Healthy Conflict
Dreams to Destiny – Part 1
September 4-5, 2021
Dr. Jeffrey Allen Love
Genesis 37
“’Here comes the dreamer!’ they said. ‘Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, “A wild animal has eaten him.” Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!’” Genesis 37:19–20 (p.31)
- Healthy Relationships Start With Me Being A Healthy Person.
Healthy people:
- Care about making a difference more than making a point.
“One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever…Soon Joseph had another dream… This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him.” Genesis 37:5–10 (p.31)
“’(Jesus)…my time has not yet come.’” John 2:4 (p.810)
“We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” Ephesians 4:15 (p.897)
- Choose humility and let God do the honoring.
“So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing…Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him…So when the Ishmaelites…came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.” Genesis 37:23–28 (p.31)
“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 14:11 (p.797)
“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had…Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form…” Philippians 2:5–7 (p.900)
My Next Step This Week:
This week to grow as a healthy person, I’m asking God to help me to daily: _____ Care about making a difference more than making a point. _____ Choose humility and let God do the honoring.
Discussion/Groups Guide
Weekend Talk of September 4-5, 2021
Dreams to Destiny – Part 1: Healthy Conflict
Life Groups use this guide in their discussion and study of the Weekend Talk. Use this also as a discussion guide with your family and friends.
Our Fall Groups Semester has begun! But you still have time to try a Group. We can help! Find out more about Groups (in person and online) at alivechurch.com/groups.
Conversation Starters
- Is there a relative in your family that is a real pain in the neck? How do you interact with them or are they just ostracized?
- Or perhaps you have a strange aunt or a particular uncle which is always inappropriate at family gatherings – they are a bit of an embarrassment. Do you just grin and bear the encounter?
- How have you seen conflict handled in healthy ways?
Quick Review
Looking back at your Talk Notes, was there anything you heard in the service that stood out, challenged, or maybe even confused you?
Discussion Starters from the Weekend Talk
Refer to the Talk Notes and Bible verses from the Talk Notes.
This week’s One Thing: The key principle that Pastor Jeff Love emphasized is:
Healthy Relationships Start With Me Being A Healthy Person.
- Background: Genesis 37 (p.31)
- Read Genesis 37:19-20 (p.31)
- How healthy does the relationship seem between Joseph and his brothers?
- Have you ever experienced conflict in your family relationships? Were you able to work through them in a healthy way?
Pastor Jeff led us to consider two characteristics of healthy people when it comes to conflict in relationships. He also did a sort of compare and contrast between Joseph and Jesus.
- Healthy people care about making a difference more than making a point. (See Genesis 37:5-10 (p.31); John 2:4 (p.810); and Ephesians 4:15 (p.897))
- Have you ever been guilty of saying the right thing but saying it the wrong way?
- How does the way Joseph handled this knowledge about his future (Genesis 37) contrast with how Jesus handled His knowledge about His future (John 2)?
- What does it mean to speak the truth in love? How do you practically do that?
- Have you ever been challenged by someone who spoke the truth in love to you?
- Healthy people choose humility and let God do the honoring. (See Genesis 37:23-28 (p.31); Luke 14:11 (p.797); and Philippians 2:5-7 (p.900))
- We don’t’ talk too much about “honoring” people today. What do you think of when you think of “honor?” Have you ever felt like you deserved honor but received none? Or perhaps you know someone else who should have been honored but wasn’t.
- What is so extraordinary about how Jesus is described in Philippians 2?
Digging Deeper
This is an opportunity for you to go a bit further with the Talk topic.
- Consider the phrase “winning the argument but losing the person.” Through the last few weeks, we have been focusing on humility. The way we can say things: our tone and our body language have an impact on the message we are conveying. There is a whole industry created around communication theory, some of it is sound and we can use it to share the gospel more effectively.
- Look at John 4:1-39 (p 811) to see how Jesus deals with the Samaritan woman. What was the outcome of that interaction? Jesus could have spoken the truth in harshness and indignation, but He did not.
- What did He do? What can we learn from how Jesus approached this woman?
- Now read 2 Corinthians 5:20 (p.844).
- What does it mean to be an ambassador? What does this say about how we approach others? From whom do ambassadors get their instructions?
My Next Step This Week:
- To grow as a healthy person, I’m asking God to help me to daily:
_____ Care about making a difference more than making a point.
_____ Choose humility and let God do the honoring.