Bitter Roots Series

INTRO

ƒ{ Where do the roots that produce the fruit come from?

Root = cause or origin

And roots come from seeds

- Good or bad

Seed = Birth or Beginning

ƒ{ The soil of our soul is most tender and pliable when we are young

ƒ{ The enemy loves to plant bad seed in the tender soil of a child

ƒ{ And wait

* He will fertilize

* Cultivate and water through

- Accidents and incidents

ƒ{ As children we often forget

ƒ{ As adults we often suppress

ƒ{ And roots get through into the pot

ƒ{ That tend to entangle us on life's journey

HOW SEEDS ARE DEPOSITED

(have pot) (seeds)

1. Hurts / Pain

ƒ{ Often a pain or hurt will build a fortress or stronghold in our lives.

ƒ{ Like Jericho

* No one went in

* No one went out

ƒ{ When I have hurt at home

ƒ{ When I have hurt with people

ƒ{ Often the root is escapism

ƒ{ The fruit can be

* Perfectionism

* Workaholics

* Gang Banging

* Sexual Perversion

* Anger

* Depression

ƒ{ I've often wondered what childhood pains affected

* Adolph Hitler

* Charles Manson

* Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold (Columbine High School Massacre)

ƒ{ How do you forget the pain and hurt

ƒ{ Who dreaded the bus ride home because he was made fun of

* Got home and was ignored

* Cut from the team

* Girlfriend cheated on him

ƒ{ Now a 250 lb man

ƒ{ Can't control his rage and ager

ƒ{ Because the seeds of:

* Hurt

* Pain

* Rejection

o Produced roots

o That said, I will never allow that to happen again.

ƒ{ Psychiatry says memory lays in every cell of the body

* Smell

* Sound

* Visual

* Song

* Cologne/perfume

* House

* TV Commercial/Movie

* Taste

2. Abandonment

► Dad

► Mom

► Wife

► Husband

ƒ{ Our fathers' absence can form a life-long question that plagues us...

* Maybe it was something I did

* Or something I lacked

* That caused him to leave

ƒ{ Husband leaves

* The woman wonders...

o Was I not pretty enough

o Desirable enough

ƒ{ And we bury painful questions that become seeds that grow into roots

ƒ{ Parents in court fighting over who gets what child

ƒ{ Creates the feeling of abandonment

ƒ{ Even if you see them every other weekend.

ƒ{ It has been scientifically proven that premature babies

ƒ{ Who are placed in incubators for a prolonged period of time

ƒ{ Denied skin-to-skin contact with mother

ƒ{ Will often feel rejected and distant

ƒ{ Even though their mother loves them, the lack of touch leads to a sense of abandonment

ƒ{ When I feel distant from God

...It's because I felt distant from Dad

EXAMPLE: Jesus being baptized

ƒ{ It is a father's approval that makes

* A little leaguer run harder than the rest

* A timid boy become brave

* A frail young man lift more weights

o All with the hopes of a, "This is my son who I am well pleased".

ƒ{ A generation who's stopped dreaming

ƒ{ Tired of playing before crowds and no Dad

ƒ{ Traded footballs for guns & pornography

ƒ{ Millions of men growing up without mentors

ƒ{ How can we expect men to lead?

ƒ{ Abandonment has grown roots that produced

* Rage

* Insecurity

* Promiscuity

* Perversion

* Domestic violence

ƒ{ Because we can't find our identity

ƒ{ Dads absence leaves us desperately looking for someone to fill in the blank

* If the church doesn't do it

o The gangs will

o The internet will

o Sexual perversion will

o Workaholism will

ƒ{ Empty abandoned sons will always look

* For someone or something to fill the void

Malachi 4:6

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.

* If not biological, then spiritual (apostolic fathers)

3. Judgments

ƒ{ Made toward others or God

ƒ{ My judgments toward my parents

* Became bitter roots

* That produced a fruit of control

* If something was out of control...fear set in

Matthew 7:1-2

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

ƒ{ In every area I judge it will come back on me with the same measure

ƒ{ I judged my mother for anger

* I reaped anger

EXAMPLE: I judged a pastor about financial mismanagement

I got accused 20 years later of the same thing

ƒ{ What you plant is what you harvest