Anxiety, pitting our family and friends against each other, group think, and bitterness. These all take life away from us and can cause us to live in despair. But when we look through the main story of scripture we see a family who is extremely dysfunctional, and yet God never leaves them and we know them as the patriarchs
If you are in Christ; your identity is not in what you’ve done, how you feel, or how others think of you. These things do not define you. Your identity is made in the image and likeness of God. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, God sees you as His precious child, holy and dearly loved. Receive your identity, instead of trying to achieve it.
Jacob was always a fighter. He fought for everything and left an angry wake behind him. But when he was left all alone, his bitterness and the thought of sure death just around the corner, he was able to get relief from the bitterness and havoc.
Remember that time when you asked your mom for something and she denied your request? Then you went straight to your dad and asked him. Yeah, that's making a triangle. It’s bad, but we do that all the time, and yet it needs to stop.
Abraham looks at God's promises to him and tries to make them happen for himself. Oh, the havoc caused by not trusting God and who you really are! But God still brings peace with his promises.
Anxiety, pitting our family and friends against each other, group think, and bitterness - these all take life away from us and can cause us to live in despair. But when we look through the main story of Scripture, we see a family that is extremely dysfunctional, and yet God never leaves them, and we know them as the patriarchs.
![[Sunday] Self Differentiation- Faith and Family Dysfunction](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1612540805782-4DWCZ2NPPZ56PH0J5LBJ/Dysfunction+Weekly5a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Bitterness - Faith and Family Dysfunction](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1612540531568-C7I4RP57Y4ZPSA8RC4SU/Dysfunction+Weekly4a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Triangles - Faith and Family Dysfunction](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1611330471515-UPKK7NXXVDZKZEPOIIYC/Dysfunction+Weekly3a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Named Anxiety - Faith and Family Dysfunction](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1610729283722-PYCS7A2PO2H02NXJRU1C/Dysfunction+Weekly2a.jpg)
![[Sunday] No Excuses - Faith and Family Dysfunction](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1610204216053-EJV59AM3Q4JGPLNKITWF/Dysfunction+Weekly1a.jpg)
There is always forgiveness. But what happens when someone does something so bad that it's impossible to forget. How do you break that hurt that distrust. Joseph’s brothers try to kill him and he was taken from his family for the rest of his life. How do they break the dysfunction?