FAll Quarter Week 2

Pastor Andrew Yang

"Attachment Theory and God the Father"
Attachment Theory
Attachment theory: the study of attachment bonds within a caregiving system and how it affects a child's Internal Working Model
Caregiving system: negotiation between child and parent; how the child expects to be comforted and how the parents expect to give comfort
Internal Working Model: child's mental representations of the attachment figure, self, and environment based on experiences
- Growing up, you feel like you have unlimited potential; you don't know your weaknesses yet. This changes as you age.

Ainsworth's Strange Situation Assessment explores attachment styles: secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-resistant. This is important to identify because how we react as a child in distress is how we react now when we're in distress.

Promise Keeping
Why is promise keeping important? We need to develop trust, credibility, reliability, and vulnerability. When someone breaks a promise, we lose all of that. With promises, there is an expectation to be cared for and for the promise to be followed through with.
God's promises throughout scripture are given for us to hold on to, to rely on, to trust. Promise keeping is a biblical mandate (See Mat 5:37 and 5:33, and Lev 5:4).
Words are an extension of the attachment caregiving system in humans. God's word is one way He takes care of us and demonstrates His commitment and love to us.
Understand that God is a perfect Father and is always with us through the Holy Spirit. We are by definition God's children, because we have been brought to Him through the blood of Christ.
Psalms 22: David feels a separation and abandonment from God. Yet, he responds by lifting God up in glory and praise, demonstrating a secure attachment to God. He reflects on moments when God saved him and fulfilled His promises. It's normal to feel and express moments of frustration and anguish. However, what do you do after? Do you reflect on the moments where God has taken care of you? Do you remember when God saved you? Remember God's goodness in our lives. Pray to Him, read His word and seek comfort through it. Rely on God - "Take care of me because I cannot do it on my own".

What can you do?
Be a witness for God. Demonstrate how God is our primary caretaker through your own actions. Facilitate and help your brothers and sisters in Christ to seek God. As images of God, we were created and designed to reflect God and His love and characteristics to the world. Be a compassionate listener. Don't try to fix people's problems when they come to you to share. Empathize with them. Live this out in discipleship, small groups, and pray for each other.