Discipleship Toolkits

The Band Meeting was a very small group of approximately five people who would confess their sins and struggles together. Members would talk specifically about their temptations, successes and failures. Creating a safe space for confession and accountability was a part of growing in personal holiness. Not every Methodist was part of a band. This was always a smaller subset of Christian community. It is not intended to be for everyone.

We’ve all been there. A new group has formed, and its members are excited about its potential. But, before the group realizes it, it becomes hijacked by someone who uses the group as their personal therapy session. This guide will help your group tackle the issue of small group killers.

Use this guide with your small group to discuss what it means to be a committed Christian disciple.

Just the word “evangelism” causes anxiety in most followers of Jesus. The anxiety is caused by the thought that we must take a person from unbeliever all the way to a transformed life, from zero to 60 in four seconds flat. We must plant the seed, water it, raise it to maturity, and bring in the harvest. Yet even Paul did not accept that kind of pressure. Use this guide with your small group to discuss evangelism in your local church context.

Discipleship coaching offers a model for creating a transformational, multiplying discipleship culture within a ministry context. Through this coaching model you can develop a focused vision for where you’re going and a creative plan for getting there.  

Multiple levels of commitment to discipleship are on display in the lives of followers of Jesus. Discipleship is frequently seen as an option in the church and the bar set for membership requires only a low level of compliance. Many church members comply with the minimum measures of church membership but compliance is not enough to carry out the vision of the church. Use this guide with your small group to discuss the commitment of discipleship.

The local church is the body of Christ in our world. The “body of Christ” is too often used as a mere figure of speech, yet that phrase expresses the reality that Christ lives through his people. God’s people, as disciples, extend the life of Jesus to the world through the local church. Use this guide with your small group to better understand the role of the local church.

Simple and practical toolkits on the nature of discipleship in whatever format best fits your need – sermon starters, small group leader training, a one-time group study, or a small group study series.

Wesley understood Christian discipleship more like an apprenticeship to Jesus than a scholarly endeavor where one masters a body of knowledge. So, Wesley developed a process by which Methodists cultivate this kind of discipleship. A process that allowed people who desired this kind of character to be challenged and held accountable for the sake of fleeing the wrath to come. Use this guide with your small group to discuss the class meeting model.

Many problems in the church today can be understood when we realize that so many church members have not yet decided to follow Christ. The discipleship path is a journey that results from every Christian’s answer to the call, “Follow me.” Use this guide with your small group to consider what discipleship means.

Discover what is included in mentoring, including questions to ask yourself as you discern whether you are called to be a mentor and idea starters on initiating a mentoring conversation.