MTP Sermon Resources

1 John 5:13-15 January 4, 2026 • Mount Pleasant UMC I’ve kind of made it a habit over the last few years for sermons in January to focus on some form of questions—because people have a lot of questions about faith and God and Christianity today. Some people call it “deconstruction” or questioning their faith and some even walk away from the church altogether because of their questions, at least in part because they don’t get answers that satisfy their soul. The founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, as a 13-year-old famously asked his pastor how God could let children starve. When he was basically told not to ask questions, he walked away from the faith. People have questions and they have doubts. I’ve said it before: there is nothing wrong with doubt. Doubt is not the opposite of faith and questions do not necessarily mean that someone has walked away from Jesus. In fact, many of them still like Jesus; they’re just done with the church because they’ve been told not to ask questions. But ...

  “Whatever You Ask” Sermon Study Guide for January 4, 2026 Downloadable Version Scripture: 1 John 5:13-15 Doubt is… 1. Unanswered Prayers Context: eternal life “prayer works” according to his will (5:14) the primary purpose of prayer 2. Obstacles a. A broken ____________________________ Mark 11:25 Matthew 5:23-24 b. A wrong _____________________________ Luke 18:9-14 c. A _________________ of faith Matthew 17:14-21 d. A ___________________________________ 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 Questions to Discuss or Ponder: What are some of your biggest faith questions? How do deal with those? Respond to Buechner’s assertion that “If you don’t have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep.” Recall a time when you prayed for something and nothing happened. What was your response? How did that affect your faith? What does it mean for a believer to have “eternal life” now? What is wrong with the statement, “Prayer works!”? What is the primary purpose of...