Make Disciples Who Make Disciples
Discipleship is the heartbeat behind everything we do at Camp of Champions USA. We've been making disciples for over two decades. Along the way, we've made a lot of mistakes, learned some valuable lessons, and now we want to help you carry on the mission that Jesus started. You can put this method into practice no matter if you're a high school freshman, a college senior, focusing on your career, building your family, or enjoying retirement. Here's our simple model for making disciples who make more disciples.
The Disciple-Training Method
- Gather together as a group.
- Share what God has taught you with others.
- Multiply your disciple-training efforts by starting a new discipleship group.
gather together: How we spend our time
We gather together as a discipleship group on a regular basis. An effective group typically has 3-8 people, and meets weekly for at least an hour. When we meet, we spend our time focused on four essential components.
Application Bible Study: We study God's Word together in a way that's simple, repeatable, and focused on practical application. We don't focus on Bible knowledge as much as obeying what God teaches us (more on this below).
- Build Lasting Friendships: Discipleship isn't a copy & paste process. It requires relationships based on vulnerability, honesty, and trust. Each discipleship group is different, so we enjoy the friends that God has given us.
- Committed Prayer: We pray for each member of our group during our gatherings and consistently until we meet again. We pray specifically for the Holy Spirit to guide us as we share with others.
- Focus on Multiplication: We report back to the group about who we shared with and how the conversations went. We're not finished learning until we've taught someone else.
Application Bible Study Questions
After we've read and studied a passage together, here are the four questions* we use to guide our discussion. We give everyone a chance to answer each question.
What does this teach us about God?
What does this teach us about people?
What lessons can we learn and apply today?
Who will you share this with? When?
*These questions are adapted from Steve Addison's book, What Jesus Started.
Share What God has taught you: Finding others to Disciple
Between our regular discipleship gatherings, we find people outside of our group to share with. Sharing what God has taught us with others serves two important purposes.
- We learn best when we teach others. In order to teach someone else a truth from the Bible, we have to know it really well ourselves. Sharing with others also keeps us accountable in living out what we learn. The more people we share with, the more people will be watching!
- From our conversations, we identify people who might be willing to join a discipleship group. A short conversation with a friend might develop into a series of thoughtful discussions. A coworker might want to keep your break room conversation going over lunch. Those who respond positively to your conversations are people you should invite to join a new discipleship group.
Multiply Your efforts: Form new Discipleship groups
When we've gathered together long enough to understand the disciple-training process, we form new discipleship groups (this might be anywhere from 4-12 months, depending on the group). We invite our friends, coworkers, and acquaintances who responded positively to our Sharing conversations to join us. Then, the whole process repeats itself. Gather together, Share with others, Multiply your efforts. With a humble spirit dedicated to following Jesus Christ, we truly can fulfill his commandment to make disciples of all nations.
Now go make disciples who make disciples.
We want to hear your stories. Tell us how you've seen God at work through your disciple-training efforts!
Do you need some help or advice with the Disciple-Training Method? Let us know, because we're happy to help!
If you're telling others about the Disciple-Training Method, we'd love to send you a set of 5 easily sharable training cards.