Our parents are our original givers of our identity and sense of self during our formative years. Our roots have shaped us in all kinds of ways. Our roots matter. But how do we reconcile a past of trauma within our family of origin? What does it mean to honor our mother and father, especially when we've been harmed by their actions, or lack thereof? When we begin to practice boundaries, while still acknowledging where we came from, we can begin healing.

One of the broken schemas that came into the world as a result of cosmic sin was Patriarchy. Humanity abandoned God’s perfect blueprint for the relationship between genders and suffered as a result. All throughout our story, God has never stopped reminding us of his better way. Through Jesus, we see the perfect expression of God’s plan for his sons and their warrior sisters. They are to battle the darkness of this world, side by side, unified in purpose.

Fear is a great motivator and a terrible teacher. So much of our faith, especially for the church in the west, seems to be built more on the fear of hell rather than the person of Jesus. This fear-based approach to the Christian walk has had significant impacts on the way we view God, interact with our neighbors, and ultimately trust & follow Jesus. When we recognize and name those beliefs and false narratives for what they are we can begin to move forward into the full & fearless life Jesus has offered us.

We all grew up in systems or environments that have shaped us into who we ultimately became. Our formative years are filled with spoken or unspoken rules, expectations, norms, assumptions, or beliefs. So as we confront our "house" that molded us, we learn to address the things that are actually making it difficult to live healthy, joyful lives as a living sacrifice to God.

One of the great mysteries of the Gospel is that when we make the decision to follow Jesus, we are adopted as sons and daughters into the family of God. This means that we are co-heirs with Christ to the new creation. We often forget this and shrug off our birthright for things that don’t last. We also fail to trust God, despite his many promises. The story of Jacob and Esau encourages us to see that even though we wrestle with God and with humans- we are “overcomers” because of his great love for us.

Have you ever experienced a “mountaintop moment” with God? A moment when you felt God’s power and presence in an incredible way? Sometimes, despite the confidence and assurance we feel in those moments, our humanity gets the best of us. Our egos take over. We listen to the wrong voices. We reduce God to the spectacular. The prophet Elijah experienced victory after victory with God, yet he still ended up in the depths of despair. God showed Elijah, (and teaches us through his story) that the way to truly know him is to listen to the gentle whisper of his voice.

We live in a very reactive time. We have a tendency to think that whatever someone else does to us, we are fully in our rights to return harm to them in even more damaging ways. Peter makes many errors along his journey walking with Jesus, but what we see in scripture when he messes up, is a lesson that whenever we can admit our weakness, we discover new strength.

While it's sometimes easy to judge people in the Bible for making the mistakes they do, but we often find we are capable of making the same type of errors. Abraham and Isaac are people we revere in scripture, yet fear drove them to make questionable choices. While their ministry could be considered successful, their actions caused lots of pain for the people around them. Sometimes "the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now."

Well here we are. At the start of a new season here at The Well. New seasons bring all kinds of feelings and states of mind. Grief for the end of the previous season, uncertainty about what lies ahead, hope for what lies ahead. Excitement. Despite the parting of ways, just like in Acts 15, we see the gospel continues on. We believe this next season for us as a church will be a great adventure- a time of discovery- a time of forging new paths and new relationships.

A life of love is never a waste. While we may not see the full power of love this side of heaven, Paul tells us that every action done in love will echo into eternity. God will bring an end to everything else, even the good things of the Spirit, but love is eternal. So we are called to run after the way of love with all we have, because love never gives in, love never gives up, and love never falls short.