FOUNDATION

This phase will go through the foundational elements of what it looks like to be in a personal relationship with Jesus. No matter how long you've been a believer, these concepts are crucial for our relationship with God and for helping others grow as well.

Are you struggling with wondering if you have really been saved? Do you know what it means to have "new life with Christ?"

Desired Outcomes

• To have confidence in our New Life in Christ, knowing that God accepts and forgives us. 

• To know that we are secure in our relationship with God because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Resources

• Stepping From Uncertainty to Confidence

• Stepping From Uncertainty to Confidence: Leader’s Guide

Guiding Questions

• Before we read through the articles, ask:

  • “If I were to die today, how confident am I that I would go to Heaven on a scale from 0-100?” If the answer is anything less than 100, this lesson will help to gain confidence in the finished work of Christ making us 100% saved.

  • What did Christ accomplish?

  • How can we be 100% sure that we are saved?

• At the very end of our time together, ask:

  • “If I were to die today, how confident am I that I would go to Heaven on a scale from 0-100?” If the answer is still not 100, keep seeking understanding with someone you trust.

Practical Steps

• Commit what we learned today to memory. 

  • During the next meeting, explain in your own words why we can be 100% sure of salvation.

• This week, commit to praying for 5-10 minutes each day (or some other goal that makes sense for you). Sometimes we learn things and move away from them too quickly. Encourage each other to praise God for 100% salvation. Pray for God to give us a deeper understanding of this truth. Check-in how praying went at the next meeting.

Additional Resources

• Worksheet: Assurance of Salvation

• Cru Article: “Your New Life in Christ” 

We experience God’s continual love and forgiveness through the process of confession. His Spirit also empowers us to change and turn from our sin.

Desired Outcomes

• To grow in an understanding of what confession and forgiveness are, and to know how to actually put these into practice in their daily lives (1) between ourselves and God, and (2) between ourselves and others.

Resources

• Stepping From Feelings of Unworthiness to Forgiveness

• Stepping From Feelings of Unworthiness to Forgiveness: Leader’s Guide

Guiding Questions

• What’s the difference between being in a relationship with God and having fellowship with God?

• What disrupts our fellowship with God? And how can we restore fellowship with God?

• How can we know (be assured) that we are truly forgiven by God?

• How can we incorporate confession into our daily rhythm in our walk with God?

• Why is the Holy Spirit essential to our daily act of confession and repentance?

Practical Steps

•  Read 1 John 1:5-9. 

  • Write all the sins you have committed recently that you can think of onto a slip of paper. No one else is to read your slip of paper; it is between you and God (so be brutally honest). 

  • Once you are done, consider how it feels to look at all of your sins. 

  • Now, switch pen colors and write over it in big letters, “IF I CONFESS MY SINS HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST AND WILL FORGIVE ME” (v9). 

  • Now, consider how it feels to look at Jesus’ forgiveness of all the sins you could think of. 

  • Finally, tear up the piece of paper and throw it away. Spend a few minutes reflecting on how the exercise made them feel.

• Practice the “Agree, Thank, Repent” prayer from the Relationship vs. Fellowship article every day this week (5-10 minute commitment per day).

• Brainstorm some people in your life you need to forgive (This could be for something big or something small), and pray together for God would give us the courage to forgive just as we have been forgiven.

Additional Resources

• Worksheet: Relationship vs. Fellowship

• Cru Article: “Your New Life in God’s Love”

We live the Christian life in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we walk with God, His Spirit transforms us more and more into the image of Christ. We want to live lives dependent on the Spirit, and not on our own strength. 

Desired Outcomes:

To understand the difference between what it means to be indwelt vs filled with the Spirit, and how and when each occurs in a Christian’s life. 

That we would seek to be filled with the Spirit, and walk continually in His power .
Did you catch that?! As fully God, the Spirit is a He, not an "it." 😉

Guiding Questions:

• • Which words would you use to describe your current experience as a Christian? 

    • Do you desire for more? How so?

  • What is your understanding of the Holy Spirit and His role in the life of a believer?

  • How would you describe the difference between being indwelt and filled with the Spirit?

    • (See Ephesians 1:13-14, and Ephesians 5:18)

Go through the following resource together.

Resource:

• • Stepping From Being Unable to Empowered

  • Stepping From Being Unable to Empowered: Leader’s Guide

If you have time, go over some of these practical steps. If not, go over them on your own this week to chat about when you meet next.

Practical Steps: 

• • Practice Spiritual Breathing  a couple times this week and keep track of those times. Share with your discipler the next time you meet.

  • After reading this lesson, take time to consider if there is there something you need to bring before God and ask for His power to help you change.

Additional Resources:

• • “Satisfied?"

    • Option 1: (Best Option): Download the GodTools app if you haven’t already, and walk through the “Satisfied” tool together.

    • Option 2: (Quick Option): Click here to go through the Satisfied? tool using a digital pdf.

  • Life in the Spirit

  • Chocolate Milk Analogy (video)

  • How to confess and "breathe spiritually"

There are two basic reasons why people aren’t mature. One is time and the other is health. The world is full of immature people. Some are children who are healthy but have not had the time to grow. They, of course, are normal. Others have had adequate time but have failed to mature either physically, emotionally or socially. They are a source of concern. Their immaturity isn’t normal and can indicate either a health problem or an unhealthy growth environment. Spiritual growth has many similarities to growth in the other dimensions of life.

Desired Outcomes

• To understand that we need a healthy environment for spiritual growth to ensure that we mature in our relationship with God.

Resources

• • Stepping from Being Undeveloped to Maturity

  • Stepping from Being Undeveloped to Maturity: Leader’s Guide

Guiding Questions

• WHY do you think many believers fail to grow spiritually at a normal, healthy rate?

• WHAT might be some evidence of spiritual immaturity?

• HOW would you feel if, after many years, you looked back and realized you had failed to grow in the most important area of life, your relationship with God?

Practical Steps

• Develop an action plan for each of the relational characteristics of the growth environment.

  • UPWARD – Word and Prayer

    • Example: Take about 10 minutes each morning to continue reading the Gospel of John and talk to God about your day.

  • INWARD – Fellowship

    • Example: Go to church or to a Christian gathering.

  • OUTWARD – Witness

    • Example: Identify one or two people you care about and begin praying for them. Look for appropriate opportunities to tell them about the difference Christ is making in your life.

As a follower of Christ, the Bible is our foundation for understanding God and His purpose for us. We trust that the Scriptures are without error and have the authority to speak into and transform our lives. 

Desired Outcomes

• To grow in our confidence that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God, and that it has ultimate authority to speak into our lives.

Guiding Questions

• Why we can trust the Bible to be the Word of God?

• What does it mean that the Bible is inspired? 

• As believers, why are we called to submit our lives to what the Scriptures say?

Go through the following resource together.

Resources

• Why should I trust the Bible?

  • A brief article that talks through the reasons why we can trust the Bible, and its authority as the guidebook for our lives.

If you have time, go over some of these practical steps. If not, go over them on your own this week to chat about when you meet next.

Practical Steps

•  Ask a friend who is not a believer if they have ever read the Bible, and what their thoughts on it are. Discuss together what you learn. 

• Brainstorm together what are some areas of our lives that the Scripture should speak into? (i.e. how we handle conflict, dating and marriage, how we spend our $). Think through some practical examples of how God’s wisdom informs how we live in these areas. 

Additional Resources

• Video: Talk on why you can believe the Bible (57 min- worth it!) As homework, individually watch this talk and discuss why we can have confidence that the Bible is the Word of God and trust its authority in our lives.