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Cover: Reclaiming the Soil — a charcoal fire on the shore at first light, one seated at it and another coming up from the boat to be fed.

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Reclaiming the Soil

When someone repents, the work has just begun. Help them grow the faith that keeps them from falling back when their guard is down.

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Someone in your church fell. Maybe it was a sin everyone knew about, maybe one only you knew. You did what Jesus told you to do: you went and talked with them. Maybe you went a second time and took someone with you. And it worked. They listened. They were sorry. The behavior stopped.

This class is about what you do next.

Most of us stop there, relieved. A few months later the same thing is back, often worse, and everyone is more ashamed than before. Jesus said that would happen to a house swept clean and left empty. The reason someone falls is almost always a lack of faith, and the reason they fall again is that their faith never grew. So the conversation is necessary, and it is not enough. What comes next is helping them grow in faith, from the Word, at the level where they really are.

The class follows Peter: the man who swore he would die for Jesus, denied Him three times by a fire, wept, and was met by Jesus at another fire with breakfast and a road forward.

  1. You have won them over — where the conversation ends and this class begins.
  2. The swept, empty house — why stopping at repentance is dangerous.
  3. Why they fell — Jesus prayed for Peter’s faith, not his behavior.
  4. What we usually do next — check-ins, more church, rules, and what they can’t do.
  5. Godly sorrow, worldly sorrow — reading the repentance in front of you.
  6. Reclaiming the soil — the parable of the soils, and why quick joy fades.
  7. Where are they now? — the faith continuum, and the way in at each level.
  8. The shield — building faith before the guard goes down.
  9. Feed my sheep — restored people restore others.

It is written for pastors and church leaders first. It works just as well for any Christian trying to help a friend get back on track; where a chapter talks about your church’s process, read it as “bring it to your leaders.”

Each chapter ends the same way: something to obey, and someone to tell.

If the person you’re helping is the one who walked away, Restarting My Faith is written to them. This class is written to you.

Chapters

  1. You have won them overWhere the conversation Jesus commands ends, and this class begins.
  2. The swept, empty houseRepentance sweeps the house clean. A clean, empty house does not stay empty.
  3. Why they fellJesus prayed for Peter's faith, not his behavior. That tells us where the problem was.
  4. What we usually do nextCheck-ins, more church, rules and watching. None of them is wrong, and none of them grows faith.
  5. Godly sorrow, worldly sorrowTwo kinds of sorry both stop the behavior for a while. Only one turns toward God.
  6. Reclaiming the soilSame seed, four kinds of ground. Why quick joy fades, and why the answer is always the seed.
  7. Where are they now?The faith continuum: the answer is always more faith, but the way in depends on where someone really is.
  8. The shieldFaith is the guard. Build it before the guard goes down, starting with one invitation to read together.
  9. Feed my sheepRestoration isn't finished when they're safe. It's finished when they're feeding others.
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