What defines your life, the past or the future?
I just rented the DVD Groundhog Day for the first time. I'm a huge Bill Murray fan, but I'd never seen this classic comedy about a weather man who is cursed to live the same day, Groundhog Day, over and over again until he gets over his selfish attitude.
I think a lot of us feel that way sometimes. It seems like we live the same routines day after day. Worse, we make the same mistakes over and over again. We lose our temper at work, yell at the kids, overspend on credit cards, drink too much, drive too fast, or whatever. We want life to be different, but it feels like we're stuck on the worst day of our lives until we get it right.
How do we get past that?
For this week's message, I'm looking at the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4:1-42. Having been through seven failed marriages, her life seemed to be stuck in replay hell. Jesus got her out of it. She learned how to break free from the past, relate to God and other people honestly, and find a purpose for her life.
That's what I'd like to show people this weekend. What can help get that message across? What word pictures or stories could illustrate the difference can make in our lives?
What has helped you personally to break free from patterns of thinking or behavior that have held you back?
How can we "move on" when we feel stuck?
At the risk of sounding a bit like Beth Moore ;-) how to we help people break free from the chains that hold in the past so they can find a better future?
2 comments:
Pastor, After reading your post I wish I could be in your church on Sunday. ;-D I think in my life the one/only thing that helps me to break free from my patterns is an encounter with Christ. That was really what the Samaritan women needed. But no one would come her way until Jesus decided He "must needs go through Samaria." I can try all I might. I can muster up all the mind over matter energy to not do again what I do again and again, but it's only through Jesus that I ever make any progress/overcome. I guess the verse for me is: Without faith it is impossible to please God. So by faith I please God. By faith I change my patterns. By faith I get out of my ruts. Again, thanks for your posting, Pastor, and blessings on you tomorrow as you preach the Word. @aheartforgod Lam 3:22-23
i love that movie
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