Module 1: Redemption—Purchased from Slavery

Module 2: Covenant and Communion

One of the things we have to establish before we go any deeper into this Christian life is the concept of God’s love for us. Unless we establish this, how can we ever believe He will do anything for us or for anyone we minister to? We saw in the previous module how we all are in need of redemption and all the things that are wrapped up in that redemption. But really, does the God of the universe actually care about little old me or you individually? Is that really true?

Abraham, the guy the Bible calls the “father of faith,” had a hard time with that concept too. He knew that God was God and that he had to obey Him, but . . . when it came to God’s desire to give him something, Abraham had a hard time with that. He just could not wrap his head around the concept that the big, super God of the universe wanted to give him something. God used the blood covenant to help Abraham understand just how much He loved him. Then Jesus became the mediator of the new covenant with new and better promises, and He wrapped that up in communion. This module has only three lessons, but they are critical to understanding and comprehending the love that God has for us.

Module 3: Living in God’s House—The Power of Abiding

The theme scripture for this entire Fruitful Disciple Series is John 15:8: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15 has much to say about living a fruitful Christian life, and of all the inspired writers of the Bible, John says the most about actually living the life. He is also the one who said we must walk as Jesus did. So John 15 is the reference text for this module. 

This module is the most important module in the entire Fruitful Disciple Series. It is the key to an abundant Christian life. If the students get this and nothing else, they will have gained tremendously. All the other modules either define what a Christian is or provide guidance on some aspect of the Christian life. This is not to say that the other modules are not important to being a fruitful disciple, just that this one is the key to the life itself.  There are seven lessons in this module.

Module 4: Kingdom Attitudes—Prince, Pauper, or Jester?

One might ask, “Why is there an entire module on the subject of a kingdom?” Well, the answer is that Jesus talked about it. In fact, that is pretty much all He talked about. In the Gospel of Matthew, the subject of the kingdom of heaven, or kingdom of God, is discussed over forty times. Matthew 4:23 says Jesus preached the “good news [or gospel] of the kingdom.” For some reason, the church has shortened that to just the “gospel” and pretty much ignored the entire concept of the kingdom. But we need to learn about the kingdom because it is integral to life as a fruitful disciple. 

The kingdom of God is discussed well over a hundred times in the New Testament, and we need to clearly understand what it means and then respond accordingly. In truth, this subject could become a course in and of itself because there is so much reference to it and depth in it, but we will only introduce the concept in this module in order to understand the attitudes associated with it.  There are ten lessons in this module, most focusing on a particular attitude that a fruitful disciple should develop.

Module 5: Prayer—So You Want to Talk to . . . God?