Pastor Jeremy reminds us that while relationships can bring both joy and pain, conflict is often unavoidable—but how we handle it matters. Instead of letting conflict break us, we’re called to let it build us into people who look more like Jesus
Notes 📓✏️:
Your best moments have names. And your worst moments… have names too.
Conflict
Let Conflict Build You; Not Break You
Acts 15:36–41 (NLT)
“After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care.”
Acts 9:26–27 (NLT)
“When Saul [Paul] arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer! Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how [Paul] had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to [Paul]. He also told them that [Paul] had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.”
Acts 13:13 (NLT)
“Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.”
John Mark had deserted them…
• “Paul disagreed strongly…”
• “Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated”
Sharp disagreement. Intense irritation. Emotional outbursts. An explosion of feeling.
Expect conflict because people are imperfect.
James 4:1 (ESV)
“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?”
Conflict doesn’t just happen because we’re different. It happens because we’re broken.
Own Your Part…Even When It’s Not All Your Fault.
Matthew 7:3-5 (NLT)
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
Spiritual maturity begins where blame ends.
• You still have a responsibility in how you respond.
• You’re not responsible for their actions… but you are responsible for your reactions.
Engage with wisdom, not retaliation.
“I’m gonna win!”
Romans 12:17 (NLT)
“Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.”
• May wisdom, not wrath, guide you.
• May truth, not emotion, lead you.
• May patience, not impulse, define you.
Don’t let conflict ruin you…let God refine you.
How are you being shaped?
Genesis 50:20 (NLT)
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.”
Let conflict build you, not break you!
Discussion Questions 📝❓:
- Pastor Jeremy mentioned that Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement that was so intense it included emotional outbursts and an explosion of feelings. What does this tell us about how even mature Christians can handle conflict?
- Jesus said in Matthew 7 to focus on the log in your own eye before worrying about the speck in your friend’s eye. Why is it so hard to see our own faults when we’re in conflict with someone?
- Abraham would write ‘hot letters’ when he was angry but never send them. What are some practical ways we can ‘process our anger privately’ instead of ‘weaponizing it publicly?’
- How can unresolved conflicts still be used by God to make us more like Jesus?