New Beginnings covers many aspects of Christian discipleship. It is not a course but a life-training, life-changing process taught and experienced over three distinct parts. It involves study but is not limited to just learning facts about God or the Bible like a Bible college course, the disciple is expected to obediently apply all that is learned; to grow and mature from being a church attender to living as an overcomer; someone who is secure in their relationship with God, who knows they are accepted by Him and are significant to His plans and purposes on the earth at this time. To live following the Holy Spirit’s leading day by day; to love, serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus in the local community. In doing so to see God’s Kingdom break out, grow and transform people and circumstances all around them, so the whole discipleship process can start all over again with brand new believers!

Our aim is to see disciples become so in love with Jesus they are willing to live counter to the prevailing culture of the world system, its mind sets, values and attitudes in order to implement God’s will in their lives on a day to day basis. Sincere love for God and one another is the key to this, therefore the underlying core values of New Beginnings are found in Jesus’ twin commands:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

Teaching centres around understanding the Kingdom of God from the perspective of the original Hebraic roots of our faith; what Jesus taught, illustrated and demonstrated throughout His time on earth. The Kingdom of God is rarely taught or understood in traditional study courses yet it is one of the underlining themes that runs throughout the whole of scripture from the first chapter of Genesis to the final chapter of Revelation. We have been taught to pray “Thy Kingdom come… on earth as it is in heaven” but what are we saying when we do this? What does it mean? New Beginnings is a tool to help us understand the meaning and workings of the Kingdom of God; to live it out and boldly influence our communities for God’s Kingdom until Jesus’ final return when the New Jerusalem appears and the Kingdom of God is fully established upon the earth.

The Design

The emphasis throughout New Beginnings is on building biblical community and being the family of God together. Therefore:

1. New Beginnings is designed to be taught in small groups in an informal setting, ideally having been preceded by a meal. Exactly how and when the material is taught is completely up to the group disciple-maker who is free to reinterpret the course design and structure to fit his or her own context.
2. The group may be as small as one plus the disciple-maker and apprentice or it may be as large as 14 (12 + disciple-maker and apprentice). Twelve should be considered the maximum as meaningful relationships can only really happen in small units and part of the ethos of New Beginningsis to provide an intimate context for growth and service. The ideal number is 4-8 people in total.
3. All teaching timescales are to be considered as guidelines, intentionally flexible. They can be adapted or extended to suit the needs of particular groupings. If necessary, one week’s teaching can be spread over as many weeks as the disciple-maker feels is appropriate to keep the majority of the group actively engaged with the discipleship process. For an example of how to lead an extra group session in such a case please see disciple-maker’s notes for week 10b. Each group must find how it works best for them.
4. Where there are a number of small groups that are fairly local to one another it is hoped groups will gather together occasionally for corporate worship, teaching and prayer.

New Beginnings Discipleship has three distinct parts:

PART ONE – explorers and new disciples

Just the Beginning and Simply Jesus are focused on working with new believers or those who admit to being ‘stuck’ in their Christian growth; who might want to make a fresh start. Where you begin is entirely up to the needs of those involved. There are two options:

Just the Beginning followed by Simply Jesus

Just the Beginning is a small handy-sized stand alone booklet that can be put into the hand of someone exploring a relationship with God, brand new believer or someone who admits tob being stuck. It can be used on a one to one basis or as a discussion and bible study starter in a small group. There are ten themes.

This can be followed by Simply Jesus, a 7-week group bible study exploring the life of Jesus, the King of the Kingdom in simple terms. Believers are established in an elementary understanding of core biblical truths and what it means to be God’s family together living a Kingdom lifestyle.

Simply Jesus followed by Just the Beginning

Because the people God brings across our path do not always fall neatly into the above, sometimes we find ourselves befriending those who are seeking God but are not yet ready to make a commitment to Jesus; they need to explore the facts for themselves first. Therefore it is entirely possible to run these two short courses the other way around e.g. you can run Simply Jesus as a means of exploring Christianity and use Just the Beginning for follow up discipleship as individuals come into God’s Kingdom

Once disciples have completed part 1 they are ready to go onto part 2.

PART TWO – going deeper – the discipleship training school

There are two very different ways to teach the same material. You should choose the one most appropriate to the group of people you have in mind. The options are:

The slower way – The Walking with God Bible Study series

The bible studies: Prayer & God’s Word, Redeeming the Heart and Soul & Strength.

Over one or two years of weekly bible studies, disciples are encouraged to build a deeper consistent relationship with God whilst at the same time being challenged to nurture a missionary mindset – of looking outwards beyond themselves – to see people as Jesus sees them with a heart to demonstrate His love through various means of service.

Once the group has come to the end of the three bible study courses above they are encouraged to enter into Love Your Neighbour. This is a practical course that uses bible study, teaching, worship, prayer and listening to God in order to seek His heart for a specific local community. The challenge is to put into practice what has been received from God.

The faster way – The Discipleship Training School

Using the same themes as the Walking with God series but presented in a 13-week self-study manual, disciples are expected to take responsibility for their own spiritual growth on a day to day basis. The content is life-changing.

Whilst each disciple studies separately they are still part of a group that comes together weekly. Using bible study, teaching, worship, prayer and listening to God they learn about the gospel of the Kingdom as well as what the church really should be and do. The group are encouraged to engage with the teaching’s practical challenges by being fully involved in whatever God asks them to do. This could be anything drawn from such things as prayer assignments, prayer vigils, fasting, preaching, healing on the streets, prophecy, etc. as well as redemptive social action and local community projects. Through this practical engagement disciples will not only learn to obediently follow God’s leading but also thoroughly test their spiritual gifts, skills and callings.

part three – Ongoing discipleship

Whichever route is taken for Part Two – faster or slower – ongoing discipleship is extremely important. So, disciples are encouraged to continue working at deepening their personal relationships with God by using the 6-week daily devotional contained in the booklet Walking with God Through the Storm. There is no group leader’s guide for this but many have used it within small group context.

For those who have enjoyed learning more about prayer, there is the option to join in the itinerant prophetic Prayer School that runs from time to time. The objective is to be equipped in how to pray effectively for the communities in which we live.

Where groups, or clusters of groups are located relatively close geographically, there is also the option of gathering together regionally two or three times a year. These are opportunities to come together informally to worship, listen to God and pray accordingly. These Gatherings usually fall loosely within the time frame of the biblical feasts: Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. over three weekends spaced throughout the year.

For those going it alone

Sometimes, despite the best will in the world, we find ourselves needing to search for ways of feeding ourselves outside of our local fellowship. Most of the New Beginnings Discipleship Training School materials are available for self-study in the book Set Free to Soar. Scroll down on this link to find more about Set Free to Soar.