they happen. Miracles happen everyday, for example I have been struggling financially and this month i had enough money to pay for all my bill and have $5 left over. So what i think about this whole thing is we have the power to make miracles. This week while youre going through your daily routine look to be a miracle for someone. I love you all and have a GREAT rest of the week!

-Kevin Kassakatis

McDonalds Winners

Well Hello everyone.. I don't know about you all but the new Sunday school thing is gonna be pretty awesome and i cant wait to get it going. But anyways, this week on Sunday while i was on my lunch break at the ever popular McDonald's i was sitting there staring off into space thinking about what i wanted to do this email on... and then i saw on those papers in the trays all the McDonald's Monopoly winners and thought hmm i wonder how nice it would be to have that much money. Then it hit me, this world is not about the possessions we have on earth, its about the possessions we are storing in heaven. Its kind of like the guy in Mark 10:17-31 (yes taken from Matt's lesson on Wednesday) who wanted to know how to inherit eternal life and because of his stuff he was unable to do so. Now don't get me wrong its nice to have stuff, however, we cannot let our stuff take over and become our number one priority. As we go through the week lets try to focus more on the treasures we are building in heaven rather than here on earth. Hope to see you all on Sunday

-Kevin Kassakatis

Matthew 14:27

Hey Everyone! I hope you all are having a marvelous week so far! I know that mine has been quite stressful with the graduation project, school in general, band, and work. Those four things in general have pretty much consumed my life and it has been very stressful for the last month or so, but the neat thing is God is there for us just like when Jesus came to the disciples when they were on the boat and the storm came up. Storms come up all around us and can cause a lot of stress in our lives, but the cool thing is we don't have to worry about that stuff too much because, like it says in Matthew 14:27, "But Jesus spoke to them at once. 'Don't be afraid,' he said. 'Take courage I am here.'" This is right before Peter walks on water, and when Peter begins to stress about the waves, he begins to sink. Jesus then says, "you have so little faith why did you doubt me?" this is telling us that when we have situations where we do not really understand whats going on we need to have faith and trust that God will bring us through our situations. So, as we go through the rest of our week lets remember to have faith, even in those stressful situations. I love you all and hope you all have a FANTASTIC rest of the week!

- Kevin Kassakatis