Called to Community
Life in Community
Conflict (1|2)
Pages 200-204
TOGETHER read the devotional and the scripture.
INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
Matthew 18:15-20 (NIV) “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. 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.’ 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. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
TOGETHER pray for one another.
INDIVIDUALLY answer the questions in your journal - process your devotional notes and pray.
How do you tend to deal with conflict in your life? How does your church community deal with it?
EXTRA READING:
Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest who provided shelter for thousands of Jews in his friary and was an active voice against the Nazi violence. He was arrested by the German Gestapo and imprisoned at Auschwitz. When a fellow prisoner escaped from the camp, the Nazis selected ten other prisoners to be killed in reprisal. As they were lined up to die, one of the ten began to cry, “My wife! My children! I will never see them again!” At this, Maximilian stepped forward and asked to die in his place. His request was granted, and he led the other men in song and prayer as they waited for their deaths.
“These Nazis will not kill our souls, since we prisoners certainly distinguish ourselves quite differently from our tormentors; they will not be able to deprive us of the dignity of our belirf in Christ. We will not give up. And when we die, then we die pure and peaceful, resigned to God in our hearts.”
- Maximilian Kolbe (1894 - 1941)