The peacemaking church: Conflict provides opportunities

{Rev. Dwight Yoo}

We will be covering a book "the peacemaker" by Ken Sande for eight weeks. This is not a complete departure from James, but it is certainly not an expositional series. We wish to focus on a specific core value for a season. In this case, we want to focus on Gospel Community.

What happens when the church does not handle conflict well?

Spiritual growth suffers - Ephesians 4:1-16
Marriages suffer - Ephesians 5:22-33
Friendships suffer - Proverbs 17:17;18:24

What if, by God's grace, we get this right?

Spiritual growth and renewal
Powerfully redemptive, long-lasting, world attracting marriages, families, and friendships
A Gospel community, whose relationships display the power of the Gospel to an unbelieving world.

That was the intro to this series. Now the sermon.

Matthew 5:9
The church should be a community of peacemakers in a world of conflict.

Conflict: "A conference in opinion or purpose that frustrates someone's goals or desires."

Conflict is not all bad. Even the apostles had them. There are two major bad responses.

Escape: aka peace-faking. This is self-centered. The person hates the situation and wants out. There is denial of any problem. They may run away from these situations. If they go to an extreme, they may choose to commit suicide.

Attack: aka peace-breaking. This is also self-centered. This person wants to always be right. They are convinced that the other person is the problem. Assault of either the emotional or even physical attack. They may litigate, take you to court. Taken to the extreme, they may murder others. This can be just pretending someone does not exist. Completely ignoring them.

KYRG - KISS YOUR RELATIONSHIPS GOODBYE.

The best and biblical response?

Peacemaking: It is about we. Directed towards finding just and mutually agreeable solutions to conflict. There is a covering over and overlooking of small sins. There is reconciliation over more serious sins. And for seriously contentious issues, there is mediation and even arbitration.

Three opportunities from conflict

Glory for God
Trust Him - Proverbs 3:5-7
Obey - John 14:21
Imitate - Philippians 2:1-7
Acknowledge - 1 Peter 2:12

Serve others
Put others first - Luke 6:27-28;36
Meet others needs
Show others where they need to grow - Galatians 6:1-2
Introduce them to Jesus - 1 Peter 3:15-16
Set an example of healthy conflict resolution (your kids are watching.)

Grow to be like Christ
Romans 8:28-29

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