Untitled Sermon (4)

My name is Melissa Carley and I am a Second Year Edge Student.

As a kid, I had big dreams of spotlight and Jesus, but then I turned into a teenager with a laundry list of family problems and ways to cope with the pain, sound familiar? I had no idea what lied ahead of me, but I suspected it wouldn’t look much different than the dysfunction I had already experienced.

I wanted to be better than my family, but all I saw when I looked in the mirror were the same patterns of rise and fall, rise and fall, and I didn't know how to escape.

I graduated high school and thought I was invincible. Then I found out I had to go to a youth camp. Though I didn't want to go, at least it was a distraction to get my mind of my latest breakup.

Little did I know how sensitive I really was, how easily my walls could be broken down to show my real feelings of pain. Oh how I needed a Savior, for the first time in a while, so it seemed.

Upon coming back home, I quickly realized I couldn’t do this alone. I needed someone, something to teach me how. How do I live this life with Jesus? I’ve never seen it done right before. How do I become the woman I’ve dreamt about, the woman I was created to be?

Out of literally nowhere, my fingers typed in “edge internship Tucson” as I recollected a brief mention of it at camp. There was no way for me to know the eternal impact this simple act of faith would make in my life; The discovery of a new depth in relationships, in my own spiritual gifts and in the person of Jesus.

During my year, the Lord healed my wounds that I couldn’t even once acknowledge. I’m now able to look back, talk about my old life, and still be able to smile knowing that I am a new person. I don't just say this to say it, I actually feel it.

With every passing day in the Edge, there’s a growing and leaving behind of the person I was before, as the Lord teaches me who He has created me to be. And with every passing day, He reveals even more of Himself to me.

And that’s so worth everything, my whole life. Worth having another moment with Him. Have you ever heard someone talk about how much they were in love with Jesus, and you just wondered how that’s possible? Like, how can you love someone so much that you can’t see or feel?

I used to feel that way, but now I get it. Somehow in the midst of the serving and learning, I found hope, peace, grace and the deep life-changing love of God. And it’s worth it.

The Edge is a safe place to grow, to discover, to learn. A safe place to ask the questions you never dared ask in church, to try new things, and talk to the wisest minds of our time.

In the Edge, you are blessed with leaders who truly love you and want the best for you. They dedicate significant amounts of time to push you to your potential.

You learn discipline, lots of discipline. You learn that there’s always room to push the limits you once had. You learn that just because men up to this point have treated you wrong, that doesn’t mean they always will.

You learn that the story of your life thus far is only the tip of the iceberg, and that God’s dream for your life is bigger than you can imagine. You learn how to pray, how to really pray, and see first hand what happens when you truly press in.

So that’s me. Yeah just another story, but in all seriousness, there was a new person born in this place we call home. The place you so eagerly are trying to leave at the end of the night. Don’t take this place for granted, and consider taking the opportunity to dedicate a year of your life to the Lord through the Edge.