American League baseball umpire Bill Guthrie was working behind the plate, and the catcher for the visiting team was repeatedly protesting his calls. Guthrie put up with it for a few innings, and then pulled the catcher aside. “Son,” he said softly, “you’ve been a big help to me in calling balls and strikes today, and I appreciate it. But I think I’ve got the hang of it now, so I’m going to ask you to go to the clubhouse and show whoever’s there how to take a shower.” Conflicts are unavoidable; how we handle them is optional. Today, let’s learn from the conflict between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:36-41. More than that, let the Spirit guide you to respond to your conflicts in ways that bring glory to God and good to his people.

From Series: "Acts II"

Every book of the Bible is about Jesus. Although some Bibles title the fifth book of the New Testament “The Acts of the Apostles,” it’s still about Jesus. We’re not going to study it as just scholars, but we’re going to study it also as soldiers. Scholars and soldiers tend to be the ones who study history the most. Scholars tend to look at what people used to do; soldiers tend to look for what remains to be done. One is for information, the other is for mission. We will study the Book of Acts for both.

Scripture References: Acts 15:36-41

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