Key Elements of a Discipleship Group Meeting

Introduction

Growing up I had the privilege of going to church and getting lots of good biblical lessons. But my faith took off when a young man named Andy took the initiative to invite me into a discipleship relationship, where he personally helped me grow as a Christian. Week after week he helped me face lifes challenges with biblical wisdom, he prayed with me, he helped me overcome sin, he studied the Bible with me and he equipped me to live on mission for Jesus. The impact of Andy’s investment in my life was unrivaled by any other learning experience I ever had in the church. No devotional book, no video series, no church camp or retreat ever compared to the impact of personal discipleship.

Ever since that season when Andy personally discipled me, I was convinced that no matter what else I did as my vocation, the most impactful thing I could do with my life would be to devout my life to personally making disciples.

There are two key outcomes that are indicative of a successful disciple making ministry: The first, is that they help people to grow in obedience to Jesus. This happenns through open accountability, study of God’s Word and application of God’s Word. Over time, a person will grow significantly in obedience to Jesus and in spiritual health. The second, is participation in Christ’s Mission, the Great Commission. This is where a person develops a lifestyle of reaching others for Christ and in turn, making Disciples. In order to effectively make Disciples, a discipleship group must help facilitate both obedience to Jesus and participation in the Great Commission.

Over the years, I have studied many different disciple making movements and read the leading literature on effective disciple making. There are five key elements that have emerged from my findings. I have also confirmed that these five elements are crucial from my own experiences with making Disciples.

1. Check in

This element is where disciples are encouraged to be open and honest about their lives (Eph. 4:25) and confess sin struggles (James 5:16). Give biblical encouragement and counsel (Heb. 3:13) in regards to what they are going through.

“What’s been on your mind this week?”

“What sin do you need to confess this week?”

“How did last weeks ‘next steps’ go?”

Give counsel and point to relevant Scriptures.

Set new goals for moving forward.

Pray for each other.

2. Great Commission

This element is where you help those in your group become successful in reaching out to others and making disciples (Matt. 28:19). Celebrating even the small wins will help bring motivation and evangelistic momentum to the group.

“What did you see God do this week?”

This will morph over time:

Sharing with friends

Leading Discovery Bible Studies

Discipling others.

Give coaching.

Update your outreach lists.

Set goals for outreach.

Pray for them.

3. Learning Objective

This element is where you can go over whatever supplemental materials you are using for discipleship. This could be discipleship lessons, a book, a video series, a sermon to listen to, or something else.

Discuss the discipleship material, book, etc.

Goal is not to plow through material, but to apply it.

Don’t move on if the material is not being applied.

Set new goals pertaining to what you’ve learned.

4. Bible Intake

This element is where you ensure that those in your group are regularly spending time with God (Prayer and Scripture reading) and discuss what you all are learning from the Bible. It is strongly recommended to have everyone do the same reading plan such as “Seeing Jesus Together” or to be studying the same agreed upon passages.

Discuss what God is teaching you through the Bible.

Review Scripture memory verse.

Help them troubleshoot problems they are having with spending time with God.

Set Bible reading goals for the week.

5. Next Steps

This is where you clarify what everyone is going to do this week. Throughout the meeting, you have been discussing goals and things to apply; now is the time to clarify and write down what exactly those next steps are. If group members come back the next week and have done nothing, or even worse, can’t remember what they said they would do, it kills motivation. On the other hand, when members come back from the week with updates about how they have grown and the action steps they took, it brings inspiration to the whole group.

James 1:22 ESV

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

There is a dangerous form of self-deception that comes when we group together to “study” the Word of God, but don’t actually do it.

Review goals and action steps that were discussed for each person.

Give next weeks assignments, readings, etc.

Have everyone write these things down.

All five of these elements are important. Although some meetings you will spend more time on one than on another. There won’t always be goals set for each element. Some weeks, a person will need more help with something personal that comes up during the check in, and a significant action step. Other weeks they will need more coaching with those they are reaching out to. Other weeks you will spend more time on a theological point that comes up in the Bible reading. Some weeks, you may spend most of the time discussing the learning objective and helping them understand.

We tend to emphasize one of these and neglect the others. So, just be aware of that. It’s also ok for your style of discipleship to lean more towards one element, God will use that in their life; and he can use someone else to fill in another element more fully. That’s ok.

For example, I tend to spend alot of time on the check-ins and counseling people through life events. It’s just a part of the way God wired me. So, I need to be intentional on getting to the other four elements which are crucial for helping them grow.