Table of Contents
Disciple Second Generation Studies
Disciple Short Term Studies
Christian Believer
When is it scheduled?
What is my commitment?
Goals of the study
Principals of Bible Study
Study material and costs
A typical weekly meeting
Retreat
Images from Past Disciple Retreats at Lake Junaluska
Contact us
Click this link to register your interest in a Disciple Bible Study for study year 2006 - 2007.
Still Undecided?
Then click the link below to learn more about Disciple Bible Study.Disciple Resources Site at Cokesbury
Email
Information Email
Home Page
Lexington United Methodist Church
Disciple Bible Study
| Disciple: becoming disciples through bible study Youth Edition |
 |
 |
Everyone is Invited to Participate
You do not have to be a member of LUMC
LUMC regularly offers sessions for all levels of Disciple Bible Study including Disciple I - IV, Jesus in the Gospels, and the two 8-week studies Invitation to the Old Testament and Invitation to the Old Testament.
What is it? A Disciple Study Group is composed of up to twelve students and one leader/learner. There are five separate Disciple Bible Studies, including one for the youth. Each is a structured, intensive 32 to 34 week study. Daily bible reading and journaling are an important part of the study. At the weekly meetings questions are explored that are designed to stimulate group discussion. Each Disciple Study is described below:
- Disciple I - Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study - This is a general survey of the entire bible and is the prerequisite to the other studies. The student will read approximately 70% of the bible during the 34 weeks. Lesson thirty-three is a special time of positive affirmation and discernment . Each person is given an opportunity during that meeting to talk about their personal goals for discipleship. The hoped-for results of this study are to develop biblically nourished persons committed to live as disciples.
- Youth Disciple Bible Study - This is the equivalent to Disciple I for adults. It is tailored to the needs of youth, but places the same emphasis on making disciples.
- Disciple II - Into the Word Into the World - This intensive study is divided into four segments. Each of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Luke, and Acts are studied for eight weeks. Like Disciple I the lessons include thought provoking questions for the individual and group. This study emphasizes the rhythm of coming to God and going for God, of being in the Word and in the world individually and corporately.
- Disciple III - Remember Who You Are - This is an intensive 32-week study is divided into two segments of 16 weeks each. The first 16 weeks concentrates on the books of the prophets and the second 16 weeks on Paul's letters. It includes the same thought provoking questions for the individual and for the group as Disciple I and Disciple II. It calls clergy and laity to disciplined Bible study that will result in a ministering community nourished by Scripture.
- Disciple IV - Under The Tree Of Life - This is an intensive 32-week study of Old and new Testament Writings. In the Old Testament the books of Ruth, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, and Daniel are studied. In the new testament the Gospel of John; 1st, 2nd, 3rd John; James; Jude and Revelation are covered. It continues to call clergy and laity to serious, disciplined Bible study that will result in development of biblically nourished servant-leaders.
Back to TOC
Disciple Second Generation Studies DISCIPLE Second Generation Studies is a line of projected studies different from but also related in some ways to DISCIPLE Bible study. The nature of the relationship to DISCIPLE touches on such things as expectation of disciplined daily study, approach to learning, and commitment to attendance and participation in weekly group study. While distinct in format and approach to study, this new generation of Bible study materials builds on the foundation and carries forward the philosophy and the ideals that shaped Disciple - high commitment, long tern disciplined study.
The first in this line of studies, JESUS IN THE GOSPELS, focuses on the portraits of Jesus found in the four Gospels Matthew, Mark. Luke, and John. The word in used in the title signals that this study takes an approach different from the familiar "life and teaching of Jesus" approach of reading stories and accounts of what Jesus said and did in order to draw conclusions about their meaning and about who Jesus was. This study looks at the way each Gospel writer presents events and teachings and at the picture of Jesus that emerges from each of the Gospels.
The Gospel of Mark provides the framework for the study and in most lessons provides the lead passage to which are added accounts of the same story or event from the other Gospels and supportive Scriptures from the Old Testament and other parts of the New Testament.
Back to TOC
Disciple Short Term Studies These, in-depth, high commitment Bible studies are modeled after the basic design of DISCIPLE Bible study. The studies are based on these underlying principles of DISCIPLE: (1) The Bible is the starting point for the study, (2) expects preparation on the part of individual participants, (3) includes a weekly discussion in a small-group setting that builds community, (4) assumes that the leader functions as facilitator, (5) contains a video component, and (6) identifies some mark of discipleship.
Two short term studies will be available in the fall of 2005. The first is Invitation to the New Testament and the second is Invitation to the Old Testament.
Back to TOC
Christian Believer CHRISTIAN BELIEVER assumes that participants are already followers of Jesus and that they come to study to understand the faith they already have. CHRISTIAN BELIEVER emphasizes the head as well as the heart. This study recognizes that Christians say the creeds without understanding everything, or even assenting to everything in them, because in saying them they identify with the people and the tradition shaped by the confessions. They recognize that “faith seeking understanding” is a part of Christian experience. CHRISTIAN BELIEVER allows space for questions, doubts, and dissent.
The goal of CHRISTIAN BELIEVER is to make available to people the substance of the Christian faith that the church has confessed as a way of connecting to God and living faithfully. This thirty-week study of the classical doctrines of the Christian faith aims at presenting, explaining, and interpreting Christian doctrine as the basic teaching of the church - to the end that informed believing leads to committed discipleship.
Back to TOC
When is it scheduled? Each group decides the exact time they want to meet each week. That is determined based on the needs of the people in the group. Time is taken off for holiday periods and special church events. A nursery is provided to assist those with children.
Disciple Bible Study Schedule (Available by Mid August 2006)
| Time* | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| Morning* | |||||
| Evening* |
Click this link to register your interest in participating in a Disciple Bible Study.
Back to TOC
What is my commitment? The student makes a commitment to read and study the lessons for 30 minutes each day. There is a 2 1/2 hour group meeting each week.
Back to TOC
What are the goals of the study? One of the goals of the study is to learn more about the bible and understand how it connects to your life. However, the primary goal of the study is Transformation not just Information. This means that each person is nurtured to transform their life. This transformation should take the form of discipleship. The participants seek to understand what their service to God should be and to pursue that service. That can be a specific task in the church such as teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, serving on committees, or many other services. It can also be witnessing to your friends and neighbors about your faith in God and Jesus Christ
Back to TOC
Principals of Bible Study? - The Word of God is Jesus Christ, and the words of the Bible tell us about that Word. Therefore, when we study the words of the Bible we always look behind, in, and through those words for God's Word-Jesus Christ.
- No Christian has a monopoly on understanding either God's Word or the words of the Scripture. This includes biblical scholars and the most unlearned Christian. All of us must listen to one another as we seek to understand the richness of God's gifts.
- We must assume everyone has Christian integrity and not accuse one another of being unchristian, no matter how unusual are the opinions.
- We must further assume that we will arrive at different understandings of portions of Scripture and that that will not disturb God as much as it will some of us.
- Few of us will know Hebrew or Greek, and we therefore need to use a variety of English versions to try to understand the text.
- While we accept our differences, we do not feel that those differences are unimportant, or that they should be ignored or treated as if they did not matter.
- Different biblical understandings can remain between us, but we can still be warm Christian friends. In fact, as we grow to better understand our differences, we can grow in our appreciation of one another.
Back to TOC
Study materials and costs For Disciple I - IV each person is supplied with a study guide for $30. The recommended bible for the study is The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha which can be found in any Bible bookstore. The Jesus in the Gospels study uses two student books. The total cost is $40.
Back to TOC
What is a typical weekly meeting like? Each meeting starts with prayer and a short introduction to the topic for the lesson. Then a video is shown which features an expert in the specific subject matter. There is a discussion period that seeks to bring the daily readings alive in the lives of the participants. The people in the group are divided into small groups of three or four and focus on specific parts of the overall topic. There is another discussion period than focuses on the discipleship aspect of the lesson. Before closing, time is taken to lift up people the group wants to remember in prayer during the coming week. The session is closed with a prayer. A break is usually taken between the two discussion periods.
The last session is a Worship Service. A litany is followed, hymns are sung, scripture is read, and Communion is shared.
Back to TOC
Retreat Retreats are normally held in May at a retreat center such as Lake Junaluska. All Disciple groups are invited to attend the retreat.
Back to TOC
Images from the Retreat at Lake Junaluska Click on the links below to view some images from the Disciple retreats. After viewing the image click on the Back button to return to this page.
Pearson Waterfall at Saluda, NC
View of the lake from Lambuth Inn
The Labyrith
Saturday night at Jarrett House in Dillsboro
Communion Service (2)
The 2003 Disciple Group
The Nature Center
The Nature Trail
The Stoles
Back to TOC
Whom do I contact for more information? A handbook is available for people who are interested in learning more about the study. Call the church office at 359-6838 and ask for information about the Disciple Bible Study. You may also fill in the interest form by clicking the Disciple Bible Study interest form.