A Holy Cleanse

This powerful message confronts us with a reality many of us avoid: the weight we carry isn't always something we picked up along the way—sometimes we were born into it. Through the story of Jacob and his sons in Genesis, we're shown how deception, favoritism, and unresolved sin can cascade through generations, creating burdens that innocent people inherit. Jacob deceived his father Isaac to steal his brother's blessing, and years later found himself deceived by Laban in a mirror reflection of his own sin. Even after changing his name to Israel, he continued the cycle by favoring Joseph over his other children, planting seeds of hatred and division. The message challenges us to ask ourselves: do we have the determination to stick things out where we once had the ability to deceive our way through? Are we willing to confront the dormant sins that sit quietly in our hearts, waiting for the right moment to resurface? Most importantly, will we be the generation that says 'this stops with me'? The concept of a 'holy cleanse' isn't just about surface-level repentance—it's about excavating the deep, hidden burdens we've carried for years, including those we inherited without asking. As we prepare our hearts, whether for baptism or simply for renewal, we're invited to leave everything in the water: the shame, the cycles, the weight of generational patterns. This is our moment to break free and ensure the next generation walks lighter than we did.