What's your vision for your family?
Cathedral Thinking: They would plant the forest 80 years before they started building the cathedral. They had an 80 year plan, You need to start thinking ahead and start planting maybe for what you don't see.
Do you think that for 80 years they didn't have any resistance? there was something, there are giants. The Giants are the things that take hold and authority in your life that want to come and cut down your trees.
Giants could be a characters/habits of dad, a mom or a guardian that was over you(previous generation), they may be manipulative, they might have been an angry, an absent dad, a proud dad, maybe it's that your dad was undisciplined in what he watched, what he do, where he went and what he drank, Maybe he was great at holding grudges has a huge impact on you. Are you going to pass the same to your children?
Generationally that often we end up doing the things because it's passed on to us but we don't quite know what we're doing in.
What we're doing right now isn't just for us, we're impacting our own future now. But it's actually going to create the pathway and the highway for the generation to come.
Avoiding your Giants today leave your children to fight them tomorrow.
Children were a copy of their parents. They didn't really know what those issues were? Your kid can't identify what it is? but they will actually pick up on it as normal. We don't do it intentionally but that's exactly what we're doing.
God will always give us an opportunity but what we do with the opportunity is up to us.
How many times did we say YES when we should say NO?
Every generational curse is broken by a generational choice.
God is asking, will you choose today to defeat the giant? or Are you gonna pass this to next generation?
Why are the Giants living in forests? because we gave them permission to stay.
We need to recognize that in the absence of resistance, history will repeat.
This works in a positive way where you can break it or it works in a way where you'll repeat it. what would you sign up for?
What Giant Did I grow up with that I need to kill?
What Giant Am I feeding that I need to confront?
You don't need someone to understand, you need someone to transform you. Jesus can transform you.
I believe that it's a message that is going to impact your life in a huge way not only your life but this is actually about others as well.
so it's a word that stretches and ripples out into the future generations that are to come.
So we're in this new series in Freedom Church called Re:Generation where part 1 last week it's all about the generations and if you miss that it's probably going to give a bit of context to where I'm going but I still I'm gonna trying to frame it so that you can pick up from this week and run with us.
But you might want to go back and pick up on it if you missed it because there's I think gold in there, there's gold and what God speaks
It's relevant to every person. Some messages are more this and more bit of that but this is relevant to everyone and for that reason I want you to like to press in hear what God has to say.
So we we sort of finished week one and this will set the scene we finished week one with talking about how the generations and I talk from my experience, my parents with the Boomers and then I was X-geneneration and then from there we've got the Millennials.
We looked at basically had those three generations. Those three generations there's a link from what comes before, it spills over into the next generation.
It's not the Millennials that sort of came up with YouTube and Amazon and all those things and things that sort of somehow have changed the way we interact socially. It was actually my generation. So you see the spillover, you see the setup, you see the foundations being put down.
What we're doing right now isn't just for us, we're impacting our own future now. But it's actually going to create the pathway and the highway for the generation to come.
So if you have young children/teenagers right now, you're gonna know, this would be very relevant is you can't detach what you've prepared for them in launching them into where they're going. You can't detach it, and God speaks about it and God is interested in the generations.
So he speaks to us about hey you've got to be aware of this, you've got to think generationally not just about your generation.
We get in a trouble, if we just think about how I'm just preparing for me and my comfy life at the end and we're gonna do a good job and set our kids up and give them some provision. It's more than that.
This is more interesting in life like even within Freedom Church, it's very typical that we have three generations at least. We have newborn babies right now, right throw 80 years old. This sort of this three to four generation, there's a pattern that is flowing and there is a current that flows up and down.
We've got to be intentional about it, not accidental about it.
You can either just come into the world that we're in and just say all that, hey that's the way it goes and depression seems to be on the increase more than ever before, that's just the way it goes self harming amongst young people seems to be more of a trend, that's the way it goes or you start to realize that there is something directly you can do about it, because we've got to realize there is something lying at our feet right now that we can cause a change in what's ahead.
We end up doing things without knowing the reason, because it's passed on to us:
Daughter:
Now there was a newly married couple and when they got married obviously there was Sunday dinner. It's like, we can have a roast dinner. This young couple they got together. He was watching her get the ham joint for the first time ready and she was getting it raised she was gonna put it in the oven, she ended up cutting that the sort of knuckle that the top part of the ham off and cutting it off and put it to oven. He thoughn that's interesting, is there a special secret about this? why would you like cut the top before put it in? is does something to the meat? I did it, because my mother did. I've seen my mother do it. d
Mother:
The next day she called her mum and she said mom you've always done this. I've started to do it, because you did it. Why is that? and she said all this because you're grand did it. Then she said why did grand did it? I haven't already sure except I think it makes the best ham joint you're ever gonna have.
Grandma:
She calls her grand says why did you always do that? She replied I cut it off because the oven was too small, because it wouldn't fit in, we've small ovens those days.
Generationally that often we end up doing things because it's passed on to us but we don't quite know what we're doing in. We end up reacting in certain ways, because what we think, that is the way to react.
We even sort of drive and have a certain temperament because when we've been in the car with our parents that's the way you behave when you're in the car.
Certain things happen in life where we have an automatic response because its is a learned behavior that we pick up and it's very powerful.
We said last week that it's seven years that you can build in a child before you really start seeing it coming out, and to turn that around takes a lot of time.
What are the things that perhaps we're doing right now? reacting, thought process.
Why I was a go-around feeling like no one likes me, I don't fit in.
Why do I was react and get angry when anger was modeled to me?
That's why we need to start thinking about these uncomfortable questions to find greater freedom.
Cathedral thinking: Biulding Forrest:
So I want to show you is we we ended up bringing it the whole thing last week to this idea of not only generational thinking but cathedral thinking.
Remember I said that thousand years ago, when they built a cathedral, they would go in and plant a forest. They would plant the forest 80 years before they started building the cathedral.It was in their hearts before they actually took action.
But some generation, three generations before had to get it in their hearts to say we are gonna like I don't get the trees, do the hard work, we're gonna nurture the trees and grow a forest because the forest was used to build the cathedral and scaffold in roofing.
What they did is, they had an 80 year plan. So the people actually planted the trees would never ever see what they were used for.
You need to start thinking ahead and start planting maybe for what you don't see, because for us we're in this society right now where it is instant gratification, if we don't get it delivered tomorrow for I'm impatient, yet there is this thinking that we get when you build generationally of thinking long term.
Giants in the Forrest:
I want to talk about the Giants in your forest.
We can build generationally the forests, really is the picture of generations investing and building for the future.
You imagine, when they built those, they sowed out and they grew those trees, do you think that for 80 years they didn't have any resistance? there was something, there are giants. The Giants are the things that take hold and authority in your life that want to come and cut down your trees.
The enemy's plan is to rob and destroy and kill but he's comes to bring a life from life in all its fullness and so there are Giants.
We all have Giants to face, Giants that are passed on to us and it's more than a joint of ham.
As we begin to grow up, we think what do I struggle so much with this? oh it's funny, isn't it? because my father struggled with this, and his father struggled with this. When i struggling with this depression but we've got this in our family.
There are giants that are left and there are giants that we feed.
Why are the Giants living in forests? because we gave them permission to stay.
You might see that there's a bird flying, that is a cuckoo. There's something about the cuckoo that also is in the forest, but let's get our minds back on the Giant.
The Giant is there to come and destroy. The Giants want to live, they want to remain there, they want to sort of feel at home there. In fact we made a home for them and we feed them every teatime.
We've got to ask the questions and we've got to wake up to realize that this is going on in our life.
The giants that my dad had that I also had to face:
I'm gonna just talk now very quickly on about my own father. I have the huge privilege being raised in a Christian home. They taught me about God, they dedicated me to him, and they encouraged me to follow him.
At the same time, they would agree with us that, there were giants that my dad had that I also had to face.
One of those things was in our relationship. Maybe we were not particularly as close as I would like.
I want to honor my parents, but honoring doesn't mean to say that you just don't go to the place where you need to contend for some things.
I want to be the same for my kids. I don't want my kids to sort of feel like oh you were the perfect dad. I want you to recognize where I wasn't strong where you can be stronger. I want to cheer you on through an attitude of honour, I want you to be stronger and better and faster than I ever was.
It might mean there were some things that I know well, I could hold my hand up today, I don't want on this stage making out on this, great dad that's got the generations together building a wonderful forest. No I'm a flipping Axe man. I literally was when we first got married. I was an Axe man, used to go and cutting trees for the landlord. And then, God started dealing with some Giants in my life.
I know one of the things when I had this conversation with my dad, just before I was leaving home about the lack of connection as a father and a son, and the conversation, and the relationship, and all those things.
I've just not really knowing his affirmation was he said, well the reason I'm like that is because my dad was from the generation right before me called known as the silent generation. Silent Generation means to be seen and not heard. It means, if something goes wrong and there is some mistake in the family like a child born out of marriage, no one talks about it, secret, barrier. It means that it's better to be silent as long as you provide, as long as I keep turning up do my bit.
He said to me that when my dad came home from the war, he'd sit in a certain chair after work in the same place for 30, 40 years, came home sat there, he never spoke to me, there wasn't an interaction or affirmation and that's what he saw and there was a huge impact. Just imagine, this is a giant.
Then obviously little G(me) comes along, he was like a bit daunted by the responsibility of raising this child, this son only to struggle with the fact that I've still got this giant that I'm struggling with.
When I'm 17 years old my dad is saying, hey the reason that we like this in our relationship is because I'm a product of my father's generation and it came upon me all of a sudden, bang!!!
Does this mean to say then that, when I have sons, I'm probably gonna have to deal with this same thing. Right enough, I had to go to town on confronting the Giants.
It was at this point that I had to realize it so I can either just use this and say that that's part of my handicap, as part of my difficulty or I can begin to work upon him to confront the Giant.That's what I'm talking about today.
Insecurity:
My example is a very simple example but it had a profound effect on my life, Because I was 17, but I can tell about how I brought certain things into my marriage, because of my insecurity and then from insecurity, because of the way that works.
I just want to be a great person that no one ever noticed. I've got a bit of a default sometimes for that rather shrink back, Let someone else. Because I just don't feel confident around people and look what he goes into us.
But I want you to realize that it wasn't suddenly at 17 I thought, that's really interesting about your history, and your background that explains some things, well it just looks like things are set and we may as well just do the best we can.
I'd love to say that when I got married at 19, it took decision after decision, confrontation, prayer, coming against it.
Guys I'm speaking to some of you now, there are prayed prayers, you made decisions and you still feel the same. You still feel like Am I ever gonna get rid of this giant? Am I ever gonna deal with it? well I'm here to say that through Jesus it's possible, to Jesus there's a way.
You've got to realize that without him, you can have great therapy. Without him you can have people that understand you. But you don't need someone to understand, you need someone to transform you. There is something about the transformation, power of who Jesus is? that breaks through generations and say I'm doing a whole new thing, but it starts with the same responsibility and saying what will I do? am I gonna pass this? am I gonna just live with my Giants? and that's a big challenge.
Because my generation was known because of what was going on to be the self-reliant generation. So when I didn't have that perhaps that relationship and affirmation, I decided to isolate myself, be self-sufficient. And from it, you just see then how other things come into play and you have to deal with those things as well.
God started transforming me, but I had to deal with the uncomfortable confrontation of the Giants.
I could say example of Heather, my wife. She can hardly ever remember her parents say that they love her.
We're now in a time where everyone loves everyone. It's like you're special, you super, it's far more culturally, it's much more acceptable, back then can you just see how the Silent Generation? No be silent, you don't need to affirm.
I would say to every father because I know I'm speaking to some fathers right now in particular, thinks somehow it's not a manly thing to do or I really think I should have to do that.
It's real special for your daughters but it's also special for your sons. I think there's something around, it's one of the manliest things you can do, not one of the girly things you can do.
If you just think, well they should know it. You're like shaking off your responsibility. I want to encourage you, see your daughters from a young age need to know that dad thinks. He's the first one that says you're the most beautiful girl, not someone else. He needs to build an affirmation and assurance and a confidence in who she is? and because of that Heather had to deal with some giants.
I just trying to give you an overview that there are things, these are just a few simple things that come up in our life very easily.
King Saul.
It's basically Saul is going to become the king, he was nowhere to be found. How come everyone's turned up to see who's gonna get chosen as King and the one who is meant to be King is not even there. Oh Samuel went back to God, is he anywhere around? God said yes he's right over there hidden in that pile of baggage.
I think this is incredible because what it's saying is God decides to choose someone in the middle of their insecurity.
He wasn't a little man. He had the stature of a King, but he had the heart of insecurity.
God wasn't choosing him because he was tall and impressive looking, he saw him and says you might be there right now you might how it'd be riddled with insecurities but my plan for you is to rule.
He's hiding because he doesn't want to be chosen. He gets pulled out.
I love the way that God will always give us an opportunity but what we do with the opportunity is up to us.
You want you to pull you out, I was all saw it ,magic fairy dust, confident King. It doesn't happen that way.
He ends up gathering an army actually about three hundred and thirty thousand which is quite in my size army. These guys are going to follow, because they've been routed and chased by the enemy, people have been killed put into slavery. Suddenly he starts leading an army.
So things start off, they get off to a good start, three hundred thirty thousand is pretty good. But what happens is, he ends up becoming fearful.
It mentions that three times Saul became fearful. What was the fear around all the time? not the enemy, it was around what people thought of him who he was leading. He had an insecurity around what others think? and insecurity does that, it eats away at you what you know, I need people to like me and he had this massive issue of do people really like me? so you got three hundred and thirty thousand people out there, ready to go and fight to the death, Do they like me?
His son Jonathan who sort of ends up being away from him further on a few chapters, so a bit of time later they have one or two victories and things are pretty good but this insecurity, he's not dealing with the giant. Because he's not dealing with it, he keeps surfacing and it keeps doing things that get him into trouble.
What he does is he's waiting for Samuel to come and make a sacrifice before they went to battle.
If you have insecurity you want to control things, another word for control is manipulation. When you manipulate things, you're actually become very impatient.
You will allow a certain amount of time and then you were saying that I wanna take things in my own hands. Because I'm fed up of waiting for this person, God we're gonna do things in our own way. Because I have this about me, and I'm insecure, I struggle to find peace, because I think it's actually trusting me more than trusting others.
You can just see, how he ends up in this place where you suddenly find him you see Saul with 600 men so where did the three hundred thirty thousand go suddenly?
If you have insecurity in your life, you're going to find it very hard to lead. They left him.
His own son Jonathan starts to see the pan of insecurity. He has a choice, this one day where it's just him and his armor-bearer. He says that we can hang around here, doing nothing, just waiting for the end to come, that's all they were doing. I can be like my father or I could change something today.
What he does is, he slipped away without his father know, because his father wouldn't have approved, he's a manipulative leader. He slipped away and he said come on let's go up to the enemy and see if just by us two.We can face down insecurity and start to see a miracle happen. Let's go and deal with the giant, Because if we don't deal with it today, I'm gonna inherit it. and this is what Jonathan was thinking.
He was being defiant and he was saying, we either sit here in anxiety, in worry because you see that's what control produces anxiety and worry. We can just think what's going to happen? but when you start to know there is a God that he's in charge overall, I trust him completely because he loves me abundantly, and he loves me without reason, there was like immense love of the father unconditional.
So suddenly he gets up and he goes on this light, it would look crazy but what he's doing? he's dealing with the Giant in his forest.
They see some great stuff but sadly Saul basically takes things into his own hands, he's fearful three times; he does another sacrifice, he also goes in and sees a victory happen afterwards. God said don't you take anything. What Saul do? he lets his men take things, he said well they like them, I mean that made me popular, because it was the point in like destroying everything, when they liked those sparkly things. So he said I'll go on, you'd be a ride.
How many times did we say YES when we should say NO?
Saul wasn't in the occult he had a rebellion in his heart. He didn't do what God according to do. Because when we do, what we want to do and remain in control is disobedience. Samuel is actually talking about the disobedience in his heart.
Saul said that I thought it was better, I cared more about pleasing the people, here it is the giant of insecurity. I'll let them tell me what to do.
I want to speak about insecurity is a massive thing in our culture. Insecurity is linked to anxiety, we're on remain in control. Maybe you haven't even chose to put your faith in Jesus today or maybe you once did, but you've struggled to follow him, because it was this insecurity that caused you to back off from people and move into a place where you could be in control but the thing is there's something missing in your life, there's more and you won't find that completion until you know who Jesus is in your life.
Insecurity. guys you can just live with it or deal with it.
In the absence of resistance history will repeat.
We need to recognize that in the absence of resistance history will repeat.
So you want to just pass this on and say on my watch are just gonna repeat history, you have that choice.
This works in a positive way where you can break it or it works in a way where you'll repeat it. what would you sign up for?
It's not accidental, it's intentional, it's a fight, it's a battle, it's uncomfortable, encourage you guys it's possible that you can break through it. You can break through it with Jesus. There is a way of breaking through like nothing else.
It could be a dad, a mom or a guardian that was over you, they may be manipulative, they might have been an angry, that might be in an absent dad, they might have been a proud dad, so they set is like hey this is the course, we're always gonna be that family, well you can't say that about us, no one tells us what to do? amazing how that independence and that pride means that we end up on teachable, maybe it's that your dad was undisciplined in what he watched, what he do, where he went and what he drank has a huge impact. Maybe he was great at holding grudges, we don't talk to them anymore, in fact we're gonna leave that church and we're gonna go to this one, what is that dad?
and you might not even voice it, this is the strange thing, you don't have to voice it and say that because we had an issue with it. Because you've got like an eight year old sack here, but they will know, kids I've got to say to you, you will bleed this hurt, and you will bleed bitterness through your life it will come through you, it will permeate and it will be like a stench.
Your kid can't identify what it is? but they will actually pick up on it as normal.
If you live on a farm and live around manure long enough you don't quite smell it the same as others.
I have seen people whose parents picked up a hurt and their life was a reflection of their hurt and then I saw the next generation, their children grow up and become young women, young man, they were a copy of their parents. They didn't really know what those issues were? but they just knew this one thing don't trust. there's wisdom in not trusting, isn't there? it's there.
You can't do life without trusting, you can't follow a lead without trust. You can have a small life that will stay on pass.
I remember talking to this person and they were described as suddenly had this revelation saying, hey I've lived a life where I don't trust people, I keep people at a certain place. Suddenly I've realized that this was passed on to me, I've got a decision to make right now, because I have a choice to make of whether I'm going to step into this opportunity I have, but it requires trusting leadership in my church. Suddenly I'm confronted with the giant that's always been there and in saying will you trust? or will you deny? and if I deny, I cannot go and fulfill the future that God has called me for. It was massive that these parents would probably not realizing but just leave their giant, he came around the table every Teatime, he was in the conversations, he was in the sarcastic jokes, he was in the comments saying well I don't think that's a good idea that you should be so generous, why don't you live your own life in a way that really matters to you? it's all about you, don't trust.
Avoiding your Giants today leave your children to fight them tomorrow.
Parents, you have chance to influence your children. If you avoid your Giants today, you're basically look at your seven-year-old and say hey I'm not going to deal with these issues of her, and moving from one church to another to another, I'm not going to always blame it on other people that you know I'm somehow the victim that everyone's bad to me in this big bad world, this anger issues, all those things that I have, I'm just gonna lay them at your feet my little seven-year-old. I'm gonna say, you kill the Giants because dad is checking out.
I would even put it on a silver platter for you, and make it look attractive, hopefully you might be able to leave them for my grandchildren.
We don't say intention but that's exactly what we're doing. We flip in either deal with some things that we have just accepted and we walk out in and out without making those decisions.
Interview - Derek from Cardiff and Pastor G:
Pastor G: I've got some questions for Derek, because as I've shared, I've tried to build a foundation here and get you to start seeing about what we leave in for the next generation. Derek I can share about insecurity and those things, but I just think that a lot of us have a lot tougher life than I had, tougher challenges by far. So I just wanted to demonstrate this. Tell us or give us a picture quickly about what it was like growing up for you?
Derek: I grew up in in London. My mum and dad emigrated to London from Ghana, West Africa. My father was from near shanty tribe. We were living in Northwest London and I'm grateful for my life, but it was tough, it was hard. My parents had emigrated, so it was tough in terms of like resources, like money.
We needed my dad to be strong, We needed him to be patient, We needed him to be wise, but unfortunately he failed to do those things. But it impacted us(me, mom and sister) greatly. I guess dealing with the stresses and the pressures of that my dad failed and a way that like our home was quite an abusive home.
So if explain like your story with like sensitivity, I want to be able to do the same life.
It's my mom's birthday tomorrow so I wanna honor my mum like how my sister.
It was difficult for my dad like domestic violence in a home, my dad used to be on my mom and like a young ages I saw things up, I shouldn't is seen. My dad had put my mom in positions like a man and especially a husband and a father she never put his children in and the levels are of a beast that my mum suffered were over horrendous.
Pastor G: What was the result?
Derek: So as a result of that, by this time they came to a point where I was about 11,12 my mum, me and my sister, we decided that we're gonna have to leave because it was too much for us at this one particular point to take that involves like police, in opposed.
We gotta move into a refuge hostel. I was tough, because we're all in this one room and we're having to come, to terms and deal with how it feels for each of us? like what it is that we're going through? and it was tough because I am 12.
I don't know what world of light. So felt like I've got a physical presence and I can take care of myself, but there were times I felt a bit of a guilt I didn't look after my mum and that was heavy, that was really heavy.
Pastor G: So as he grew up and into teenage years, you've obviously giants that you dad already shows you, left for you, they suddenly started perhaps impacting What that look like?
Derek: I guess a man's job in in the home is to make his children feel safe. I never really felt safe.
It was hard dealing with trusting people. Probably still now I find it harder to trust people. It's because of that I probably ignored it and probably felt that wasn't a reason but if I'm totally honest with myself that was definitely the reason why I find hard to trust people.
I built up walls to try and make myself feel safe. Sometimes when people are looking after me and my best interest in terms of decisions are question a lot, I'm not too sure why people are doing things. I can get really paranoid, growing up in a home with violence I guess that came to be sort of quite common in my life after.
I just didn't have that male forces like figure in my life to tell me like you can't walk like on this pathway. I made some terrible decisions and getting involved in the life of like selling drugs and being around the wrong type of crowd without a male for a figure to tell me that this isn't the best God's got for your life.
Pastor G: Some of violence was allowed you to start this?
Derek: From 18 to 24 like intermittent that's the life that I was walking in and not to incriminating. People that I've grown up with lost their lives. I've seen bodies go cold in front of me. I lost some of my summer best and closest friends.
Pastor G: So you have a choice to either repeat what you've seen, and you were pretty much set on that path of perhaps going down a place of destruction or change. What was the moment that really grabbed you to thought I've got to make some choices here.
Derek: I lost the couple of friends and I moved to Cardiff. My uncle was living just outside of Cardiff. Again, I was still intermittently just involved and stuff and things got really like really, really, really serious.
I had to help a lot friends, back home. It was in a position again where my life was under threat. My beautiful wife Irene told me that She was pregnant. My first child is gonna be born and I asked God to help me, because it was either I'm gonna be in prison, sleeping next to people do in life annoying or like I won't even be here anymore. Time's have been close to that.
God just stripped everything. Money that I had, friends or poor people that I was associated with, God just took all of that. I had nothing.
So when my first daughter was born, I was actually living in a hostel. So it's like 12 years early and I'm living in a hostel with me my mom and my sister.
But I just asking God like what's happening? what's going on my way and my family? my first child is about to be born. I just broke down. I just let her to take a control to this situation.
Pastor G: what happened next? you got invited to the Church?
Derek: yeah so Irene was coming to Freedom Church Cardiff. It was at the University and it was in the evenings. At that time when she was born I decided to go back to University. Saturday Sunday evening, I am not be working, so on a Sunday evening Irene go to church.
Really I wasn't really on coming to church, I was trying to get a lift home.
Pastor G: And the funny thing is the series that you came in on was called Prison Break, very real for you, listen up here but how profound that was because you were in a place really where you were in prison and you walked into church, because we got to realize there's people coming in and the proof like the place that you were living in a shelter by yourself, everything stripped away. God start speaking but more important you start responding.
Derek: yeah I just sort of make a choice, I didn't really want to go back again. Because my mom had planted certain seeds in me that I've never departed and so at least although my life was going a certain way.
When you're speaking, we were watching. You're speak in there certain things that I hid in my soul but which I know that it's for me. I decided to put my hand up. I think of myself too good. I remember, I think Dave was doing a response and it just hit me hard and I knew that it was my time to respond. I remember I think the Salvation prayer with Dave and I was just crying man, just crying because I felt like okay God, I'm coming home. I never knew at home.
Pastor G: There were like from that point it obviously wasn't a quick fix, there was a decisions to make, you had to work out, what's a relationship look like?
Derek: yeah and and it's good that you've got people around you can help. there's Dave, Chris. Sometimes when I tell this story I have noticed when I sitting down, sometimes I do God the service of speaking about what he's done in my life. So if I get upset and I cry. Because I feel like I just have to empty, the powered across and what God's light done luck in my life.
I never get too familiar with it but I've been walking around with this stuff and felt it never like stuff that I've been carrying wasn't going to impact me in a way that I don't feel safe or I don't trust people. It had a massive effect.
I'm grateful for people like being able to help me make those decisions or show me what the right decision looks like for a life for a man.
My relationship with Irene at the time wasn't the best. So even sometimes even if people weren't saying stuff to me directly they're giving me an example of a godly marriage light looks like. We had to let God do the work in the both of us.
I want all my children to feel safe around me. The safety around me that I never had from my dad. My mom did everything that she could do, and she's done a fantastic job. But I need that from my dad.
Pastor G: you proposed and you got married?
Derek: yeah I proposed.
Pastor G: It was a huge thing, You have to fight those giants, you came back from where it looked like it was over. But you're sat here today, because of years of you committing to change, your decisions of change and you also have another daughter.
Pastor G:
Look at this family here, God's in the business of like, even where you were in your desperation, never ever left you. He saw the potential in you and your family and a Donna because she wasn't yet there and yet God sees the children in your children and he sees that you have an incredible future together.
A couple that were affect other marriages, a couple that will affect other people in similar situations and right now God has completely transformed your life. But it was because you chose to fight the Giants and say I'm not gonna make it an excuse, I don't want to be a man of excuse but I wanna be a man of action.
So to finish what's your vision for your family?
Derek: My vision for my family is for my children to know that I love them, for them to be feel safe, for them feel protected just like God has the best balance and purpose for our lives that I do for them as well.
Pastor G: What would you say to anyone that might be in a difficult place thinking, I don't think I can break away from my past history?.
Derek: I guess you don't really have to think that you've got audience answers because God knows all the answers for you. Just place your trust in him with your heart. Maybe or even if you don't understand them just fall on your knees at him, he's got you.
Pastor G: We want to thank Dell Sharon, thank you man.
Okay guys, stay stood where we are that was a powerful story. I want us to see that this is a reality what I'm preaching. We could get probably dozens if not hundreds of stories. But, Church realize that we have a God that transforms lives.
Every generational curse is broken by a generational choice.
Because I've heard for too long people say, oh well we got a bit of a curse in the family or we got this thing that just seems to pass on and on. do you know what? Christ has empowered you to break a generational curse by what? by your generational choice.
I want you to grab hold of that because you know you can go away and just think when we pray maybe I'm gonna feel a warm fuzzy feeling I'll say when Derek responded, it was then the hard work started, he made a decision to say I'm not going back, but he made a decision to start living a life that was different to the one he'd seen.
So guys it comes through a choice, you can change today the pattern that's been up to this point, you can change it. Christ gives us the power to do that right now.
I believe that God wants to challenge us, every one of us and ask this question what Giants did you inherit? maybe there are some things that you know you got to recognize them, don't ignore them. and what are the ones you're feeding?
They might be new Giants through experiences you had that you've allowed in. what are you feeding?
God says will you choose today to defeat the giant? will you choose today to come in and contend with him?
Prayer:
I believe it starts here with the decision to choose, to deal with and confront the giant, perhaps that was left to you, you were left with some giants to fight. Maybe today, you're here and you're thinking yeah actually I've let some Giants in. what about the giant of lust that overtakes my life? you're gonna pass that home? you're gonna deal with it?.
So right now as I want to ask eyes are closed every location wherever we are, God sees your response. To deal with the Giant, you've got a light take charge, you've got to take action, so I just want to ask you if this is for you today, you recognize the Giant, you recognize what they are, and today you're saying I choose to make choices to change the pattern today, change the pattern. Will you raise your hand where you are? when you raise your hand reach out at God say yes I recognize it. I'm recognizing today that there's a pattern that there are giants that I'm actually quite friendly with, because you just put up with them. Today you're saying no more they become your friends, they're not your friends that are there to destroy your life. would you respond and put up your hands? and say yes this is for me, if you're struggling, I encourage you take charge raise your hand, raise it to God and say see me, this is my defiance of the Giant. I'm saying I don't want to be on repeat. I want to bring a new freedom today. I want to see life come today.
So Father right now I pray across every location, I pray in this room now by the power of your Holy Spirit, I come against every generational curse in Jesus name. I break the back of the curse, and the pattern, the cyclical pattern that says we will just repeat. We rebuke you today and I come now in Jesus name and we do battle with you and we defy you in Jesus name, and we say no weapon will prosper against us in Jesus name. so I come now and I sever roots from grandparents, roots from parents we pull them up and we say giant be killed be slain in Jesus name. We choose to turn around and we choose life, we choose Jesus, we choose Trust, trust in faith in you Lord. God so right now Holy Spirit I was asked that you start healing people. Father the healing in a way that no therapy can contend with, healing in a way that delivers people from anxiety today in Jesus name, the heals people from his insecurity today in Jesus name, heals people from abuse in Jesus name today, so will you pour out because of the cross because of the cross, will you pour out right now pour out upon your people. Oh God I'm asking you will you bring healing and freedom like never before, and the boldness to make decisions of saying, I'm not repeating I'm a new creation in Jesus name.
Amen.
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