The Discipleship Series: Recovering the Apostolic Pattern

The Challenges of Discipleship

Discipleship in our day faces serious challenges. Christians are saturated with sermons, podcasts, videos, and books, yet many churches struggle to develop mature disciples. The issue is not a shortage of information but a failure to integrate it into a coherent way of life. Instead of being shaped by the unified teaching of Christ and his apostles, believers often absorb fragments from multiple sources, creating a patchwork spirituality that lacks depth, continuity, and resilience.

Some of the key challenges include:

  • Information without integration – learning bits and pieces without seeing how they fit together in the gospel and the apostles’ teaching. For example, someone may memorize a verse on prayer from Philippians, hear a podcast on leadership from Nehemiah, and read a devotional on generosity from Proverbs, yet struggle to be holistically aligned to Jesus’s mission.

  • Passive consumption – listening but not engaging, with little expectation of obedience or action. Churches can become filled with “hearers of the Word” who take notes but rarely change their lives (James 1:22).

  • Fragmented commitment – irregular attendance and divided priorities that prevent steady growth in community. Sporadic participation makes it difficult for a believer to experience sustained accountability or growth.

  • Non-transferable teaching – content that is inspiring but cannot easily be explained or retaught to others. A podcast may stir emotion but leave no structure for discipling a neighbor, a co-worker, or even a child.

  • Lack of true learning – few opportunities to confirm that disciples can articulate, apply, and live out what they have learned. Unlike a trade where skills must be demonstrated, much church teaching assumes growth without testing it.

  • Knowledge divorced from practice – a widening gap between belief and obedience in everyday life. A person may affirm forgiveness as doctrine but remain bitter in family conflict, or confess the Great Commission but never share the gospel at work.

The Discipleship Series is designed as a balanced alternative. By combining expository teaching with interactive discussion, summaries that capture the core of each doctrine, and projects that press truth into practice, it helps disciples move from passive consumers to active participants. Just as importantly, the lessons are structured for transferability—getting men teaching men, women teaching women, and parents teaching their children sooner, so the faith spreads naturally from person to person and from generation to generation. In this way, discipleship becomes coherent, embodied, and multiplying.

The Nature of Discipleship

At its core, discipleship is both personal growth in following Jesus and helping others follow him in their own contexts. It is never private alone, nor communal alone, but always both.

As expressed before, discipleship requires attention to:

  • Core responsibilities — the contexts where life is lived out: private devotion, family life, local church, neighborhood, and society.

  • Core purposes — the aims of Christian maturity: cultivating godly character, serving others, evangelizing the lost, discipling believers, and worshiping God as the highest end.

This framework keeps discipleship both practical and purposeful. For example, a disciple who learns about generosity in the Scriptures is challenged not only to give privately but also to lead their family in generosity, to support their local church, to bless their neighbors, and to model generosity in their workplace. In this way, the teaching of Christ and his apostles saturates every dimension of life and advances God’s mission in the world.

Discipleship also must be intergenerational. Titus 2 shows older men teaching younger men and older women teaching younger women, but the vision extends further—whole households growing together. Parents are called to disciple their children (Deut. 6; Eph. 6:4), and adolescents must be drawn into the rhythms of prayer, study, and service. Churches thrive when multiple generations gather around meals, encourage one another daily (Heb. 3:13), and share life as one household of faith. The Discipleship Series provides structured content, but discipleship comes alive as families and congregations embody the way of Christ together.

The Apostolic Pattern of Teaching

In the first century, the apostles established churches in the Christian faith not only by visiting them in person but also by sending letters and books of Scripture. These writings were studied and applied in households through dialogue, reflection, and obedience. For example, Paul’s letter to the Colossians was read aloud in the assembly (Col. 4:16) and then passed to neighboring churches, where families and small gatherings would discuss its meaning and implications.

Their approach was not random or fragmented but systematic and intentional—grounding believers in the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Within months, new disciples in places like Thessalonica were already rooted in gospel hope, resisting persecution, and clarifying eschatological questions (1 Thess. 1–5).

Our series mirrors this pattern. Instead of relying on scattered topical lessons, participants are led through large expository units of Scripture. This allows them to see how the apostles themselves instructed their communities, and provides space to study, discuss, and apply that teaching together. The result is a discipleship process that is coherent, biblical, and enduring.

A Modern-Day Catechism

The Discipleship Series functions as a modern-day catechism—not in the sense of rote memorization, but as a systematic way to ground believers in the apostles’ teaching. Unlike traditional catechisms that rely solely on a strict question-and-answer format, this series balances structured exposition of Scripture with interactive discussion.

Each lesson is crafted to:

  • Anchor participants in specific passages of Scripture.

  • Draw out essential doctrines and practices.

  • Press truth into the everyday contexts of family, work, church, and society.

  • Provide summaries that can be remembered, explained, and retaught.

The aim is not merely to convey information but to produce transformation—truth that is understood, retained, lived out, and passed on. For example, a session on Romans 8 doesn’t just explain the Spirit’s work in sanctification; it asks participants to identify areas where they are living by the flesh, commit to walking differently, and prepare to teach these insights in their household or small group. By rooting discipleship in Scripture and shaping it for community dialogue, the series equips believers not only to grow in their own faith but also to guide others in following Jesus.

The Two-Part Framework

The series unfolds in two complementary sections that together provide both foundation and breadth:

  • Foundations of the Faith – Establishes new believers and strengthens seasoned ones in the essentials of Christian doctrine and practice. Lessons cover themes such as the character of God, sin and judgment, conversion, baptism, and life in the Spirit. For example, the Becoming a Christian mini-series walks through Acts 17 (God the Father), Romans 1 (sin), Acts 10 (God the Son), and Ephesians 2 (conversion).

  • Representative Books of the NT – Moves participants into extended engagement with entire New Testament books or large sections, such as Matthew 5–7 (Sermon on the Mount), Acts, James, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Peter, and 1 John. These units immerse believers in the very teaching and pastoral strategies of the apostles, grounding them in the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). For instance, studying 1 Peter as a whole trains disciples to live faithfully amid suffering, just as it did for scattered believers in the first century.

Together, these sections provide both a solid foundation in essential doctrines and a sweeping exposure to the way the apostles discipled communities through Scripture.

Characteristics of the Series

The Discipleship Series is:

  • Centered on the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit

  • Grounded in the authority of Scripture

  • Attentive to the Bible’s grand story and covenants fulfilled in Christ

  • Focused on the person, work, and will of Jesus

  • Governed by Christ’s mission to make disciples of all nations

  • Anchored in the gospel of his death and resurrection

  • Applied in churches and families as the primary communities of formation

  • Expository and theological, while deliberately interactive and practical

Evangelism, Discipleship, and Leadership Development

The series also fuels the church’s three cyclical functions:

  • Evangelism – believers become clear and confident in articulating the gospel.

  • Discipleship – communities are established in sound doctrine and practice.

  • Leadership Development – mature disciples emerge who can shepherd others.

By placing discipleship at the center, the series stabilizes evangelism and deepens leadership, ensuring that both flow out of a solid grounding in Scripture.

Curriculum Rhythm and Implementation

The Discipleship Series is designed to be flexible yet repeatable:

  • Length: Most series contain five to ten lessons.

  • Rotation: Foundations can be offered annually for newcomers, while ongoing groups continue into NT book studies.

  • Continuity: After completing both sections, churches can cycle back through the curriculum, reinforcing truth and raising up new facilitators.

  • Context: Lessons are best suited for homes, small groups, and church gatherings that prioritize interaction.

Lesson Format

Each lesson follows a simple, repeatable pattern:

  • Introductory questions to spark reflection

  • A short introduction to the topic or context of the passage

  • Exposition of primary Scripture passages, divided into waves of teaching with discussion after each section

  • A summary of a core doctrine or practice of the faith, with concluding discussion

Lessons are designed for 40–60 minutes of group study, depending on the amount of discussion. This rhythm provides both clarity (anchored in exposition) and interaction (anchored in dialogue), reflecting the apostolic balance of public teaching and house-to-house ministry.

Sample from Becoming a Christian (Foundations Mini-Series)

The Foundations of the Faith section begins with a short series on the essentials of Christian conversion and life. The first mini-series, Becoming a Christian, walks through key passages and doctrines:

  • Misc. Passages – The Path to God (part one)

  • Misc. Passages – The Path to God (part two)

  • Acts 17:16–34 – God the Father

  • Romans 1:18–32 – Sin and Judgment

  • Acts 10:34–48 – God the Son

  • Ephesians 2:1–10 – Conversion: Turning from Sin and Trusting in Jesus

  • Romans 8:1–13 – God the Holy Spirit

  • Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 2:37–41; Romans 6:1–5 – Baptism

This sequence introduces new disciples to the triune God, the reality of sin, the call to repentance and faith, and the public step of baptism—all framed by Scripture itself.

Discipleship in the Household of Faith

While The Discipleship Series is a vital tool for grounding believers in sound doctrine, it is only one piece of the larger puzzle of Christian formation. The New Testament envisions discipleship as a way of life, not merely a study program.

  • Privately, believers cultivate habits of prayer, Scripture reading, and holiness.

  • Daily, Christians encourage one another (Heb. 3:13), holding each other accountable and pointing one another to Christ.

  • Weekly, the church gathers around the Lord’s Table and shared meals, embodying the family of God.

  • Intergenerationally, parents teach their children, older men and women disciple the younger (Titus 2), and households become mini-training grounds for the faith.

The Discipleship Series works best when embedded in this broader life. It provides the doctrinal backbone, the teaching framework, and the discussion tools, but families and churches must flesh it out in everyday rhythms. When teaching, fellowship, worship, and mission converge, discipleship becomes not just something studied but something lived.

Conclusion

The Discipleship Series provides churches with a way to recover the apostolic pattern of discipleship—rooting believers in the foundations of the faith, immersing them in the NT documents, and equipping them to live and pass on the apostles’ teaching. It is, in essence, a modern-day catechism—holistic, discussion-based, and designed to form lifelong disciple-makers who embody the teaching of Christ and his apostles. At the same time, it functions as one essential component of a wider life of discipleship: households teaching the next generation, churches encouraging one another daily, and communities embodying the gospel together.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. Which of the challenges listed (information without integration, passive consumption, fragmented commitment, etc.) do you most relate to right now? Why?

  2. How might studying entire books or large units of Scripture (rather than isolated verses or topics) change the way you understand the Christian life?

  3. Think of a truth you’ve learned recently. Could you explain it clearly enough for a new believer or a child to understand? If not, what would help you grow in that ability?

  4. How do your core responsibilities (private life, family, church, neighborhood, society) provide opportunities to live out what you are learning?

  5. Why is it important that discipleship be transferable—men teaching men, women teaching women—and not just personal? How could you begin to take a step in that direction?

  6. If discipleship requires both knowledge and obedience, where do you feel strong and where do you need growth right now? What next step would help you grow in balance?