To My Friend Who Left The Faith: A Series On Doubt And Faith

4 Weeks

Big Idea of the Series

Based on the book To My Friend Who Left the Faith by Wade Bearden, this series addresses four reasons that so many individuals have abandoned church in recent years. Bearden asks, “Does doubt have a place in church? How do I know that Christianity is true? If God is so good, why do some Christians act so terribly? How can a good God allow so much pain and suffering?” Examined with empathy and grace, this series empowers pastors to address and support both believers and nonbelievers in their congregation. This series can be used in conjunction with Wade’s book, as well as in small groups and Sunday School classes.

Based on To My Friend Who Left the Faith: A Letter to a Prodigal from a Prodigal by Wade Bearden (P. Rutherford Press, 2022). Used by permission. Learn more about the book here: https://www.amazon.com/My-Friend-Who-Left-Faith/dp/0578391597/. Cover artwork is limited to use with the sermon series To My Friend Who Left The Faith and may not be edited without the expressed written permission of Wade Bearden.

What is the Series Guide?

Included in each guide is:

A sermon series outline that breaks up the teaching set into a specific number of weeks.
A "big idea" of the series.
A passage, "big idea" of the sermon, topic list, and a number of illustrations and talking point ideas are included in each weekly section. The "Sermon Ideas and Talking Points" area is filled with observations about the text, relevant applications, creative ideas, and illustrations.
A small group discussion (located in a separate document in this bundle).

What is the Series Guide Not?

This guide isn't a set of sermon manuscripts. While sermon manuscripts can be both useful and a powerful training tool, our sermon series guides are different. Rather than tell you what to say, our aim is for this material to spark your imagination, assist you in planning your sermon, and offer a boost to your study time.
This guide isn't ironclad. While we hope you use our material, the pieces of this document are designed to be moved, tweaked, and altered. As you study the suggested passages, and pray through your message, this guide will hopefully be a launching pad, rather than a landing net.

How Do I Use this Series Guide?

Plan ahead. Our guides are best utilized in advance versus the day or night before. Read over the ideas and illustrations provided, thinking through how you can possibly utilize them in your message. We've purposely kept our guides simple so as to give you the best opportunity to create your own, unique message.
While we give you a passage and "big idea" of the message, take time to study the text.
Utilize the media contained in this bundle to promote and communicate your series message.