BECOME A REAL DISCIPLE OF JESUS
INTRO
Twelve Weeks of Discipleship
Get together once a week with one or more people for an intentional, immersive and devoted season:
to share your lives with each other
to learn the commands of Christ
to put into practice what you learn–by obeying his commands
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“Disciple” in the Greek, the major language of the New Testament, is “mathlete,” and means “learner.” A disciple is a student of Jesus. A real disciple is someone who is really doing discipleship.
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Discipleship is learning to love Jesus and his ways by obeying his commands.
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Everyone is discipled by Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who reminds us of what Jesus taught. We learn from them and from each other as we see God bear fruit in each other’s lives. By example we teach each other to obey.
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Anyone who surrenders their life to Jesus and wants to learn from him can be a disciple.
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Keep the focus on Jesus and his commands.
Keep love as your motive and gently encourage each other to live out each week’s command.
Show patience by letting the Holy Spirit convict and change people.
Be honest about obeying and whether you see the fruit of obedience in others’ lives, but don’t judge them.
Be humble to receive honest feedback when someone tries to hold you accountable for obeying Jesus.
Overview Guide
In this Digital Guidebook each section will help you learn what Jesus commanded:
Prep work involves reading and scribing (copying) scripture.
Command is the focus for the week.
Challenge is meant to provoke discussion about the command.
Discussion prompts personal sharing (Read 1 Thessalonians 2:8).
Reward / Warning emphasizes what is at stake if we do or don’t obey.
Obey / Action is how you will put into practice what you learned.
Prayer is time to pray the Lord’s prayer and pray for one another.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN- TAKE 30 MINUTES TO READ THIS SUMMARY ON OUR SITE DISCIPLESHIP 101
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever amen.
12 Commands of Christ
These are foundational direct commands for anyone who wants to follow Jesus. Focus on one command each week.
WEEK 1: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength. Mark 12:30
WEEK 2: Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39
WEEK 3: Love your enemies. Matthew 5:44
WEEK 4: Go and sin no more. John 8:11
WEEK 5: Forgive others. Matthew 6:14-15
WEEK 6: Beware of false prophets. Matthew 7:15
WEEK 7: Abide in me. John 15:4
WEEK 8: Seek first the Kingdom of God. Matthew 6:33
WEEK 9: Ask, Seek, Knock. Matthew 7:7
WEEK 10: Sell all you have. Give to the poor. Follow me. Matthew 19:21
WEEK 11: Take. Eat. Drink. (Remember me.) Luke 22:18-20
WEEK 12: Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22
Then- Go. Make disciples. Matthew 28:19
(Repeat weeks 1-12 with someone who wants to be a disciple).
“Even the
winds and waves
obey him.”
WEEK 1
Command 1 - Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
Challenge:
Are you a 10% Christian? Or are you “all” in? The disciple Peter told Jesus, “We have left all we had to follow you.” Luke 18:28. In fact, all the disciples, except the one who betrayed Jesus, were either tortured or killed because they loved Jesus. They gave their lives for his Kingdom cause. Does Jesus expect less of his modern day disciples?
Read Mark 12:28-34 & 41-44
Discussion:
Take turns and share your definition of “love.”
Share what has distracted you from loving God with your “all.”
Reward/ Warning: Luke 16:13
You cannot serve both God and money. If you love money, you will end up hating God.
Obey: Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” John 14:15
Action: Sign this covenant:
“I will love God by investing these 12 weeks to learn the commands of Christ, and become a disciple of Jesus. I will take Jesus seriously and obey him. I will stay committed to the person going through discipleship with me by being honest with them and by encouraging them each week. I’m all in.”
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Name
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Date
Prep for
week 2:
Learn Jesus loves you.
Read John 17-20 & 1 John 1-5
Scribe 1 John 4:7-12
WEEK 2
Command 2 - Luke 22:39
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Challenge:
Read and reflect on the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Samaritans were despised by the Jews and yet Jesus chose to highlight the Samaritan as the one who teaches us how to love our neighbor. Based on this story, what is love? Who do you know that loves like this?
Discussion:
Read Luke 10:36 again- Why does Jesus ask the question this way?
Remember: When was someone a good neighbor to you? How did they help you when you were helpless or hopeless?
Reward/ Warning: Read 1 John 4:20
We can’t fulfill the greatest command if we don’t obey this second command.
Obey: Be a good neighbor by loving someone near you.
Action: Break free from being a 10% Christian by being as extravagant as the Good Samaritan in loving someone this week.
Example: mow a foster family’s lawn, do their laundry, and buy them dinner.
Pray: the Lord’s prayer
Prep for
week 3:
Learn Jesus loved you when you were an enemy of God.
Read Luke 15:11-32
(The Prodigal Son)
Scribe Romans 5:6-11
WEEK 3
Command 3 -
Matthew 5:44
Love your enemies.
Challenge:
There are no good people. Everyone is evil; everyone is or was an enemey of God. The Old and New Testaments speak to this: Psalm 14:1-3. Mark 10:18. Romans 3:10-12.
Jesus is the only one who was perfect and could please the Father. When Jesus was baptized the crowd heard a voice from heaven, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” If we are to please God and feel his pleasure, we need Jesus to befriend us, to befriend his enemy. Through discipleship we become his friends. (John 15).
Discussion:
What is an enemy?
How have you been an enemy of God?
Reward/ Warning: Read Matthew 5:48 & 1 John 4:18
Love is its own reward. Loving an enemy so that they become a friend, and then laying down your life for that friend, is love to the extreme. That kind of perfect love casts out fear from our lives.
Obey: Love someone you don’t want to love.
Action: How will you love? Sometimes words are not extravagant enough to convey love.
Example: go to a Planned Parenthood facility and bring the staff flowers and/ or donuts.
Pray: the Lord’s prayer
Prep for
week 4:
Learn about sin and forgiveness.
Scribe John 8:1-11. Then go outside and scratch in the dirt- “Jesus forgives me.”
WEEK 4
Command 4 - John 8:11
Go and sin no more.
Challenge: Drop your stone.
Jesus proclaims “Neither do I condemn you.”
Sometimes we judge people and think “my sin doesn’t stink” as bad as theirs. We label people in our minds with that “scarlet letter” A (for adulterer). But Jesus shows up in this story and takes away the condemnation. It’s almost as if he wrote down her sin in the dirt the first time and then wrote “forgiven” the second time. Is there any sin Jesus cannot forgive? Do you still condemn yourself or others? Drop your stone. Write “forgiven” in the dirt.
Discussion:
What habitual sin have you struggled to overcome?
Are you a Christian who sins or do you have a “lifestyle of sin?”
Reward/ Warning: Read 1 John 5:16-18
You might be wondering if it’s even possible to “sin no more,” like Jesus commanded. Consider what John the disciple later said about sin in his first letter.
The blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin. 1:7, 2:2
Everyone has sinned. 1:8-10
Some make a practice of sinning (lifestyle). 3:4
There is no sin in Jesus. 3:5
Those who abide in Jesus don’t keep sinning. 3:6
Those who have a lifestyle of sin are of the devil. 3:7
A lifestyle of sin leads to death. 5:16
John points out that there are two types of sin: one of which leads to death. Type 1 Sin is something we did vs. Type 2 Sin, which is how we live: Action vs. lifestyle. We don’t know if the adulterous woman led a lifestyle of sexual sin or if this was a one night fling, but she was being judged by the Ten Commandments and the law to put adulterers to death (Leviticus 20:10).
Jesus forgives sins and knows we will sin again, and he will forgive us again, but he is calling us out of a lifestyle of sin. If we continue in that lifestyle, then we are rejecting the forgiveness of God. What hope remains for us then? Only death remains.
Obey: Shake off condemnation. Receive forgiveness.
Action: If you have a habitual sin, quit it.
Example: If you’re having sex with someone outside marriage, stop. If you’re getting drunk on Friday nights, don’t. If you struggle with an addiction, get help from a Christian counselor immediately.
Pray: the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 5:
Learn to forgive.
Read: Matthew 18:21-35
Take the Commandment Quiz to identify which of Jesus’ commands you obey and which ones you are not obeying.
WEEK 5
Command 5 - Matt. 6:14-15
Forgive others.
Challenge: Forgiveness = cancelling a debt.
Someone owes you something. Maybe your parent failed to raise you right. Maybe a friend borrowed money from you. Maybe your boss doesn’t appreciate you. Maybe you have “church hurt,” because people judged you instead of loving you. You can’t forgive them UNLESS you appreciate how much you have been forgiven. Your debt was big!
Review Matthew 18:21-35 together.
Discussion:
Who has been the hardest person to forgive in your life?
Read what Jesus said on the cross (Luke 23:34).
Reward/ Warning: Matthew 6:14-15.
If you don’t forgive others, and cancel the debt they owe you, God will not forgive you.
Obey: Cancel a debt owed you.
Action: What debt will you forgive? Which debt will you let God cover?
Example: Let God father you and accept his motherly tough love. Let Him provide the extra money owed to you. Go to work for God’s glory, not people’s approval. Let God be the reason you go back to church every Sunday. Live in the freedom of having ALL your debts cancelled.
Pray: the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 6:
Learn the fruits of the Spirit.
Memorize Galatians 5:22-23
Write down the names of “influencers” you listen to:
music / news / speakers /
people who give you advice
WEEK 6
Command 6 - Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets.
Challenge: A false prophet is someone who speaks a message that contradicts Jesus Christ.
Prophets in the Old Testament tried to predict the future. If they got it wrong, they were considered a “false prophet.”
Prophets have another role- to remind people of God’s words. If they speak their own words, they are a “false prophet.”
Anyone that influences you with their words could be a false prophet if they are trying to persuade you with anything that contradicts the gospel and God’s word.
Discussion:
Read 1 John 4:1-6. How can you test the “influencers” in your life?
Reward/ Warning: Matthew 7:15 & 24:11-13.
Warning: wolves eat sheep. 7:15 You will be led astray and Your love will grow cold. 24:11-13
Obey: Test everything you hear, to determine if it’s Truth or a lie.
Action: Do you need to stop listening to a “false prophet?” Do you need to read the Bible more to learn Truth from lies? Do you need to stop asking people’s advice and instead pray God’s word?
Example: Pray through Isaiah 55 this week. Isaiah was a true prophet whose very words predicted Jesus as the coming Savior.
Pray: pray the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 7:
Learn to be in His presence.
Read John 15:1-11 every day this week (at least 5 times) and underline something new each time.
Scribe John 10:27-30
WEEK 7
Command 7 - John 15:4
Abide in me.
Challenge: How could Jesus say, “Without me you can do nothing?” Many people have achieved great things without him. Of course success is possible for those who serve other masters. But can we bear the fruit Jesus is talking about? Fruit that will actually last?
The fruit Jesus is talking about is people. God’s first command he gave to Adam and Eve, found in Genesis 1:28, says, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.” We are fruitful when we make disciples who love Jesus.
Kids should be our top discipleship priority. Teach them the commands of Christ. They are our physical offspring (our fruit) and disciples are spiritual offspring (fruit).
Is your life about success and achievement or about bearing fruit that will last?
Discussion:
By reading this passage 5x this week you practiced abiding. Share what you discovered/ highlighted.
Reward/ Warning: Can you identify the 4 rewards and 4 warnings Jesus lists out if we abide in him?
Obey: Read John 15:7 and ask God to give you people that will go through discipleship with you.
Action: Pray for 5 people this week and ask God to prepare their heart to say “Yes!” when you ask them if they want to learn about the commands of Christ with you.
Example: It’s likely that most Christians you know have never learned the commands of Christ. Show them Matthew 28:20 where Jesus says we are to teach people to obey his commands. Ask them, “Do you know the commands of Christ?” “Can you name 5?” “How about all 55?” “Will you meet with me once a week for 12 weeks to learn 12 very important things Jesus commanded all his followers to obey?”
Pray: pray the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 8:
Learn to adjust your life schedule so God comes first.
Wake up one morning before dawn and pray for your 5 people.
WEEK 8
Command 8 - Matthew 6:33
Seek first the Kingdom of God.
Challenge: Jesus woke early to seek the Father and learn what Kingdom work needed to be done that day and what evil needed to be undone. Likewise, disciples often have to face evil and sickness. Read Mark 1:32-39
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Discussion:
Who have you cared for during a “dark” time, when they were depressed, despairing, devastated, or sick?
Have you ever encountered a demon? What was that like?
Reward/ Warning: What does Matthew 6:28-34 say is the reward for seeking the Kingdom first? What does John 9:12 say is the reward for seeking (following) Jesus.
Obey: Seek God first every morning for the rest of your life.
Action: Read your Bible and pray every morning. This sets your mind and spirit in God’s kingdom reality which you will need to overcome the darkness, heal people, and destroy evil.
Pray: pray the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 9:
Learn to depend on God.
Make an A.S.K. list (Ask, Seek, Knock). Write down 10 things you are asking God for. Include 2 things you have given up asking for.
WEEK 9
Command 9 - Matthew 7:7
Ask. Seek. Knock.
Challenge: It can be hard to ask God for things. A single attempt and doubt will fill your head. “Does God care? Will God answer me? Am I aksing for the right thing? What if he doesn’t answer? What if I’m not pure enough for God to hear me? What if answering my prayer means not answering someone else’s prayer?” Whoa.
Jesus asked for big things: for people, for a Kingdom, for glory, ultimately for the Father’s glory.
Maybe your prayers are too small. How many people’s names made it on your list of 10 things?
The closer we get to having a Jesus mindset, the more we will pray for people.
Discussion:
Share your A.S.K. list with each other.
Reward/ Warning: Read Matt. 7:7-11 & Luke 18:1-8
Obey: When we ASK, and keep asking, we glorify God who reveals himself as a generous Father.
Action: Pray Pslam 2:7-8 together, asking for the nations!
Pray: pray the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 10:
Learn what true treasure is.
Read Matthew 19:16-30
Scribe Matthew 6:19-21
WEEK 10
Command 10 - Matthew 19:21
Sell your possessions. Give to the poor. Follow me.
Challenge: This might be the hardest commandment for Christians in the United States to obey. But Jesus promises treasure in heaven if we do it. If Jesus told you to invest in the stock market with guaranteed success, you would likely do it in a second. So, what’s the problem?
We have no clue what “treasure in heaven” looks like.
Have you ever seen the movie Schindler’s List, a true story that took place during WWII? At the end the anti-hero realizes what true treasure is. (Watch 5 min. clip here).
He wishes he had sold his car to redeem 10 more Jews. His pin for two more Jews, maybe one. He collapses in grief that he did not do enough. The true treasure is 1100 people he saved from death in the concentration camps. He wished he had done more to save more people.
What would you trade to help more people?
Jesus sacrificed everything for the “treasure in the field”- (Matt. 13:44-46), for the people of his Kingdom.
Discussion:
Why do you have so many possessions?
Reward/ Warning: Read Matthew 19:16-30
Obey: Sell a possession and give to the poor.
Action: What item will you sell this week?
Pray: pray the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 11:
Learn to remember Jesus.
Read: Luke 22:14-23
WEEK 11
Command 11 - Luke 14:19
Remember me.
Challenge: What is communion? Why do we do it?
It’s a covenant ceremonial meal. Bread and wine are now body and blood. When you eat and drink this meal, you are saying that you want to “love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” You agree that you need forgiveness of sins.
Jesus drank the cup of wrath on the cross so we could drink the cup of Jesus’ joy. This communion is to remember what Jesus did on the cross and what his resurrection means for us.
Remember Jesus in everything he is and does.
Discussion:
Talk about Jesus. What do you remember he did for you? What he did for someone else? What he did for someone in the gospel stories? Take turns sharing memories of Jesus.
Reward/ Warning: Read 2 Corinthians 1:20
You are included in the new covenant with ALL of its promises.
Obey: Take communion together.
Action: Take. Eat. Drink. Remember Jesus.
Pray: pray the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 12:
Learn to let the Holy Spirit do his work.
Read: John 3:1-8
Scribe: John 16:7-15
WEEK 12
Command 12 - John 20:22
Receive the Holy Spirit.
Challenge: You have come this far as a disciple of Jesus. Do you love him? Do you love his ways? Has his truth set you free? If you have obeyed these commands then the answer to these questions is yes.
You have become a friend of Jesus!
Now what? Read John 20:19-23
It’s time to become an apostle- a “sent one.”
Jesus wants to send you out into a sinful world to forgive people by loving them. He wants you to go and make disciples. Will you obey his last command?
Discussion:
What fruits of the Spirit do you see in your life? What gifts? What power?
Reward/ Warning: Read Acts 1:8
Jesus gives you the power of the Holy Spirit so you will go and make disciples. If you don’t go, you will not feel the power.
Obey: Where will you go? Who will you ask to go through discipleship with you?
Action: Ask that person this week.
Pray: pray the Lord’s Prayer
Prep for
week 13:
Learn to make disciples.
Read: Matthew 28:16-20
Scribe: Matthew 28:19-20