Discipleship for Dummies 101

The goal of Christianity will always be the development of disciples, but once we have decided to go deeper with anyone, what do we do? This paper is designed to be a SIMPLE explanation of what we do, why we do it, and what comes next.

1. Starting a Small Group Bible Study

Who do I ask to join? Youth. We are not here to save the world,
but to develop friendships. As you get to know youth, ask them to come along with you to a small group bible study. Assure them its nothing heavy, just a safe relevant place to ask some deeper questions.

What do we do when we get together? Keep it simple.

Friends want to be with you not preached at by you. Take time to get to know each other. As your friendship deepens, find out what the scriptures say together. Be honest with them about your feelings and fears about the scriptures and you will be amazed how open they can become.

What do I use? JUST THE BIBLE. Too many commentaries and

guides are out there. Non-verbally we lessen the value of the Bible by choosing topical or catchy handbooks. The Serendipity Bible by Navigators is by far the most relevant resource at this time. In the margins are study questions that will open up conversation with youth whether you have time to prepare or not.

How do I know the needs of my group? - The easiest way is to

ask them. Most people want to be heard and can explain whats missing. If you take time to listen, they will be there to talk.

When do I have the study? Currently, small group Bible studies

are held on week nights, but because it is structured in small groups you can be creative to suit your group. When you study is not as important as their attendance. After school is a great time for teens if your schedule allows. As well, public places like McDonalds are a great deal more inviting than a place where they can feel trapped. Pick a quiet corner in a restaurant and begin. It is a great deal more inviting.

There are 2 considerations in regards to time: First, most youth have the attention span of a TV sitcom. Their attention span is focused around 15 minutes at a time, max. We need to keep the study aspect of our time together short and effective. 15 minutes socializing 15 minutes reading and understanding
Discipleship 101 14/03/2012 1

How long should the study be?

 15 minutes in figuring out what to do about the passage 15 minutes to ask the TOUGH QUESTIONS OF LIFE 15 minutes in pray, top (usually 5 minutes) Second, Tell kids up front how many weeks you plan to run a study. If you suggest trying it for just 6 weeks, it gives them and you a way out and room to evaluate its effectiveness up front.

Discipleship 101 14/03/2012

What should we study first? Most youth want to jump to the

book of Revelation to find out how the world will end. Though it is a point of interest it might not be particularly good for them. Understanding the gospel is crucial to proper spiritual development. Which gospel to choose is more a reflection of the nature of your youth. But start with a gospel. After completing a Gospel I would suggest an overview of the book of ACTS to keep history of life after the departure of Jesus accurate. DONT worry about keeping kids interested. If you read the gospels and pause at each heading you will see a host of relevant day-toGospel Luke Where its from Written by a Doctor for the Prime Minister of the country. Written by an emotional close friend of Jesus. Written by a Jew. Whos it for Deals with the FACTS of Christianity. Good for skeptics. Deals more with the HEART of the Gospel. Good for kids with a tie to emotional things. More concerned with historical significance as relevant to Jewish people. Deals with human nature. Good because it is short.

John Matthe w

Written by a Tax Collector Mark (a person far away from church). day topics emerge.

The Best commentary on the Bible is the Bible

Maintaining a small group Bible study:

Keep format-structure easy Give participation-homework Creativity in meeting dont slip into a mechanical routine Social awareness for Christians how can we really help our community and friends?
Discipleship 101 14/03/2012 3

 Relationships are the key Encourage church involvement, not just attendance Be well-prepared know the passage you are using and maybe think about additional things to talk about Ask the tough questions*

Conclusion:

Discipleship IS the only thing the Lord told us to do We must be concerned about reproducing Christian leaders for the world Our spiritual growth is the most critical element in reproduction if you are growing, your group will grow if you are not growing, they will see right through you

Discipleship 101 14/03/2012

Tough Questions 101

2. The tough Questions
Though small group study and questions are fine, there is the issue of accountability to grow spiritually. Yes theology is important, but everyday events also affect our behavior and growth as Christians. If we are struggling with sin in our lives, it is very hard to get anything out of a Bible study. Either in your small group or maybe one-on-one, the following issues need to be addressed if people in your cell are to stay pure before the Lord. The following questions are guidelines, not the end-all and be-all, but they do help in keeping us as Christians pure and able to grow. If we tackle the issue of personal purity with youth, we open the doorway to the Lord really pouring out His blessing once again on this land. If we dont start with purity, church and Christianity becomes lip service, and once youth can stand it no longer, they will walk away, because it was never real.. If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven and heal their lands 2 Chronicles 7:14

Purity Questions each week:

Have you honored your parents/employers/teachers? Have you said anything about anyone that you could not say to their face? Have you intentionally dressed inappropriately? Have you looked at or read anything you shouldnt have? (TV, internet, magazines) How is your thought life is it pure? Have you remained sexually pure? Have your actions with the opposite sex been pure? Is there anything you want to tell me/us about? Have you done anything that you need forgiveness for? Have you told the truth? If not, in what way have you lied? And why havent you told the truth?

Spiritual Questions:

What are you reading? Have you been able to share the tough issues with God? Is there something you are struggling with?

Discipleship 101 14/03/2012

A philosophy of discipleship 101

The Fine Print

Discipleship Defined
What makes a successful youth ministry? Before we can answer this we must first understand the goal of ministry to make disciples. It is not about program, practices or policies. It is about people. People begin met where they are at and moving to the next point in their spiritual journey. Before we can talk about a successful youth ministry we must first make sure that this goal is in tact . Most likely, there will be a need for a paradigm shift in most of us. This shift is the key to building the body of Christ. Here are two possible scenarios. A street youth walks into a church and makes a decision to restart his or her life with Christ at the helm of their heart. This youth then walks back into the alley alone, night after night. An individual makes a profession of faith and falls into the comfortable dark pew at the back week after week. Little is done to fill the God-shaped vacuum within this persons soul and the life-changing power of the Cross of Christ has become nothing more than a program or a routine. We need to start today to return to disciplining people in every aspect of life; socially, physically, emotionally and spiritually, as opposed to programming them. For if we do, we stand a good chance of seeing God move through their lives as they becomecomplete in Christ. If we do this right they will in turn have the skills to affected others to do the same. This new perspective can change our paradigm from one of Church versus non-church, to one of developing the kingdom of Christ together in unity, in the manner that is most effective. The removal of a focus on program or an Us versus Them mindset of churches, will see all of us released as servants living out John 3:30 so that He might become more, and us less. The purpose of this paper is to help provide an attitude check within your heart. With God as your witness, ask yourself the question, Is my reason for helping youth about actually helping youth, or is it about building a particular group, church or individual. Only Christ can check our hearts.

Things to consider in your discipleship model.

Maxims of Discipleship If we are to see every man and woman complete in Christ, we need to remember the key elements that need to be considered. It is important
Discipleship 101 14/03/2012 6

to note that this has nothing to do with a Church or group, rather the ultimate mandate of discipleship. Personal Discipleship Most of the youth that enter a church do so for one reason: relationship. If youth feel like only a statistic or a number counting towards the goal, the possibility of growth will be limited. There are already hundreds of options for youth to keep busy with in our modern world. Home entertainment systems, hand-held video games, school crowds and cinemas offer more than enough busyness and entertainment. Our youth are starved from purposeful intimacy and a community of caring people offering relationships beyond those of their peers. The fulfillment of individual needs, personal growth strategies and Christian maturity will happen as we engage youth on a first name basis bridging the gap into the kingdom, one friend at a time. Dynamic Discipleship We all get bored. We all want challenges. We all want to grow. We all want the next thing to be interesting. If we do not provide the next step of growth for our leaders and youth alike, we run the risk of losing them. Churches typically lose a great deal of youth to other things. Why? More often than not, they are bored. If we want to see those youth God brings to us complete in Christ and attentive to what we are teaching, then we must be prepared to look ahead toward the future needs of each individual youth and each individual volunteer. An actual church experience might be two or three years away for some of our youth. However, a commitment to dynamic discipleship will help ensure that when they do walk into a church, they will arrive not as consumers but as growing servants. Servant Discipleship We place huge limitations upon many of the youth we wish to serve when we limit our vision of discipleship to what we can accomplish within the structure of our organizations. We need to be exploring sequential spiritual steps with each and every youth. These kinds of efforts will open doors of possibilities beyond both the non-church and the Church, and into the view of Kingdom work. We must always be about asking the question, What is best for this person to grow in Christian maturity now? If we stop asking this question at any point, we have lost the vision of discipleship for that individual and the church as a whole. The body of Christ is made up of individuals, individuals taken care of and loved specifically. Purposeful Discipleship A football match without goals would quickly become boring and repetitious. In order to produce a disciple, evangelism must remain a mandate for all people. Fun activities, camps and mission trips are really only excuses for the purpose of developing relationships to mentor youth. Youth in turn need to use these resources to develop
Discipleship 101 14/03/2012 7

their own core of disciples. Our transition from a youth club to a revival movement will begin only if we secure a mandate that everyone should have opportunity to grow. If we fail to answer the question whats next for youth, then everything passes into a horrifying drift.

The Integration Cycle

What does a relational discipleship ministry really look like? The following cycle is based on meeting the needs of each individual within our contact community. A mentorship model of ministry will help leaders walk with youth through the various stages of discipleship. As this process becomes more and more familiar to the leaders, they are always prepared to move youth and themselves to the next level of responsibility and maturity. Over time and moving with the same group of youth, your leaders will constantly be flowing between church and non-church activities. This kind of fluidity in leaders will strongly benefit all the youth under their supervision. There are several positive by-products if everyone in the church embraces this philosophical approach. The relationships that can form out of this approach are often enjoyed over a lifetime.

Impact on Youth

Youth are challenged individually by an adult friend or older peer Youth are challenged in their personal lives not as a group at the level they are at Youth have a one-to-three, or a one-to-five accountability structure in place for long term care Youth can be contacted for specific goals and prayer requests by a more involved leader Leaders are focused on ministry Leaders have fewer tendencies to burnout because the workload is manageable Leaders are held accountable in knowing about what is happening in the lives of their kids Leaders are held accountable by their mentors in a personal way Leaders are faced with constantly growing challenges, ensuring a dynamic experience Leaders have opportunity to see the fruit of their work over time

Impact on Leaders

How to Measure Success

Success in incarnational evangelism is not met in numbers of converts or quantity of youth going through seminary. Results in this kind of ministry are best measured as people that are known. It is important
Discipleship 101 14/03/2012 8

that Sr. leaders know their leaders both where they are at and what they need. It is important that leaders care and know where their disciples are at in their process. Leaders should also be able to recognize youth that are beginning to care for others in the circle of influence. Success, therefore, can be deemed by a specific set of prayer requests and goals for each individual involved with our community of care. The more specific and current the prayer request, the closer we are to being healthy followers of Christ. Prayer reports should include the following items: Name of Leader/Mentor; names of their 3 - 5 disciples; and specific prayer requests and goals for each individual for the next six months, on physical, social, emotional and spiritual levels. If the youth you are discipling are at the point of discipling themselves, then cards or journals of the same nature need to be collected by your disciples. Then the two of you need to pray and review your group as you mentor them in the process of mentoring.

Discipleship 101 14/03/2012

Ministry Cycle 101

Purpose
(Church) Leadership A mature Christian reaches outside the walls of the Church to begin the discipleship Program With a select group of youth (3 preferred- max 5) Jr. Leadership An opportunity for more formal leadership in the youth group or in a para-church setting, but with strict supervision by their initial youth leader. Worship Now understanding the message youth are prepared to come with their leaders to give to God not as consumers of entertainment. Short-Term Missions Created to give the youth vision and a long term goal, often this activity opens up doors of communication within the church with a common focal point. This carrot for youth is led by their initial youth leaders. Servanthood Opportunities for youth to live out a practical gospel and experience that yes service is rewarding.

Relationship
(Youth Clubs/Sport)

Contact Loving kids in their world at the Saturday club, on school campus, Spar, sports events. Leader develops intentional relationships with kids they relate to. Activities Zany activities, sport clubs, dances or concerts. The leader takes youth as friends to hear the ABCs of Christ presented. Camp Dynamic week-long and weekend camps geared to meet kids where they are at. Leader centered, presenting the ABCs of Christ in a deeper manner.

Bible Studies Designed for kids seeking to go deeper into spiritual matters. (This is a natural transition for most youth back into a church WITH THEIR LEADER!)

Bible Studies Focused on purpose in Christian living. Im a Christian so now what??? Leader works with youth and offers practical service opportunities to challenge faith and growth. Integration of Groups Youth will come together when a common thread is met. That being lifting up and understanding Jesus Christ. Very seldom will this happen without purpose.

Discipleship 101 14/03/2012

10

Discipleship 101 14/03/2012

11