Adult Faith Formation – Just Teach Sheet
January Week 5 (2026)
Theme: Baptism and New Life in Christ
Focus: Mercy, Failure, and Returning to God
Audience: Adults
Weekly Goal
To help adults understand that Baptism is not cancelled by failure.
This week names sin and struggle honestly, while presenting God’s mercy as the ordinary way the baptised life is sustained and restored.
This week completes January and prepares the heart for February’s focus on Mercy & Reconciliation.
What You’ll Need
This sheet
A Bible
A quiet space for reflection and prayer
Opening Prayer
Merciful Father,
You know our weakness
and You never turn away from us.
Help us trust Your mercy,
return to You when we fall,
and live again in the grace of our Baptism.
Amen.
Day 1 – Baptism Does Not Eliminate Struggle
Teaching
Baptism gives new life, but it does not remove human weakness.
The Christian life remains a real struggle between grace and sin.
This is not a failure of Baptism.
It is the condition of life in a wounded world.
1 John 1:8
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
Reflection
Struggle is not proof that faith is absent.
Questions
Why do adults often expect themselves to be “finished products”?
How does honesty about weakness change our spiritual life?
Day 2 – God’s Mercy Is Not a Reward
Teaching
God’s mercy is not given because we deserve it.
It is given because God is merciful.
The Gospel reveals a God who moves first.
Luke 15:20
“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion.”
Mercy precedes explanation, excuses, and improvement.
Reflection
God’s mercy is not earned — it is received.
Questions
Where do we still try to “clean ourselves up” before returning to God?
What changes when mercy is trusted rather than feared?
Day 3 – Conversion Is a Way of Life
Teaching
Conversion is not a single dramatic moment.
It is a pattern of returning to God again and again.
The Christian life is sustained by repeated turning of the heart.
Psalm 51:12
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
Repentance is not self-condemnation.
It is opening oneself to healing.
Reflection
Returning to God is an act of hope, not shame.
Questions
Why is repentance often misunderstood as negativity?
How does mercy make conversion possible?
Day 4 – Grace Restores What Sin Wounds
Teaching
Sin wounds our relationship with God, but it does not erase Baptism.
God’s grace works to heal, restore, and strengthen what has been damaged.
Lamentations 3:22–23
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end.”
God’s mercy is ordered toward renewal, not stagnation.
Reflection
God forgives in order to heal and transform.
Questions
Why is mercy sometimes confused with permissiveness?
How does forgiveness open the possibility of change?
Day 5 – Returning Is the Heart of the Christian Life
Teaching
The Christian life is not defined by never falling,
but by always returning to Christ.
This return is made possible by grace, prayer, and the sacramental life of the Church.
John 15:4
“Remain in Me.”
Remaining does not mean never leaving,
but always coming back.
Reflection
Faithfulness is measured by return, not perfection.
Questions
What helps you return to God when you drift?
What makes returning difficult?
Weekend Summary
Key truths
Baptism does not remove human weakness
Mercy is God’s initiative, not our achievement
Conversion is ongoing
Grace heals what sin wounds
Returning to God is central to Christian life
Reflection prompts
God is inviting me to return by…
Mercy gives me hope because…
Catechism References
CCC 1422–1424 – Conversion and repentance
CCC 1440–1446 – God’s mercy and forgiveness
CCC 1458 – Beginning again after sin
CCC 1263 – Baptism forgives sin but leaves weakness
Closing Prayer
Merciful Father,
thank You for never turning away from us.
Give us the humility to return,
the courage to trust Your mercy,
and the grace to begin again.
Amen.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 