Sermon Audio: Handling Conflict Within God's Family
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Acts 15:36-41
Duration: 22:35
Size: 14.0 MB
Acts: Life In The Spirit
Handling Conflict Within God's Family
Acts 15:36-41
Those who follow Christ can hold strong convictions without sacrificing good relationships.

I. Christ-Followers Need to Foster an Encouraging Environment (Acts 15:36)
It may be safe to say that we should always be on one end or the other of encouragement.

II. Christ-Followers Will Sometimes Disagree Strongly (Acts 15:37-40a)
God had called Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles, and if Mark didn't really think Gentiles should get into God's family without being circumcised and keeping the law of Moses, then he would cause more harm than good as they revisited the Gentiles they had led to Christ.

III. Christ-Followers Should Relate to One Another in Loving Humility (Acts 15:40)
Now, as we look at the dispute between Paul and Barnabas, it appears that neither one of them was guilty of an offense or a sin against each other, so in a sense, there was no reconciliation or forgiveness needed between them.

The important thing to remember is that even if we cannot agree with another believer, we can and must love them and be humble in our relationship with them.

IV. Christ-Followers Must Never Allow Conflict to Stop the Flow of God's Grace (Acts 15:41)
This life will be filled with disagreements, arguments, problems, fights, embarrassment, stupidity, and other unpleasant things, but we must never let any of those negative things derail God’s plan for our lives.

Forgiveness and grace will preserve our relationships with one another--even when we disagree strongly.