Family Ties All Strings Attached (Part 2)

0:00 Good morning, Transformation Church. Is anybody excited to be in the house of God this morning? Yo, I am so pumped up that you are in the building. Thank you for coming this morning. I don't care how you got here. If you wanted to come, if somebody bribed you to come, it's all good. We've been praying for you. This is not an accident. We think this is a convergence Of everything that you've been going through in your week and god answering a prayer and meeting you at a place that you may not even know You need to be met today. So i'm just telling you today's service. It's a setup And and I believe god is going to do something so awesome in our hearts and our minds today God's been speaking to me all week And this is my favorite time of the week because I get to share with you what I believe is going to transform your life and another layer. So could you do me a favor? I want to pray before we start today because a seed is no good if it does not go into soil. And a lot of people's hearts are hard right now.

1:04 Like when we start talking about these issues that get close to our hearts, a lot of times it's like, that ain't me. That ain't happened to me. I'm going to act like it didn't happen to me. And we're shut off. But today I believe God wants to do something if we'll let God soften our heart and be able to do a work. So could you do this for me as we start at every service, at every location? Would you just put out your hands like you're ready to receive? And I want to pray for you right now. Father, I thank you right now for every person under the sound of my voice. Today, you want to speak to us, Father God, and we say your servant is listening. Whatever you want to say, however you want to do it, however it impacts our life, God, I thank you that today you're going to change us from the inside out. And I declare and I decree that everything that would cause our hearts to be hard, Father, the past hurts, frustration, we silence those lies right now. And we declare, Father, that we can hear what you want to say.

1:59 Speak to us today in Jesus' name. We agree? Amen. Let's give God some praise in the building. Oh, come on, give him praise in the building. Hallelujah. Well today we are starting part two of a series we are calling all strings attached and if you were not here last week all I need you to do is go to YouTube and watch the sermon again because we started in like we dove all the way in on the first week and the title of the message was daddy issues. And I know that's something that we don't talk about a lot But but and some of y'all like I don't have daddy issues before you you make that assumption Please go back and and watch that message because I believe it's the the foundation To surgery that god wants to do to make us into the best version of who he's called us to be And the reason we're doing this series is because right now culturally we're in a season or a time where romantic love is celebrated Everywhere okay let's let's just Take a poll real quick because we're a hot church humble Open and transparent how many people In a relationship had an awesome Valentine's Day Dang Dang we need Prayer amen okay How many people not in a relationship Had an awesome Valentine's Day I just ate Cheerios and ice cream and I was good and I watched Netflix.

3:33 Okay. Cool. The only reason I'm bringing any of this up right now is because we decided in this time where culture focuses on romantic love to talk about all the relationships that affect romantic love. See see the problem really is as I counsel people and I listen to people's issues is that the romantic love that they're trying to find get into stuck in a chain to whatever you consider it right now. It always starts with other foundational relationships that have honestly as I look at it been damaged and there are relationships that come way before you ever get in a romantic relationship. It's like family family relationship father relationships friendships and I think because those are areas of our life have been damaged a lot of times we look to our romantic relationship to save us from what was damaged from a very young age. The problem is that relationship problems aren't really relationship problems.

4:42 They're single problems that two broken single people bring to a relationship, and then they put it on each other to try to fix each other, and only God can fix you. And so what we decided to do is talk about these relationships because I believe if we're going to have a successful romantic relationship one day, Or you want a better romantic relationship between a husband and a wife or a fiance and boyfriend girlfriend whatever you're at right now I think we got to deal with some real issues And the truth is we found out last week is everybody got daddy issues Everybody say everybody No, no, no, I didn't say everybody. I want it with ebonics everybody Everybody got daddy issues But we found out that we need the father fix That father god has made a way for all of our daddy issues not to be our excuse But for our daddy issues to be dealt with by our father god So I just want to go ahead and take this to another layer today And I need you to get ready buckle your seat belt because we just gonna go right into this today. We're talking about families And you already know some people's like, uh-oh Because your family crazy Like like how many of y'all know that your family is just a little a little somebody said families are like fudge It's usually sweet, but there's a couple of nuts. Do you hear what i'm saying? Like like like like your family crazy There's people that you don't even want to introduce them to your family And oh, yeah, some of y'all is like yep never coming to my family reunion uncle, right? Right Not happening like And honestly, I want to talk about it. And this is the title of today's message. Write this down family ties Because we talk about all strings attached and people want relationships with no strings attached And there is no such thing and what ends up happening is all the relationships you've ever been in They they they can attach to you and you now are 38 years old dealing with things that you've been attached to since you were eight The way you respond in an argument did not start when you turned 38

6:51 It started when you were eight years old And when you didn't get your way and you pouted and you threw stuff and that's how abuse started Because you used to punch walls back here But you never were able to deal with the issue and so now you punch people up here I'm coming straight forward today The way you run and hide every time something gets hard That didn't just start That's been the way you try to go please yourself. You used to eat ice cream when you were sad And now you try to go get sex with somebody when you're sad They're just different forms of pleasure But but these are all things that have been tied to you when you were a formative age And I just said god this is the year of what for transformation church release say it like you mean it This is our year of release and we cannot stay tied to things that God wants us free from unless we choose to. And the problem is that many of us don't know how to get free from the things that God is saying, hey, I'll take that.

7:56 And so today the title of the message is Family Ties. And this is going to show the generational difference in our church. And I love it. There was a show in the 80s called The Family Ties with Michael J. Fox. How many people remember that used to come on NBC? The millennials are like, what? Michael J. Who? Like he's the guy from Back to the Future. Back to the Future? What? Like I already know. But but but this was a sitcom from 1982 to 1989 about a dysfunctional family. And when I look at this the truth is so many of us are dealing with issues from our past and we have family ties That are now affecting our present and I'll have the opportunity to hinder our future and past I'm like Why are you talking about families? Why are you talking about family ties? Why are you doing all this right down my first point because identification precedes transformation if You cannot identify What's going on in your life? It can never truly be transformed And some of us are sitting up here so oblivious and naive to the issues that are in our lives right now And we don't want to deal with it. We don't want to talk about it We don't want anybody else to talk to us about it and god says I can't transform what you won't point at So your anger issue admit you got it No, no, no. I just handle things differently. You are you are the hulk And everybody in your family knows it except you Point at it and say this is how i've dealt with the situation, but this is the thing that I want god to release me from And so you have to identify look what proverbs 24 verse 3 says This is the wisest man that ever lived solomon talking and look what he says about how to build a strong family It says through wisdom a house is built That's how a family is made strong through wisdom and by understanding It's established by knowledge. The rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches

10:02 So so your house is going to be built if you have wisdom if you're going to have Understanding and if you're going to be able to walk in another level of knowledge Let's think about what it did not say how your family lasts sex and love do not make your family last And this is in our Society tells us that those are the things make sure you love Make sure y'all fall in love Make sure y'all, you know, I'm saying coming together normally Trying to censor myself up here y'all pray for me But but many times as I sit at a table with two couples who are about to get a divorce And they're they're they're about to sign the papers and you ask the wife he said do you love him? She's like yes, I love it So why are you getting a divorce because he cries? And then you ask the husband and do you love her? Yeah, I love her man. I'll do anything for her But so why are you getting a divorce because she's just like her mom So so so people aren't staying together Not because they don't have love for each other it's because they don't have wisdom and Understanding and knowledge about what it takes to actually be a family And that is why I got to talk about the family today Because what happens is if we do not build our families on the foundation of God What happens is two broken people come together have kids who then repeat the cycle of getting with another broken person and having kids And then they get with another broken person and have kids and then we're sitting here today hello

11:43 With all of these family ties Because nobody knew how to do it right or nobody stood up and did it by God's word But I believe there's about 700 people in the room that says ask for me in my house We're not gonna stay in this dysfunction. We're not gonna stay in this pain We're gonna serve the Lord can somebody give God in faith a shout of praise right there So let me help you as we talk about the family and your family ties somebody say my family ties This ain't for the person sitting next to you This is not for everybody on the road This is for you because I know a lot of the family issues in your life. Y'all don't even talk about anymore You already know your father's not your real father, but nobody said anything about it for years and so So we just keep that quiet You already know that there's some lie being told somewhere in the family line because you found a picture with a man that you didn't even know. Who is who is this mom?

12:44 But instead of working in truth. We just say we'd be better off and I see people moving right now. You're uncomfortable. I see you right now and some of you you came from a family who had everything but they taught you materialism. And so you thought success was you getting more stuff. Don't touch my boat. You can't drive my car. And you you you thought that success meant that you were being successful. And what ended up happening is you raised children that now are tied to materialism. And so I will rather get things to make me feel like I'm somebody instead of being who God's created me to be and feeling worth it just because of whose I am. I'm talking about real stuff right now And as we look at this the thing that you have to understand and maybe you've never seen this But as I begin to study the origin of the family I saw two very interesting facts that will really revolutionize your mind on how you think about family The first one family is the first institution ever established Before government Before the financial system Family God made the family the first institution ever But but let me tell you something that shocked me as I read through the Bible Family is the first institution ever attacked As soon as the family was introduced That's when the enemy came to attack it The Bible tells us throughout all of creation That Adam was on the earth well before Eve ever got there And the enemy never shows up until the man became one with the woman and the family was created and he just slither in.

14:35 Now, why would he come in when family came into place? It's because the family is the picture or the mirror of God on the earth. And all the enemy wants to do is pervert and distort what God calls good. And so the enemy slithers in and he asks a question. Did God really say? And that's the I don't know why I talk like that, but that's how the enemy came in. Like, did God really say like that's that's what I feel in my spirit. But but but when he came in, he came to attack the family. And his tricks have not changed And that's why he's been trying to get into your family through divorce and separation and hatred and pain and and secrets that nobody knows and hurts that nobody's dealt with and all this But i'm telling you today this is where god is saying i need the strings that have been attached to you that you don't even know are there I need you to give me permission to cut those things off of your life This is your year of release and you do not have to be that way forever.

15:40 And we get golf claps on that because you have just some some eyes your whole life. And this is just the way I am. And God's saying it's not the way you have to be. So this is this is what I want to give you. Because because when Adam and Eve were attacked. By Satan. Sin came in. And that three letter word produced dysfunction for all of us. When I get to heaven, me and Adam is going to have some words. Look what Romans 5.12 said. It says when Adam sinned, sin entered the whole world. Adam's sin brought death. So death spread to everyone for everyone's sin. So because of sin, I want you to write down my first real, real point. Everybody has a dysfunctional family Everybody No, I know You think everything is good with your family That's cool But because of sin There is dysfunction In your family And when I look at this You should be excited that I study the word Because as I begin to look at all of the families in the Bible You're in great company Because most families in the Bible Were severely dysfunctional And I'm talking about, I mean, Jerry Springer's summer edition, like crazy dysfunctional, but God still chose to use them.

17:11 So what I'm telling you right now is everybody's family is dysfunctional. But we got to find out how we can allow these family ties not to control our future, even though they've been tied to us in our past. And so I wanted to use a story in the Bible. There's a story of Jacob and a lot of people talk about Jacob from different standpoints, but I'm gonna try to give you like seven chapters of scripture in one small moment that I have right here. And I want you to start with me at Genesis chapter 30 verse 43. And it says as a result, Jacob became very wealthy. Well, let's stop right there. Pass the mic. He got money. So money should be able to fix all his issues. Let's just get more counseling Let's buy more things let's go on more trips See the reason I stopped here is because I don't care how much money you have It cannot numb the issues in your life It can't I don't care if you range rovered up I don't care if you live in a gated community I don't care I do not care You just have more money that will magnify what your real issue is If you're a liar you'll just be a more keen liar When you have money if you're greedy You'll just more greedy And I want to say that because many of us That have been in poverty before we somehow Think if we don't deal with our issues And just become successful then they'll Go away they'll just be magnified And I just Want everybody to see Jacob was still going to have tons of issues Even though he was wealthy he said He had large flocks sheep And goats which was the currency of the time He said he had he was a pimp he had Female and male servants This man had camels and donkeys just imagine him rolling up on cribs like what's up this jacob welcome to my house Like I want you to see like he had everything that by man's standards He was doing great look at um chapter 31 it says but jacob soon learned Isn't it funny that no matter where you're at you're gonna soon learn

19:17 No matter how great one season is God has a way of teaching us that we all need him and he said he would soon learn that he had some crazy family members. One of them was Laban and Laban was his father-in-law and Laban had some sons who were grumbling and complaining about him. Man, you see that fool Jacob? Man, he robbed our father of everything, bro, and that means less for us. Man, he's gained all his wealth from our daddy. And Jacob began to notice Laban was acting kind of funny. And he was like, hey, hold up. Oh, you used to be nice to me. Now you you crazy verse three Then the lord said to jacob return to the land of your father and your grandfather Well, if you know anything about the bible jacob's father and grandfather his father was isaac and his grandfather was abraham And and so he had some pretty strong lineage in his life So he said go back to their land the land of your relatives and I will be there with you verse four So Jacob called Rachel and Leah his two wives which were Laban's daughters that he married.

20:28 He said y'all daddy is tripping. Hear me. I don't want to be in this family no more. I don't want to deal with these dysfunctional issues no more. So we about to pack up our whole family. Your brothers think I'm stealing from him. And every time your dad came in he lowered my wages ten times. He cut my pay ten times. And I still stayed here. This is the extended version of what's happening in the Bible right now. And I still stayed here and served him and then he looking at me like there's some problems I'll swing on your daddy on sight if I see him and I'll beat your brothers up too But I'm gonna keep it cool, so we just gonna leave Gather y'all things Let's go And so that's in paraphrase what the Bible says That's the Michael living translation, the MLT version But all I'm trying to say is there was dysfunction in this family Okay Now the crazy thing about it, as I listened to this story Laban wasn't a really good dude He was a deceiver, he was a trickster He was somebody that really did a lot of wrong things to Jacob And it's funny as I look at this story that Jacob married into a dysfunctional family, which is some of our testimony in the room.

21:41 Look straight. Look straight. Everybody look straight. Married into a dysfunctional family. But as I begin to do more research, because the name of this series is what? All strings attached. As I did more research, I found out that that he actually married into what he was used to. like being a trickster, deceiving people, all that other stuff. That was Jacob's family. And he ran away from his family and ended up finding the same thing in a different place with a different face.

22:20 What I'm telling you, if you don't deal with the family ties that have you acting the way you're acting right now, you can get away from them, but you forgot you still took you. Like, like you still got to live with you. You still got to bring that. And what happens is dysfunction attracts dysfunction. And what what what Jacob didn't realize is what he thought he was getting away from was coming to him and he was going to be married to it. Let me prove it to you, because some of y'all sitting here like, well, he went and think about the names, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. If you study the Bible, those are those are strong names. Those are names of faith that Abraham is the father of the faith. The Bible tells us, but he had a dysfunctional past. What does that mean? It doesn't matter where you are in God right now. God is always transforming us into the version of us that he wants us to be. See, the thing is, the Bible tells us that the sins of the fathers will visit to the third and fourth generation.

23:21 See the problem with many of us is some of y'all right now your seat is about to break because you're sitting there not with just your issues and your weights But you're sitting there with the weights of people that have been with you that you don't even know three and four Your great-grandmother your great-great-grandmother your great-great-great-grandmother and grandfather's issues You're sitting there right now with their issues, you know like why is this weight so heavy? Why am I always drawn to addiction? Why do I always go to these things? Why do I always want to quit? Why do all of those things and you're saying like that's not even me? It's because they visit to the third and fourth generation. This is the thing about a visit See some of y'all when somebody comes over to visit you have the choice whether to let them in Or to tell them no And the problem is that some of y'all fear is coming to your door Because it's been visiting your generational line for years and you open the door and it says Hey, it's your boy fear. Yeah, I just left your grandmother and your great-great-grandmother and it's time for me to come visit you.

24:25 And because they've been familiar, you don't even know them like that, but they always showed up in your family pictures. Fear was always around you. And so you say, well, it's fear. I got to let fear in. Fear is always at the family reunion. Fear is always in our decisions. Fear is always coming in. And so we let fear in. See, it says it comes to visit, but somebody has to tell it, can it come in and stay?

24:55 Or does it have to get? You see me, I got the little ring doorbell. You hear what I'm saying? The one that got the video. And so when they come in and I say, who is it? I don't even got, you ain't even got to see. Now I can see you before you see me. And I say, that look like fear. They say, hey, it's fear. Nope. You can't come in here. Perversion? Nope. We are not open in some of us because it's been around our family for so long We let pride greed gluttony Judgment we let them in because and all it's doing is making its rounds Because it's visited your family for years But somebody has to stand up and say not my family Not my family. Somebody needs to say it right now. Not my family Say it one more time say not my family And and and this is this is where the problem came because abraham is now sitting here And and and he starts the seed of his family issues matter of fact y'all need to see a family Can I get a family to come out here y'all come out right here?

26:05 And these are families of all different races and backgrounds These are people that could be in your family right now And and I want you to be able to see people that look like you because some of y'all like i'm having a hard time picture and pass the mic is my aunt Laurel. I just I can't see it. Okay, so I want you to see this represents a family and it can be whoever you want it to be in your life. But the crazy thing about this is the dysfunction started a long time ago. The dysfunction did not start with Jacob. It started with Abraham because Abraham was a deceiver as well. Abraham two times in his life would lie that his wife was his sister to save himself. He was like, girl, no, get off me. You're too fine. You're so fine that if they know that you're mine, they're going to put me nine feet under and they're going to kill me. So you're my sister. That's my sister. That's my sister.

27:01 And twice he deceived to be able to save his own life. So Jacob is in another season of his life but the seed was started by his grandfather by his grandfather how many things have you been dealing with that are normal occurrence in your life but they're the seed of somebody in your past see what happened from there is that abraham also had a son that he didn't have patience to wait on god and so he had a son out of wedlock by by a servant called hagar and his name was ishmael and he was his first son but he wasn't the promised child and Abraham was doing things out of God's will and what ended up happening is Isaac finally came and we always remember Isaac and Abraham yeah he was about to sacrifice him and then and then a ram in a bush came and all of this and we remember those stories but we don't always remember the dysfunction that was attached to it that Abraham had already had a son illegitimately and had to deal with family drama with his wife and the maidservant in that situation And then it passes on to his son Isaac because Isaac would do the same lying about his wife that that Abraham did.

28:16 And y'all thought that was a coincidence? No, that was that same spirit visiting a new generation. And so what ends up happening is it goes to that generation and Isaac. Isaac marries a piece of work and her name was Rebecca. And because they thought they would complete each other and allowing God to complete them before they got together. She brought her own issues and he brought his own issues and they go to have a son And when they get ready to have a son, they don't just have one they got two And and this is jacob's parents, but they had esau and jacob And it's funny that as soon as these boys were born the family became divided Because the bible tells us that isaac had an affinity affinity towards esau because esau was a man's man Esau was was was hairy they called him and they named him Esau because that literally means hairy And so so um the the bible tells us that rebecca She had an affinity towards jacob because jacob liked to cook the bible literally calls him a mama's boy And so now you have these two boys that are born in this house And this is why i'm telling you that all attack is on the father and the family Because if he can destroy and get in and bring dissension in your family, then it will reproduce itself in the brothers.

29:37 It will reproduce itself in the children. And that's what's been happening for decade after decade after decade. Let me prove it to you. One of the times that Esau was out hunting, Esau came back in. And I told you Jacob liked to cook, so he was in the kitchen and he was cooking. And he made some bomb broccoli and cheese stew or something. That's what I feel in my spirit. And he made this he made this stew and esau was tired and he said bro give me some stew. This is his brother He said yeah, i'll give you some stew Here's the trickster if you give me your birthright What? Give me your birthright see this goes back to where isaac and god had a conversation and he told isaac He said hey your older son is gonna serve your younger son and isaac was like that's not gonna happen But it should have been okay with him because that's what happened in Isaac's life He had a half brother that was older than him Ishmael and Isaac began became the one that was the the promised child But instead of that he said no I'm not gonna let that happen because in culture at that time that was a total cultural no-no So he went to say no instead of working with God's plan. He worked against God's plan What ended up happening from this whole story?

30:52 Is that when the two boys came out Jacob grabbed the heel of Esau who came out first and they called him Jacob which means surplanter Which actually means one that's a trickster or one that would try to trip somebody up So is it any surprise that as he comes out of his mother's womb? They prophesy over him with his name that you're gonna be a trickster That's why you can't just name your kids anything Don't name them to mangelo because you like it like you better pick a name that prophesies Over your child you better pick because from the beginning they were calling him trickster and decades later He's getting tricked because that's been the story of his whole life I'm trying to bring seven chapters of Scripture to life to in you in this one moment All I'm saying to you right now is that what you're dealing with didn't start with you. There are family times So if I'm Jacob and I got daddy issues Because Isaac he didn't deal with his stuff So I'm trying to function I can move pretty good I can keep going there's some stuff that I can't really do Because of the ties I have to situations in my life I'm coming to your house today, but but I'm I'm pretty much functional Except that I had a brother that was born into the family that hated me And and literally since I came out the womb We've been at odds The boner like my brother And to make it worse I had a mother who sided with him And brought confusion and drama into our household and this may not be your story, but it is plug and play Plug your story in Because the dysfunction in our family then begin when we want to move forward or we want to go to a romantic relationship Or we want to do what God's told us to do. We're held back By the things That have our family time and the crazy thing about it. Their story doesn't stop here

32:58 When these young men after he sells his birthright to him Jacob and the mother Conspired to trick the father. He was getting old and he was blind And he said, I don't know how many more days I have left on this earth So Esau, I want you to go out and I want you to kill some good, good meat. And I want you to make me a stew. And after I eat, I'm going to bless you and give you my blessing. So he goes out. The mother overhears this. And because the two are not one, they're in a business arrangement and they're not walking in unity. He overhears, she overhears this and says, Jacob, we're about to trick your dad. And all he knows is being in that environment. So he said, yes, mom, let's do it. They went and killed a goat, put the goat skin on him, made him roll around like he was a man in the wild. He fixed his favorite broccoli and cheese soup and went and served it to the father.

33:59 And he said, but she said, lower your voice, son, because you don't you don't really sound like your brother. And so he goes into the tent. It was like, hello, this is Esau. and Isaac's blind is like yeah I'm blind but I wasn't born yesterday this sounds like Jacob he said no no father this is me Esau and I guess the soup was good or something because he ate the soup and he blessed him he just tricked his father into the blessing his big brother comes back sibling rivalry and he says dad I'm here He said, oh, no, I just gave your blessing to your little brother said dad, but you can bless me right now And he said no, I only had one blessing and guess what Jacob did Jacob got the blessing and he ran he did But he only dipped as far as his family ties will let him go

34:56 See what he thought he was doing was running away From a situation that was dysfunctional and he ran right into Another family that was dysfunctional That's why if you don't allow God to deal with the things you're tied to right now You will leave one dysfunction To start a brand new one And bring other people and other families and for generation to generation You won't leave an inheritance for your children's children. You'll leave dysfunction for your children's children What God is offering us right now is a way to be able to see God work in our lives and not repeat the dysfunction. Let me give you the hope that we have. A dysfunctional family never stops God from functioning. You need to hear me say that so clearly.

35:53 Because some of y'all are like, Pastor Mike, what do I do right now? Because my family is jacked up. And there's things nobody talks about. they don't talk about how my little sister came into a relationship where she was sexually abused when she was young and nobody believed her and the crazy thing about it is when we tried to stand up because it was a repeated cycle in our family everybody kept it quiet and the problem was She wasn't just molested by anybody. She was relested by my big cousin and So now every family reunion Everything that we try to do every time I try to move forward There's always something in my past that's holding me back And now I stand here today 30 years old trying to move into what God has for me But for some reason it always feels Like there's something holding me back And I want to be honest But I can't Because my other sister She she made it She's the one that makes everything look perfect because she don't care about nobody.

37:15 And so she started. She saw all the dysfunction in our family. So she said, I'll fend for myself. I don't need y'all. She left when she was 17. And she's the only one that seems fine. But the real issue is all she's doing is masking the pain that's hurting her. And what ends up happening in this situation in this season, everybody's walking around trying to fulfill purpose. But there was this one aunt that I could confide in. And this aunt in my life, she was a gossiper. And she talked about everybody's situation. And so instead of dealing with my issues, I just learned to talk to people about them. And make other people look worse so I could make myself feel better.

38:00 So I bring that into every job I go into. I bring that into the marriages that I walk in. and every time when God says I'm supposed to move forward, it's all my effort and energy trying to break family ties that didn't just start with me. It started in Abraham, my father Isaac, and now it's come to me, Jacob.

38:29 What are you saying, Pastor Mike? So many of us are stuck because we have family ties we won't even talk about. We won't pray about them because we think if we act like they don't exist, maybe they'll disappear. We won't get no counseling because we don't do that. And these are the things. There are about five or six things that I want to give you. There's so many, but today I'm just hoping your heart opens because honestly right now in many of your soul, This is what you look like. I just got to go to church because maybe that's the only thing that'll allow me using all my effort. Maybe, maybe, you know what? Maybe I'll just start drinking. Maybe, maybe, maybe I can, I can hang on to some of the abuse that was there.

39:26 And even at the time where it feels like it gets a little looser. like okay I can walk free from some of the things that have held me down they didn't leave they're right there many people in this room got saying you want relationships with no strings attached and you're walking and this is the crazy thing we lift our hands in God's presence like this attached to all the things that still has us responding in ways of anger. That's not new. That's a string to my father. That's a connection to the cousin. That's a disappointment that I felt from my mom. That was the hurt I felt from my sister.

40:22 I feel the healing virtue of God in this place. And what happens is Maybe we were attached to materialism and gluttony and lust and it doesn't matter what it is again fill in the blank But these are some of the major family ties that i've seen I want you to write these down because i'm believing by god's spirit by the end of this series Even some of you by the end of today these things got to get up off you See the family ties that most of us deal with are habits yeah habits we're dealing with habits of fathers and grandmothers and brothers and sisters another one of the things that we're dealing with are hobbies so we watched our grandfather drink on the weekends after he put in a hard day's worth of work we watch we watch our big brother smoke a little weed just to have peace in his life we learn substance abuse we learn coping through success be more successful, do more and then people won't even maximize on your deficiency so you have every award in the world and you make six figures but you're broken on the inside see we learn these family ties of habits hobbies, the hurts your grandma dealt with depression your mom dealt with depression and now knock, knock, knock The sentence to the third and fourth generation.

41:52 They're coming. And you're starting to accept that maybe I'm just depressed. Maybe this is just the way I am. Maybe I just need to do these antidepressants and go to the dispensary. And why don't I just do what everybody else is doing? Because I can't leave with these hurts anymore. Because every time, every year, I yell, this is my year. And I try to go forward. Now I'm tired of trying. Come on there's hope for you. No it's not Because every time I try to get in a relationship every time I try to break free

42:38 And some of you look like this I don't want to pray about it I don't want to talk about it I don't want to fast because I don't know if anything will change and so we're sitting here dealing with habits and hobbies and hurts and this is a huge one, listen to this we're dealing with the hate of our family some of y'all know even in this multi-ethnic church that we're in right now some of you if your family knew you were sitting here right now with black and white and hispanic all around you you know what they say you better not come in here with no white girl you better not bring no nigga in this house oh that's what they say and you're dealing with hate that wasn't even yours The honest to god truth is before this church many of you who are in this room had never come to the north side before Because people Who formed an opinion told you this was the bad side of town And you've transferred hate from generation to generation And we're dealing with the hate of people and it's hindering our progress We have hindrances in our life where we can't navigate Well, maybe if I run from my dysfunction The problem is I just ran into another one That's what happened in Jacob's life And what ends up happening in our lives is we stop But my conclusion is the same as last week That we have a heavenly father That wants to provide no matter how dysfunctional and messed up your situation is He wants to provide you with a father fix Somebody say the father fix Look what Matthew 11 28 says It says then Jesus said I love this thank you Holy Spirit He said come to me All of you

44:45 Who are weary I'm tired of trying I'm tired of trying to get there I'm weary He said come to me All you who are weary And carry heavy burdens And this is my promise to you I'm not going to give back to you Multiplied addiction Multiply pornography I'm not going to give back to you the same transition And the same actions that your family I'm going to give you rest I'm going to take the burden I'm going to take What has been holding you back This is what the father fix Will produce for you if you'll let him God wants to give you everybody write this down help Yeah He was the father fixes God wants to help you That's why he raised this church up That's why we tell you to join small groups That's why we're telling you to do this because he wants to help you He wants to bring healing to you See the problem is Isaac may not have known what Abraham dealt with He's dealing with stuff he doesn't even know where it came from Can you bring me some issues, some strings that are attached to me That I don't even know where they came from Could you bring it for me?

46:02 I'm dealing with anger I don't know why I get angry like this I don't even know where it came from And so what ends up happening is now I'm trying to serve God But I'm dealing with issues and I don't even see who it's from Like I can look back and see these people but I'm dealing with generational stuff and I don't even know Where it came from I don't want to cheat. I don't want to live an adulterous life But why does this perversion come from? I don't even know where this is coming from And God says that's why I want to give you healing and I don't just want to give you healing I want to give you health I Don't just want you to be healed to get sick again I'm gonna bring you to a place where your life has been transformed to a place of health I don't want to just give you health. I want to give you hope Hope for tomorrow hope for your future even though your kids were raised without a father I'm the father to the fatherless. I will give you hope And one of his amazing promises, probably the best one he said, and if you allow me, I'm going to leave my Holy Spirit.

47:20 He told his disciples, he was like, y'all are tripping because y'all want me to stay here, but you really want me to leave. Because if I leave, I'll send another, and he's called the comforter, the paraclete, the one called alongside you to help you. And he'll walk with you in how you need to cut these dysfunctions out of your life. and he'll tell you the conversations you need to have and he'll tell you the people you need to let go of and he'll bring you wisdom of how I feel the presence of God. And these things that are going on in your life, they won't be able to hold you back anymore. What I'm telling you. is there was a man that took this same position for you. 2,000 years ago, he saw your dysfunction and he stretched out on a cross so that everything that your family has tied to you could be cut off and you could be released.

48:19 This is the year that the Holy Spirit is coming in to release you from your chains, from the pain. I won't stay like this. I won't deal with this forever. I will be free. I will be free. Somebody needs to give God a shout of praise. If you're going to walk in freedom, if you're going to be released. I feel the presence of God coming in here to heal, deliver, and set free. You don't have to live with it. Buy his... He took stripes for your healing.

49:17 He took stripes so depression couldn't hold you. He took stripes. so addiction would stop with you. He took strife, so divorce would be a thing of the past in your family life. As for me and my house, somebody say, we will serve the Lord. Come on, say, we will serve the Lord. One more time, say, we will serve the Lord. somebody give God a shout of praise in this building come on if this is the year of release it's freedom So I told you, all of us have dysfunctional families because through one man, sin came in. But Romans 5.17 says it'll be through another man, Jesus, that everybody would no longer have to choose to have family ties.

50:35 All I'm saying to you today is the healer is here. The one who wants to break the chains off of your life is here. Well, Pastor Mike, why didn't you have them unhook you from it? Oh, because you're not about to steal my testimony. The Bible tells me the way I overcome is by the blood. Yeah, I used to be that. Yeah, my family. Wow. Yeah, my family was dysfunctional. But God, but God, but God. Somebody say, but God. With a mighty hand, came in. This is why we're dealing with this stuff. We will know. We can't use what we hide. God can't use what you hide. So yeah, it happened.

51:32 Yeah, I was abused. Yeah, I was messed up. Yeah, my father was not there for me. And I'm going to let you see it. Because the fact that I'm standing here is a testimony that God is real. I should be out my mind. But God. Today, for all of the family ties, God has a father fix. Hands lifted all over this place. I feel the presence of God visiting each and every person's situation. God, here we are. Father God, we're bringing our issues. We're bringing our pain. We're bringing the things nobody knows about. We're bringing the hurts, the habits, the hobbies Father God, we're bringing it all to you And we're asking you heal us, God Bring us hope in the midst of this situation Some of us have been tied up so long We just thought this was our lot in life But today, we believe that you are the God That is bringing the Father fix That no matter how old we are You still care about us because we're your children And I thank you that this is the year of release Father cut off everything from our family lines that would hinder us from completing your purpose and god let us wear these ties that are cut as a testimony to the whole world how great is our god father we bless you we trust you and if you believe it and have faith that it's happening in this year. Give God the biggest shout of praise. Come on, give him a shout of victory.

53:15 Hallelujah. Come on, 10 more seconds. Thank God for the release that's happening in your life. No matter what your family looks like, no matter what you've been through, no matter what you did, this is the year of, say it with me, release. If you're in this room and you've never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, the only one that can release you from the family ties, accept him today.

53:51 I'm up here giving everything I have because I would be nothing without what God did for me. so if you would all over this room and everybody watching in the one o'clock in the four o'clock in the six o'clock would you all just bow your heads right now not as a religious moment but as a moment where you can focus in on you and god if god is far away from you and you're directing your own life but you want the god that can break family ties to come in and direct your life I want you to say this prayer with me and at transformation church. We're a family So nobody prays alone. We're all gonna pray this prayer for the benefit of those who are coming to Christ But I want you to mean it if this is the day that everything changes for you. Come on everybody. Just say God Thank you for sending Jesus Just for me. I believe he died and he rose again Just for me Today, I'm asking you to take my dysfunction and function through me.

55:02 Be my Lord and my Savior. Change me. Renew me. Transform me. I'm yours. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Hey, guys. Thanks so much for watching today.