Discipleship Foundations

To believe in Jesus is to be his disciple. We can’t separate our faith from the call to follow him. Every Christian is a disciple of Jesus that is apprenticing to Jesus’s way of life. The journey of apprenticeship to Jesus looks like an ever increasing capacity to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, do what Jesus did, together.
Discipleship is the process by which a person leads or mutually supports another in their lifelong journey of apprenticeship to Jesus, motivated by the driving outcome to be formed into the image of Jesus (an integrated person of love).

Discipleship is more than a recurring meeting, but nonetheless, it requires a consistent, repetitive, scheduled meeting. The aim of these meetings is to help the individual be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. 

Be with Jesus - Help them hear God in the meeting…Discern what God has been speaking to them…Embody God’s love for them…Show them His compassion, comfort, encouragement…Help them experience his presence…Engage in prayer ministry or a listening prayer practice…

Become like Jesus - Help them discover a root of a needed behavior or belief change…Lead them in deliverance or renouncing practices…Read the Bible using Lectio Divina and Discovery Bible Study…

Do what Jesus did - Teach them to obey the teachings of Jesus…Model spiritual disciplines…Help them build a rule of life and a VIM plan…Encourage and equip them to make disciples…

The discipleship process requires the right environment, the right ingredients, and intentional care. Relational warmth creates the “oven” where trust and transformation can rise, while the recipe—soul care, encountering Jesus, and kingdom accountability—provides the ingredients that shape a life formed in the likeness of Jesus.

Relational warmth is you showing up like the person of Jesus. It’s your presence, countenance, how you’re presenting yourself to build trust and value for one another. Examples: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness. 

Soul Care (Listening, Empathy, & Question Asking)- These help us get to the heart of the matter. What belief or worldview is God uncovering? Listening, empathy, and question asking allows us to listen to God and love others through them feeling known.

Encountering Jesus (Prayer) - This is where we model our dependence on God and need for His grace. Prayer sets our attention on God in the meeting. 
Tools: Discovery Bible Study, Inner Healing, Deliverance, Tending Your Heart, Prophetic Ministry, Thanksgiving.

Kingdom Accountability - We want to teach others how to follow Jesus by modeling and teaching different practices to empower others in their own discipleship to Jesus. This can be facilitated by asking the question, “How are you being with Jesus, becoming more like Jesus, and doing what Jesus did?” 
Tools: Encounter Practices, Core Values, VIM Plan, Rule Of Life, Oikos Map, Confession.

A helpful way to think about our spiritual formation is to think about it as two different legs of a journey. The first part (first journey) begins as we are reborn as Christians. It’s a time filled with exploration and gaining understanding. We learn the Truth during this journey and begin to walk in it. We get to know the person of Jesus and start to discover our giftings and callings.
The second journey begins after a season marked by a spiritual wall or a dark night of the soul. As we begin to heal and restore our faith, we begin our second journey. This journey is typically marked by more humility, a greater reliance on the Holy Spirit, freedom from selfish desires, and deeper trust in God. It is usually marked by a greater capacity to suffer and endure, and to find God in sorrow.
While there are some things we need in both journeys, there are other things that are specific to each journey to fit our discipleship to Jesus.

We need someone to lead us and teach us. We need someone who is further in their walk with Jesus to show us the way. We need someone to challenge us and call out the giftings in our lives. A meeting will have a leader and those following that leader.

Sample 1st Journey Meeting (1-3 members plus a leader)

1. Connect - How has your week been? What feels significant to talk about? (5 minutes)
2. Awareness of God - How have you experienced God since we last met? (10 minutes) 
3. Empathy and Affirmation of God- It seems to me this is what God is doing? Where do you need God? (10 minutes) 
4. Practices - Use Waha App or DBS or Hearing God tools (15 minutes) 
5. Live It - What is God inviting you to do? (5 minutes) 
6. Accountability - How did ____(what they were going to do)___ go for you? (10 minutes) 
7. Pray over them (5 minutes) 

We need peers and soul companions. We need people with whom we feel we are following Jesus. We still need accountability, encouragement, and correction, but now it's mutual with all parties. A meeting will have a facilitator but with equal participation.

Sample 2nd Journey Meeting (a group with 3 people: Person A, B, and C)

1. Connect and Pray - How has your week been? Pray over your time (5 minutes)
2. Person A - Shares whatever feels significant or what God is speaking (10 minutes)
3. Persons B & C - Ask questions, respond empathically (5 minutes)
4. Wait on the Lord for person A - God what are you saying to “Person A” (5 minutes)
5. Repeat process for person B (20 minutes)
6. Repeat process for person C (20 minutes)
7. Each person is given time for confession, accountability, repentance plan, new VIM or practice discussion (20 minutes)
8. Closing prayer (5 minutes)

Ideally, discipleship groups should meet consistently on a weekly or bi-weekly basis for at least a year. It’s in the consistency—meeting week after week, walking through highs and lows together—that we learn to follow Jesus in the rhythms of real life. Growth that lasts is rarely instant; it’s formed over time through faithful presence and shared obedience.