These discipleship materials are very helpful for growth and for discipling others. Also, check out the 4 short lessons on how humans work, the free downloads page, the guides to healing past damage, and the extensive free Guide to Growth (10 topics in 100 colorful slides.)
Lesson 1: The Purpose of Life
The goal or purpose of the Christian life can be stated several different ways. Our goal is to become Christlike. Our goal is to become a perfect community of believers. Our goal is to become one with God. Our purpose is to live a “Kingdom of God” life. Our purpose is to glorify God. At the root, these are all different ways of saying that the Christian life is centered on one thing: God’s love.
Jesus’ teachings all flow from God’s true and good nature. His teachings are not just a list of random commands given to us to see if we would be obedient. Rather, His teachings flow from God’s love, and the gospel is the epitome of His love. So every element of the gospel is best understood in the context of His desire to be in a strong and loving relationship with us and for us to live in community with fellow believers. Scripture teaches that God wants to be our Father, our teacher, our lover, and our friend.
So our purpose is to live in a community of love with God and His people in Christ through the Spirit.
We can see this in Jesus’ teachings. For example, Jesus stated in Matthew 22:37 that the greatest commandment was to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Then He said that a second similar commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself (Love, or friendship, can be defined as a commitment to the well-being of another, often accompanied with affection.) The Apostle Paul stated “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 (NLT). Thus, we are to be in a close relationship with God, and with others; in other words, a community.
It is the goodness and love of God that make Jesus’ teachings rise above all else. His resurrection is not good unless He is good and unless the Father is good. If God is not loving and merciful then what good would it do us for Jesus to rise from the dead?
What does this mean in practical terms? So then, what are we to do? Learn how to develop our relationship with God and how to love all people including our enemies. Moreover, we are to learn how to live in true community with fellow believers.
Scripture
Matthew 22:34-40 (NLT) “But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees with His reply, they met together to question Him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap Him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the Law of Moses?”
“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Lesson 2: God’s Vision for You
Incredibly, God compares our ultimate relationship with Him to a marriage in Ephesians 5 and in Revelation 19 and 21. This biblical union of love is the vision God has for us. It is a vision that can be progressively fulfilled in this life before it is completely fulfilled in the next. He will do this because His love and commitment to us is infinite.
It is a marriage where all our burdens are released. All our pain and fear vanishes. We live in perfect friendship with God and His millions of followers. We enjoy magnifying and expressing God’s great character. We know we are His children and He crowns us with glory and joy, better than a parade for an Olympic champion. We no longer struggle with sin. We finally understand the truth and we are completely free to be ourselves. We have no corruption and no shame. We experience peace and wholeness throughout our entire being. We live in the joy of perfect community. We have exciting and fulfilling roles to play for the rest of time. I call this being fully Christformed.
Being fully Christformed in eternity means that we will have a new supernaturally perfected body, mind, will, emotions, and spirit. This is why we will have all the amazing blessings described above. It is the fulfillment of all the good hopes that humans have ever dreamed. In the New Testament this future reality is referred to as our “hope”; not because it might happen but because it is assured by God and it is the goal that we focus on lives on. It is the foundation of our purpose and it gives authentic meaning to our lives.
Can you imagine all these blessings for yourself? This is God’s vision for you beginning now and if you understand and embrace that vision it will change your life. Without this vision the Christian life can become dull and monotonous. But if you accept this vision for yourself it will make any sacrifices seem well worth it. It will make sense to embrace pain knowing that pain is a fire that drives out barriers to the Kingdom community of God.
Everything else in our Christian life revolves around this vision God has for us.
Scripture
Revelation 21:3-4 (NLT) “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.””
Application
Can you accept the vision in this chapter for your life? Take time to repeat the above words and insert your name, or “I” and “my” for the other pronouns. Let the words sink in.
How will this vision change the focus of your life and how you interact with people?
How does this vision impact your schooling, parenting, ministering, career, marriage, theology, Sunday morning and other church meetings, etc.?
Lesson 3: The Kingdom Community of God
This community of friendship with God and his people in this life makes us who we were meant to be. It gives us value, meaning, and purpose. This is the kingdom of God; his kingdom community. It empowers us to be like our Father in heaven and create good. God loves to be creative and He loves empowering his children to create good and be creative doing it. Whether you are a carpenter, a mechanic, a fireman, a nurse, a singer, a cook, an artist, a mother, or a father, you can choose to create good and maybe even be creative about it.
Again, all the truths and practices of the New Testament can be summed up as principles for loving God and one another. The books of the New Testament explain what it means to love one another. Some of the points include:
What It Means to Love One Another
- Encourage each other
- Forgive each other
- Bear one another’s burdens
- Help with each other’s physical needs
- Serve one another
- Be affectionate with one another
- Show hospitality to one another
- Build each other up
- Use spiritual gifts to benefit each other
- Warn each other when someone is going astray
- Be kind, patient, and humble with one another
- Inspire one another to do good works
So whatever task we are doing, we are connected to real life if we are doing our task to serve God, or serve others, or to receive from God or receive from others. (Self care matters too which is why it is important to receive and enjoy good things as hobbies.) This is another reason why our lives matter.
Scripture
Romans 12:4-6, 9-13 (NLT) Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. 6In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. 9Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10Love each other with genuine affection,e and take delight in honoring each other. 11Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.f 12Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
Application
Think about the the different things you do, what is your motive for doing them? Think about your job, your relationships, your hobbies, your volunteering, etc.
Lesson 4: Living the Gospel Daily
The gospel is not just the message of salvation it is also a way to live our life each day.
The word “gospel” is used in many ways. It literally means “good news”. The essence of the gospel is that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament and He was God in the flesh. He lived a perfect life and showed us how to love God and each other. He was wrongly crucified but He died for our sins. Anyone who recognizes their sin (failure to love God and others), turns away from their sin (repents) and believes on Jesus to rescue them and be their Lord will begin a new, eternal life. This eternal life is a community of friendship and love with God and all other believers. The gospel can be remembered with the acronym SCRuBS: separation, cross, repentance, belief, and surrender.
The gospel is the message of God’s salvation for us. It is the path to life because it reunites us with the One who is life and gives life. And it reunites us with others and with ourselves. It is the gate to everlasting peace and joy. It fulfills all the hopes and desires of the human heart. It is the best and most important message the world has ever known. And it is the most powerful message the world has ever known. It excels all others in its beauty, and wisdom and mystery. If we receive the message then we get to share in God’s life forever.
But the gospel is not just something we receive when we are first saved; it is also a message that we can practice daily. Consider the elements of the gospel of salvation (SCRuBS): (1) conviction of sin and separation from God; (2) the truth and power of Christ’s life and death and resurrection; (3) repentance from our old life; (4) belief in Christ’s salvation and restoration for us; and (5) surrender of ourselves to God. If you reflect on these you will see how each element of the gospel also applies to our daily Christian life.
The gospel is like the soil that you are planted in. It is a dark, rich soil that will nourish you forever. But unlike a plant, you can choose whether or not you want to receive nourishment from that soil. You can try to find soil elsewhere but your leaves will turn yellow and you will gradually wilt. The gospel will keep you growing tall and green forever.
The more we receive Him, the better our story; we will find adventure, make true friends, rise to challenges, endure everyday routine, overcome tragedy, experience the joy of the Holy Spirit, help the needy, save people in danger, lose battles and win wars, defeat evil with good, and become like Jesus.
Application
Are you able to view your Christian life as partly an adventure? If not, is there something you can change about the way you think so that you can view it that way?
Is it possible to think of hardship and pain as an adventure? Are there mysteries to uncover in hardship and pain? Is there a new place to live on the other side of suffering?