Discipleship Pathway

What is Discipleship?

After Jesus rose from the dead, he gave his disciples one final command before ascending to heaven: “Make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). We believe that every Christian is called to follow this command — to be a disciple-maker.

Everyone we encounter is somewhere on this path: NOT CURIOUS, CURIOUS, BELIEVER, DISCIPLE, DISCIPLE MAKER, and LIFE LONG SERVANT. In discipleship, our goal is to help more people become disciple-makers (no matter what stage they’re in right now).

Get Discipled

If you want to…

  • Learn more about following Jesus

  • Grow as a Christian

  • Learn how to share your faith

  • Be equipped to make disciples

We want to connect you with a mature Christian who can meet up with you one-on-one to read the Bible together.

 

Make Disciples

What is a disciple-maker’s goal?

When you meet up with your disciple, your goal is not just to meet up and talk about the Bible. Our goal is to do two things…

  • Teaching them to obey everything that Christ has commanded.

  • Training them to make disciples themselves.

These are the goals that Jesus himself gave his disciples in his “Great Commission,” his parting words sending them out for mission (Matthew 28:16–20).

 

Who will you disciple?

You can find people to disciple in your workplace, community, or even in public places. Here’s how: 

  1. Share the gospel (Don’t know how to share the gospel? You can get trained in one-on-one discipleship. Get started here.)

  2. Follow-Up — What do you say when someone is curious about the gospel, but not repenting and believing right away? Ask them to start a discipleship relationship! Simply say, “Would you be willing to meet up once every-other week to read the Bible together?”

What should you do when you meet up with a disciple?

We suggest meeting up with your disciple every-other week for 90 minutes.

In our meet ups, we want to make sure we’re emphasizing teaching and training. (Remember, the goal of meet ups is not just getting together to talk about the Bible — the goal is to produce a disciple-maker.)

To help guide your meetups, it’s important to use the Meet Up Guide template. Print one out (or grab one at the church building) for everyone at the meet up.

Download the Meet Up Guide template here.

The Meet Up Guide divides your time into three sections:

  • Looking Back — 30 minutes of exploring recent growth, heart issues, and praying together.

  • Looking Up — 30 minutes of looking at the Bible together, learning, and asking questions.

  • Looking Ahead — 30 minutes of planning specific action steps.

Because the goal of discipleship is training, it’s important for you and your disciple to get into the harvest together. We call evangelism “getting into the harvest” because Jesus himself compared disciple-making to a harvest (Matthew 9:37–38).

 

What if you or your disciple can’t/won’t get into the harvest?

Often, people are kept from doing evangelism because they aren’t equipped. That’s okay — that’s the goal of discipleship! If you aren’t ready to get in the harvest, you can get trained in one-on-one discipleship.

Even after they are equipped, people are usually kept from evangelism for two reasons: fear of failure or fear of rejection.

How can we overcome the fear of failure? Remind your disciple that we are not the heroes. Evangelism doesn’t work because we are convincing, smart, or gifted — evangelism works because God himself can change hearts. The only way to fail in evangelism is to not do it.

If you or your disciple is struggling with the fear of failure, spend a meetup studying 1 Corinthians 1:18–31.

How can we overcome the fear of rejection? Remind your disciple that Jesus himself suffered and calls us to follow in his footsteps. Knowing him is better than anything the world has to offer. It’s okay if the world hates us; we are secure with Christ forever.

If you or your disciple is struggling with the fear of rejection, spend a meetup studying Luke 6:22-23.

 

What material should we cover when we meet up together?

All of your meetups should be structured using the Meet Up Guide template. Printing out the meet up guide template is a great way to make sure your meetings stay on track.

When you start to meet up with someone, you can use one of these guides to help guide your conversation.