Small Group Bible Study Resumes Sunday Evening
Greetings, Church Family!
Our Small Group Bible Study time resumes this Sunday, January 8, at 6PM, when we will begin an incredible important study called "The Peacemaker," which will equip us with Biblical principles of conflict resolution, and both create within us a desire to be one who brings peace to our workplaces, schools, communities, and families, and to train us to be able to do so.
Printed booklets are available. If you haven't secured yours yet, you can pick one up this Sunday. In the meantime, I have attached a PDF of Lesson 1 to this email.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Small Group!
Tommy Alderman
UPDATE: I'm having some technical issues with file attachments, so I am pasting the contents of Lesson 1 below. If the issue gets resolved, I will send another email with the PDF attachment.
THE PEACEMAKER
INTRODUCTION
This entire study has as its origin the book entitled “The Peacemaker, A Biblical Guide to Resolving
Personal Conflict – Third Edition” by Ken Sande who founded Peacemaker Ministries.
INTRODUCTION
What is a Peacemaker? What defines a person who is known as one who makes peace? Peacemakers: People who breathe grace.
They draw continually on the goodness and power of Jesus Christ. To the conflicts of daily life, they bring His...
⬧ Love ⬧ Mercy ⬧ Forgiveness ⬧ Strength ⬧ Wisdom
I. CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE PEACEMAKERS
• God delights to breathe His grace through peacemakers and use them to... o Dissipate anger
o Improve understanding
o Promote justice
o Encourage repentance and reconciliation
As employees, peacemakers see this powerful principle bring peace to hundreds of conflicts
in the workplace.
In their community, peacemakers actively work to maintain peace and end neighborhood feuds.
As church members, God works through committed peacemakers to preserve and actually improve congregational unity.
As husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and children peacemakers see biblical peacemaking turn frustrating conflicts into opportunities for the family to face their sins, grow to see their mutual need for the Savior, and grow closer to Him and to one another.
o Most of us know that these results are not common in today’s world.
o Today when people lock horns in the... ...workplace
...neighborhood ...congregational meetings ...home
...bedroom away from the kids
Lesson 1
• Conflict is costly and robs us of... ...immeasurable time
...countless energy ...money ...opportunities to grow
...most of the time, relationships are severely damaged!
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• Worst of all, it can destroy our Christian witness!
o When we, as believers, are bitterly involved in disagreement and coldly estranged from one another...then very few people, if any, will listen when we try to talk to them about the reconciling love of Jesus Christ.
QUESTION: Why is that so important? II. THE PATH TO PEACEMAKING
2 Corinthians 5:18a...Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.
▪ Reconciled = to change, to compound a difference, to change and bring together ▪ We are not the same people that we were; we have been changed.
QUESTIONS: How did He change us? How did He bring us together? ⬧ God’s work
o o
Reconciliation = restoration to favor, to bring back together
Not only were we changed, but now we are given a unity that has at its core
ministry.
Verse 18b...and gave us the ministry of reconciliation
That ministry has at its core a message...the word of reconciliation. Verse 19c...and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
That word of reconciliation is to be carried out as we function in our new role as ambassadors.
Verse 20...Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
To fulfill our role as ambassadors for Christ there must be a sense of urgency in our conversation...our words of reconciliation.
⬧ Pleading in the KJV is beseech = to call near, to invite, to call for comfort
⬧ Implore in the KJV is pray you = to beg (as if binding oneself, to make request, to petition)
• Our ability to live for and serve God is connected to our ability to live peaceably in the... ⬧ Home ⬧ Church ⬧ Neighborhood ⬧ Workplace
“When Christians learn to be peacemakers, they can turn conflict into an opportunity to strengthen relationships, preserve valuable resources, and make their lives a testimony to the love and power of Christ.” – Ken Sande
QUESTION: Are we doing that effectively?
“Although many Christians and their churches believe they have held on to God’s Word as their standard for life, their responses to conflict, among other things, show that they have, in fact, surrendered much ground to the world.” – Ken Sande
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One of the ways for us as GLC members to overcome our weaknesses as peacemakers and learn to respond to conflict biblically is to study the subject in a series of lessons based on the Ken Sande (along with Kay Moore) study called...
Peacefakers, Peacebreakers, Peacemakers
A Bible study designed to be used in a Sunday School or Small Group setting to help members learn life-changing principles of conflict resolution
What does Sande mean by using the phrase Peacefakers, Peacebreakers, Peacemakers? People basically respond to conflict in three ways.
Peacefakers = They try to avoid conflict by pretending that problems don’t really exist or by pulling away from difficult relationships.
Peacebreakers = They try to intimidate or overpower opponents through forceful arguments, threats, or aggressive action.
Peacemakers = They work toward genuine agreements and attempt to restore broken relationships by treating others as they would like to be treated themselves.
o As we go through this study, we will learn how to biblically weed out the undesirable attitudes and actions in our lives.
o This study is different from our usual study but is important to us as Christians. o Encourage the class members to share ways they are growing in their ability to
understand biblical peacemaking.
o You might want to purchase a copy of The Peacemaker, the third edition; it expands on the concepts of this study.
o All of this is designed to help you become an effective Peacemaker. o All of these principles are based solidly on God’s Word.
We can summarize the biblical approach to resolving conflict in four basic principles called
The Four G’s.
1. Glorify God
• Have a deep desire to bring honor to God
1 Corinthians 10:31...So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for
the Glory of God.
2. Get the log out of your own eye
• Face up to what you have contributed to a dispute before you accuse others.
Matthew 7:5...You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you
will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 3. Gently restore
• When others fail to see how they have contributed to a conflict, we can graciously show them their fault.
Galatians 6:1...Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.
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4. Go and be reconciled
• We can commit to restoring damaged relationships and negotiating just agreements. Matthew 5:24...First go and be reconciled to your brother: then come and offer
your gift.
The Gospel is the foundational “G” that provides both a model and the motivation for peacemaking.
“The gospel teaches that God sent His Son to save us from our sins. By His grace, we can confess our wrongs, lovingly confront others, and forgive others in the way He has forgiven us.” – Ken Sande
QUESTION:
How are you doing in your daily life as youconfess your wrongs,lovingly confront others, andforgive others in the way that He has forgiven you?
...As a husband? ...As a wife?
...In your work?
...At your church?
...In your neighborhood? ...At Wal-Mart?
...In traffic, etc.?
“So what is the difference between the way you are handling this conflict and the way a good atheist would handle it?” – Ken Sande
Atheist = one who denies the existence of God
God wants to see us treating one another in a way that shows the power of the Gospel in
each of our lives. QUESTION: Why?
ANSWER: Because we as a church have a ministry to this lost and dying world (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Focusing on God and His glory will provide the power to be good Peacemakers!
The Peacemaker
“Focusing on God is the key to resolving conflict constructively. When we remember His mercy and draw on His strength, we invariably see things more clearly and respond to conflict more wisely. In doing so, we can find far better solutions to our problems. At the same time, we can show others that there really is a God and that He delights in helping us do things we could never do on our own.”
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