Are Christians Under a Generational Curse? A Biblical Analysis

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Good morning, Freedom House!
[00:02:29] Welcome this Sunday morning.
[00:02:30] I'm Matt.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
And I'm KT.
[00:02:32] We're your online hosts for today.
[00:02:34] We're so glad to have you.
[00:02:35] Jump in the chat.
[00:02:36] I'm on YouTube.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I'm on the Freedom House app, so if it works and I can see, I'll talk back with you guys.
[00:02:42] Yeah, but tell us where you're joining us from.
[00:02:43] Yeah, we have a lot happening.
[00:02:45] This Saturday, September 13th, we have Strong Saturday.
[00:02:49] It's going to be great.
[00:02:50] It starts at 8 o'clock with breakfast.
[00:02:52] Tickets are $10.
[00:02:54] Pastor Troy is bringing a message.
[00:02:56] So make sure you guys get here.
[00:02:57] If you're in the Charlotte area or anywhere, you can come on a Saturday.
[00:03:00] It's going to be a great time with the strong men here at Freedom House.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Yeah, so make sure.
[00:03:04] Make sure you guys come.
[00:03:05] I'm always jealous, but breakfast looks amazing.
[00:03:08] Yes.
[00:03:08] And it's just a great time for the guys to hang out.
[00:03:11] And then also coming up in September and two Sundays on the 21st, we have baptisms.
[00:03:16] So wherever you are,
[00:03:18] Come hang out if you've already been baptized.
[00:03:20] It's still an amazing time to come watch people get baptized.
[00:03:24] And if you're in the area, if you're not in the area, you can drive down.
[00:03:28] It's just such an awesome time to have that outward confession of that inward decision that you've made to follow Jesus.
[00:03:33] So come hang out for baptisms.
[00:03:34] It's one of my favorite Sundays.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
And it's so cool to see people get baptized of all ages, whether it's a
[00:03:40] An adult, a grandparent, or a young child, just seeing them go through that transformation of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is phenomenal.
[00:03:48] It always brings a tear to the eye, I feel like.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Yeah, no, it always gets me when a father gets to baptize their kid.
[00:03:54] Oh, it just gets me.
[00:03:56] It's so awesome.
[00:03:56] Waiting for the day.
[00:03:57] yeah well yeah tell us where you're joining us from so obviously you guys know we're in Charlotte so we thought it was fall like a week ago it was so nice it was like a little chilly in the morning we had our breakfast outside and then yesterday high 50s low 60s in the morning yeah and then yesterday it was like what 90 degrees we went down to Waxhaw and we're sweating profusely it was very hot we thought we were past this but just kidding we're back at it summer's still in effect here in Charlotte
[00:04:27] so where are you joining us from is what we want to know because we want to know if you're for real in fall or it's this weird false fall now it's summer it was a crazy day yeah um but i did some research this morning some fun facts for you guys for september 7th so back in 1979 espn first aired on september 7th and that's today that's today yeah i'm not good at facts i didn't even know today was the seventh yeah but that's pretty cool i mean

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
I spent a lot of time as a kid watching ESPN.
[00:04:57] We would eat breakfast every morning before school watching SportsCenter, so kind of that nostalgia factor for me when I saw that back this morning.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Oh, and football's back!

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Football's back.
[00:05:06] She's not happy about that.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
I don't care about football.
[00:05:08] I've never, like, had a team or anything, but football's back.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Yep.
[00:05:11] She was upset that I stayed up till 11 o'clock midnight on Thursday night watching the game.
[00:05:15] Oh my gosh, it was so late!
[00:05:16] It was so late.
[00:05:17] But hey, it's back.
[00:05:17] I'm excited.
[00:05:18] The boy's excited.
[00:05:20] The wife might not be as excited, but we're happy it's back.

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Yeah, it'll be fun for you guys.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Yes, especially when you throw the ball around in the house and she's not looking, playing a little bit.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Okay, but more important fall things.
[00:05:31] You talked about football, that's great, but pumpkin spice season is back.
[00:05:37] So if you're in Charlotte area, obviously come hang out, come to church with us, but the coffee shop now has their fall flavors and is rolling out everywhere.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
So I know you don't drink coffee, but have you had any fall flavors, fall treats yet?

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Well, but they make, so I'm a tea drinker.
[00:05:54] They make pumpkin tea.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
They do?

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Yeah.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Okay.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
So there's like pumpkin tea that's like pumpkin spice and like a warm little snuggle in a cup.
[00:06:01] So I'm all about some pumpkin flavored things.
[00:06:05] Okay.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Have you had anything yet?

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
I had, yes.
[00:06:07] I had a pumpkin loaf and it was like gingerbread and pumpkin and so it was super tasty.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Okay.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
And so I feel like that was like, oh, fall is here.
[00:06:17] That's how I know it falls here is if pumpkin flavors are out.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
So I'm a sucker for Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew.
[00:06:23] I like to get to the local shops, but the Nitro Cold Brew at Starbucks gets me every time.
[00:06:26] I did have them put the pumpkin foam in it, or pumpkin cream.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
Okay, see?

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
That was my start.
[00:06:32] I did have a pumpkin muffin from Waterbean on Friday as well.
[00:06:36] So it is fall.
[00:06:37] I'm getting into the pumpkin season.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
It's hot, but it's pumpkin season.
[00:06:40] It is.
[00:06:41] Which, this is way out there, but you can save the date.
[00:06:44] October 26th is when we're doing Trunk or Treat.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Oh, yeah.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
And it's so awesome.
[00:06:49] People have legit trunks out there.
[00:06:51] They decorate their trunks.
[00:06:52] The kids do trick-or-treat.
[00:06:54] So it's a great time.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
What are we doing this year for trick-or-treat?
[00:06:58] Any ideas?

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
I don't know.
[00:06:58] We've got to figure it out.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Freedom House comes in clutch with trick-or-treat.
[00:07:03] People have awesome trunks.
[00:07:06] The decorations are phenomenal.
[00:07:08] So really make sure you come out.
[00:07:09] If you're not here today, make sure you come out on October 26th for Trunk or Treat.
[00:07:13] It's going to be a great time.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]:
But speaking of family time, we're launching a new series.
[00:07:18] It's going to be Family Matters.
[00:07:19] We have Pastor Troy in the house.
[00:07:21] So we're so excited for you to join us.
[00:07:23] Go ahead, get ready to worship.
[00:07:25] It's going to be an awesome time, an awesome word for you and your entire family.
[00:07:29] So have a great service.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_15]:
Good morning, Freedom House.
[00:07:33] We're so glad you're all here.
[00:07:34] Stand to your feet this morning.
[00:07:35] Nehemiah says, do not be sad and do not be disheartened for the joy of the Lord is our strength.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
Come on, Freedom House.
[00:07:57] Let's clap our hands.
[00:07:57] This is the day you have made
[00:07:59] So I will rejoice and be glad, rejoice and be glad This is where I believe That You are more than enough, more than enough

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I stand in Your presence I have everything I need The joy of the Lord The joy of the Lord is my strength It's more than a fear The joy of the Lord
[00:08:50] Oh my soul, oh my soul, I'ma bless His name All that is within me saved The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength Oh Jesus, come on name You are worthy of all, worthy of all
[00:09:24] You are faithful to Your promise You are strong when I repent When I'm standing in Your presence I have everything I need Come on sing it out The joy of the Lord
[00:10:16] Let it rise up like a river Overflowing Holy Spirit Let it pour out with no limit Overflowing
[00:10:43] Holy Spirit let it rise like a river over the wind Holy Spirit let it pour
[00:11:48] The joy of the Lord is my strength Oh it's more than a feeling The joy of the Lord The joy of the Lord is my strength Oh my soul Oh my soul I will bless His name All that is within me say Oh my soul I will bless His name

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_16]:
How many know that if your house is built on a firm foundation, you will not be shaken?
[00:12:55] Amen.
[00:12:57] No matter the storm, Christ is still good.
[00:13:02] So let's just sing this out in faith.

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]:
Christ is my firm foundation

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]:
The rock on which I stand When everything around me's shaking I've never been more glad That I put my faith in Jesus

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]:
Cause He's never let me down He's faithful through generations So why would He fail now Sing it out church He won't He won't I've still got joy in chaos

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I've got peace that makes no sense Cause I won't be going under I am by my own strength Cause I've built my life on Jesus He's never let me down He's faithful through every season
[00:14:32] Come on declare that in faith this morning.
[00:15:06] He won't fail He won't fail Christ is my firm foundation The rock on which I stand And everything around me is shaken I've never been more glad
[00:15:39] He's never let me down

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]:
Oh I've seen Him all night Oh the rain came But He was still standing there with me It's gonna be alright
[00:16:32] Rejoice!
[00:16:41] Rejoice!

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Rejoice!
[00:16:51] Rejoice!
[00:16:52] Rejoice!
[00:16:58] I'm safe when You I'm gonna make Say rain came Rain came when Blue my house was built on
[00:17:24] You are gonna save me You are gonna make me
[00:18:18] I've never been more proud than I put my faith in Jesus Jesus
[00:18:54] Come on declare it church, you will never fail

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Jesus never fails.
[00:19:55] He never fails.
[00:19:57] He never fails.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Father God, we're so thankful to come into your house and to worship you today.
[00:20:03] Thank you that you never fail.
[00:20:06] God, we fail.
[00:20:08] We fall.
[00:20:10] We stumble.
[00:20:12] Sometimes we're on our knees.
[00:20:14] We have a hard time getting back up again.
[00:20:17] But you never fail.
[00:20:20] You're a God of integrity.
[00:20:23] The firm foundation that we build our lives upon is stable.
[00:20:29] And we're so thankful.
[00:20:32] God, we declare in this moment today that as for us and our houses, we will serve the Lord.
[00:20:38] As a church, we will serve Jesus.
[00:20:44] As a church, we will serve others just like Jesus did.
[00:20:48] As a church, we will build our homes and our families on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ that never fails.
[00:20:57] it doesn't matter what it looks like God it doesn't matter when the rains come and the winds blow God if we are founded on the rock of Jesus Christ we won't fail because you never fail in Jesus name and the church said amen amen amen come on give God some praise come on well each week we'd like to provide an opportunity for you to come down and get prayer so I want our leaders to go ahead and make their way up front

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You know, recently I was with my grandson and standing on the beach.
[00:21:31] And as we stood at the edge where the waves were crashing, he was having a good old time, you know, jumping up and down and everything else.
[00:21:39] But as he stood still and the waves would crash, his feet would start to sink, sink in the sand.
[00:21:49] And first his feet were gone, then it would make his way up to his shin, you know, and it would just continue to sink and sink and sink.
[00:21:57] And the same waves that were coming in when he first stood there are now up to his chest instead of up to his waist.
[00:22:07] So it's the same waves, but now a little bit of panic starts to set in because he doesn't feel like he can move anymore.
[00:22:14] And the waves are still coming in.
[00:22:16] He's like, what's going to happen?
[00:22:17] So he grabs my hand because he needs somebody to help him.
[00:22:24] When we look at the landscape of our life,
[00:22:27] What are you standing on?
[00:22:29] Is it an ever-changing landscape and you're looking for the next thing to stand on?
[00:22:34] Maybe it's your job, maybe it's this relationship, maybe it's something else.
[00:22:38] I'm just constantly trying to find a firm foundation to stand on.
[00:22:45] It happens.
[00:22:46] We take our focus off of God, who is our firm foundation, and start looking at all these other things.
[00:22:54] And the waves start coming in.
[00:22:56] Temptations start coming in and we find ourselves succumbing to those temptations, succumbing to those waves that are coming at us, and panic, anxious thoughts, worry, all these things start to set in.
[00:23:10] When all Christ is really saying is that, hey, if you'll just stand on me, let me be your firm foundation instead of all this other stuff, I got you, I'll protect you.
[00:23:22] You don't have to worry anymore, you don't have to be anxious anymore.
[00:23:26] So today, I'm not sure where you're at.
[00:23:30] But if you're looking out on your life right now, what does that landscape look like?
[00:23:35] Is it ever changing like that sand on the seashore?
[00:23:38] Or is it a firm foundation?
[00:23:43] Men, I'm asking you right now, what does your family look like?
[00:23:46] Are you standing on a firm foundation?
[00:23:52] Are you leading them onto a firm foundation?
[00:23:55] Or are you just sinking and you're trying to just make it through?
[00:24:00] So today, whatever it is you walked in here with, it's time to get rid of that.
[00:24:07] It's time to step out of the sand, put your feet on firm foundation of Christ, and come and get prayer with one of these leaders.
[00:24:14] Because Christ is our firm foundation.
[00:24:17] He's not moving.
[00:24:18] He's unshakable.
[00:24:21] And the Word says in Isaiah, if you actually put your faith in Him and believe in Him and make Him your foundation, panic cannot set in anymore because He has you.
[00:24:33] So as we move into this next song, I want you to go ahead and get out of your seat, come and get prayer, and let's put our feet on firm foundation today, all right?
[00:24:40] Let's continue to worship.

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
I was rich, I remember who I was I was lost, I was blind, I was running out of time And sin separated, the breach was far too wide But from the far side of the chasm, you held me in your sight
[00:25:31] So you made a way across the great divide Left behind heaven's own to build it here inside And there at the cross
[00:25:54] Come on church.
[00:25:55] Thank you Jesus for the blood applied.
[00:26:01] Thank you Jesus it has washed me white.
[00:26:13] Thank you Jesus you have shaped my life.
[00:26:26] You brought me from the darkness into glorious light You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin
[00:26:47] You were buried for three days, but then you walked right out again And now death has no sting, and now life has no end For I have been transformed from the bed

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
From the darkness into the light

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Thank you, Jesus.

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]:
Thank you, Jesus.
[00:29:45] Hey, aren't you so grateful that you are in the house of God today?

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Praise the Lord.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]:
Thank you for joining us both in person and online.
[00:30:02] Hey, if you are a first-time guest, I want to say a special welcome to those of you joining us today.
[00:30:07] Our senior pastors have a special message just for you.
[00:30:11] So before you're turning your attention toward the screens, meet someone next to you, turn to your left and your right, give a name, get a name, and then you can turn your attention toward the screens.

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Hey everyone and welcome to Freedom House.
[00:30:36] My name is Troy Maxwell and my wife Penny and I are your senior pastors.
[00:30:41] We are one house with many different rooms and our heart is very simple to help equip you to experience Christ's freedom in your everyday life.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
We have a big vision here at Freedom House.
[00:30:52] You will notice every week at every campus we have live teachers and preachers.
[00:30:59] Why do we do that?
[00:31:00] Because we are a relational church, we love connecting, and we are not a video venue.
[00:31:06] You'll also notice over in our kids area, they have the same thing.
[00:31:10] Live teaching, preaching, worship.
[00:31:14] We're not a babysitting service.
[00:31:16] They are getting a fresh, relevant Word of God, just like you are.

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
And hey, maybe you're new or you haven't got connected yet.
[00:31:23] All you gotta do is very simple.
[00:31:24] Just open your phone up, click that little circle on the seat back pocket in front of you, and check out all the amazing things that are happening at your church.

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
That's right.
[00:31:33] We can't wait to get connected with you.
[00:31:35] Take a look at what's coming up here at Freedom House.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Hey, Freedom House, got a quick lineup for what's coming your way.
[00:31:48] This is not a drill.
[00:31:50] It's our dream team takeover.
[00:31:51] The lobby has been invaded by all the amazing teams that make Sundays run smooth.
[00:31:57] Seriously, without them, we'd probably be sitting in the dark.
[00:32:01] Hey guys, can you turn the lights back on?
[00:32:05] No, but really, there are real people doing what they love and inviting you to take a peek.
[00:32:10] It's not about filling a spot.
[00:32:12] It's about finding where you come alive when you serve with intentionality.
[00:32:16] Whether you're into cameras, coffee, or just enjoy creating a warm, welcoming space for people, there is a place for you.
[00:32:23] Swing by, hang out, and see what God might stir in you.
[00:32:26] Check out freedomhouse.cc slash dreamteam for more details about the Dream Team.
[00:32:32] Next up, baptisms.
[00:32:34] Salvation is personal, but baptism, that's your public declaration, your I'm all in moment.
[00:32:41] And it's happening September 21st at Lake Norman in South End and on September 28th at our Central Campus.
[00:32:47] If you've made the decision to follow Jesus, this is your next step.
[00:32:51] Baptism is the powerful outward expression of an inward change, and your whole church family will be there cheering you on.
[00:32:58] If you're ready to make a splash and take the next step, sign up now at freedomhouse.cc slash baptisms.
[00:33:05] If you're not at the Global Strong Breakfast on Saturday, September 13th at 8 a.m. at Central Campus, what are you even doing?
[00:33:13] It's gonna be like your favorite breakfast spot.
[00:33:15] Pastor Troy's dropping a word that's gonna hit harder than your first cup of coffee.
[00:33:20] And yes, there will be food.
[00:33:22] Spoiler alert, it's better than instant oatmeal.
[00:33:26] Come hungry, come curious, and come ready to level up your life and your appetite.
[00:33:31] Sign up now at freedomhouse.cc slash strong because skipping this, it's not an option.
[00:33:37] And as we kick off our new series, Family Matters, we want to invite you to our virtual family panel.
[00:33:43] Do you have questions that are personal to your specific circumstances?
[00:33:47] This is your chance to get wise counsel as you navigate what truly matters, family.
[00:33:53] Our pastors will be answering your real-life questions about parenting, discipline through the ages, boundaries, and more.
[00:34:00] This is your opportunity for guidance and connection.
[00:34:04] Find all the details at freedomhouse.cc slash upcoming events.
[00:34:08] New to the crew?
[00:34:10] If you're looking to make Freedom House your home, don't miss Get On Track, happening next week, September 14th, during Second Service.
[00:34:17] It's your fast pass to learning who we are and what we believe as a church.
[00:34:21] Plus, it's the place you'll learn about your clear next steps to getting more plugged into God's house.
[00:34:27] So come on, we've already got a seat saved for you and a bagel.
[00:34:32] Just let us know you're coming by visiting freedomhouse.cc slash getontrack.
[00:34:38] New to the crew?

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
Well, you're... For all this and more, download the Freedom House app or head to freedomhouse.cc slash connect.

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]:
Well, hello, Freedom House.
[00:34:51] How are you guys doing today?
[00:34:53] Man, beautiful day to be in God's house worshiping together.
[00:34:57] If I haven't got the chance to meet you, my name is Adam.
[00:34:59] My wife and I have the honor and privilege of being the youth and young adult pastors here at Freedom House Church.
[00:35:04] And today is a big day.
[00:35:06] It's an exciting time.
[00:35:08] Freedom House is turning 23 years old this year.
[00:35:13] We come on that is exciting we love celebrating birthdays and what God is doing in this house 23 man it's it's over two decades but yet we're still not old enough to rent a car from the airport and so I don't know what's going on with that but 23 years old today and it is
[00:35:28] Amazing.
[00:35:29] That is a testament to our senior pastors, Pastor Troy and Penny, who chose to follow God and pursue Him right here at Charlotte.
[00:35:36] And we are all reaping the benefits of that.
[00:35:38] But over the years, it has been people that have chosen to put their faith in God, step out in faith, and live a life of generosity.
[00:35:48] See, it reminds me of a story in Genesis, a guy named Abraham.
[00:35:53] Abraham was a man of faith and God promised that he would be the father of many nations even though he did not yet have children.
[00:36:01] But God promised that he would have a son and Abraham had to wait 25 years to wait to see the fulfillment of that promise.
[00:36:10] Finally, Isaac comes along and then God asks Abraham to do something that would require a tremendous amount of faith.
[00:36:17] The promise of Isaac, God called him to lay down at the altar in offering to God.
[00:36:24] Abraham, being a man of faith, the Bible says, rose early in the morning to go and fulfill what God had called him to do.
[00:36:31] He goes and he prepares the altar, he prepares the wood, and the moment where he is about to offer his son to God, the Lord stops him.
[00:36:40] and reveals that there is a ram in the thicket showing that the intention was never to actually sacrifice his son, but it was a test of Abraham's faithfulness.
[00:36:49] And in that moment, God revealed to Abraham that he was Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides.
[00:36:56] And the moral of the story, while the narrative is inspiring for us, the purpose is that ultimate blessing comes through ultimate faith and giving.
[00:37:07] See, we are all reaping the benefit of those that have come before us, that have lived generous lives, that have made the decision to be generous in their giving, and we are getting to experience that.
[00:37:20] And now we get to do that for the generations that are coming after us.
[00:37:24] See, when we sow into the good ground of Freedom House Church, when we choose to be generous, we are not just affecting the now, but we are affecting generations that are coming after us.
[00:37:34] And so if you are already giving to Freedom House, thank you, because you are making an impact right now as well.
[00:37:41] And if you have questions about giving or you're looking to start your generosity journey, you can pull out your phone, you can tap the button on the seat back in front of you, or head to freedomhouse.cc slash give.
[00:37:51] Let's pray.
[00:37:52] God, I thank you for today and this opportunity to come into this house and to celebrate you and to worship you in this place with our brothers and sisters, God, that we get to lift your name high, Father.
[00:38:02] And as we give these tithes and these offerings to you, we know that we are sowing into good ground that won't just stay here, but will ripple out across this city, this nation, and around the world, bringing the name of Jesus to those that need to hear it.
[00:38:16] Father, I pray that we can have a spirit like Abraham where we respond in faith to what you have called us to do.
[00:38:24] God, we know that you are a good God and that you will multiply these things greater than we could ever imagine.
[00:38:29] I thank you for today.
[00:38:30] I pray that you will speak to each one of us where we're at today.
[00:38:34] And it's in Jesus' name I pray.
[00:38:36] Amen.
[00:38:37] Amen.
[00:38:37] Let's enjoy the rest of service.

[00:39:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
There we go.
[00:39:33] I just got a little quick on that lighting thing, but aren't our audio video team, aren't they fantastic?
[00:39:40] They do such a good job.
[00:39:41] You know how you know a good audio team is you never know about them.
[00:39:45] Like, you don't really notice anything, except just little things like that, you know, where they pull the lights up a little bit early, but fantastic.
[00:39:52] I want to honor all of the volunteer teams, the kids team, the greeter team,
[00:39:59] The parking lot team, the production team.
[00:40:02] Come on, let's give them a big hand.
[00:40:05] You know, come on, let's give it up for all the volunteers that serve here.
[00:40:12] And I wanna challenge you.
[00:40:13] Maybe you've been coming to this church for a while and you're not serving.
[00:40:16] You're just showing up on Sundays.
[00:40:19] Well, a lot goes into a weekend at Freedom House Church.
[00:40:23] A lot goes into the church.
[00:40:25] I play golf with guys all the time and they ask me, so what do you do like Monday through Saturday?
[00:40:29] And do you just, are you off?
[00:40:32] Do you have another job, other stuff like that?
[00:40:35] And I said, no, we have a lot of people and they need a lot of help.
[00:40:41] Pray for me, you know.
[00:40:43] But it's not just me.
[00:40:44] It's not just your pastors here.
[00:40:46] It's a team of people that volunteer their time.
[00:40:49] They work full-time jobs, but yet they know the priority of putting God first and serving His house.
[00:40:57] And so I wanna challenge you.
[00:40:58] I wanna challenge you.
[00:40:59] If you're not serving, if you're just consuming on a weekly basis, if you're just coming and you're just, you know, you're just coming in and you're just taking,
[00:41:10] I want to challenge you to be a partaker of what God's doing here and start to serve.
[00:41:15] Let me tell you what will happen when you start to serve.
[00:41:17] Your life will change forever.
[00:41:19] It will change forever.
[00:41:21] I promise you, if you are struggling in any area of your life, serving is your way out of those struggles.
[00:41:30] You'll find your purpose.
[00:41:32] You'll figure out God's plan.
[00:41:34] His voice will become even clearer in your life.
[00:41:36] There is a spiritual component
[00:41:39] that when you put your hand to the plow that God does tremendous things in your life.
[00:41:43] And so at all of our campuses, at all of our sites today, in our lobbies we have people that are serving God that want to get you connected.
[00:41:55] So before you leave, serve.
[00:41:58] Decide, make a decision, plug in, and then watch what God's gonna do in your life, I promise you.
[00:42:03] Can we give all the people that serve one more hand, all the volunteers?
[00:42:08] So thankful.
[00:42:10] And then I got my strong shirt on because, men, this coming Saturday is our strong breakfast.
[00:42:14] If you don't show up, Aaron said he's going to punch you in the throat.
[00:42:17] And so I didn't say it.
[00:42:22] He said it.
[00:42:23] And so I don't think that's very godly.
[00:42:24] But anyway, if it'll get you to come to church on Saturday, it's going to be amazing.
[00:42:30] We're starting a brand new series today called Family Matters.
[00:42:33] And I want to talk about breaking generational curses, breaking
[00:42:38] So get your pens out, take some notes.
[00:42:40] I promise you, you're gonna walk away with something.
[00:42:43] and today is your day of deliverance.
[00:42:45] Look what your neighbors say, you're getting delivered today.
[00:42:48] Drug addiction, alcoholism, outbursts of anger, depression, divorce, chronic pain, cancer, unexplained illnesses, mental illness, suicide, spousal abuse, poverty.
[00:43:02] We see these in the lives of Bible-believing, spirit-filled Christians all the time and many times,
[00:43:09] We're dealing with things that flow out of what are called generational things.
[00:43:17] We inherit these things.
[00:43:19] Family matters because family is the pathway for generational blessing and sadly it's also a pathway for generational cursing.
[00:43:29] Life's issues, problems, challenges are like trees.
[00:43:33] They all have a root.
[00:43:34] Now what's interesting about the roots is you can't see those roots.
[00:43:39] They're hidden from you, which means, spiritually, our life's issues, the challenges that we face on a daily basis, throughout our entire lives, in our marriages, with our kids, in our jobs, in our careers, with our purpose, with our future, everything, there's a root to it.
[00:43:57] In other words, everything we deal with has a spiritual root.
[00:44:01] The spirit realm that we do not see affects the natural realm.
[00:44:05] This natural realm that we do see is affected to and began in the spiritual.
[00:44:11] And so when we're looking at the things that we go through in our family specifically, we need to make sure that we're dealing with the root.
[00:44:20] If we don't like the fruit, we got to deal with the root.
[00:44:23] and so I want you to say this out loud say it ends with me come on say it say it ends with me look at your neighbor say it ends with me it ends I want you to get this in you it ends today it ends today today whatever we're dealing with in our family it that that may be a curse it ends with
[00:44:43] God has chosen you.
[00:44:45] He has positioned you.
[00:44:47] He picked you at this time in this generation to cut off a curse that may have been flowing through your family for years, if not decades, if not centuries.
[00:45:00] It stops today.
[00:45:02] It ends with today.
[00:45:04] Me.
[00:45:04] Can I get an Amen?
[00:45:06] Come on, say it out loud.
[00:45:06] Say it like you believe it.
[00:45:07] Say, it ends with me.
[00:45:08] It ends with me.
[00:45:10] So let's dig into this.
[00:45:11] God is a generational God.
[00:45:14] When He's introduced all throughout Scripture, He's called the God of
[00:45:18] Abraham, he's called the God of Isaac, and he's called the God of Jacob.
[00:45:24] Whenever he's introduced, I am the God of Abraham, I am the God of Isaac, I am the God of Jacob, because he always references generations, generations.
[00:45:35] The family with God is extremely important because it's how he proliferates the generational blessing that he wants to get through you into the next generation.
[00:45:49] Listen to what he said in Genesis 1, verse 28 to Adam and Eve, the first family.
[00:45:55] He said, Then God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply.
[00:46:01] Be fruitful and multiply.
[00:46:02] and multiply and he says fill the earth subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth now when you read that brief fruitful and multiply that kind of sounds like the same thing doesn't it like being fruitful and multiplying it almost kind of sounds the same thing but these words are very different in the hebrew language remember the old testament written in hebrew translated into english new testament written in greek translated into english
[00:46:27] And so these words are very interesting.
[00:46:30] The word fruitful means biological reproduction.
[00:46:35] So he's telling Adam and Eve, the first family, listen, I want you to biologically reproduce.
[00:46:40] And all the married people said yes.
[00:46:43] That's what sex is for.
[00:46:44] It's awesome, reproduction, be fruitful.
[00:46:48] But what's the multiply part?
[00:46:49] Doesn't that mean the same thing?
[00:46:51] No, that is the stewardship of your fruitfulness.
[00:46:56] So he doesn't just say make babies.
[00:46:59] He says I want you to steward the generations that are coming out of you.
[00:47:05] And so I'm blessing you.
[00:47:06] Notice the first thing he says is bless you.
[00:47:09] And then he gives them a command that coincides with that blessing.
[00:47:13] This blessing will be proliferated.
[00:47:17] It works through you because you will be fruitful biologically.
[00:47:23] Quantitatively or the quality of your seed, but also I want you to multiply.
[00:47:30] I want this seed to fill the earth because as a result of the blessing that will come upon your family through the generations, you'll be able to subdue the earth, have dominion over the fish of the sea.
[00:47:44] So you're not in this alone.
[00:47:46] Your family doesn't end with you.
[00:47:47] This is why Satan doesn't just want you, he wants your kids.
[00:47:53] And so he's gonna attack you for the sake of your kids.
[00:47:58] So he's gonna try to do everything he can to stop you from stewarding, get so caught up in your stuff, from stewarding the multiplication of your future.
[00:48:11] So, I mean, it works out right from the very beginning.
[00:48:14] When Adam sinned, what happened?
[00:48:16] Humanity now is born with that sin.
[00:48:21] So this works out right from the very beginning.
[00:48:23] So when Adam and Eve made the wrong choice, they chose to disobey God, to be independent from God, then that sin and the curse that was on sin, when you are born, you are born into the family of Adam and Eve.
[00:48:40] And you are born in sin.
[00:48:42] That's why you need to be born again.
[00:48:46] So you need to decide, as a Christian, you are exchanging families.
[00:48:50] You are no longer of the family of Adam and Eve.
[00:48:54] You are now the family of Jesus.
[00:48:56] Your big brother is Jesus, your father is God, and the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you.
[00:49:01] So you are born again out of the curse that's on sin into a brand new family.
[00:49:06] That's why in Isaiah 53,
[00:49:07] He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, and He bore the sin of everybody.
[00:49:13] See, this is why this woke agenda is so important for us to fight against.
[00:49:18] Because transgender, LGBTQ, ABC, EDF,
[00:49:25] and Gender Confusion is a satanic, demonic attack on the generations that will come.
[00:49:35] Because what the enemy wants to do is he wants to stop you from being fruitful and multiply.
[00:49:41] Because two men can't have babies and two women can't have babies.
[00:49:45] I don't care what social media says, a man is not getting pregnant.
[00:49:51] It ain't gonna happen.
[00:49:54] And so God blessed the family, male and female, to be fruitful and multiply.
[00:50:04] So that's why we have to fight against it.
[00:50:06] That's why you need to teach your kids, oh, we just need to love them.
[00:50:08] No, no, we need to teach them the truth.
[00:50:12] Well, you know, it's okay.
[00:50:14] And here's the big thing, Christians, listen to me very carefully.
[00:50:17] You can't just hide yourself and say, well, that doesn't involve me.
[00:50:19] Yes, it does.
[00:50:21] Yes, it does involve you because this isn't just involving your family.
[00:50:26] This is a societal systemic issue that we as Christians have a call from God to change in our country and the world.
[00:50:37] Are you following me?
[00:50:39] Let me give you just a couple examples here so you can see this biblically and we'll just kind of dig deep into this and then we'll talk about how to get out of it and break this curse.
[00:50:47] Say it ends with me.
[00:50:48] It ends with me today.
[00:50:49] Hit your neighbor and say, it ends with me.
[00:50:51] It ends with me.
[00:50:52] Dadgummit.
[00:50:56] So we talked about Abraham.
[00:50:57] Pastor Aaron was talking about Abraham a little bit.
[00:50:59] And didn't you talk about Abraham?
[00:51:02] No, it was Pastor Adam talked about Abraham.
[00:51:05] Adam, Aaron, I mean, you can't get them confused.
[00:51:11] Abraham is the father of faith.
[00:51:13] But did you know that in Abraham's family there was a curse?
[00:51:19] How do we know that?
[00:51:20] Well, Abraham and Sarah, he lied two times.
[00:51:26] He was going to Egypt, and he told Pharaoh, he told Sarah, hey, listen, we're gonna go into this city, and I'm gonna tell everybody, because you're pretty hot, I'm gonna tell everybody that you're my sister.
[00:51:39] And just understand, when we go in there, we're not married.
[00:51:44] You're my sister.
[00:51:45] And so they go into Pharaoh and, you know, he probably sneaked a kiss or something like that.
[00:51:50] Pharaoh sees it and he goes, you don't kiss your sister like that.
[00:51:53] I can tell you right now, that's just, you know, that's just, you don't do that.
[00:51:56] You lied to me.
[00:51:58] Like, this is not your sister.
[00:52:00] He did the same thing again with King Abimelech and Gerar.
[00:52:05] Well, the result of that is Sarah was barren.
[00:52:09] One of the key factors of a curse is barrenness.
[00:52:13] What happened next?
[00:52:14] Abraham had a son.
[00:52:15] His name was Isaac.
[00:52:17] He was able to get through that.
[00:52:20] God blessed Sarah.
[00:52:21] She had a child named Isaac.
[00:52:22] Guess what Isaac did?
[00:52:24] He lied.
[00:52:25] He did exactly the same thing.
[00:52:27] He lied in Genesis 26.
[00:52:28] Same city, same king.
[00:52:33] He tells his wife Rebecca, listen, when we go into this city, you're hot.
[00:52:38] And they're going to, you know, and I don't want them to kill me, so I'm going to tell them you're my sister.
[00:52:44] You know, and so King Abimelech sees Isaac and says, she's not your sister.
[00:52:50] There's no way.
[00:52:52] Guess what happened?
[00:52:53] Rebekah was barren.
[00:52:56] Happened again with Jacob.
[00:52:57] Jacob, actually, he didn't just lie.
[00:52:59] He was born called a liar.
[00:53:02] His name was liar.
[00:53:05] So I want you to see this.
[00:53:06] This was inherited all the way down.
[00:53:09] And guess what happened with Rachel, his wife?
[00:53:12] Now he messed up so bad.
[00:53:15] Jacob was so jacked up because of this lineage of generational line, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
[00:53:24] Jacob was born supplanter.
[00:53:27] The Bible says when Esau came out as the firstborn, he reached out and grabbed Esau's heel, pulled him back into the womb, and says, I want to be first.
[00:53:34] And then he stole Esau's birthright by lying to Isaac about who he was.
[00:53:42] And he got so caught up in this deception that his father-in-law tricked him as well until God was able to change his name to Israel.
[00:53:55] And then Joseph was the one who broke it because his kids were named fruitful.
[00:54:01] Are you following this lineage thing?
[00:54:04] Now, it also works on the blessing side.
[00:54:07] So this blessing that we have on our lives can also be, can fall through our lineage.
[00:54:14] Paul is talking to his spiritual son, Timothy, in 2 Timothy chapter one.
[00:54:19] He says, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you,
[00:54:25] He's speaking to the faith that's inside of Timothy.
[00:54:28] He said, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and because of the lineage of faith that flows through your grandma and your mom, I know it's in you.
[00:54:41] So just as powerful as a curse is, more powerful is the generational blessing that can flow through your life.
[00:54:50] See, family is God-ordained, God-established, God-anointed tool to provide legacy, protection, and covering.
[00:54:59] Your family is important.
[00:55:01] If you're single, your future family is important.
[00:55:05] The choices that you make pre-marriage, extremely important.
[00:55:10] The choices that you make, Dad, right now is not just about your career, it's about the future lineage that's gonna come through you.
[00:55:18] It's extremely important.
[00:55:20] So here's what God says in Deuteronomy chapter 30.
[00:55:24] Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 19 and 20.
[00:55:27] What he's doing, God is summing up this idea of blessing and cursing.
[00:55:33] If you remember, if you've ever been to a marriage, a lot of times they'll use Deuteronomy 28 and they'll say, blessed in the city, blessed in the fields, and blessed, blessed, blessed.
[00:55:41] And then they don't talk about the curse in the wedding, by the way.
[00:55:45] They don't go up and, oh, by the way, you're gonna get cursed if you do this and you're cursed if you do that.
[00:55:49] Amen, aren't you glad they're married?
[00:55:51] You know, they don't do that.
[00:55:53] God in Deuteronomy chapter 30 brings this out and he says in verse 19, he says, I call heaven, God is speaking to the children of Israel, his chosen people.
[00:56:04] You guys following me right now?
[00:56:06] I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you.
[00:56:12] that I have set before you life and death.
[00:56:17] What are the next two words?
[00:56:19] Blessing and cursing.
[00:56:21] Now, notice that blessing is associated with life and cursing is associated with death.
[00:56:27] And then he says, pick life.
[00:56:32] Therefore, choose life.
[00:56:35] Notice the next phrase.
[00:56:36] That both you and your
[00:56:39] Descendants, hello, generational, may live.
[00:56:45] Live life blessing, are you following me?
[00:56:48] That you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey his voice and that you may cling to him for he is your life and the length of your days and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to
[00:57:00] Three generations, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
[00:57:04] God is summing it up.
[00:57:05] So what does it look like to live a blessed life?
[00:57:07] Let me just sum it up because in chapter 28, he talks about these blessings.
[00:57:12] There's seven of them.
[00:57:13] Basically, if you sum up all the verses, I'm gonna give you what it looks like for a person who chooses life because it's a choice that you have to make.
[00:57:24] What it looks like to be blessed.
[00:57:27] First, exultation.
[00:57:30] It doesn't mean that you are prideful.
[00:57:32] It means that you will never be under anything.
[00:57:38] You will rise above things.
[00:57:40] You are exalted.
[00:57:41] The blessing of God exalts you above your circumstances.
[00:57:45] You'll be reproductive, fruitful, multiplying in every area.
[00:57:50] You'll be healthy.
[00:57:51] Divine health is always better than divine healing.
[00:57:54] You'll live healthy.
[00:57:55] You'll live your body functioning like it should.
[00:58:00] You'll be prosperous.
[00:58:03] It's not talking about rich.
[00:58:05] You know, we can experience rich.
[00:58:08] I mean, wealth is not a bad thing, but what he's talking about in prosperity is that not just financially, but in every area of your life, that you'll have enough.
[00:58:18] Because God is the God of enough.
[00:58:21] You'll be victorious.
[00:58:22] You'll be succeeding.
[00:58:24] He says you'll be the head and not the tail, which means you'll have authority.
[00:58:28] You'll walk in authority.
[00:58:31] And then it says you'll be above and not beneath means that you're never under the circumstances but you'll always be over them.
[00:58:37] See the difference between being the head and not the tail is the head makes the decisions and the tail is just being dragged along.
[00:58:45] Which one do you wanna be?
[00:58:47] Do you wanna be the person that's just being dragged along in life?
[00:58:49] Because a lot of people live their entire lives just surviving.
[00:58:52] I just wanna survive.
[00:58:53] No, no, no.
[00:58:54] The blessing of God means you're gonna thrive in every area of your life, especially when it comes to your family and through your family.
[00:59:02] Now, what does it look like to be cursed?
[00:59:04] It's summed up in these seven thoughts.
[00:59:08] You'll live cursing is you'll be humiliated.
[00:59:13] You'll be under everything.
[00:59:15] It'll always feel like there's pressure on you.
[00:59:18] You'll never feel like that you're moving forward.
[00:59:22] It always feels like you're just being dragged along in life.
[00:59:25] That's what it means to be cursed, which we're gonna talk about in just a second.
[00:59:28] Barrenness, usually always associated with the curse, means that I cannot produce.
[00:59:36] that it doesn't, not just biologically, but I can't reproduce.
[00:59:40] It feels like that something is stopping me.
[00:59:44] I'm being subtracted from instead of added to, multiplied with.
[00:59:51] Sickness of all kinds.
[00:59:52] This is part of the curse.
[00:59:54] Poverty.
[00:59:56] My family, there's poverty that just flows through my family.
[00:59:59] It's always, we never have enough.
[01:00:03] The feet is a part of the curse.
[01:00:05] You feel helpless.
[01:00:08] That's what it means to be the tail instead of the head, is you feel helpless, that it feels like everything else is making decisions for you, that you never had the opportunity to make the decision on your own, that you're just being dragged along in life.
[01:00:24] And then beneath, or weakness, you just feel weak.
[01:00:27] So let me just give you real quickly, these are indicators that you may be under a curse when we look at our lives.
[01:00:34] There's seven indicators.
[01:00:36] I'm gonna put this list on the screen so you can see all seven of these, you can take a picture of it, just listen to it, whatever you wanna do, go back and watch this.
[01:00:43] The first indicator that you may be living in a generational curse is mental or emotional breakdown.
[01:00:51] That there is in your family a lineage of depression, anxiety,
[01:00:58] Mental breakdown.
[01:01:00] It's not just with one generation.
[01:01:02] It feels like you go back and you look at the history of your family and there seems to always be depression.
[01:01:11] That's the generational curse.
[01:01:12] There seems to always be anxiety.
[01:01:14] Your mom had it, your grandma had it.
[01:01:17] When you get together with your family, there's a lot of talk about anxiety and depression.
[01:01:21] There's mental illness, breakdown mentally.
[01:01:25] Secondly, chronic sickness.
[01:01:28] There's this chronic, you ever heard when people talk about when they go to the doctor and the doctor can't find anything?
[01:01:35] Like we can't figure out what's going on with you.
[01:01:37] We've done blood tests, we've done heart tests, we've tried this, we've tried that, we can't figure it, that points right to a generational curse.
[01:01:45] Because it's spiritual in nature.
[01:01:48] And so this chronic sickness, cancer, runs through my family.
[01:01:54] No, it ends with me.
[01:01:55] No more.
[01:01:57] Well, diabetes, you know, see, that is accepting the generational inheritance.
[01:02:02] It's saying, well, you know, my family has diabetes.
[01:02:05] I guess I'll have it too.
[01:02:06] No, no, it ends with me.
[01:02:09] You can stop it right now.
[01:02:11] Heart disease, it just flows through my family.
[01:02:13] Just because it's in your DNA, human-wise, doesn't mean it has to be in your G.O.D.
[01:02:19] life.
[01:02:21] Are you following me?
[01:02:23] You can let go of it just because it's something that's hereditary doesn't mean you have to carry it into your born-again life.
[01:02:30] It ends with you right now.
[01:02:32] Are you following me?
[01:02:33] You can stop it.
[01:02:35] Understand it's very important that we understand that.
[01:02:38] Barrenness, I talked about that.
[01:02:40] Barrenness is often, if not always, the result of a generational curse.
[01:02:45] The inability to have children or you're having miscarriages over and over and over again, usually tied to a generational curse.
[01:02:54] Marriage and family breakdown, repeated divorce, cheating.
[01:03:00] My wife and her family, she had repeated divorces over and over and over again.
[01:03:05] What ended with us?
[01:03:07] We've been married 33 years.
[01:03:13] I told her a long time ago, you can't leave me.
[01:03:16] If you leave me, I'm going with you.
[01:03:18] I don't know what to do.
[01:03:20] I can't feed myself.
[01:03:21] I don't know how to take care of myself.
[01:03:24] And so I'm married forever.
[01:03:27] Divorce is not an option for us.
[01:03:29] That kind of talk is not invited into our home.
[01:03:32] Are you following?
[01:03:33] We don't use that word in our home because it's tied to a curse.
[01:03:37] Are you following me?
[01:03:39] So you have to decide.
[01:03:40] That's not used as a manipulative tool.
[01:03:42] You know, I'll just divorce you.
[01:03:43] No, you are succumbing to a generational curse right there or beginning one in your family.
[01:03:51] Poverty, continued insufficiency.
[01:03:56] This is a big deal.
[01:03:58] A poverty mindset.
[01:04:00] It doesn't matter where you grew up or how you grew up or what was given to you or taken away from you.
[01:04:08] It doesn't matter.
[01:04:09] You do not have to live in poverty.
[01:04:11] Poverty is a generational curse.
[01:04:15] I've been to third world countries.
[01:04:17] Countries that are cursed because of generational decisions.
[01:04:23] All you have to do is go to those countries and see that those countries are under a poverty curse.
[01:04:30] God's blessing is bigger than that.
[01:04:32] It doesn't matter that they don't have the things of America.
[01:04:37] America isn't the determining factor of what blessing looks like.
[01:04:41] The Word of God is the determining factor of what the blessing of the Lord looks like.
[01:04:47] and it doesn't matter what your family's, you can break it.
[01:04:50] Poverty is often a generational curse.
[01:04:52] Accident prone, where people have accidents.
[01:04:56] I had a friend in Richmond and he knocked his front tooth out.
[01:05:02] His front tooth was fake.
[01:05:03] He could pull it out, it looked funny, it looked awesome.
[01:05:05] He would pull it out every now and then and go, hey, how you doing?
[01:05:07] He's gonna have a front tooth.
[01:05:10] Crazy, crazy.
[01:05:12] His dad, same thing, knocked out his front tooth.
[01:05:17] His daughter did exactly the same thing.
[01:05:20] Knocked out her front tooth.
[01:05:23] That's a generational curse.
[01:05:24] You say, oh, it's just a front tooth.
[01:05:26] It's still part of a generational curse.
[01:05:30] History of suicides or unnatural deaths are a sign of a generational curse.
[01:05:36] The Kennedy family, definite curse there.
[01:05:40] All you gotta do is look at the suicides and the unnatural deaths that flow through their family.
[01:05:46] Definite curse.
[01:05:47] So does this mean that if I disobey God, God's gonna do something to me?
[01:05:52] No, no, no, no.
[01:05:53] Let's make sure we understand what blessing and cursing means.
[01:05:57] Blessing is very different than cursing.
[01:06:00] Blessing is God's presence.
[01:06:03] It's God's involvement.
[01:06:05] He relates to us.
[01:06:08] He is in relationship with us.
[01:06:10] He recognizes us.
[01:06:12] He provides his guidance to us.
[01:06:15] The opposite is true with cursing.
[01:06:18] Understand, when the Bible talks about curses, it doesn't mean that somebody disobeyed God and then he drops the hammer on them.
[01:06:28] No, what cursing is, is God's absence.
[01:06:33] He removes himself from rebellion.
[01:06:37] He removes himself from disobedience.
[01:06:40] He removes himself.
[01:06:42] He's absent.
[01:06:43] He's not involved.
[01:06:44] He cannot relate to rebellion.
[01:06:46] He cannot relate to disobedience.
[01:06:49] He cannot relate to choices of death or sin.
[01:06:54] He's not in relationship.
[01:06:56] One way to look at it is he is pushed to ignore you.
[01:07:03] in that situation.
[01:07:04] Like wandering through with no help.
[01:07:07] It's like going through the desert and you have no help.
[01:07:10] Now what are the number one reasons for curses?
[01:07:13] The number one reason for curse is idol worship.
[01:07:17] Idol worship.
[01:07:18] Breaking the first of the two commandments.
[01:07:21] Listen to Exodus chapter 20 verse three and six.
[01:07:23] It says, you shall have no other gods before me.
[01:07:26] This is the number one commandment.
[01:07:29] Well, I live in the New Testament.
[01:07:31] We'll talk about the New Testament in just a second.
[01:07:33] So hold your horses, sweetheart.
[01:07:36] You shall have no other gods before me.
[01:07:38] You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness or anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the waters under the earth.
[01:07:48] You shall not bow down to them nor serve them.
[01:07:52] Now, this is what he says.
[01:07:53] This is the first two commandments.
[01:07:54] For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.
[01:07:58] Do you know that God is jealous for you?
[01:08:00] He wants you.
[01:08:02] He loves you.
[01:08:03] He cares for you.
[01:08:05] He died for you.
[01:08:07] He wants to be in your presence.
[01:08:09] He wants to be in your home.
[01:08:11] He wants to be around you.
[01:08:13] His desire is to be with you all the time.
[01:08:16] That's who God is.
[01:08:19] Now notice what it says.
[01:08:20] For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me.
[01:08:31] When we don't choose God, we are basically saying, I hate you.
[01:08:38] I don't want you to be in my life, but, verse six, showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.
[01:08:47] Now, for those of you that are going, that's the Old Testament, that's the Ten Commandments, come on, pastor.
[01:08:55] Well, Jesus was asked, could you please sum up the Old Covenant?
[01:09:00] Could you give me the most important things?
[01:09:03] So Jesus responds to him, you shall love the Lord your God,
[01:09:07] With all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
[01:09:11] Now, I know what you're thinking.
[01:09:11] You go, well, I don't have no idols.
[01:09:13] I got rid of those last week.
[01:09:15] All the statues are gone, Pastor.
[01:09:18] We are not bound to anybody anymore.
[01:09:21] That's not it.
[01:09:22] Because I know what you're thinking.
[01:09:23] Now, you go to other countries, and there are real idols where people really bow down to them.
[01:09:30] We say, not in America.
[01:09:32] Good gracious.
[01:09:34] Yeah, okay.
[01:09:35] Well, what about money?
[01:09:41] What about your checking account?
[01:09:45] Does that come before God?
[01:09:46] See, an idol is anything that you put before God.
[01:09:51] Anything that you trust in other than God.
[01:09:55] Now, when you look at the Old Testament, the Israelites did this all the time.
[01:09:59] They would go, we love you, God!
[01:10:01] We love you, God!
[01:10:02] And he goes, well, then follow me and do what I command.
[01:10:05] And then they'd go marry foreign women.
[01:10:08] Or they'd start serving other gods.
[01:10:11] Now, God is very gracious with a lot of things, except being second.
[01:10:21] Just read the Bible.
[01:10:22] He's very gracious with a lot of things, but the moment that He's second is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second, because He will be second to nothing.
[01:10:34] He needs to be number one at the center of your life in every part of your life.
[01:10:41] So is money your idol?
[01:10:42] Maybe family's your idol.
[01:10:44] Maybe family, because family can easily become, you know, my kids, I need to make sure that, yeah, but when we put them before God, when we choose our kids before God, you say, well, what does that look like?
[01:10:57] Exactly.
[01:10:59] This is why this series is so important.
[01:11:01] For us to understand and begin putting God at the center of all my decisions.
[01:11:07] That I'm going to make decisions in regards to my kids, not just because of the way that my grandma did it or my mama did it, but because what God says for me to do with my family.
[01:11:17] How I need to treat them and live so that they can see my integrity, my honesty, my character, and who I am before God.
[01:11:25] So as a dad, I'm going to go to church every single Sunday.
[01:11:28] As a dad, I'm going to serve God.
[01:11:29] They're going to wake up and see me reading my Bible and studying the Scriptures.
[01:11:33] I may make mistakes, but I'm going to repent and show them what repentance looks like.
[01:11:37] I'm going to show them how to love somebody because I'm going to love my wife so that they go, man, look at how dad loves wife.
[01:11:42] I'm going to smooch on her and kiss on her and make them nervous.
[01:11:45] I mean, I make my kids nervous.
[01:11:49] Stop, dad.
[01:11:50] But they love it.
[01:11:52] because now they know exactly how a man should treat a woman or maybe how a woman should treat a man, that you serve him and you love him and you care for him.
[01:12:03] Success can become an idol.
[01:12:05] Your career can become an idol.
[01:12:07] Your education can become an idol.
[01:12:09] Health, your self-pleasing of people can become an idol.
[01:12:14] Entertainment can become an idol.
[01:12:17] Politics, uh-oh, can become an idol.
[01:12:19] Comfort can become an idol.
[01:12:22] Security, relationships.
[01:12:26] Oh, I just need a man.
[01:12:27] Then you meet him, and then he comes before God.
[01:12:33] Hello?
[01:12:34] Or she comes before God.
[01:12:37] Your intellect, substances.
[01:12:39] Listen, listen.
[01:12:41] Idol worship is trying to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way.
[01:12:49] Because we all have needs.
[01:12:51] It's trying to meet a legitimate need in an illegitimate way.
[01:12:56] Now notice that he uses the word iniquity.
[01:13:01] He says, I'm gonna visit the iniquity
[01:13:03] to the third and fourth generations.
[01:13:06] Generational curses involve this idea of iniquity.
[01:13:11] There's three words in the Bible that are used to describe disobedience.
[01:13:16] Sin, trespass, and iniquity.
[01:13:21] It's important to understand.
[01:13:22] Sin is when we miss the mark.
[01:13:25] God said to do this and we just don't do it.
[01:13:30] We know what he said and we choose not to do it.
[01:13:34] Missing the mark.
[01:13:35] Trespass is he sets a boundary and we cross the boundary.
[01:13:40] It's just like when you go into someone else's property you're not even invited to.
[01:13:44] So God says, hey listen, here's the fence.
[01:13:48] Don't go past this fence.
[01:13:50] Here's what marriage covenant looks like.
[01:13:53] Here's the fence.
[01:13:54] You play here, don't play out there.
[01:13:59] You know, in your relationship as you're growing
[01:14:01] and you're single, here's the fence.
[01:14:04] Okay, here's how you live your life.
[01:14:06] Trespass is, I'm gonna jump the fence.
[01:14:08] Whoa, look over here.
[01:14:11] But then there's this word iniquity.
[01:14:14] Iniquity is the ripple effect of the sin or the trespass.
[01:14:21] It goes to the inner moral corruption or the effects of the sin or the trespass.
[01:14:29] It's the twisted nature that sin causes in our moral heart, in our heart of hearts.
[01:14:37] It's the ripple effect.
[01:14:38] Sin and trespass is the rock that's thrown into the water.
[01:14:42] Iniquity are the little waves that come off the sin or trespass.
[01:14:47] So when it comes to generational curses, we're not responsible for what our parents or our grandparents or our great-grandparents did.
[01:14:56] We're not responsible for the rock, but we have to stop the ripple.
[01:15:02] We have to end the ripple effect.
[01:15:05] When we recognize the curse that is flowing through our family, then we stop the waves.
[01:15:12] Come on, say it.
[01:15:12] Say, it ends with me.
[01:15:14] It ends with me.
[01:15:15] The word iniquity is the Hebrew word awan, and it means to be bent, like a sapling tree that's bent in a certain direction.
[01:15:23] So we have bent beliefs, we reject the truth, or rebellion to the truth as a result of the rock that was thrown in several generations past, or bent behavior.
[01:15:34] We're further moving away from God's best because we're rebellious.
[01:15:38] Just because it's good doesn't mean it's God.
[01:15:41] The way that we treat our children.
[01:15:43] Well, my mom used to hit me with her hand, so that means it's okay for me to hit my kids with my hand.
[01:15:49] No, no, the Bible talks about using a rod for a reason, because hands are for mercy.
[01:15:57] They're to show mercy, not violence.
[01:16:01] So when it comes to our kids, our hands are meant to reach out and help, not to hit.
[01:16:07] That's why God says use a rod.
[01:16:09] It's okay.
[01:16:10] And hit them right on the backside of it.
[01:16:12] That's why I gave them a lot of fluff back there.
[01:16:16] So you can wear that thing out and it's okay.
[01:16:18] They may scream like it's killing them, but it ain't killing them, trust me.
[01:16:22] It's killing the iniquity that's on the inside of them.
[01:16:26] Amen?
[01:16:29] All right, so, say it again.
[01:16:31] Say it ends with me.
[01:16:32] It ends with me.
[01:16:33] How do I break the curse?
[01:16:34] Let me just close this real quickly.
[01:16:37] How do I break the curse?
[01:16:39] Every time there was a revival, every time there was an awakening in the children of Israel, it involved confession.
[01:16:48] So the first thing to break this generational curse, maybe over the time of this message you are starting to identify some things that could be a generational curse in your life.
[01:17:00] It starts right here.
[01:17:01] Confess the iniquity.
[01:17:05] Every revival and every awakening in the Old Testament with the children of Israel began with confession.
[01:17:13] Not just their confession, they always went back and dealt with their father's mistakes.
[01:17:20] Listen to Leviticus 26.
[01:17:22] And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemy's lands.
[01:17:27] Also in their father's iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.
[01:17:33] If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers and their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to me that they also have walked contrary to me and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they accept their guilt I will remember
[01:18:03] My covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham.
[01:18:10] I'll remember.
[01:18:11] Now what are those three covenants?
[01:18:12] Very important.
[01:18:14] These are pre-law, okay?
[01:18:17] So this is pre-law.
[01:18:19] This is pre the law of Moses.
[01:18:21] So these are covenants that you and I still participate in.
[01:18:27] Covenant of Abraham, the Covenant of Isaac, and the Covenant of Jacob.
[01:18:31] Abraham's covenant was a covenant of blessing.
[01:18:34] God said to Abraham, I'm gonna bless you so you can be a blessing.
[01:18:40] I'm gonna bless you and your family so through you, you can continue to bless.
[01:18:46] That every child you raise will be blessed.
[01:18:49] Every grandchild that comes through your loins will be blessed.
[01:18:52] You'll be blessed going in, you'll be blessed.
[01:18:55] Are you following me?
[01:18:56] You'll be exalted, prosperous, victorious.
[01:18:59] All those things that he listed in Deuteronomy 28 is a result of the blessing of Abraham.
[01:19:05] The blessing of Isaac is God's presence.
[01:19:07] I will always be with you.
[01:19:08] I'll never leave you nor forsake you.
[01:19:10] And the covenant of Jacob is I'll protect you.
[01:19:13] No enemy is gonna attack you.
[01:19:17] So when we go back and deal with those iniquities from our past, we say, all right, I recognize the rock, I'm not responding.
[01:19:26] They did it, I didn't, but I'm stopping it, it ends with me.
[01:19:31] So Nehemiah 9 too.
[01:19:32] Then those of the Israelite lineage separated themselves from all the foreigners.
[01:19:37] They stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
[01:19:41] Daniel 9, 16, O Lord, according to your righteousness, I pray, let your anger and your fury be turned away from the city of Jerusalem, the holy mountain, because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are approached to all those around.
[01:20:00] Generational curses don't mean we are responsible for the guilt of our previous family's mistakes, but we may have inherited the consequences of that rebellion.
[01:20:11] So we gotta stop it.
[01:20:13] Secondly, whatever is not transformed is transferred.
[01:20:18] Whatever is not transformed is transferred.
[01:20:22] Your hidden porn addiction, husband, will be transferred if you don't transform it.
[01:20:30] Bring it out in the open and confess it.
[01:20:34] Your problem with anger, it will be transferred.
[01:20:40] if you're not transformed.
[01:20:42] Romans 12, two, do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
[01:20:49] You have to have a new mindset that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
[01:20:55] Second Corinthians, but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed.
[01:21:03] Listen to me, listen to me, I'm almost done.
[01:21:06] As you submit yourself to the Lord,
[01:21:09] As you submit yourself to the life-changing power of Jesus Christ, you change the way you think.
[01:21:17] I'm no longer a victim.
[01:21:19] I'm no longer poor.
[01:21:21] I'm no longer an alcoholic.
[01:21:23] I'm no longer a divorcee.
[01:21:25] I'm no longer sick.
[01:21:27] You say, well, I don't see it.
[01:21:28] You're dealing with the root.
[01:21:31] And then as a result of that transformation, God delivers you.
[01:21:37] People die, demons don't.
[01:21:41] That's why we have to deal with them.
[01:21:44] Spiritual influences don't pass away.
[01:21:48] They are transferred unless we are transformed.
[01:21:53] You can't discipline a demon away.
[01:21:59] You cannot.
[01:22:01] You can't counsel a demon away.
[01:22:05] Surgery won't remove a demon.
[01:22:08] and you can't medicate a demon away you have to cast a demon out you have to cast that spirit out and deal with it from a spiritual perspective in other words you have to close the door last thing authority trumps access I have a key card right here that all of my employees have and this key card gives them access to come in and out
[01:22:38] of Areas of the Building.
[01:23:01] Some of you have allowed spiritual influence to come in and out of your house, in and out of your life.
[01:23:09] You've given them access.
[01:23:10] Today is the day where you take authority and you cancel the key card to the enemy's influence in your family.
[01:23:19] Are you following me?
[01:23:24] Jesus said, behold, I give you authority.
[01:23:28] When we're submitted to Jesus and his family
[01:23:31] We have authority to cancel the enemy's access.
[01:23:35] Let me just close with this story, and then we're gonna pray a prayer.
[01:23:38] David, you see this in David's life.
[01:23:43] David is about to die.
[01:23:44] This is in 1 Kings chapter one and two.
[01:23:46] David's about to die.
[01:23:47] He's on his deathbed.
[01:23:50] He's not leaving the room, and people, they're fighting for control of the country.
[01:23:56] And, you know, Adonijah, his son, rises up and tries to take authority,
[01:24:00] Solomon is the next king and David brings in the priest and he brings in his generals he brings them all in but he also brings Solomon into his bedroom he pulls him up next to him he says hey listen Solomon this is this is the Maxwell translation okay so you can read it what the Bible says I'm just going to tell you the way I read it so he pulls Solomon up to me he goes listen I'm gonna tell you something
[01:24:29] I'm gonna give you this kingdom, and as long as you obey God, He's gonna bless you like He blessed me.
[01:24:36] Now we know David made a lot of mistakes.
[01:24:39] We know he did.
[01:24:40] But he's called a man after God's own heart, and so Solomon, his son, is listening to him, and he says, but I wanna let you know there's something you're gonna have to deal with.
[01:24:49] I have a few enemies that you need to deal with.
[01:24:54] And so he says, there's this cat named Joab,
[01:24:58] Joab was on my team for a long time and he and he went over to the other side and he did some things that he shouldn't have you deal with him he also says there was this guy named shimmy shimmy when i was coming into uh after a victory he cursed me he spoke these things but i told him because he repented that i wouldn't kill him you do what you need to do with him
[01:25:23] And the Bible says that Solomon, as soon as David died, he dealt with his brother Adonijah, he dealt with Joab, killed him, and he killed Shimei.
[01:25:35] And then the next verse says that Solomon's kingdom was established forever.
[01:25:42] The moment that you take authority in your house and deal with the enemies that have been surrounding your house for all...
[01:25:52] The blessing of God will come on your house.
[01:25:55] Amen?
[01:25:57] Now, I want to ask you to do something and then we're going to go home.
[01:26:02] If you're here today and you say, you know what, Pastor, after hearing this, I think I may have a generational curse in my family.
[01:26:10] I may be, I've seen, you know, suicide and depression and barrenness and these
[01:26:16] Things I've seen in my family and they have been passed down.
[01:26:20] Cancer and sickness.
[01:26:21] If that's you, I want you right now just to stand up on your feet right where you are.
[01:26:24] Just stand up.
[01:26:25] You say, I recognize a generational curse in my life.
[01:26:29] Just stand up on your feet all across this room.
[01:26:33] We're gonna pray a prayer in just a second.
[01:26:36] Anybody else?
[01:26:37] I recognize that there's a generational curse that's been flowing through my family in the past.
[01:26:43] Sickness, disease.
[01:26:45] The seven things that I listed, chronic depression, poverty, there's always been poverty, lack.
[01:26:58] Now here's what we're gonna do.
[01:26:59] We're gonna pray a prayer of release over our lives.
[01:27:03] And I want you to, I'm not gonna have you come forward.
[01:27:06] I'm just gonna have you do this right at your seat.
[01:27:07] If you're married, I want you to grab the hands of your spouse.
[01:27:10] Just grab their hands right now, because we're gonna,
[01:27:14] We're going to take authority over this.
[01:27:17] And it ends today.
[01:27:20] Let me say that again.
[01:27:22] It ends today.
[01:27:27] It ends today.
[01:27:29] It ends with me.
[01:27:34] From this day forward, my family is going to live in the blessing of God.
[01:27:40] And would the rest of the church, would you stand with them?
[01:27:42] Maybe put your hands on them, lay your hands on them.
[01:27:46] I want you to pray this out loud.
[01:27:48] It's gonna be on the screen right behind me.
[01:27:50] It's kinda difficult to see, but I'm gonna read it.
[01:27:54] I just want you to repeat this after me.
[01:27:57] It's very difficult to see, so I'm gonna read a part of it, and I want you to confess it.
[01:28:01] Maybe close your eyes.
[01:28:03] And I want you to pray this prayer.
[01:28:04] This is a declaration over your life, and from this point forward, this is the end of not just a chapter, but the end of a generational curse book, and you're writing a brand new story moving forward from today.
[01:28:20] Just say this with me.
[01:28:21] Say, Lord Jesus Christ.
[01:28:23] Come on, say it with authority, like you believe it, like God's gonna do something big, like heaven needs to hear this prayer.
[01:28:31] Lord Jesus Christ.
[01:28:34] I believe that you are the Son of God and the only way to God that you died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead that on the cross you were made a curse with every curse that is due to me that I might be redeemed from the curse
[01:29:04] and enter into the blessing of God.
[01:29:07] Lord, I confess any sins committed by me, by my ancestors, and I ask your forgiveness.
[01:29:20] I also forgive every other person who ever harmed me or wronged me.
[01:29:29] I forgive them as I have been forgiven by God.
[01:29:35] I also forgive myself and now Lord having received by faith your forgiveness with the authority I have as a child of God I now release myself and those under my authority from any curse
[01:30:04] over our lives right now in the name of Jesus it ends with me I declare every curse is broken I declare freedom in my family
[01:30:24] and future generations.
[01:30:27] I declare release.
[01:30:30] I claim it and receive it by faith.
[01:30:34] It ends now in the name of Jesus.
[01:30:39] Amen.
[01:30:39] Come on, let's just, God, thank you.
[01:30:41] Thank you, God.
[01:30:43] Come on, let's thank God.
[01:30:44] Hallelujah.
[01:30:49] Lift your hands to heaven and let this be a moment, a pillar moment in your life.
[01:30:54] Father, thank you.
[01:30:56] Thank you.
[01:30:57] We break it right now in the name of Jesus.
[01:31:04] Oh, I don't know if you felt that, but I felt it.
[01:31:06] I felt a release in the name of Jesus.
[01:31:09] Oh, we thank you, God.
[01:31:10] One more time, let's come on, let's give Him some praise today.
[01:31:13] Amen.
[01:31:15] Amen, amen, amen, amen.

[01:31:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Well, welcome to Freedom House.
[01:31:22] Come on, give God some praise today.
[01:31:23] Come on.
[01:31:27] You don't get set free without giving some gratefulness up.
[01:31:29] Come on.
[01:31:31] Come on.
[01:31:35] Only He can do it.
[01:31:38] Amazing, amazing, amazing.
[01:31:40] Well, if this is your first time with us, welcome home.
[01:31:44] If you made Jesus the Lord of your life today, hey, we're celebrating with you.
[01:31:48] If you prayed that prayer and you're like, you know what?
[01:31:51] That was the beginning of my relationship with Jesus right there.
[01:31:54] This is my fresh start.
[01:31:56] We are inviting you to come to the Guest Central located in the lobby.
[01:31:59] We have free gifts we'd love to get in your hand, tell you about your next steps in that journey.
[01:32:03] And man, we're just celebrating with you today.
[01:32:05] What a great day.

[01:32:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Yes, and Family Matters happens all month, so let's make sure we commit to being here every single weekend this month and bring other families alongside of us.
[01:32:15] So go tell your neighbors about it, tell your coworkers about it.
[01:32:18] Let's bring people into the house of God where they can be equipped and empowered.
[01:32:23] and we also have a series resource for you today and that is for parents the title of the book is not raising kids or raising students it's actually raising parents how many of us know that sometimes you don't have people to teach you how to be a parent but
[01:32:39] we are going to do that this month and in addition so that you can equip yourself the rest of the week go over to salt resource pick up the book called raising parents and let's dive in and let's level up as a church and as families because as for us in our house we will
[01:32:57] Serve the Lord.
[01:32:59] Hey, we also have Dream Team Takeover.

[01:33:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Yeah, Dream Team Takeover is happening right now.
[01:33:02] You'll see in the lobby all different types of tables set up for all the teams that are represented.
[01:33:07] I know you're ready to serve.
[01:33:09] They're ready to get your name and number soon.
[01:33:10] They can plug you in.
[01:33:11] It's going to be amazing.
[01:33:12] Freedom House, we love you.
[01:33:13] Have a great week.
[01:33:14] You guys are dismissed.

[01:33:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
He's ever let me down He's able to turn away