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#RealTalk-Week 4 // Handling Conflict // Pastor Kate Murphy

Scripture: Matthew 13:44-46, Luke 8:21 & 11:28

Dear Church,

Jesus liked to tell stories about seeking and finding.  He told one parable about a man seeking treasure who found some buried in a field.  He hid it again; went away and sold everything he had and then bought the field. 

We are all seeking treasure here.  We are searching for deep, true, real & joyful life with Jesus and one another at the Grove.  I believe Jesus has planted that longing in each of our hearts, and I believe that Jesus was telling the truth when he said that those who seek will find.  But I also believe that Jesus was telling the truth in his story about the treasure hidden in the field.  It will require real effort, real sacrifices and real risk to find what we are searching for. 

We will have to fight to become the healthy and holy church we are seeking.

Literally.

Sometimes, God will heal and grow and bless us through conflict.  But there is a right and a wrong way to approach conflict, and most of us have never been taught the difference.  There is a faithful way to fight that will bear fruit for the Kingdom.

I hope you will join me for the last installment of our #realtalk worship series.  We are going to dive into the practical dos and don’ts of conflict. We can’t avoid conflict–but we can learn how to make our fights worth having.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us

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#RealTalk-Week 3 // Embracing Conflict // Pastor Kate Murphy

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10

Dear Church,

#realtalk: My greatest fear is rejection.  Because I’m afraid of rejection, I really dread conflict.  For years, I avoided it like the plague.  I’d do anything to avoid having a painful conversation with anyone–much less someone I loved.  Maybe this is part of your story too.

But what I’m learning is, we can find deliverance in the very things we ask God to deliver us from.  Conflict isn’t a sin or a burden.  It’s a reality we navigate as humans. For years, my dream was to serve a church without any conflict.  But a church without conflict isn’t possible, and it certainly wouldn’t be healthy.  Now I see that conflict is just another opportunity for God to bless us.  Conflict is something we can get good at!

We need to have right expectations of the role conflict plays in healthy communities. And we need to learn how to participate in conflict in a holy way.  We need to learn how to ‘fight clean,’ trusting and expecting that God’s grace and power will bind us together, even as we seek peace. Conflict can help us grow into a healthy and holy community.

Together, I believe the Holy Spirit will teach us to have difficult, truth-filled and loving conflict that makes us a freer, safer and more joyful community!

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:

https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us

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#RealTalk-Week 2 // It Must Be Love // Pastor Kate Murphy

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It’s wedding season, so you may have heard these words recently on someone’s special day.  The trouble is, we tend to reserve Paul’s wisdom for ceremonial occasions, when we need them most on ordinary Tuesdays when the kids are late, the bills can’t be paid and the toilet is leaking.  We treat this revelation like a beautiful poem to be admired in a museum, instead of what it is: practical instructions for #realtalk.

Paul starts out saying, if I speak in the tongues of men or angels, have prophetic wisdom, mountain-moving faith or even all-encompassing generosity, it’s not enough.  None of it matters, unless I also speak and live love.

Culture hasn’t changed much in 2,000 years.  It’s still everyone’s goal to be interesting, wise, powerful and impressive.  That’s more than enough for the world, but Paul says-you can be all those things and still miss the mark.  If Jesus matters to you, then your everyday, ordinary #realtalk must be love. (spoiler alert: love is always kind but rarely nice.)

I hope you’ll join me as we lean into Paul’s wisdom.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us

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#RealTalk-Week 1 // Our Words Matter // Pastor Kate Murphy

Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5, John 1:1-5, Matthew 12:33-37 (NIV)

In Matthew 12, our Lord says that the words we use reveal who we are:

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

He’s not saying as long as we say one prayer one time, whatever else we say for the rest of our lives doesn’t matter. He’s saying our words show us who we really are. Our words shape us.

How we talk matters–there is nothing more powerful, more spiritual or more important than how we talk to one another.

Words make worlds.

I hope you’ll join me as we start our new #realtalk worship series.  Because the way we talk matters, because even more than our actions, our talking forms our community.

Peace,

Pastor Kate

Want to chat about what you have heard? Click here:
https://www.thegrovecharlotte.org/connect-with-us

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