The Stuff We're Stuck With.

We are continuing our series today called This Is My Story. We have been looking at stories in the Old Testament specifically the four generations: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. We've been following their family line through this lens of recognizing that they were all born into a story. They were born into something God was doing.

The reality is that we are born into a story ourselves. Recognizing that even today, each and every one of us woke up and lived a day. Some of you are telling me as you walked in that you biked here and had a great time doing that. Other people are telling me of the ways you spent time outside, the things you did. We all lived a life, we had a story today. And when we come we bring that story with us. We're entering into the story of the person sitting next to us.

And when we walk into this place we are entering into the story God has been writing for all of eternity. We're going to read Scripture today starting in Genesis 25 and Genesis 27. It's a good chunk so brace yourself. But this is going to be the framework for how we continue to walk through this story.

I do want to point out as you find that, Genesis 25. If you have your Bibles and if you don't we have Bibles out by the welcome table we'd love to give you. We also have this reading plan at the welcome table for the four weeks we've been going through this series if you want to read these stories during the week so you know all the details in between.

We're going to start here in Genesis chapter 25 verses 19 through 34. This is the story of Jacob and Esau.

This is the account of Abraham's son, Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan and Aram and the sister of Laban and Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her and she said why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you will be separated. One people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger. When the time came for her to give birth there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red and his whole body was like a hairy garment so they named him Esau. After this his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel so he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. The boys grew up and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country while Jacob was a quiet man staying among the tents. Isaac who had a taste for wild game loved Esau but Rebekah loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking some stew Esau came in from the open country famished. He said to Jacob quick let me have some of that red stew. I'm famished. That is why he was also called Edom. Jacob replied first sell me your birthright. Look I'm about to die Esau said. What good is this birthright to me? But Jacob said swear to me first. So he swore an oath to him selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Genesis 25:19-34

We're going to flip over to Genesis chapter 27 now and if you haven't read 26 I encourage you to do that this week. Starting in verse 1:

Now when Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see he called for Esau his older son and said to him my son. Here I am he answered. Isaac said I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. Now then get your weapons your quiver go hunt for some wild game for me. Prepare for me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat that I may give you my blessing before I die. Now Rebekah who was the mother and Isaac's wife was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back Rebekah said to her son Jacob look I overheard your father say to your brother Esau bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food so that I may give your blessings in the presence of the Lord before I die. What we see happen here is Rebekah goes in and tells Jacob let's go and let's trick your father into thinking that you are your brother Esau so that he will give you the blessing instead. This happens and we're going to pick up in verse 15. Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son which she had in the house and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with goat skins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she made. He went to his father and said my father. Yes my son he answered. Who is it? Jacob said to his father I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you have told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing. Isaac asked his son How did you find it so quickly? The Lord your God gave me success he replied. And Isaac goes on to give Jacob the blessing that belonged to Esau.

Genesis 27:1-31

Let's pray. Heavenly Father we thank you so much for your word today. We thank you for these stories, maybe familiar, maybe it's the first time we're hearing them. These are stories of people that one day were here walking on this earth following you. We can learn from this today. So God I pray that your Holy Spirit would help these words to come alive to us. Would you show us the ways that you have been working and gone before us in our stories, in our lives, and the ways that you are inviting us to continue to be faithful and obedient to you and the things that you have promised us and the things that you have given us in our hands God. We ask this in your name, Amen.

How we became who we are

So the big takeaway of this passage and this teaching is this: patterns may inform your past but do not have to form your future.

What we're seeing in these stories is that there are patterns that took place from generation to generation. There were things that were passed down, both positive and negative. These patterns were passed down from mothers to mothers and sons to sons and brothers to brothers.

When we go back and look to the past of our story and who we are and our family that we were born into we can start to see different patterns. Those patterns can inform you. How did I become the way that I am? But they do not have to form your future because we can be transformed through the power of Jesus.

So when we're talking about this idea of going back to going forward I want you to think about today in your own story, in the family that you were born into. How did you become the person that you are? Why do you do laundry the way that you do it? Why do you walk the way that you walk or talk the way that you talk? Who are you and how did you become that person? Who were those people that formed you?

A story that my mom has told is that when I was getting ready to walk, just crawling, getting ready to walk, she was so concerned about like okay are her legs okay are her feet okay are her toes okay, is she going to be able to walk okay? She takes me to the doctor all concerned. The doctor looked at her and said no she's going to walk fine but she'll walk like you.

It's this moment right of like oh okay she's going to walk like me because that's my mother. She's the one that I watched walk. She's the one that grew me in her womb. So I'm going to walk like her. I'm going to look like her. We are formed by the people around us and we're going to walk like the people that we watch, that we see the most.

So if we want to be people that walk like Jesus we can go back to our past and look to say are there patterns that are negative that have formed who I am that I need to now leave? And are there new patterns of Jesus that I need to now walk in so that I can look and live like him?

Patterns passed down

We're going to summarize a little bit of kind of how we got here to this story. So we see earlier in Genesis 12 through about 16 the covenant and God's promise with Abraham. He took him out and he said I'm going to bless the nations through you. He said count the stars, as many stars as you see in the sky, that's how many descendants you are going to have.

Then we also read the covenant that God does the same thing with Isaac. After Abraham dies he says to Isaac hey now I have this promise for you. The nations are going to be blessed through you. Then we're going to later read about how God makes the promises to Jacob and then how that carries on through Joseph and eventually we get to Jesus.

So all of this is pointing to Jesus. All of this is pointing to him coming and drawing people to him. But we're reading now of Abraham's family line. We're reading about the patterns and the struggles that they had. Some of the struggles we see between Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, this brotherly rivalry that played out with Joseph and all his brothers. We see this idea of lying and problem taking control, things under their own hands.

These are all patterns that were passed down. Patterns that could have just informed them if they paid attention, to the things they should turn from, but instead they were passed down.

### The negative patterns

So we're going to start with some of the negative patterns. The first is this: there is a pattern in this family line of centering their lives around fulfilling God's promise over being present with the one who made the promise.

We see this with Abraham and Sarah. They knew God promised them he was going to bless the nations through them and through Abraham. A son is coming but rather than waiting and being present with God and who he was, they took the problem in their own hands. They said our whole life is going to be, how do we have a son? How do we fulfill this promise?

We see this here with the blessing of Jacob that we read about. I look at Rebekah here in this story and how she chose to make the blessing happen. God told her in Genesis 25:22 that the children struggled together within her. She says if this is so why is this happening to me? She goes to the Lord. She's praying, she's talking to God. That's when God said two nations are in your womb and two people from within you shall be divided.

So this is happening. She's being told they are going to be divided. I want you to note this here in Scripture. In Genesis 25 starting in verse 22 God spoke and said they will be divided. Then later in Genesis 25 we also read the story of Esau coming to Jacob hungry. Jacob said I'll only feed you if you sell me your birthright. What a good brother in that moment.

Esau did it. He gave his birthright to his brother. Then as we read, Jacob and Rebekah make sure to trick Isaac to ensure that Jacob gets the blessing.

Here's what's happening. The Lord told Rebekah what was going to happen. The Lord said they're going to be divided. The Lord did not say quote go make this happen. Devote your life to making this happen. God was describing what was happening. He wasn't commanding that Rebekah make sure the brothers are divided.

It's also interesting to note that later Jacob, whose name will be changed to Israel, would someday experience his own famine. In the same way when his brother was experiencing famine and hungry, Jacob took advantage of him. Later you're going to see that he was in famine and going and it was his son Joseph who his brother sold into captivity and slavery that then provided for him and fed him. That's where we're going to get next week as we continue in this of seeing how we can change the narrative.

But how often do we see our role as coming up with these strategic plans when in reality our role is to lean in, to listen to the Spirit of God and to surrender to whatever he is doing in that present moment?

I want that to sit in for a moment. How often do we hear something that God has told us or invited us into and our go-to is okay how do I come up with the best strategy to make this happen when really the invitation is how do I listen? How do I get closer to God so that I know how to surrender to what his Spirit is doing? What are the things that the Lord has promised you? And how is he inviting you to participate in the story that he's writing?

Are there any ways that here in this moment you've started to center your life around fulfilling the promises rather than being present with the one who's made the promise? The one who has the power to fulfill the promise?

I talk about this often. It's a weird thing like as a pastor, pastoring a church where I love this church and I love being your pastor. But this is not the goal in life. And this is not the promise fulfilled, right? The goal is always Jesus. The mission is always to make disciples and to make his name known. For now at this moment in my life it looks like this. It may not always look like this.

But things shift and change. Sometimes yes there are moments where I knew God was inviting me to move to this city. That was a promise he said hey come here. There are things for you to do here. I said yes right? And when we said yes to starting this church and bringing this community together there were promises and there are things he has fulfilled along the way.

But at the end the goal is his presence. The goal is his name being lifted high. This is not the dream come true right here. It's just a small part of the story. We have to remember that.

### Fighting for control

The next negative pattern I want to talk about is that they fought to control the narrative rather than surrender the narrative to the one who is in control. At some point in each of our lives we will have to choose to surrender the narrative to the one who is in control. So quickly the promises of God can become idols in our lives and we start to base our identities on them.

These stories are describing what took place and God used every single detail for his glory. But we have to be careful here sometimes when we read about these stories in the Old Testament. I don't know if God's desire was for them to lie and connive and come up with these manipulative plans in order to make something happen. It's describing what happened.

This is why reading the Bible in context and as a whole is so important. We need to understand God's greater character throughout Scripture. We've got to read the whole story and get to Jesus right? And watch how he lived and how that compares.

What would have happened if they just let it be? What would have happened if they didn't force the birthright? Could it be, and I don't know, this is me just making things up, right? This isn't in Scripture and any outside commentaries. But could it be that maybe God was going to speak to Isaac in the same way he did to Rebekah and say actually I want the birthright to go to this son and we're going to change things up here?

But instead of waiting for how God was going to write the story they said okay we know this is going to happen so we have to make this happen now. Our whole lives are going to be centered around coming up with a strategic plan to make God's promises come to pass rather than surrendering to God's Spirit at work and what he's doing.

I want to go back here to Genesis 26 when the Lord said to Isaac do not go down to Egypt. Dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. I will be with you and I will bless you for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. Your offspring and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, my laws.

It's in Genesis 26 we see that promise with Isaac that mirrors that promise with Abraham.

I brought some props with me today. Okay here's the thing. When it comes to passing on the generational blessings, the generational curses, the patterns in our lives, yeah it takes two right? It's a team effort. It's not just one person that is in control here.

If I have this ball in my hand and I catch it I now have a responsibility. I can choose to keep it. I could not catch it and I could drop it or I can choose to throw it. Now it's out of my hands and nobody caught it but they picked it up. Right? Nobody caught it but then they picked it up.

See here's the thing. I am in control when I catch it. I'm in control of whether I choose to catch it and then what I choose to do with it. Will I pass it on? Will I keep it going? But once it's out of my hands I played my part and I surrender to the greater story again.

This is what we see happening here in Genesis 26. Abraham, God made a promise to Abraham and Abraham said yeah I'm going to catch that. I'm going to take that one. I got it. And then after Abraham, Isaac had a choice. God's saying this blessing is going to be passed down through you. You ready? You want it? And Isaac said yes.

Then who's next in line? Esau. And it tells us here that in a moment of weakness, in a moment of desperation, in a moment of hunger, he has the blessing right here and he decides he's going to let it go and it's done. And then Jacob picks it up and now it's in his hands.

You see we have a choice in what we do. We see this pattern of this promise being made to Abraham of God saying I'm going to bless nations. I want to use you. I want you to be a part of this story and I will be with you always. He says that to Isaac. Then where do we see when Jesus shows up? What does he do?

Some of his last words, he's with his disciples, the people he took along with him. He said now go make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, teach them to obey all that I commanded you and surely I will be with you always. Jesus is looking at his disciples. He's saying all right I did the thing. I died, I paid the price for all your sins, I'm raised back to life, here you go. Are you ready to catch it? Are you ready to pass it?

Are you ready to keep this thing going? Do you see the similarities here in saying that I am going to bless nations. I'm going to draw people to me. Here are the patterns of these promises. Then the response was someone has to obey and be faithful to that. Be faithful to pass it on. Be faithful to keep it going. But the promise remains. The real thing that we're after, I will be with you always. His presence.

### Our role in God's story

Each and every one of us we have a role to play in the story that God has been writing for all of eternity. This story of reconciling and bringing all people back into relationship with him, to call them sons, to call them daughters, to call them children. Jesus invites us to participate in what he is doing. But we have to choose.

Are we ready to catch it? And then once we do are we ready to pass it on? Because I can spend my whole life practicing, warming up, working on my aim, because sorry that second one was just really bad. Nobody was there where I threw it at all right? But I could practice. That could have been the best throw of my life but if nobody over here catches it I can't control that.

But I can say okay God what's next? Where else? What else are you inviting me into in this moment? Will you catch it and will you pass it on?

Again the patterns of those promises we see is there's a promise made. There's an obedience to the invitation that is required. And then that reassurance that I will be with you. It's a team effort. Jesus used his last words for this.

I want you to catch a few more things here. When we're talking about surrendering the responsibility, Isaac in these moments he was being deceived. He didn't really know what was happening. So he was playing his part. He was trying to do and be obedient to what God was asking him to do. But he was deceived.

Which shows us again that there's sometimes that we can get it completely right. But we have to then surrender the outcome to God. Because then what can start to happen is that we can fixate and we can center our lives around trying to make sure everyone we're trying to love and pour into and invest in is doing everything right and perfectly the way that we expected them to. And that creates a whole other set of patterns and problems.

We have to be obedient to the invitations, faithful to the next steps, and then surrender to what God is doing.

### What we can learn from Esau

The final thing that I want to look at is I want to go back to that moment when we read in Genesis 25 of the birthright and Esau in the moment where he sold his birthright.

Here's what I think we can learn from him in this moment. He was hungry. He was tired. It says he's worn out. When we're tired and hungry sometimes anything looks good right? They tell you don't go shopping hungry because you're going to buy anything and everything. I'm definitely that person.

But I want to ask you today do you make decisions out of desperation or desire to be faithful to God? When you make a decision in your life is it out of a desire to be faithful to God or is it a desire to just feed whatever you crave in that moment? When you make a decision is it to surrender to God or is it just to sustain you for that few moments?

Esau gave up his birthright for a meal. And I read that and I'm like that must have been the best meal of your life. If you gave up letting the promises of God Almighty bless the nations through you, that had to have been an incredible meal.

But in that moment did he see it like that? In his moment of desperation he just wanted a meal. He wanted to be fed. When we are tired, when we are hungry, how are we making our decisions? Are we simply making decisions out of a desire to feed what we need in that moment or to continue to be faithful to God? Because it's in this moment of decision that he chose to eat this meal for this moment and in turn forfeited his birthright.

This is a tough one to think about because sometimes when we're in these moments of being hungry and tired we can be so desperate that we're like God we just want something fast and we want something now.

But that was Sarah when she was barren and she's like I just need a son so we can get this thing over with this promise going. She said here's Hagar right? That was Rebekah. When she's barren she's like God please please provide. And all of a sudden she's pregnant with twins and he speaks and they're like let's just make these things happen.

When we're tired when we're desperate we can find ourselves making decisions based on fulfilling desires rather than surrendering to what God is doing. And when I read these stories I can't help but wonder the difference it would have made if instead of being obsessed with their future reality they recognized and remembered the God of the past and how he delivered them right there into that present moment.

They would have heard stories of God. They were living for hundreds of years right? They would have been sitting with like great-great-grandpa hearing stories of how God moved. What would it look like in their moments of desperation if they paused and looked back and remembered where they saw God in the past and that he was the same God of the present and that he was the same God that was going to continue to fulfill every single promise in the future. How would that have changed their decisions in that moment?

Patterns transformed

So I want to move now to talk about these positive patterns that we see. We see that God did fulfill every single promise. Generations to generations he fulfilled it. He did the thing like Jesus came. The promised one came. Abraham and Isaac then Jacob the 12 sons. We see God restored relationship after relationship after relationship. He restored it.

We look back at even when we talked about Hagar and he brought restoration to her. He provided for her. He took care of her. And he always provided a way out. God always provides a way out over and over again.

I think of Joseph when he's in prison, thinking that this is it and it's over for nothing that I did or deserved and I'm here. And then a way out comes for him to not only be released from prison but for him to then be like royalty and providing for his family.

You see the enemy wants us so badly to stay stuck in the past but God wants to see us be set free. He wants to see us take the good that has been passed down and continue to replicate that. God redeemed every single story and God still wants to continue to redeem ours.

So what positive patterns have you seen in your life? When you look back and think who am I? Why am I this way? Who are the people that formed you? What are those things that you're proud to say? Like this is where I come from. This is who I am.

One of the tools and resources we've been talking about is the genogram. You can Google it. There are different templates but essentially it takes you through this process of going back to look at your past so you can continue to move forward into what God's asking you to do. To look back not to stay there but to say God is there anything that I need healing from? Is there anything that has been passed down for generations that maybe I didn't even know, like this is a pattern in my family line? I encourage you to do that.

But one of the things, the first time I did this, that was positive that I learned was I often get asked as a woman who is a pastor people will be like oh when did you decide you wanted to do that? How did that come to be? And forever I was like I don't really know because I never saw and nobody in my family was a pastor. I never saw in my life really a female pastor like this. So I'm like I really don't know. Why am I the way that I am? How did we get here? It wasn't anything I ever thought or could see.

But then I started to look back on my genogram at my family tree. I go back to on my great-grandmother's side. She was widowed in her early 40s and I saw her continue to live this thriving life and provide for herself.

Both of my grandmothers on my family's side, my mom's mom, who I knew, she my entire life, I saw her. She worked at a bank. We'd go visit grandma at the bank and get our little lollipops. Sometimes she'd take us back in the safes. So I saw her be at home and be this faithful woman of God and I saw her working.

At her funeral I heard stories after stories of like the Bible studies that she led that like none of us even really knew about. We're like grandma was leading Bible study? Like what? And people are like oh I was in her Bible study for this. So I saw women leading in that type of way.

I saw even though I didn't know her I saw and heard stories of my grandmother on my dad's side, his mom, who immigrated here from Ukraine, who worked on a labor farm and then eventually was a seamstress in Chicago. So I heard stories of the things she had to overcome, coming to this new land and learning a new language and all of these things.

So I look back at these patterns. I'm like wow I have a pattern in my life of having the freedom to be exactly who God has created me to be. I never thought that like oh because I'm a girl I can't do anything because of the women that I saw in my life. It looked different but I started to see that there is a history of God setting people free. There's a history of healing. There's a history of provision. There's a history of overcoming hardships in my family. A history of people being redeemed and restored.

It was my grandmother on my mom's side who was the first person as a little girl to surrender her life to Jesus and then to take her kids to church when her husband was not yet following the Lord. She continued to lead the way for her family to come to know Jesus.

When you look back at those patterns you go wow God before I was even born there was a story that was happening and now I'm a part of this. And when we come to follow Jesus we are now grafted into his family tree and we can say that this is our story. A story of redemption. A story of being redeemed. A story of being set free. A story of saying will you join me now in my mission of seeking and saving all that are far from me?

### Going forward

So as we close I want you to think of how can we remember the good patterns, the things that are in your life? How can you look back to see where God has been present with you?

Now we're going to do a few things today. I wanted us to close with our big takeaway which is what is this all about today? Our past can inform us but it does not have to form us right? So now what do we do with that?

Well I want to encourage all of you to think through is there a new pattern that you can start? So go back and see what are the patterns that I need to break in my life? Are there patterns in my family of things that are happening and have happened that I need to pray that God would break, to be healed from? And then what is one pattern when it comes to following the way in the life of Jesus that I can start and add to my life?

We talk about this a lot at church but one of the things that we have is called a rule of life which is a set of practices that we seek to follow based on the life of Jesus. One of them is to end our day in prayer and examine. So today I want to lead us through this practice of examine together as hopefully a way that we can practice this together.

When you do it at home maybe you've done it before maybe you haven't it won't be that crazy or that scary. But part of what we've been doing is we go back and we learn about Abraham and we learn about his family and we're learning about the past so that we can continue to move forward and to be healed from it.

Part of examine is to do this daily where you take a minute to pause and you go back throughout your day and you ask the Lord to show you where he was. Show me okay what was I feeling in these moments? What was I bringing into that moment? And God where were you?

Then the next thing is you take a moment to just rejoice, to just fix your eyes on Jesus. Maybe the Lord will show you where he was. If you're like I was really stressed and anxious in this meeting today, that's the emotion that is like speaking the loudest. Maybe God will speak to you of where he was.

And if not just start to thank him and then a moment of repentance to say God is there any way today that I have been not following you? Is there any way that I have stepped away and turned from you? And will you show me? Will you convict me so I don't have to stay here but now I can be set free and turn to you? I can ask for your forgiveness. And then I love to end in gratitude again, rejoicing again and fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Because what we see with the Old Covenant it ended when Jesus came. So how do we break an old pattern? We replace it with a new one. So one of the best things that you can do if there are patterns in your life that you're like I want to be done with this I want it gone is to then instead replace it. Not just leave yourself there so then you're empty but replace it with a new pattern in following the way of Jesus.

### The invitation

So I'm going to invite you to stand tonight and I'm going to invite you to if you're comfortable close your eyes, open them, but just position yourself in a posture to just say Holy Spirit would you come and would you speak? We're just going to take a few moments and walk through this.

The first step is to just replay to think about your day. What emotions have you felt? What conversations have you had? Where have you felt joy today? Has anything made you anxious? Just take a moment and Holy Spirit would you come? As you replay you can also just begin to ask God would you show me where you were at today?

And the next is just to rejoice to begin to practice that gratitude and to just tell the Lord how grateful you are. Thank him for where you've seen him whether that be today or another day. And the next is a moment of repentance to say God is there any way that I have been following patterns that are leading me far from you rather than close to you? Is there any way that I've turned from you today? Holy Spirit would you come right now and would you show me?

And as he does that I just invite you to ask that forgiveness and to make that choice to turn towards him again. Come Holy Spirit and then finally to just end and respond once again with that rejoicing and that gratitude. To say God you are holy and you are worthy. It's your presence that we long for that we live for.

So Jesus we do that today. We just thank you that you have invited us to be a part of your story. We thank you for the ways that you continue to give us opportunities to go back not to stay there but to be healed and to be set free. We thank you Jesus.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates you will die. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful. Instead you have received God's spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him Abba Father. For his spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are his children we are his heirs. In fact together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory we must also share his suffering.

Romans 8:12-17

God we thank you today that that is our inheritance to share in your glory. That no matter where we came from that you have invited us to be a part of your family. And you have invited us to be a part of your mission now to continue to share that love and the hope and the good news of your Gospel with everyone around us.

God I pray today for anyone in this place that is processing things from the past that needs healing, that needs to be broken. Holy Spirit would you do that even now in this moment? And would you continue to speak to us throughout our weeks of the things that we need to let go and leave in the past? The things that we need to continue to say that's maybe who I was but that's not who I am. That may be where I came from but that's not where I'm going.

God we pray that you would continue to help us to know how can we prepare that when the promises are coming, that when there are invitations for us to be obedient to your spirit, that we can catch it and we can pass it and we can be obedient and we can be faithful to whatever it is that you are inviting us to do? Because we recognize here today that we just play a small role in the story that you have been writing for all of eternity. We surrender it to you.

In your son's Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.