A Discipleship Tool

For a number of years I’ve known of Greg Ogden’s book, Discipleship Essentials, but until last year, I had never used it.  It consists of 25 chapters on the basics of living the Christian faith.  Each chapter is a mix of Scripture and readings on the given topic with study questions included.  Scripture memory is also a part of each week’s lesson.

The content is solid but the real impact of the book comes by following Greg’s pattern for its use.  He suggests the book be used in a group of three, and then following the example of Jesus who invested his life in a few others, when the group of three finishes the study, they are each charged to find two others to begin their own group of three.  So, by the second year nine are involved in the study, the next year, twenty-seven, and so on.

A year ago, I started the study with two other men—one person who was mature believer, and another who was relatively new to the faith.  We met once a week for 90 minutes unless one of us was out of town.  I was amazed at how rich our fellowship was week-after-week!  By the end of the year we had become close friends united in a growing faith.  But more importantly, both men by year’s end were eager to start their own group of three.  So, this year we have three groups of three using Ogden’s study, and two other groups of three women each preparing to launch.  We’re discovering these studies are a wonderful complement to our existing small group ministry.

If you are longing for a tool to help your people develop a heart to come alongside each other with a common aim of growing in faithfulness to Jesus Christ, take a look at Discipleship Essentials. 

With Joy - Steve Ebling