POSSIBLE FORMAT FOR DISCIPLESHIP TIME
Use the C.L.O.S.E.R. acronym as a guide for how you can spend your time together when you meet for the “Truth/Studying God’s Word” part of disciple-making. (from the book Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples by Robby Gallaty)
Communicate with God through prayer
Learn to understand and apply God’s Word to your life (dig in Scripture together)
Obey God’s commands
Store God’s Word in your heart (memorize scripture)
Evangelize (share Christ with others)
Renew yourself spiritually every day (stay accountable with your quiet times with God)
I believe memorizing Scripture is critical in any discipleship process. That’s a major emphasis in the discipleship groups I have led. Studying, memorizing and applying God’s Word is the way to hold on to the promises of God.
—Bob
BASIC SCRIPTURE WALK-THROUGH
Read a passage, discuss aloud and journal your responses.
– What does it say about God? What does this passage teach about God’s character?
– How do I know God better because of this passage?
– What does it say about man (me)?
– What does this passage teach about man’s character and tendencies?
– Where do I see myself in this passage?
– How do I apply it to my life? What action, attitude or thought do I need to change?
– What do I need to memorize?
“My favorite way to disciple others is to read through and study a book of the Bible. Apart from that, reading through books together can be a great way to discuss truth and specific topics. Several of my favorites have been, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Mere Christianity, The Case for Christ, I’m Glad You’ve Asked, and The Man in the Mirror.”
—Scott
ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS
Where have you been finding joy?
Have you stayed pure this week (physically, mentally and visually)?
What’s an area of your life in which you need encouragement?
What has God been teaching you?
What have you been praying about?
What have you been reading in Scripture?
What’s one thing you want to work on this week?
With whom have you shared your faith this week?
Are you sharing with someone else what you are learning with me (truth and life)?
How have you invested in leading your family this week?
Have you lied about any of your answers today?
WHAT SHOULD I POUR INTO THOSE I’M DISCIPLING?
Our staff put together some core competencies (solid foundation). We would like for those who are discipled by someone at Mobberly to learn, take notes and apply these in their life. The notes that you take over these lessons will be valuable resources as you teach/reproduce with others.
These are the foundational pieces of disciple-making that Mobberly would like to see taught and modeled to those we are discipling. Although these core competencies are in no particular order, we must make sure every person we are discipling has a biblical view of the gospel. Remember, “The Gospel we believe in determines the disciples we make.” -Bill Hull
As you disciple someone, please make sure to, at least, cover these foundational beliefs.
DISCIPLE-MAKING IN THE HOME
If you’re a parent, your children are your primary disciples. It’s not the church’s responsibility; it’s yours. Mobberly is here to support your disciple-making efforts and provide the opportunity for you to worship, serve and grow with a gospel community. It’s also essential for your children to witness your discipleship efforts outside of the home. A good rule of thumb–kids first, others during/after.
Discipleship at home is not about doing more, it’s about inviting Christ into what you’re already doing.” —CHRISTINA EMBREE
Parents, or in some cases grandparents, your first area of responsibility is discipling your children/grandchildren. It’s also important for your children to see you pouring into others as well. Below, are some helpful tips to with making disciples at home.
8 Tips to Help You Disciple Your Kids
8 Tips to Help You Disciple Your Kids
by Brian Dembowczyk, Managing Editor, The Gospel Project
We know that we should disciple our kids—it is one of our primary ministries as parents (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)—and we want to, but when it comes to actually doing it, we feel lost. Where do we begin? What do we say? Do I really know enough myself? And so, because of our overwhelming feeling of inadequacy, we tell our kids to listen to their leaders at church and do what they say.
This is understandable, but it doesn’t have to be this way. It can’t be this way. Discipling our kids is far too important to hand off to others—as godly and loving as they may be. And that takes us back to our primary concern—we know we need to disciple our kids and we want to do it, but how?
One of the main problems we have as parents is that we expect way too much of ourselves when it comes to discipling our kids, and when we can’t live up to them, we feel like failures and often quit. Family worship doesn’t have to look like worship with your church family with singing, prayer and lengthy and in-depth Bible teaching. Gospel conversations don’t always have to end with some profound theological gem from you. We need to be realistic of what our family discipleship will look like. Perhaps that means talking about a Bible story for 15 minutes one night a week at dinner and trying to find one or two times each week to move conversations toward the gospel. Wherever you are, start there and develop rhythms and habits that work and then build on them to get to where you want to be.
There is nothing at all wrong with having a more organized time of family worship—it is a great idea to do that. But we can’t see our role as disciplers as a program; we have to see it more as a way of life as Deuteronomy 6 describes. That means that you want to strive to talk with your kids about Christ naturally as much as possible. Look for themes in shows, movies, music and talk about how they relate to the gospel. Talk about the character of God, especially as you experience them in your own life. We have natural opportunities to talk about the gospel every day—we just have to look for them.
Our goal should be always to point our kids to Jesus. It is easy to fall into the trap of moralism—focusing on our kids’ behavior and wanting them to act right. But that is not God’s heart for them. God is less concerned with their behavior and more concerned with their hearts. The way our kids will develop hearts that love Him and want to obey Him is through the gospel transforming them. This is why we always need to point our kids to the gospel and allow that to inform how they live. Their behavior matters—but why they behave the way they do matters far more. Focus on heart change through Christ.
As parents we often think of ourselves as generals—we have the authority to tell our kids what to do and point the direction they are to go. There is certainly a place for this at times, but when it comes to discipling our kids, we are better off seeing ourselves as guides instead. Think of a trail guide who travels with you and beside you. He or she doesn’t stay back at camp and just point the direction or give you a map—he or she goes with you. That is what we need to do with our kids on the journey of discipleship. We aren’t supposed to be the experts with all the answers boldly pointing the way our kids should go; we are to travel with them as guides—who have more knowledge, wisdom and experience of our journey but who are still learning ourselves. Positioning yourself as a guide means you don’t need to have all the answers and that is important because none of us do. But it does give you the freedom to tell your kids you don’t know something and want to seek the answer together.
The best teaching comes from the overflow of what we are learning. If you are looking for the one way to improve the most as your kids’ discipler, this may be it. Spend more time feeding your growth and growing in your understanding of, and joy in, the gospel. Dive into God’s Word more deeply. Read books that will build your faith. Worship in meaningful ways with others and by yourself. As you grow your confidence will increase, and you will also have more to share with your kids.
It’s said that people will remember more of what we do than what we say. We often focus our discipleship on what we tell our kids—and that certainly matters—but we cannot forget our kids are learning far more from what they see us do, for better or for worse. As a follower of Christ, you need to be working out your salvation through God’s power (Philippians 2:12-13), but this is even more important as parents. How is the gospel framing how you live each day in the home, in the community, at work and beyond? Are God’s love, grace and mercy working their way out of you? Is the Fruit of the Spirit evident in increasing measure? Are you obeying God with gospel gratitude and joy? Model gospel transformation to your kids.
While God designed parents to be the primary disciplers, He did not intend for us to be the only disciplers. He has given us the church—our local community of faith—to come alongside us, encourage us and echo what we are teaching in our homes. Just as it is essential for us to be part of the church, our kids need to be as well—for their good now and in the future as well as the church’s vitality. Prioritize involvement in church, not because you have to or should, but because you want to. This is one reason I love The Gospel Project so much—the heart of this resource is not only to help individuals see the gospel story throughout Scripture but also to position parents to have meaningful conversations in the home based on what they are talking about at church. The church and home aren’t to work in isolation of each other—they are to work hand-in-hand in partnership.
Just as you want to have meaningful gospel conversations throughout the day with your kids, you also want to pray with them and for them. Think about the opportunities you have each day, such as in the car on the way to school and as part of your bedtime routine, and use some of that time to pray together.
You can find the whole article here: https://www.gospelproject.com/8-tips-to-help-you-disciple-your-kids Used with permission.
Empty nesting parents– you might look back and realize that you never intetionally discipled your children. In the words of Chuck Swindoll, “It’s never too late to start doing what’s right.” You can still take advantage of the opportunity to walk alongside your adult children in an ongoing disciple-making relationship.
“There are only three ways to teach a child. The first is by example, the second is by example, the third is by example.”
—Albert Schweitzer
“Listening to your kids pray gives insight on what a true “child-like faith” is and it reveals the depths of their hearts.”
—Claire