Additional Information about the Discipleship Series

The primary goal of the Discipleship Series is to establish believers in the core teachings of the Christian faith, so they can pass along those truths to men, women, and children for the rest of their lives.

In an effort to be faithful to The Teaching of the Church for Christians (also known as “the apostles’ teaching” or “sound doctrine”), this series has the following characteristics:

  1. centered on the triune God of the Bible (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

  2. grounded in the authority of God’s written revelation to humanity: the Bible

  3. attentive to the Bible’s grand story (from Genesis to Revelation)—including God’s covenants with humanity and how the Old Testament finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus

  4. focused on the person, works, and will of Jesus Christ

  5. governed by Jesus’s mission for the church (to make disciples of all nations)

  6. anchored in the good news of Jesus’s death and resurrection to save sinners

  7. applied primarily in our churches and families

  8. expository (focusing on representative passages of sound doctrine from the Bible)

  9. theological (summarizing key doctrines of the Christian faith)

  10. structured AND interactive

Almost every lesson in the series enables teachers to follow this pattern three to five times:

  • Read and explain a portion of Scripture.

  • Facilitate discussion for five to ten minutes in light of that passage.

Once finished with a unified wave of teaching and discussion, teachers move on to the next portion of Scripture and repeat: (1) read and explain Scripture and (2) facilitate discussion.

In this way, this series strikes a balance between biblical exposition (from a teacher) AND significant discussion (within the group). Choosing between explaining God’s truth OR dynamic interaction deviates from the pattern that almost certainly occurred when the apostles taught in larger gatherings and from house to house (Acts 5:42; 20:20; see 2 John 10).

Most lessons follow the same format:

  1. Introductory Questions about the Topic

  2. Overview of the Lesson

  3. Exposition of the Primary Scripture Passage with Discussion Questions (in three or four sections or “waves” of teaching and discussion)

  4. Summary of a Core Doctrine or Practice of the Christian Faith with Discussion Questions

The lessons are designed to be studied as a group within 40 to 60 minutes.

The Discipleship Series page lists our study guides, each consisting of five to ten unique lessons from Scripture. In the first guide, Becoming a Christian, we focus on the following passages of Scripture (e.g., Acts 17:16–34), and we provide concise explanations of key doctrines of the Christian faith (e.g., God the Father):

  1. Misc. Passages / The Path to God (part one)

  2. Misc. Passages / The Path to God (part two)

  3. Acts 17:16–34 / God the Father

  4. Rom. 1:18–32 / Sin and Judgment

  5. Acts 10:34–48 / God the Son

  6. Eph. 2:1–10 / Conversion: Turning from Sin and Trusting in Jesus

  7. Rom. 8:1–13 / God the Holy Spirit

  8. Matt. 28:18–20, Acts 2:37–41, Rom. 6:1–5 and Baptism

To summarize: the Discipleship Series studies representative passages of the teaching of the church AND outlines the content of “sound doctrine”—both of which are meant to transform the way we think and the way we live in our churches, families, and neighborhoods.