Nov 13, 2022: What About Disagreements?

Acts 15:1-41

Matthew 18:15-35

What About Disagreements?

Mike Giesenhagen

November 13, 2022

Acts 15 and Matthew 18:15-35

15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ d 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

-     Matthew 18:15-17

 1.  We Must __________________  _____________________.

 2.  We Must Understand God’s __________ for ________.

 a.  It’s __________ to ___________ _______________.

 b.  It’s ____________________ in the _____________.

 c.  We’re All  _____________ ___________________.

 3.  We Must _____________ the ________________.

 4.  We Must __________  _____________  ______________.

 5.  We Must _____________  ___________________.

 WEEKLY REFLECTIONS

 1.   When you have a disagreement with someone, how do you normally handle it?  How did your family handle disagreements and conflict as you were growing up?

 2.   What aspects of Matthew 18 do you see in Acts 15?  How does this biblical principle play out in this context?  What is the goal behind both of these chapters?

 3.   Why is it important to understand how God feels about unity, reconciliation, and his people?  How does this shape our approach when it comes to conflict within the Church?

 4.   Why is it important to keep the focus on the issue, rather than the opponent, in our conflict?

 5.   What is the significance of unity as we come out of conflict?  What do we do when we continue to disagree about the issue at hand?

 6. Read Genesis 3.What does this chapter of Scripture tell us about how difficult it will be to maintain unity with others?Would you say it is easy to stay unified or difficult?