Leader’s guide · 13 weeks
Leader’s guide: Grace Abounding (For Teens)
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This guide takes your group through Grace Abounding (For Teens) in thirteen weeks, one chapter each week. It’s written for teenagers aged about 13 to 18 and works well for a youth group, a homeschool or a small group. John Bunyan, the tinker who later wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote this book in prison to tell, plainly and honestly, how God’s grace reached him: from a swearing village ringleader, through years of fear, doubt and torment, to peace in Christ, preaching, and twelve years in Bedford gaol.
Each session takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Welcome everyone and say the memory verse together. Read the chapter, either aloud together or at home beforehand. Talk it through using the chapter’s three questions, which come with answers to help you. Do the activity, which takes about 10 minutes. Then close by praying the chapter’s prayer, or one of your own.
To prepare, read the chapter yourself and look over the activity; most weeks need only paper, pens and Bibles. This book needs particular pastoral care. Bunyan describes despair, intrusive and unwanted thoughts, obsessive mental loops, low mood and feeling “weary of my life, and yet afraid to die,” especially in Chapters 6 to 10. Some of your group may recognise themselves in him. Read those chapters ahead, never ask anyone to share their own thoughts or struggles in front of the group, and make it clear that you are available to talk privately. Know where to point a teen for help, including a doctor, a counsellor and a crisis line where you live, and if anyone tells you they are thinking of hurting themselves, act on it straight away.
Week 1 — Few Equals
Bunyan, born in 1628 to a poor tinker’s family, wrote this book in a Bedford prison to tell plainly how grace reached him. As a boy he was a champion swearer haunted by nightmares of judgment, and as a teenager the ringleader of village wickedness, who survived drowning, an adder and a siege that killed the soldier who took his place, yet none of it changed him. The big idea: fear and close calls don’t change a heart on their own; only grace does.
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” — 1 Timothy 1:15 (KJV)
Memory verse
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
1 Timothy 1:15
Talk together
What kind of family did John Bunyan come from?
A poor one. His father mended pots and pans, and Bunyan called his father's house the “meanest and most despised” rank in the land.
Why does Bunyan say he will write “plain and simple”?
Because God, the devil and his own suffering were all deadly serious, so he would not “play” in telling it but would “lay down the thing as it was.”
Did his near escapes from death change him?
No. He says they were “judgments and mercy,” but neither of them woke his soul up, and he went on sinning.
Activity
Did It Change Anything?
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s verdict: “Here, as I said, were judgments and mercy, but neither of them did awaken my soul to righteousness.”
- Discuss why people often go straight back to how they were after a scare or a close call.
- Ask everyone to write, for themselves, one sentence about a scare or close call in their own life, and whether it changed anything.
- Talk about why Bunyan opens his book with his worst side rather than his best, writing to people who looked up to him.
- Read 1 Timothy 1:15 together and ask what “of whom I am the foremost” shows about how Paul and Bunyan saw themselves.
Week 2 — Wilt Thou Leave Thy Sins?
Newly married and very poor, Bunyan reads two Christian books his wife brought and becomes outwardly religious while keeping his wicked life. A sermon on the Sabbath troubles him only until lunchtime, and that afternoon, in the middle of a game of cat, a voice asks, “Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven, or have thy sins and go to hell?” Instead of turning, he decides it is too late and throws himself into sin. The big idea: “it’s too late for me, so why bother” is despair pretending to be honesty, and a question from God means the door is still open.
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” — Isaiah 55:7 (KJV)
Memory verse
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:7
Talk together
What did Bunyan's first wife bring to the marriage?
Almost nothing in goods, not even a dish or spoon, but two Christian books her father had left her, which they read together.
What happened during the game of cat?
He seemed to hear a voice asking whether he would leave his sins and go to heaven or keep them and go to hell, and he looked up as if Jesus were looking down at him, displeased.
Why did he go back to sinning straight afterwards?
He decided it was too late for him to be forgiven, so he might as well “be damned for many sins” as for few. It was despair, not honesty.
Activity
The Too-Late Lie
You will need: Paper and pens
- Write on a board: “I’ve already blown it, so I might as well keep going.”
- Ask the group where people their age might hear that thought, such as revision, a training plan, a habit or a friendship, keeping examples general.
- Discuss why it feels realistic, and why the chapter calls it a lie.
- Together, write three short answers to the lie, each one a small right step someone could take anyway.
- Read Isaiah 55:7 and ask what it says to someone who thinks it’s too late.
Week 3 — A Poor Painted Hypocrite
Rebuked by a neighbour for his swearing, Bunyan stops almost at once, starts reading the Bible, keeps the Ten Commandments as his way to heaven and enjoys being praised as a changed man. Yet he admits he was “a poor painted hypocrite,” still ignorant of Christ and trying to build his own righteousness, and his fear-filled “what if” thoughts drove him from the bell tower. The big idea: we can look Christian and enjoy the praise while our heart still hasn’t met God.
“for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” — 1 Samuel 16:7 (KJV)
Memory verse
For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
Talk together
What made Bunyan stop swearing?
A woman who was far from godly herself told him he swore worse than anyone she had ever heard and could spoil all the young people in the town. He was ashamed, and found to his surprise that he stopped.
Why does he call himself a “poor painted hypocrite”?
Because his outward life had changed and he loved being praised as godly, but he still did not know Christ and was trying to make himself right with God by his own efforts.
What does the bell-ringing story show about Bunyan's mind?
That it ran in anxious “what if” chains, from a falling bell to a falling steeple, until fear drove him away altogether.
Activity
Painted or Real?
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s words about being “a poor painted hypocrite.”
- Draw two columns on a board: “What people can see” and “What only God sees.”
- Fill them in together with general examples of what a Christian life might look like on the outside and the inside.
- Discuss how social media makes it easier than ever to look good while hiding what is really going on.
- Challenge everyone to do one good thing this week that nobody sees, and not to mention it to anyone.
Week 4 — Women in the Sun
In a Bedford street Bunyan overhears three or four poor women talking joyfully about the new birth and God’s love in Jesus, and realises he knows nothing of it. His heart softens, he keeps returning to listen, and he prays for help to know truth from error, but his anxious mind invents a test of faith with puddles. In a dream he sees himself squeezing through a narrow gap in a wall into the sunshine, the gap being Jesus. The big idea: the way into God’s warmth is a person, Jesus, not proving ourselves, and real joyful faith draws others in.
“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” — Matthew 7:14 (KJV)
Memory verse
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Matthew 7:14
Talk together
What did the women in Bedford talk about that Bunyan had never thought of?
The new birth, God's work in their hearts, his love to them in Jesus, and how useless their own goodness was. They spoke as if joy made them speak.
Why didn't Bunyan try the puddle “miracle”?
He was afraid that if he prayed and it failed, it would prove he had no faith at all, so he never tried.
What did the narrow gap in the wall stand for?
Jesus Christ, the way to God. It was so narrow that there was room for body and soul but not for body, soul and sin.
Activity
Women in the Sun
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud the description of the women talking “as if joy did make them speak.”
- Discuss: why did their conversation affect Bunyan more than an argument would have?
- Compare the puddle test with the gap in the wall: one is Bunyan trying to prove himself, the other is God showing him the way in.
- Ask everyone to write down privately the name of someone whose faith seems real and joyful to them.
- Encourage them to ask that person this week, “How did God first become real to you?”
Week 5 — And Yet There Is Room
Two new fears grip Bunyan: whether God had chosen him, and whether the day of grace was already over for him. A sentence about no one who trusted the Lord being put to shame comforts him, though he later finds it in the Apocrypha and sees it sums up many Bible promises. Then the words of Jesus’ parable, “and yet there is room,” break into his mind and give him hope. The big idea: whatever we fear, Jesus is still inviting people in, and there is still room.
“And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.” — Luke 14:22 (KJV)
Memory verse
And the servant said, “Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.”
Luke 14:22
Talk together
What two fears troubled Bunyan in this chapter?
Whether God had chosen him, and whether the day of grace was already past so that he had come too late.
Where did he finally find “Look at the generations of old and see”?
After more than a year of searching, in Ecclesiasticus in the Apocrypha. He took comfort from it because it summed up many promises that are in the Bible.
Why did “and yet there is room” mean so much to him?
It told him there was still space for him in God's house, and he believed Jesus had spoken those words with fearful people like him in mind.
Activity
Still Room at the Table
You will need: Bibles, paper and pens
- Read Luke 14:15–24 aloud together.
- List who ends up at the table in the story.
- Discuss how “What if I’m not chosen?” and “What if I’m too late?” are really the same fear: that there is no place for me.
- Talk about times people feel there is no room for them, such as walking into a room where everyone already has a group.
- Ask everyone to write the words “and yet there is room” on a card to keep where they’ll see it every day this week.
Week 6 — Thou Art My Love
Bunyan begins meeting the Bedford Christians and their pastor, John Gifford, but the closer he gets, the more he sees of his own sinful heart, and for years he feels worse than everyone else. He refuses to get rid of guilt by distraction, and a sermon on the words “My love” finally sets his heart burning with assurance that nothing can separate him from Christ’s love, though within forty days he doubts again. The big idea: feelings of God’s love can fade, but that doesn’t make them false, and seeing our sin more clearly can be a sign of life.
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:38-39 (KJV)
Memory verse
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38–39
Talk together
Why did Bunyan feel worse after he started meeting with the Bedford Christians?
He began to notice the wrong thoughts and desires in his heart that he had never paid attention to before, and he concluded he was getting worse.
What two words from a sermon changed things for him?
“My love.” On the way home they kept repeating in his mind, “Thou art my love,” until his heart was full of comfort and hope.
What happened to that joy, and why does it matter that he tells us?
Within forty days he began to doubt it all again. His honesty shows that faded feelings do not mean the experience of God's love was fake.
Activity
Write It Down
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s wish for pen and ink, and his admission that within forty days he began to doubt again.
- Discuss why it is so easy to feel that everyone else has a better heart than we do.
- Give everyone a few quiet minutes to write down, for themselves, one moment when God’s love felt real to them, with the date.
- Read Romans 8:38–39 together and ask which part of the list stands out to them.
- Remind the group that if a heavy, hopeless feeling about themselves lasts for weeks, it is wise to talk to a parent, pastor or doctor, and that you are available to talk privately.
Week 7 — Floods of Blasphemies
A verse about Satan sifting Peter follows Bunyan, and then a storm comes: floods of blasphemous doubts, a terrible pull to say what he most feared, and horrible thoughts during prayer. He notices that he hates these thoughts, and that hatred shows something in him refuses them. After about a year God brings him out through the peace made by Christ’s blood, Pastor Gifford’s advice, and Luther’s commentary on Galatians. The big idea: a thought you hate is not a thought you chose, and you don’t have to fight such thoughts alone.
“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” — Luke 22:31-32 (KJV)
Memory verse
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.
Luke 22:31–32
Talk together
What kinds of thoughts attacked Bunyan during this year?
Floods of blasphemous thoughts and doubts about whether God existed and whether the Bible was true, along with a terrible pull to say words against the Holy Spirit that he did not want to say.
What clue did Bunyan notice that the thoughts were not really his own desires?
He saw that the thoughts disgusted him. Something in him “refused to embrace them,” and that showed where his heart really was.
What should someone do if they have unwanted thoughts like these?
Not hide them or fight them alone, but talk to a pastor and to a doctor or counsellor, and tell a safe person at once if thoughts of self-harm come too.
Activity
Not Who You Are
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s line: “Only by the distaste that they gave unto my spirit, I felt there was something in me that refused to embrace them.”
- Talk together about what the chapter says: unwanted, horrible thoughts are very common, and hating them shows they are not who you are.
- Discuss why hiding such thoughts makes them heavier, and why fighting them harder often makes them louder.
- As a group, make a list of safe people a teen could talk to, such as a parent, pastor, teacher, doctor or counsellor, and the words they could use to start: “I keep getting horrible thoughts I don’t want.”
- Read Luke 22:31–32 and note that Jesus prayed for Peter before the trial came. Remind everyone you are available to talk privately.
Week 8 — Let Him Go, If He Will
After a time of peace, Bunyan is hammered for a year by a single thought, “sell Christ,” sometimes a hundred times in a row, and he fights it until he is exhausted. One morning a tired thought slips through, “Let Him go, if He will,” and he falls into despair for two years, believing he is like Esau, with only brief breaks such as seeing his sin as a small stone beside the vast field of Christ’s blood. The big idea: a mind locked in a loop is not proof that you are wicked or that God has left you, and help is there.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” — 1 John 1:7 (KJV)
Memory verse
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
Talk together
What was the temptation that followed Bunyan for a year?
The constant thought “sell Christ,” trading him for anything at all, which came into his mind with almost everything he did.
What happened one morning in bed?
After answering “No” at least twenty times, he was exhausted, and the thought “Let Him go, if He will!” passed through his heart. He felt he had agreed to it and fell into despair.
Why might that moment not be the same as really rejecting Jesus?
He had fought the thought for a year with all his strength; it was one tired thought that slipped through against his will, not a calm decision. Bunyan himself later saw the difference.
Activity
The Stone and the Field
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s picture of his sin as “this little clot or stone” compared with “this vast and wide field.”
- Ask everyone to draw it for themselves: a tiny stone in a huge field, with 1 John 1:7 written across the field.
- Discuss the question the chapter raises: was one tired, panicked thought after a year of resistance really the same as choosing to reject Jesus?
- Talk about why arguing alone with a thought on a loop rarely works, and why telling someone safe is not giving in but getting help.
- Encourage anyone stuck in a mental argument to talk privately to you or another trusted adult this week.
Week 9 — Weary of My Life
Convinced he has committed the unforgivable sin, Bunyan compares himself with David, Peter and Judas, feels like a burden and terror to himself, “weary of my life, and yet afraid to die,” and is shaken by the story of Francis Spira. He decides to pray anyway, at the foot of Christ, and when the first older Christian he confides in agrees with his fear, he goes back to God rather than giving up. He later realises his terror came from misunderstanding his sin. The big idea: dark feelings can be real while their conclusion is wrong, so keep praying and keep telling safe people.
“Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?” — Psalm 77:7-9 (KJV)
Memory verse
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
Talk together
Why did Bunyan think his sin was worse than David's or Peter's?
He thought David had sinned against the law and Peter had only denied Jesus, while he believed he had “sold” his Saviour, putting him closer to Judas.
What happened when he told an older Christian about his fear?
The man said he thought so too. Bunyan realised he was a good man who did not understand this kind of struggle, and kept going to God anyway.
What did Bunyan later say was the root of his fears?
That he had been “misinformed of the nature of my sin.” His fear was real, but his conclusion about himself was wrong.
Activity
Ready to Help
You will need: Phones or paper and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s decision: “I can but die; and if it must be so, it shall once be said, that such an one died at the foot of Christ in prayer.”
- Discuss the three lessons the chapter gives: you are not the first to feel this, if the first person you tell gets it wrong tell someone else, and feelings can be real while their conclusion is wrong.
- As a group, find the crisis line number for your country and have everyone save it in their phone or write it down.
- Talk through what a good friend might say and do if someone told them they didn’t want to be here, including telling a trusted adult.
- Close by reminding everyone that you are available to talk privately, and that they can come to you this week.
Week 10 — My Grace Is Sufficient for Thee
Sitting on a bench, Bunyan hears, “This sin is not unto death,” and later, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” When the tempter says prayer is useless, he keeps answering, “Yet I will pray.” The words “My grace is sufficient for thee” grow until they outweigh the verse about Esau, and he clings to Jesus’ promise, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” meaning any him. The big idea: healing may be a slow tipping of the scales, but God’s words, not our feelings, are what we hold on to.
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9 (KJV)
Memory verse
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
Talk together
What words first gave Bunyan hope that his sin could be forgiven?
“This sin is not unto death,” which came to him like an echo as he sat on the bench in the street.
Why was Bunyan not satisfied at first with “My grace is sufficient”?
Because the words “for thee” were missing, and he wanted to know the promise was for him personally. Later he heard the whole phrase three times over.
How did Bunyan answer when Satan said John 6:37 was not meant for him?
He said there was no exception in the verse: “him that comes,” meaning any him, including himself.
Activity
Yet I Will Pray
You will need: Small cards and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s exchange with the tempter, ending each time with “Yet, said I, I will pray.”
- Discuss why Bunyan’s healing came like scales tipping back and forth rather than one bright moment.
- Give everyone a card and ask them to choose one of Bunyan’s two verses, 2 Corinthians 12:9 or John 6:37, and write it out.
- Practise saying both verses together a few times.
- Encourage everyone to learn their verse by heart this week and use it to answer doubts the way Bunyan did.
Week 11 — Thy Righteousness Is in Heaven
Bunyan finds comfort in the cities of refuge for those who killed by accident, and when he finally reads the frightening verses in Hebrews carefully, they no longer look so grim. Walking in a field he hears, “Thy righteousness is in heaven,” and sees that his righteousness is Christ himself, unchanged by his good or bad moods; his chains fall off. He also reflects on what he learned from his long trial. The big idea: our standing with God does not rise and fall with our mood; it rests on Christ.
“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” — 1 Corinthians 1:30 (KJV)
Memory verse
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
1 Corinthians 1:30
Talk together
Why did the “city of refuge” give Bunyan hope?
It protected someone who killed by accident without hating the victim. Bunyan saw that he had not hated Christ but had fought the thought against his will.
What did “Thy righteousness is in heaven” mean to him?
That his rightness with God was Jesus Christ himself at God's right hand, so his good or bad moods could not make it better or worse.
What did Bunyan think he should have done after his first deliverance?
Kept praying for God to protect him from temptations still to come, not just to rescue him from present trouble.
Activity
Gold in the Trunk
You will need: Small cards and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s picture of the small coins in his pocket and the gold in his trunk at home.
- Discuss what the coins and the gold stand for in his picture.
- Talk about why it helped Bunyan to read the frightening verses in Hebrews in context, and why it is wise to do that with someone, not alone.
- Give everyone a card to write out 1 Corinthians 1:30.
- Encourage them to read it on a day they feel far from God and say: my righteousness is not my mood today; it is Christ.
Week 12 — In Chains to Them in Chains
The Bedford church asks Bunyan to preach, and crowds come; he preaches first about sin from his own experience, “in chains to them in chains,” and later about Christ. He loves those who come to faith, still faces temptations and pride while preaching, and reminds himself that a cymbal makes no music by itself: “great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace.” He answers false rumours by denying them and treating them as an ornament. The big idea: God uses broken people before they are fixed, and grace matters more than gifts.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” — 1 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV)
Memory verse
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
1 Corinthians 13:1
Talk together
How did Bunyan start preaching?
Respected members of the Bedford church asked him to speak, first privately, and after prayer and fasting the church appointed him to preach in public. Hundreds came to hear.
What did he mean by “I went myself in chains to preach to them in chains”?
He was still feeling the weight of guilt and fear himself when he preached to others about it, so he spoke from his own experience of being bound.
What did the cymbal picture teach him?
That gifts can make beautiful “music” for God and still be lifeless in themselves. Great grace with small gifts is better than great gifts and no grace.
Activity
Great Grace, Small Gifts
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud “great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace.”
- Ask everyone to write down, for themselves, two or three gifts they have, from music to listening to fixing things.
- In pairs, have teens think of one quiet way to use one of those gifts for someone else this week.
- Discuss the cymbal picture: where does the music really come from?
- Challenge everyone to use one gift quietly this week and thank God for it rather than waiting for praise.
Week 13 — Leap off the Ladder
Arrested in 1660 for preaching, Bunyan refuses to promise silence and spends twelve years in Bedford gaol, grieving for his wife Elizabeth and four children, especially his blind daughter Mary. Fearing he might be hanged and feeling nothing of God, he resolves to “leap off the ladder even blindfold into eternity,” trusting Christ to catch him. Prison gives him his closest time with God’s word; he writes this book, later The Pilgrim’s Progress, and ends still honest about his struggles. The big idea: what keeps us safe is not our hold on God but his hold on us.
“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” — Romans 5:20 (KJV)
Memory verse
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
Romans 5:20
Talk together
Why was Bunyan put in prison, and for how long?
He was arrested in 1660 for preaching at meetings outside the Church of England and refused to promise to stop preaching. He stayed in Bedford gaol for twelve years.
How did he feel about leaving his family, especially his blind daughter?
It felt like “pulling the flesh from the bones.” He feared terribly for his blind child, who lay “nearer my heart than all beside,” and he admits his choice was like pulling his house down on his family.
What did Bunyan mean by leaping “off the ladder even blindfold into eternity”?
That even if he felt no comfort from God, he would stay faithful and trust himself to Christ, asking Jesus to catch him.
Activity
If Thou Wilt Catch Me
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read aloud Bunyan’s words about leaping off the ladder blindfold.
- Discuss the cost his choice brought to his family, which the chapter does not hide.
- Talk about what it means that Bunyan’s hold on God was never what kept him safe, but God’s hold on him.
- Give everyone a few minutes to write a short honest prayer of their own, beginning “Lord Jesus, if thou wilt catch me, do,” naming one fear and one person they want to trust God with.
- Encourage them to pray it every day this week.