Spiritual Disciplines Elevate Edition CCF
Spiritual Disciplines Elevate Edition CCF
Spiritual Disciplines Elevate Edition CCF
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living
Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All
rights reserved.
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction page 4
How to Use This Workbook page 5
Session 1: One Connection: Prayer page 7
Session 2: One Basis: The Bible page 13
Session 3: One Family: The Church page 21
Session 4: One Step: Baptism page 28
Session 5: One Focus: Worship page 35
Session 6: One Task: Witnessing page 41
What’s Next page 47
Suggested Answers page 48
Appendix A:
Evaluation Tool for Small Group Facilitation page 52
Appendix B:
Preparing for a Small Group Meeting page 54
Appendix C:
The Role of the Small Group Leader as Facilitator page 56
Appendix D:
Rules for Facilitating a Productive Discussion page 59
Appendix E:
Responding Appropriately page 64
Appendix F:
How to Handle Challenging Dgroup Members page 66
You will learn about spiritual habits that, when practiced diligently through
God’s enablement, will help you know Jesus more. You will also discover
opportunities to obey His will for your life. A life lived for God is the greatest
adventure of all! So welcome to the next step of your journey with our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
4
How to Use This Workbook
This workbook is the Elevate Edition of the GLC Essentials Book 2:
Spiritual Disciplines study. It can be used as a stand-alone Bible study
guide for one-on-one settings or for small groups—whether with students
in your campus or friends outside the university.
If you are a small group servant/facilitator, all you have to do is make sure
that you do a personal Bible study using this workbook ahead of your
small group meeting for preparation. Encourage your group members to
have their own workbooks. Do not divert from the teaching topic—stick
to what is in the workbook.
The workbook includes the Bible lesson, and individual and small group
learning activities to help you get the most out of each session. There
are five parts in every session: Explore, Examine, Express, Experience,
and Equip.
Explore
This contains individual and small group activities that will help
prepare you for the Bible study.
Examine
this is where you go through the Bible lesson.
Express
This is where the members of the group get a chance to express
more of their insights, questions, and thoughts about the Bible
lesson.
Equip
This is the “on-the-job” training for the one going through this
booklet to become a discipler (someone who is a Christ-committed
follower and helps others become Christ-committed followers also).
So, come and discover the One who will change your life!
6
S E SS I O N 1
ONE CONNECTION
Prayer
Meeting someone who holds a high position, like the country’s President
for instance, can be a great privilege. However, the fact of the matter is that
only a few ever really get the opportunity to converse with someone who
holds great power and influence.
This book’s first section will help us learn more about prayer.
Afterwards, take turns in praying for each other from the heart.
LEARNING NUGGET
Prayer is an integral part of the Christian life and an important component
of small group discipleship. A simple guideline that we have when praying
with others is to be careful when we share concerns of other people as
prayer items.
Examine
Let’s see how Jesus taught His disciples to pray.
Read Matthew 6:5–8
1. How are we not to pray? What attitude must we have instead?
8
Read Matthew 6:11–13
3. Based on the second half of the prayer, what are we to ask God for?
What character of God can you hold on to when you ask for these?
John 15:7
1 John 5:14–15
Philippians 4:6–7
For additional study, see John 14:13, Luke 11:9—10, James 5:16.
10
Express
When you pray, what do you spend most of your time talking about? How
does your normal prayer content compare to the pattern Jesus gave us?
Experience
Take some time to plan your prayer time. Begin a “Prayer Notebook”.
Write down your specific requests, then note how and when God answers
that prayer. The Prayer Notebook can be organized as follows:
DATE
DATE REQUEST ANSWER
ANSWERED
12
S E SS I O N 2
ONE BASIS
The Bible
LEARNING NUGGET
We need a trusting heart to be able to follow instructions faithfully. We
need to have faith that whoever is giving the instructions is trustworthy
and knows what he or she wants us to accomplish in the end. If we do not
trust the Instructor, we will probably not follow the instructions faithfully
either.
The Bible is our highest and final authority in all things; it is to be obeyed
above all human traditions and rules. As followers of Jesus, obedience to
His Words causes us to grow in Christ-likeness.
14
Examine
IS THE BIBLE REALLY GOD’S WORD?
For Christians, the Bible is our primary source for knowing God and His
ways. It is a living book through which God Himself speaks to us for
instruction, inspiration and direction.
However, how certain are we that it is really God’s Word? Can it be relied
upon? Consider the following facts:
The Bible is unique in human literature. It was written by over 40 authors, in
three languages, on three continents, for over a period of 1500 years, yet it is
without contradiction or error. Imagine reading three newspapers today that
describe the same event yesterday—they almost certainly would not agree,
even on important details. So the unity of the Bible is amazing!
The Bible chronicles around 2000 prophecies that have already come to
pass, many of them in ways that are beyond human control. For instance,
Psalm 22 predicts the manner of Jesus’ death on a cross with precision.
Yet it was written by King David hundreds of years before the Romans
invented the use of a cross for capital punishment!
The ancient manuscripts attest to the Bible’s accuracy. The more
numerous the copies and the closer they are to the original writing,
the greater certainty we have of the accuracy of a material. There are
thousands of ancient manuscripts and fragments of the Bible, some from
within a hundred years of its writing. By contrast, the earliest manuscripts
of ancient classics like Aristotle or Caesar date from more than a thousand
years after their writing, and are attested to by less than fifty manuscripts.
No ancient document comes close to the Bible in manuscript evidence.
The Bible has survived repeated attempts to stamp it out of existence. In
AD 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian decreed that all Bibles should be
burned. Less than a generation later, however, Christianity was accepted
as the true religion of Rome! Voltaire was quoted as having predicted that
the Bible would be relegated to the junk heap of history within 100 years
of his death. Ironically, Bibles were being printed on a printing press in
Voltaire’ own home fifty years later. More than two hundred years after
Jesus’ death, the demand for the Bible shows no evidence of lessening.
All these facts show us that, yes, the Bible is the unique, reliable, accurate
Word of God.
3. What are the uses of the Bible? Ultimately, what is the purpose of the
Bible’s usefulness?
16
HOW DO I LEARN FROM GOD’S WORD?
4. Why do you think were the kings instructed to write the whole
Law (the Bible) down by hand? Why is regular reading of the
Bible important to our lives?
a. Turn to the table on the next page. It has three sections namely
“God’s Word”, “My Word”, and “I will…”.
18
Make sure that your action plans will follow the S.M.A.R.T. Goals
principles (simple, measurable, appropriate, realistic, time-
bound) Goals Principles.
2. Begin an annual reading program with the goal of reading the entire
Bible in the next 12 months. Check out available Bible reading plans
online, such as www. biblegateway.com/reading-plans/
Your Dgroup leader will coach you how to enhance your facilitation
skills by teaching you how to prepare for your every meeting. See
Appendix B.
20
S E SS I O N 3
ONE FAMILY
The Church
Yet the church, as the Bible describes it, is very different from that
which many of us are familiar with. How is the church described in the
Bible, and how should we, as believers in Christ, relate to the church?
Part 1:
The person assigned to do the task will turn the page from the front
cover page to the end while using only one hand. The timer will take
note of how fast the task is accomplished.
Part 2:
After doing the first part, turn the pages of this workbook from the front
cover page to the back cover page using both hands. The timer will
take note of how fast the task is accomplished.
Part 3:
Determine the time difference between the two activities.
LEARNING NUGGET
The Church is called the Body of Christ in the Bible. In the same way, the
human body is made up of many parts with different functions. As our
EXPLORE activity demonstrated, we function better when parts of our
body work together in harmony to accomplish the same purpose.
22
Examine
THE EARLY CHURCH
The Early Churches
Read Acts 2:40-47
1. What were the early Christians doing together? Enumerate the
evidences showing that God was at work in the early church.
What’s the picture that comes to mind when you think of the church?
Maybe the words “building” and “religious meeting” are some of the
first thoughts that cross you mind.
However, the kind of church this passage describes is probably very
different from most churches we have known. The Early Church
can easily be characterized as God-glorifying, Christ-centered, and
Spirit-empowered. This is how the Body of Christ is intended to be.
Wouldn’t it be exciting to be part of something dynamic? Let’s continue
to look in the Bible to see what the church is supposed to be.
24
Church leaders
Read Titus 1:5–9
5. What are the qualifications set for church leaders? Why are the
standards so high?
2. If you are not yet part of a local church fellowship, what is hindering
you from joining? Would you prayerfully consider being part of one?
26
Experience
1. Take the Spiritual Gift test to have an idea of how God designed you.
What spiritual gifts has God given you so you can be a blessing to
the Church? How will you utilize these gift? You may take it at http://
www.spiritualgiftstest.com/
Equip
On-the-Job Training (30 minutes)
Your Dgroup leader will coach you about your role as a facilitator. See
Appendix C.
ONE STEP
Baptism
28
Explore
THROWBACK
Recall one particular act, practice or discipline that your parent or teacher
instructed you to do which you found difficult to obey when you were
young (e.g. finishing your dinner or sleeping early).
When it comes to following Christ, what does it mean to “count the cost”?
LEARNING NUGGET
Our human authorities are not perfect. Yet when we look back at most
of what they wanted us to do when we were younger, they were only
after our own good. God is our perfect Heavenly Father and we can trust
that whatever He commands us to do is for our best. We also need to
understand that delayed obedience is actually disobedience.
Examine
Following Christ
First we must look at what it really means to follow Jesus. What does obedience
look like according to the Bible? What does it mean to truly follow Christ?
Read John 14:15
1. What is a clear indication that a person really loves Jesus? Why is
that an indication of being a real follower of Christ?
3. What are some of the things that we must count as less important
than following Christ?
Not everyone who follows Christ literally gives up his or her family
and possessions. However, Jesus’ point is that we must be willing
to give up everything to truly be His follower. We must be willing to
obey everything that He commands us to do.
30
EARLY BELIEVERS’ STEP OF OBEDIENCE
5. The following passages describe people responding to the gospel
in the early days of Christianity. Look up each passage and describe
in your own words what happened to the early Christians as soon as
they believed in Jesus:
Acts 2:41
Acts 8:12
Acts 8:35–37
Notice the sequence in these passages. First they believed, and after
believing, they were baptized. Baptism is not the way for people to
become saved. It is an outward expression of the faith they have in
Christ.
32
Express
1. What are some areas in your life that you need to ‘count the cost’
in following Jesus?
2. Before going through this study, how was your idea of baptism
different from or similar to what the Bible teaches about it?
Experience
1. Are you willing to be baptized as an outward step of declaring
that you are following Jesus? If so, how and when will you take
that step of obedience?
2. To whom can you share this decision with so they will understand
your commitment to follow Jesus?
34
S E SS I O N 5
ONE FOCUS
Worship
Worship is more than the songs we sing or the acts of service that we
do in church. In this session, we will look into how the Bible defines
worship and how God wants us to worship Him.
Continue this interchange until you run out of things to say or until five
minutes is up.
LEARNING NUGGET
Praising God is one way of worshipping Him. Worship is an overflow of
our intimacy with God. We can never really run out of things that we can
thank and praise Him for.
Examine
What is Biblical Worship?
Worship is our proper response to God for who He is, what He has done,
and what He continues to do.
Read John 4:20–24
1. According to Jesus, what characterizes true worship that the
Father seeks?
For the rest of this lesson, we will discover what these two
characteristics are about, and how they apply to our worship today.
36
I. Worshipping in Spirit
In the Bible, ‘spirit’ often means the innermost part of our lives.
Worshipping in spirit relates to the way that we regard the Lord in the
inner recesses of our lives.
Read Mark 12:29–30
2. What does it mean to love the Lord with all your heart, soul,
mind, and strength?
38
II. Worshipping in Truth
Not only are we to worship God in spirit, but we are also to worship
Him in truth. This means that our minds are very much a part of the
worship that God wants from His people. It is not enough to just be
devoted. We must worship God as He truly is.
Read John 17:17 and John 16:13–15
6. Where can God’s revelation about Him be found? What does it
do to a believer?
2. Is there someone or something else other than Jesus Christ that you
worship? If there are idols in your life, what changes will you have to
make so that you can become a true worshiper of God alone?
Equip
On-the-Job Training (45 minutes)
Your Dgroup leader will coach you how to respond appropriately to
your members. See Appendix D.
40
S E SS I O N 6
ONE TASK
Witnessing
How did you come to know Jesus? For most of us, it was because
another follower of Christ loved us enough to want us to know Him
too.
Now, it is your turn! Just like how God used someone else in your life
to bring you to Jesus, He wants to use you to do the same. He has put
you exactly where He wants you to be so you can bring your family,
relatives, friends, classmates, orgmates, and neighbors to Him. Jesus
wants you to connect others to Him!
Think of two
Specify how you
blessings you have Identify a person
Identify plan to forward
received from a you would like
the name the blessing
fellow believer to give the same
of the giver that you have
that has brought blessing to
received
you closer to God
1.
2.
LEARNING NUGGET
We receive so many blessings each day that we tend to take them for
granted. The greatest blessing that any person can receive is the gift of
eternal life in Christ. A Christ-committed follower has the greatest privilege
of blessing others with the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we share Christ
with someone else, we give them the opportunity to also receive the
greatest blessing of eternal life that is found only in Jesus.
42
Examine
I. God’s Heart
Read 2 Peter 3:9
1. What is God’s desire for those who don’t know Him? What
character of God is shown in the passage?
44
II. Through your story
Read John 4:39
6. What did the Samaritan woman do right after she met Jesus? What
was the result?
Equip
On-the-Job Training (30–45 minutes)
Your Dgroup leader will coach how handle challenging people in your
group. See Appendix E.
46
What’s Next?
Great job in completing your Book 2: Spiritual Disciplines lessons! We
trust that your relationship with Jesus has been growing as you have
applied what you learned from Book 2.
To guide and equip you for your journey with Jesus, continue on with
BOOK 3: GALATIANS where you will learn how to discern between
authentic (real) faith that saves, and counterfeit faith that does not
save. Keep on following Jesus as you move on to your Book 3:
Galatians lessons!
6. Personal answer
48
SESSION 2: ONE BASIS
1. God’s word is described as a lamp for one’s feet and a light for
one’s path. God’s Word gives us guidance and direction for our
lives.
2. Paul declares that all of the Scripture came from God. Therefore, it
must be obeyed. Doing so glorifies Him and helps us follow His will
for us.
3. It teaches us, tells us what we are doing wrong, and trains us to
honor God in the way we live our lives. These are all important to
help us be more like Christ and ready to serve the Lord.
4. The instruction was for the kings to write down a copy of the Law.
Writing it down by hand would help them learn and remember what
it says more accurately. Regularly reading the Bible will help us fear
the Lord, stay humble, follow the path that God wants us to follow,
and be blessed by the Lord when we obey.
5. Ezra had set his heart to study the Law, to obey it, and to teach it to
others. He was blessed by God for His commitment.
1. The early Christians did the following: learned from the apostles’
teaching; had fellowship that celebrated Jesus act on the cross;
prayed together; sold their things to help others in need and;
worshipped together. As a result, they experienced a sense of awe
because of the signs and wonders God was doing, attained a good
reputation with the community, and many more people came to
know Christ.
2. Paul taught the believers both in public and from house to house.
Teaching in public enabled him to be heard by many. Meanwhile,
teaching in a smaller group enabled him to show personal
involvement and care.
3. Because Christ is the head, He is in control. The parts of the Body
should do what He directs them to do.
4. The gifts that God gave to the church were the apostles, prophets,
teachers, evangelists, pastors and teachers. They were given so
1. A person who loves Jesus will obey Him. If people don’t actually do
what He says, it seems they really aren’t His followers at all.
2. We must count the cost of following Him to see if we really are
going to follow through on our commitment. Counting the cost
means recognizing and agreeing to the given terms of following
Christ.
3. Things that must be less important than following Christ include
our possessions, loved ones, and even our own lives.
4. Jesus was baptized in public to model obedience to others. God
declared that He was well-pleased with His Son.
5. Those who believed were baptized.
6. They were commanded to baptize and to teach believers to obey
everything that He commanded them.
7. We were baptized into His death and resurrection. It represents
being with Him when He died, when He was buried and then when
He was raised again from the dead. It means our old life is dead
and gone, and we now live a brand new life.
1. God is looking for believers who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
2. The greatest commandment is to love the Lord completely with
everything that we are. This tells us that worshipping God is not
only important but it should be a central part of our lives.
50
3. Our bodies are now the temple of the Holy Spirit – He lives in us.
This means we can worship God anywhere, because He is always
with us and in us. The Holy Spirit in us confirms God’s covenant
relationship with us. He convicts us of our sins so that we won’t
worship God with impure hearts. He also gives us spiritual gifts so
we can help build up the Church.
4. We encourage each other to love one another and to do good to
others when we gather together.
5. God hates idol worship. He will not tolerate your affection for any
other gods.
6. We are led to the truth by being taught about the Word of God and
through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Evaluation Tool
for Small Group
Facilitation
Use the following points to evaluate the facilitator. Be sure to turn in this
evaluation sheet to him/her at the end of the workshop. Encircle the
number found in the right column which corresponds to your evaluation
of the specific tasks of a small group facilitator on the left column. Use
the scale below as your guide:
5 4 3 2 1
Strongly Agree Agree Slightly Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree
Facilitator: Date:
52
The facilitator summarized the ideas shared 5 4 3 2 1
by the group
The facilitator asked for personal 5 4 3 2 1
application from the group members
The facilitator managed the time well—the 5 4 3 2 1
meeting started and ended within the time
limit
The facilitator incorporated prayer in the 5 4 3 2 1
meeting
Other comments:
Preparing for a
Small Group Meeting
Hebrews 10:25
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but
encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is
drawing near. (NLT)
54
4. Know your Lord.
(Your personal spiritual preparation is vital to being a faithful and
effective leader. Your growing personal walk with God is very
important in leading your members towards spiritual growth
and maturity. You must first develop your intimacy with God by
communing with Him. Cover and saturate each meeting with prayer.)
CHECKPOINTS
Material Have you read through and practiced One by One
Session 1 with your Dgroup leader?
People What are the backgrounds of the people in your group?
What are their needs?
Where are they spiritually?
Venue What are the environmental factors that might cause
distractions in your discussion? How will you eliminate or
lessen them?
Lord What is the time that you have set to lift up to the Lord
your dgroup meetings?
A. You are simply another member of the group who helps the
discussion come alive.
(You should not “lord over” (1 Peter 5:3) your Dgroup members;
rather, you should show love, acceptance, humility, and servant-
leadership towards them.)
56
C. You should aim to bring everyone into the discussion.
(No single person should dominate the discussion. Be aware
of who is participating and who is not. Create opportunities for
everyone to be involved in the discussion.)
58
APPENDIX D
60
that someone is already monopolizing the discussion, you can say
something like, “Let us hear what the others will say.”)
C. Be an active listener.
James 1:19
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick
to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. (NLT)
(In this verse, we are encouraged to be quick to listen – that is, to be
an active listener. Here are some tips for active listening.1
1. Take note of what you hear verbally
(Hear the simple facts in a discussion. As you listen, focus on
what your Dgroup member has shared or talked about such
as events, dates, and other specific information that is being
revealed to the group.)
2. Look out for non-verbal cues
(In active listening, watch out for the consistency of what
they said and their accompanying actions. Do the nonverbal
messages match the verbal messages?
Listen for this in three areas:
• Facial expressions
When your Dgroup member says “I’m okay,” does his/her
facial expression actually communicate “I’m a little sad”?
• Tone of voice
Listen for tones of sarcasm, anger, sadness, enthusiasm,
hesitancy, fear, etc.
• Body movements and posture.
Are arms and legs crossed and closed? Are people nervous
or relaxed? Does their posture indicate interest or boredom?)
D. Ask the right questions.
(Facilitating dynamic discussions requires generating the right kinds
of questions and offering appropriate responses. Here are some
guidelines for the kinds of questions and responses:
1
Leading Life-Changing Small Groups Bill Donahue and the Willow Creek Small groups
team Copyright © 1996, 2002 by the Willow Creek Association
2
The Facilitator Excellence Handbook Fran Rees Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. Published by Pfei! er An Imprint of Wiley 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
62
EXERCISE
Improve the following questions:
Did you learn from the discussion?
Responding
Appropriately
HOW TO RESPOND
Colossians 4:6
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so
that you may know how to answer everyone.
(The Bible encourages the believers to be wise in how they speak. The
Dgroup discussion must always be pure, filled with grace, wholesome,
interesting, engaging, and deep. In order for this to happen, you must
learn how to develop responding skills. Here are some you must learn:)
A. Paraphrasing
(Paraphrasing is the act of restating. Paraphrasing allows you to
repeat the thoughts of others. It summarizes what has been heard
and allows the group to explore personal feelings, thoughts,
and actions. Paraphrase when you think other members did not
understand well the points you’re making.)
B. Summarizing
(Summarizing keeps everyone alert and the whole group focused.
A summary is needed when a lot of points have been made and
information was gathered. It should be concise and direct to the
point. A way of summarizing is to ask someone in the group to recap
what has been said so far. Occasionally asking group members to
summarize increases group ownership for the whole process and
empower them to participate and contribute.3)
3
The Facilitator Excellence Handbook Fran Rees Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. Published by Pfei! er An Imprint of Wiley 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
64
C. KKK: Kiss, Kick, Kiss
(This is also known as the sandwich approach. You can start off
with a positive praise in order to encourage the person. After
correcting him gently, you can seal it with another positive remark.
You can simply reiterate the initial positive compliment you had
given him, speak in general terms about how much you appreciate
him, or complement them on their receptiveness to receive
constructive criticism.)
EXERCISE
Divide the group into pairs. One person will act as the listener while the
other will act as the speaker. The speaker will talk about one topic while
the other tries to practice skills in responding such as paraphrasing,
summarizing, and sandwiching corrections between compliments. The
exchange should last for three minutes. After doing so, the pair will
switch roles.
Possible topics to talk about:
Challenges you encounter in school
Blessings that you experienced in being part of a spiritual family
Lessons that you have learned from leading others
How to Handle
Challenging
Dgroup Members
Ephesians 4:2
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making
allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. (NLT)
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
(God will bring different kinds of people into your Dgroup so that both of
you can grow spiritually. Difficult persons are there to help you grow in
your own personal walk with the Lord, especially in terms of character
development. Here are a few suggestions on how to handle them:)
66
TYPE OF
CHALLENGING RESPONSE
PERSONS
Heckler • Recognize the contribution, then refocus
the discussion.
• Ask the group to respond to the given
statement.
Rambler • Thank the person for sharing when there
is a pause or break during the discussion.
• Set rules regarding time and discussion
quorum.
Know-it-All • Suggest that ideas must be generated
from others first
• Use him as a resource and capitalize on
his enthusiasm
• Give him a listening role
Conversationalist • Ask him for ideas and share it to the group
EXERCISE
Do a role play. One member will be tasked as the facilitator while
another will act as a challenging dgroup member (conversationalist,
know-it-all, rambler, or heckler). The person tasked as the facilitator will
need to respond accordingly to the member who is pretending to be a
challenging person.