Putting the Past Behind You
Unfinished Business - Part 2
Springcreek Church | Senior Pastor Keith Stewart
November 12, 2023
#realspringcreekchurch #unfinishedbusiness #puttingthepastbehindyou
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If you liked last weekend’s message, you won’t want to miss this next installment in the series “Unfinished Business.” Think of the first message as an overview. This week, we’ll dive deeper into how the unfinished past continues to impose itself in the present. But more importantly, we’ll discover how God meets us in our deepest hurts with affirmation and healing. Plan on joining us and invite a friend.
We’re going to talk about the wounding that exacerbates these needs and how to break free from the prison of approval addiction. I believe we’re going to see a lot of people experiencing spiritual breakthroughs and I’d love for you to be one of them. If you’ve ever felt abandoned by people who should have cared for you - if you feel like you care for others but they seldom reciprocate - if you live with a constant ache to be loved just for who you are - then don’t miss this Sunday’s message (Nov.12).
SERIES: Unfinished Business
When you have unfinished business in the past it will never remain in the past. Instead, it will continue to rear its ugly head at the least appropriate times and in the most unpredictable ways. We might become people who are easily triggered. The unhealed past can be what fuels our addictions. It’s even possible to end up taking it out on the wrong people simply because they do or say something that reminds us of our pain. In short, a buried pain refuses to stay buried. There’s a better way. This series will show you how to send the past into the past forever.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Take some time to discuss the five symptoms of a dysfunctional family. In particular, take some time to rate your own family of origin in the following areas…
- Estrangement—Family members who avoid other family members.
- Anger—It may be expressed or repressed.
- Lack of Trust—Seen in faulty patterns of communication.
- Deception—Inability to speak the truth to other family members.
- Unhealthy Secrecy—Refusal to face the truth.
2. What are some of your biggest takeaways from the stories of Jacob and Esau? Which brother can you relate to most and why? Have you ever hungered for acceptance or approval? Would you describe what you’ve experienced as an approval addiction? Can you trace this to any event or events in your past?
3. What’s the significance of Jacob wrestling with God? Why was it so important for him to be defeated where he was most strong? Why is it important for our methods of manipulating to get our needs met to fail? What does God do for Jacob after he is powerless to go on wrestling? Why is that significant?
4. Take some time to think about the implications of God primarily identifying Himself as “The God of Jacob” as opposed to Jacob’s new name “Israel.” What does it mean to you that God is the God of the cheats and manipulators, the wounded and the broken, the ones who don’t have it all together?
5. Jacob is a changed man after his encounter with God. He now truly knows that he is blessed. Armed with that knowledge, he makes things right with his brother by returning what he’d taken through deceit and manipulation – the birthright and the blessing. When we finally know that we are blessed by God, we, too, will experience the freedom to make things right with others, release unrealistic expectations of them, and move confidently through life that we have the approval and acceptance we most need and crave from God Himself. How is God setting you free to do just that OR how can you pray to that end?