First Meeting and Group Covenant

Starting with hello.

At its core, discipleship is done through friendship. So, a natural place to begin any disciple making effort is to establish meaningful friendships. Use your first gathering to get to know one another more.

Let me introduce myself.

Here are a few questions to jump right in. Even if you are already familiar with each other, take a little time here.  

What’s your faith story? Share some defining moments or relationships that have shaped your faith.

What are you hoping to gain from this discipleship relationship?

We are all busy.

Time restraints can be a huge hindrance to effective discipleship. Remember though, discipleship doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because you pursue it and arrange your life around people and practices that will help you grow as a Jesus follower. Anticipate what things might threaten to derail your time.

What time conflicts can you anticipate might get in the way of this journey?

Come up with a plan for how you will make up meetings if time conflicts were to come up.

It’s ok to not have it all together.

It is so hard to overcome the fear of needing to look like we have it all together. But being open, honest, and bravely vulnerable with each other—about triumphs and failures—is essential to this discipleship relationship.

What does being bravely vulnerable mean to you?

Fill out the group covenant together.

I am here to learn how to follow Jesus as his disciple. I am here to learn how to help others follow Jesus too. I want to recognize and replicate the way of Jesus in myself and others.

I commit to walking with Jesus and my group through the Disciple Path. I will be faithful to attend our group meetings and to do the lessons.

I will respect each person’s privacy and never share something about their life that they would not want me to say outside of the group.

I will always be honest, kind, and bravely vulnerable with my group.

weekly meeting day & time:

signed:

The rest of your meetings will follow this basic outline:

Begin with prayer.

Each time you meet, begin with a short, simple prayer asking God to open your eyes to his perspective on all things.

Use these questions to shape your conversations each week.

What opportunities has God given you to love other people through serving, speaking truth in love, or pointing them towards Christ since we last met? How did you respond?

Talk about what God has been stirring in you. Each week, share about one of your quiet times in God’s Word. What has God been teaching you in his Word and how will you respond?

(Each week we will also have a few specific questions about that week’s section.)

End with prayer.

Pray over each other’s discipling efforts and for people in your lives who don’t yet know Jesus. Pray for boldness and a willingness to take steps of obedience.