Many people come to Christ, but don't get the early teaching and mentoring they need to grow well as Christians. The number of new believers at any one time in most churches is too small to warrant a class -- and there's often no other model readily available.
JesusWalk - Beginning the Journeyis a discipleship training and spiritual formation program for new believers. The course provides a balance of Christian doctrines, core values, and spiritual disciplines designed to produce strong Christians who continue to grow as committed disciples of Jesus.
The 12-part series is coordinated withfree online lessons and videosavailable below or can be used with anoptional bookand optional DVD set.
Each lesson concludes with a memory verse, questions and discussion points, and an outline of the lesson. These provide the structure for a weekly meeting between amentor and the new Christianor for use in aclassorsmall group.
A healthy Christian results from a careful balance. Thus this series doesn't stress only basic Christian beliefs. Rather we seek to train new believers in a balance of:
Churches will find this study especially useful. Pastors can assign older believers as mentors and either put theprinted bookin their hands or point them to the Internet to view theonline video lessons freeof charge and print out thefree participant guide.Pastor, here's an introduction designed to explain the series to you.
Here's what a typical hour and a quarter session with a mentor might look like:
This carefully designed spiritual formation curriculum for new believers intended to be studied with a mentor -- not alone.
The word "mentor" probably implies more than I intend. I don't mean a highly trained, sophisticated, completely mature person. They're often considerably older than many new believers and too far removed in time from their lives "before Christ" to remember what it was like.
Rather, I see this mentor as a Christian friend who is growing well in Christ and a bit farther along the path than the new believer. He or she could be the person who led the new convert to Christ, a person the new believer latches onto, or someone assigned by a pastor to work with a new believer. A lesson is available toprepare and train a mentorfor this assignment.
The lessons and discussion questions provide the structure for learning. Being a mentor won't take special knowledge beyond what a growing Christian already has learned. However, the mentor will want to check in with a pastor or lay leader from time to time as questions arise.
The point is that the new believer learns in community, alongside a friend who can be a coach in basic Christian living, as well as a personal bridge to other Christian friends and to a local congregation. The Christian faith is caught, as well as taught.JesusWalk: Beginning the Journeyis designed to be walked together, two-by-two, never alone.
Many churches have usedGrowing in Christ(NavPress) to disciple new Christians. It's great material; I've used it many times with new believers. But it is workbook-based.JesusWalk - Beginning the Journeyuses video based lessons that provide more thorough explanations, with questions for discussion with a mentor. And it can be used free! It doesn't require the believer to look up answers in a Bible and fill in the blanks -- helpful, but daunting for people without strong language skills, thus lowering the likelihood of completion. Ultimately, both are great tools to grow a healthy crop of new believers.
"We have used the JesusWalk series extensively in training new converts in the basics of the faith. The series is absolutely spot-on doctrinally, being Bible based. The series is very easy to follow, without being patronising. Just clear, concise and easy to understand. Highly recommended for the new believer to become grounded in the faith." -- Paul Toschi, Greenlane Presbyterian Church, New Zealand (Amazon reviewer)
"Great book for a new members' class. If you desire to get your new members off to a good start in the Christian faith, then this is the perfect book for young people and adults." -- Hoyle Edwards (Amazon reviewer)
"Although I've been a Christian all my life, after reading this book I realized I had a lot to learn.... Kept me interested to the very end and it was very easy to understand. If you're new to Christianity or just want to start at the basics, this book is definitely ... for you." -- Amazon customer
"Thoughtful and spiritual,Beginning the Journeyis a powerful read for Christians, very highly recommended.." -- Midwest Book Review (Amazon reviewer)
"Easy to read, perfect for someone new to the faith, and an excellent tool for churches, small groups, or leaders wanting to build a solid foundation for Christ followers.." -- Veritas (Amazon reviewer)
The vast majority of users will access the lessons and videos free of charge on the Internet. However,printed booksand DVDs are available to churches that need them.Pastors and church leaders can learn moreabout how to use this series in their ministries.
Dr. Ralph F. WilsonAuthor, JesusWalkBible Study Series
Dr. Ralph Wilson is the director of Joyful Heart Renewal Ministries. He is the author of two dozen online Bible studies taken by tens of thousands internationally.More about Dr. Wilson....