Discussion Questions  |  9 August 2020

SERMON SUMMARY

New Series – It’s Not You. It’s Me.

We have all been cooped up for what seems like forever. What has all this social distancing done for your relationships? Has it made things a little tense? Maybe things have never been better? No matter your current status, it’s become clearer to all of us that relationships are important and God calls us not just to healthy relationships, but to be holy in our relationships. Through this series, we will look at how our faith shapes who we are, how communicate, resolve conflict, forgive and set boundaries in our relationships.

DISCUSSION

Conflict is something that we may not love the idea of but still something that all of us will deal with. Life brings tension and issues, and conflict is sure to arise at some stage. Even Jesus, a perfect person, God personified, found himself in conflict with some of the people in his life. So even if you happen to be perfect…the people around you might not be! At a wedding I went to, the celebrant once said, “Scripture tells us to never go to bed angry…so stay up and fight!” (He was joking!) But in order for us to have healthy, helpful, and holy relationships we need to learn how to prevent conflict, deal with conflict, and to resolve conflict. Scripture has some great wisdom to share with us and James 3:13-18 brings to light the difference between Godly wisdom and earthly wisdom.

Discuss one or more of the following questions:

1. Listening to this week’s sermon, what spoke to you and why?

2. James 3:13-18 talks about envy and selfish ambition, what do you think about the idea that all conflict comes from this? The idea of “I’m not getting something I want”?

3. There is an important difference between a wisdom that manages relationships and a wisdom that transforms the people in the relationship. Put that into your own words and share what this might look like.

4. Peace-loving: What are things that you know promote peace in your important relationships? Are there reasons you don’t always promote these things?

5. Considerate: Are you able to understand why the other person wants what they want, and why it matters to them? Can you explain how it could change your relationships if you were able to be more considerate?

6. Sincere: Explain what sincerity means to you. Explain what it feels like when someone isn’t being sincere with you. How does it feel? Does it make you want to be more sincere?

7. Do you believe that you can build a healthy and robust community around you by how you build relationships?

8. What is something you feel like God is asking you to put into action after this week’s sermon and discussion?