LAUNCH
In a relay race, runners carry a baton as fast at they can to the next runner and hand off the baton. The second runner then carries the baton to the next runner and on and on until the final runner crosses the finish line with the baton.
Spiritually, we are runners in the race of life passing on spiritual truth from one person to the next, all the way from Jesus, on into the future. What is some spiritual truth that has been passed on to you?
EXPLORE
1. Right before Jesus left, he gave us the instructions found in Matthew 28:18-20. He tells us to make “disciples.” What would you say the difference is between a Christian and a disciple?
2. Below are five points that describe what a disciple is and what one does. Each point comes from a verse below. Read through the verses below and decide which of these statements goes with that verse. A Disciple…
- Takes initiative to build into others
- Tells others about Jesus
- Prioritizes Jesus over other things
- Teaches others how to follow Jesus
- Relies on the Holy Spirit
Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 28:18-20, 2 Tim 1:14, John 4:40-42, Matthew 28:18-20
3. Pick two of the points in question 2 that you think are the most important. Tell the group why you think they are important.
4. How does this description of a disciple look different from your Christian experience so far?
5. How does relying on the Holy Spirit affect all of the other points?
APPLY:
6. One way to look at discipleship is like a family tree. You build into others who build into others and after a few generations, there are tons of people being built into. These two diagrams represent two ways people approach being a Christian. Describe them. What is the difference between the two?
7. The diagram on the right is sometimes called multiplication. As you build into another person it’s like you are multiplying the life of Christ and making another discipler. What is good about that?
8. Legacy is a word that we use to describe the impact someone has made in the lives of others around him. Fast forward to your funeral. What do you want people to say about you? What kind of spiritual legacy do you want to leave?
Example: “He was a nice guy” or “He led me to Christ!” or “Wait, what? He was a Christian?” etc.
“Discipleship is walking alongside someone; challenging them to live out the Bible in their life, while influencing others with the gospel.”
9. One definition of discipleship is above. It often means meeting someone on a regular basis, reading the Bible together, answering their questions, and praying with them. Discipling someone can be difficult but it is worth it. What are some things that would make it difficult for you to disciple someone else? What is exciting about the idea of discipling someone?
READ: Matt just graduated from college. Today he is stopping by his old high school to see his high school track coach, Coach Avalos. After they greet each other, the coach points out another student, Jimmy. “Matt”, coach says, “Do you remember that small group Bible study you led with the team your senior year? Well, one of the freshmen in that group, Dewayne, started it up the next year and he led Jose to Christ. Jose helped lead the study the following year and had all the guys over to his house one night where he shared the gospel and Mark came to Christ. Mark is a junior now and he’s been leading the group for two years. Jimmy is a freshman this year and came to check it out. Jimmy had a lot of questions about God, but just last week, he accepted Christ! Jimmy is like your spiritual great-great-grandson! All of these guys know Jesus because you decided to start that small group when you were a senior!”
10. How would you feel if you were Matt?
11. As you think about the people and groups of people in your life, who is someone that you could begin building into so that you could leave a legacy like Matt did?
CHALLENGE: For this series we will be challenging all students to have a 4 week discipleship relationship with another person. Start thinking and praying now about who you could meet with this month.
LAUNCH
Watch the Francis Chan video – basic-follow-jesus-francis-chan
EXPLORE
1. Read 2 Timothy 2:2 and Matthew 28:18-20 as a group. What is the Bible telling us to do in these passages?
2. How do we sometimes treat the commands in these verses in the same way that Francis Chan’s daughter treated his command to “Clean your room?”
God calls every believer to “make disciples.” Today we are going to talk about how to do that.
3. This study is titled “JUST START” because in discipleship you don’t wait for the perfect time or situation to disciple someone. You won’t ever really be “ready” no matter how much you prepare. Learning to disciple will require you to just jump in and start. What does it mean to disciple someone?
“Discipleship is walking alongside someone; challenging them to study and live out the Bible in their life, and to influence others with the gospel.”
One barrier to discipling others is that many of us don’t know what to do with a disciple. The following are four important things to do with your disciple(s).
- COMMUNITY – Build a healthy relationship with your disciple and help them build healthy relationships with other Christians. Listen to your disciple, spend time with them, and take an interest in (care about) their life.
- BIBLE – Spend time reading the Bible together and help them learn to read it on their own.
- PRAYER – Talk to God and bring our requests and thanks to Him.
- EVANGELISM – Help your disciple learn to tell non-Christians about Jesus and disciple them.
4. Why is each of these important to include?
5. What would happen without each of these parts in your discipleship relationship?
- COMMUNITY –
- BIBLE –
- PRAYER –
- EVANGELISM –
6. So, if these are the main things to do in a discipleship meeting, what would your first meeting look like?
7. Below is a suggested schedule for your first meeting with a potential disciple. Talk through it as a group. What do you like about it? What would you do differently?
- Sit Down – Get a drink or snack if you want.
- Get to know them – Ask questions to get to know them and find things you have in common.
- Share your story – Say, “Do you mind if I tell you a little bit about my faith story?”
- Ask for their story – Listen for hints about where they are spiritually.
- Share the gospel with them – Use the Connecting with God booklet, or the God Tools app. If they are already familiar with it, ask them what their favorite part about the gospel is. Their answers may help you know where they are in their faith.
- Pray together – Ask them for prayer requests, share some of your own, then pray for them.
- Talk about next week – If, when, and where you want to meet again. We suggest you take them through the STARTING WITH GOD series at www.thrivestudies.com.
8. On a piece of paper, write down something that is difficult to you about discipling someone else. Crumple your paper up and throw it at a friend. Throw the paper wads around for about 30 seconds (focus your aim at your leader). When you’re done, pick up one of the papers and, one by one, read them to the group. Ask the group for advice on how to work through that issue.
“Just Start” means you just jump into it even if you don’t feel quite ready. You’ll learn to disciple by while you do it. Your challenge is to find someone this week to set up a first discipleship appointment with. Who is someone you can meet with?
10. If you were going to text your friend and ask him/her to meet up for this, what would you say? Write that text right now and send it.
CHALLENGE: Have a first meeting with someone this week. You may need to ask 3-4 people before you find someone who can meet with you. That’s ok, just keep asking until you find someone who can meet.
LAUNCH
What would you do if I asked you to…
- Change the oil in a car?
- Bake a cake?
- Play a game that you don’t know how to play?
If instructions for these things are important to have, how much more important is it for us to have instructions on how to start our relationship with God? Today we are going to talk about how to give people their first instructions on how to walk with God.
Read Colossians 1:27-29
EXPLORE
This passage touches on a few important basics of our faith that we often share in Cru with new students. See if you can spot them…
1. In verse 27, what is the “mystery” or “secret” that the author is talking about? Why is that important?
2. What does he ask us to do in verse 28? Why?
3. How does he say to do this in verse 29?
4. In verse 29, the author says he is “working and struggling so hard” to help people become more mature in Christ. Is helping people grow spiritually really that important? Why?
APPLY
5. In working with someone who is growing in their relationship with God, what would you say are the 4 most important things they need to know?
1.
2.
3.
4.
The 4 topics Cru about with new students:
1.
2.
3.
4.
6. Why are these things important to know?
- Assurance of our Faith: Without this confidence that we are His children and He won’t leave us, we will constantly be worrying that we aren’t good enough. This confidence allows us to rest in Him and totally embrace our new faith.
- What to do when you’ve sinned: Sin breaks our fellowship with God. Our students need to learn to confess their sins so that they can restore their relationship with God and move forward.
- The Holy Spirit: many of us think that we are supposed to live the Christian life by our own power. If our students try to do this, they will fail every time. We want them know that it is really the Holy Spirit who gives them the power to live this life.
- How to Grow in your Faith: The Bible, Prayer, Christian Fellowship, and Telling others about Christ are four main components to growing a strong faith. We want to equip each of our new students to grow in their faith.
One of the best ways to help your students learn these four things is through our STARTING WITH GOD series. This is what we often use with new believers and people new to Cru, and it’s what we recommend you go through with them after your first meeting. Let’s open up these lessons and take a look at them.Go to thrivestudies.com and find the STARTING WITH GOD series or Follow-Up’s
7. Which studies answer these four questions?
How do I know that Christ is in my life and will never leave me?
What do I do when I have sinned?
Who is the Holy Spirit and how does he help me?
How do I grow in my faith?
8. Open one of the studies and walk through it. Look for these elements and talk about why they would be helpful to you as you lead this study.
- Videos
- Creative Elements
- Leader’s Guide (the Big Idea, The Problem, etc)
- Launch
9. As you think about getting started in discipleship, what are some roadblocks or fears you face? Can you share them with the group?
CHALLENGE: Meet with someone this week to begin going through the STARTING WITH GOD series. Your best person would be the person you already met with, but if they can’t, meet with someone else.
LAUNCH
Would you rather…
- be rich and ugly OR poor and good looking?
- find true love OR find 10 million dollars?
- be trapped on a desert island with a chef OR an with an engineer?
- hold a snake or a mouse?
- eat a worm or swallow a goldfish?
We make a lot of choices in life. Today we will be talking about how to choose the best person to disciple. Before we start, answer these questions as a group…
- What qualities would you look for in a disciple?
- What qualities might cause you to rule someone out as a potential disciple?
EXPLORE
Paul was a traveling Bible teacher. He would travel all over the world telling people about Jesus. One day he met a teenager named Timothy. As Timothy grew, Paul saw his love for Jesus and love for others and started bringing Timothy along with him as he traveled. Paul wanted to teach Timothy how to tell others about Jesus so he made Timothy his disciple. As they traveled, they would read the Bible together, pray together, and talk about how to share the gospel with others. When it was time for Timothy to begin looking for his own disciples, Paul gave him some good advice. Read 2 Timothy 2:2 and see what he said.
Read 2 Timothy 2:2 together
1. Who was Timothy supposed to teach? Why?
2. Why didn’t Paul just say, “Everybody needs Jesus, just pick anybody!”
3. Below is a discipleship chart like the one we talked about last week. Using 2 Timothy 2:2, fill it in with the people written in the passage starting with Paul.
APPLY:
4. Why is choosing a disciple such an important step? Wouldn’t just anyone do?
5. What kind of person should you look for?
Paul told Timothy to look for reliable men to disciple. One way to put this is to look for F.A.T. people.
FAITHFUL: Someone you can rely on. A faithful person will show up, keep their promises, and follow through with the things you are teaching them.
AVAILABLE: They have the time to be discipled. If they are too busy to meet with you and invest in their spiritual life, they are not available.
TEACHABLE: They are willing to be taught and and are humble enough to be open to change.
6. While no one lives out all of these qualities perfectly, they are all important elements in a good disciple. Why is each of these qualities important in a disciple?
7. What are some other qualities to look for in a disciple?
8. Who are some Faithful, Available, and Teachable people in your life that could be good disciples for you?
“Discipleship is walking alongside someone; challenging them to live out the Bible in their life, while influencing others with the gospel.”
9. Using the F.A.T. definitions as a standard, without mentioning names, what qualities might make a person or two on your list a stronger choice than the others?
10 . Read Luke 6:12-16. What did Jesus do before he chose his disciples? What does this tell us about how we should choose our disciples?
CHALLENGE: This week, set up an appointment for next week with your top choice for a disciple.
For further study on choosing disciples, check out this article.
Online Article: THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR DISCIPLESHIP – therightpeople.pdf
Book: Chapter 2 of THE MASTER PLAN OF EVANGELISM by Robert. E. Coleman
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