What is Discipleship Bible Study?

Jesus called disciples to himself. A disciple is one who follows and learns from a great teacher, just as an apprentice learns from a master craftsperson. Beyond simply gaining knowledge or skill, a disciple seeks to imitate the teacher and become like them.

The life of discipleship – the life of following and living as Christ teaches us – is the way of life in God's kingdom. Disciples obey and put into practice what Jesus taught and demonstrated for us. In this way our lives are changed, and we become more like Jesus – in other words, we become the people that God created us to be.

In order to be disciples, we must learn what Jesus taught us. Discipleship Bible Study gives us the opportunity to do this together. Our goal is to follow Jesus and learn from Him so that we can become like Him.

Our Life in Christ: The Deeper Journey of a Disciple

The life of a Christ-follower is a journey - in a number of ways. It is a journey through time, as we follow and serve Jesus over the course of our lifetime. It is a journey of transformation, as we grow and are changed into Christ's likeness. And it is a journey inward, into the deeper places of our hearts - for it is in these deeper places that God desires to meet us.

The author David Benner has said, "There is no deep knowing of God without a deep knowing of self, and no deep knowing of self without a deep knowing of God."

For many people, even after they have become followers of Jesus, there is some confusion about what this life in Christ should look like. We might be taught many things from scripture that we should believe, or things that we should do to serve Christ. But there might continue to be a restlessness that we can't quite put our finger on, a sense that something might be missing.

I believe that this elusive missing piece is actually our deeper relationship with God, which involves a deeper knowing of our own selves. Let's begin with this question:

Who are you? Answer with several words or phrases.

We often answer questions like this in terms of our job or relationships. But this usually does not get at the deeper question of who we are - who we are deep down in the heart and soul of our being. This is the place where God wants to meet us, so it's important for us to begin to explore that place.

In this six-week study, we will spend time finding out what the Bible has to say about who we were created to be, what gets in the way of the life God has for us, and how Jesus answers our deepest needs.