Effective discipleship training doesn’t happen by chance — it requires intentionality and the right tools. Whether you’re mentoring someone one-on-one, leading a small group, or seeking to deepen your personal walk with God, having access to well-designed resources and discipleship curricula can make a world of difference. This page is your guide to proven training resources and curricula to equip you for this life-changing work.
If you’re new to it, discipleship is a widely-used word to describe a journey of spiritual growth. This growth happens as a person comes alongside another to witness to them, pray with them, study the Bible with them, and fellowship with them. As you come alongside someone in Life-to-LifeⓇ discipleship, you’re encouraging and equipping them to live out their calling as a disciple of Christ. If you’re new to the concept, check out our Basics of Discipleship page to explore the foundations of what it means to make disciples.
How to Choose Discipleship Training
Discipleship training isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. What you and those you’re discipling may need could be different from other disciplemakers. Explore these discipleship resources and decide which would be best for you as a growing disciplemaker.
Use these three questions to help you decide how to begin and continue your discipleship training:
- Who is this training for? Decide whether this is for personal discipleship, discipling another person, leading a small group, or even for your church.
- How would you describe the spiritual maturity of the person or group you’re discipling? Consider these five traits of a disciplemaker as a spiritual roadmap to assess spiritual maturity for yourself and those you’re discipling.
- What are my discipleship goals? Reflect on how you or those you’re discipling would like to grow as disciplemakers. Keep this in mind as you try out various resources.
Discipleship Curriculum
Immerse yourself in the rich treasure of these discipleship curriculum options as they offer you a solid scriptural foundation for being Christ’s disciple and give you confidence to take the next simple step of helping someone follow Jesus with you.
- Design for Discipleship (DFD) Series: For 50 years, our bestselling Design for Discipleship series has offered millions of new and experienced believers a chance to learn firsthand what it means to be a modern-day disciple of Jesus. Each of the seven studies can be used individually, in one-on-one discipleship, or with small groups.
- The 2:7 Series: The 2:7 Series is a discipleship training curriculum that develops disciples who experience long-term, life-changing results. Each of its three workbooks is an 11-week course led by a qualified leader/facilitator.
- Harvest Video Series: Harvest is a five-part video series on discipleship. These videos focus on casting the vision, reaching the nations, the role of community, and the discipleship process. Use these as a tool in your discipleship relationships or to grow your own passion for making disciples.
- Growing in Christ Series: The Growing in Christ Series is a collection of best-selling Navigators Bible studies and Scripture memory cards designed to help both new and growing Christians navigate Scripture and faith.
Free Discipleship Resources
- Navigators Discipleship App: The Navigators Discipleship App makes discipleship even easier. This app offers you and those you’re discipling a personalized journey highlighting the next step for spiritual growth. With a vast library of free Navigators resources, you can continue to grow spiritually and help others do the same all in one app.
- The Wheel Illustration: The Wheel Illustration is a simple and effective way to visually explain the structure of a God-glorifying life. The diagram challenges you to think deeply about being an obedient follower of Christ and each part represents a crucial component of a vibrant Christian life.
- Digital Discipleship Journeys: Digital Discipleship Journeys are a series of 8-13 weekly emails designed to help you grow spiritually, curated based on your answers to some brief questions about your walk with God. They provide access to our most popular discipleship resources and offer practical advice on how to use these easy-to-use resources to help friends become gripped by the gospel and begin their own adventure with God.
- Discipleship 101: Discipleship 101 is a free eBook answering the most-asked questions about discipleship, such as: What is discipleship?; What does discipleship look like in everyday life?; and What’s a good approach for inviting someone to follow Jesus with you? This eBook will help you recognize that you already have what it takes to be a disciplemaker wherever God has called you.
Recommended Discipleship Books
Looking for the best books on discipleship? Here are our recommendations of Bible studies and books about discipleship:
- How to Save the World: Disciplemaking Made Simple: No matter who you are, what you do, or where you are in your disciplemaking journey, How to Save the World by Alice Matagora (NavPress), will help you find joy and confidence as you discover practical ways to share your faith as you join God in saving the world right where you live.
- Simple Discipleship: Grow Your Faith, Transform Your Community: Simple Discipleship by Dana Allin (NavPress) is the best of both worlds — an assessment tool for your entire church combined with an achievable, personalized discipling strategy.
- The Ways of the Alongsider: Growing Disciples Life to Life: This 10-week Bible study with discussion questions, The Ways of the Alongsider by Bill Mowry (NavPress), spells out the “how” of making disciples through an alongsider approach to life. Discover and apply the practices of an alongsider, such as reading the Bible with others, asking questions, telling stories, encouraging application, and living on mission.
- Growing Together: A Three-Part Guide for Following Jesus and Bringing Friends on the Journey: In partnership with Barna, Growing Together is a guidebook covering topics like how discipleship can transform your life; what day-to-day discipleship can look like; and why you’re more ready than you think for disciplemaking.
- Raising Disciples: Guiding Your Kids into a Faith of Their Own: Accessible and actionable for parents of children birth to 13 years old, Raising Disciples by Teresa Roberts (NavPress), offers a detailed discipleship map and directional markers to nurture your child’s spiritual growth with Christ.
Your Next Step for Discipleship Training
If you’re new to discipleship, you may wonder where to begin and how to start helping others grow in their faith. The Navigators Discipleship App is the perfect place to start because with this app discipleship just got a whole lot easier.
In the Navigators Discipleship App you’ll enjoy features like:
- A personalized journey highlighting your next step for spiritual growth
- Easy access to an ever-growing digital library of free Navigators disciplemaking resources
- A platform to connect with and encourage other disciplemakers
Download the Navigators Discipleship App to get started with your next step of discipleship training today!
Not Ready for an App? Try the Discipleship 101 eBook!
Discipleship doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s about taking the next small step and being exactly who God created you to be exactly where He has placed you.
This is why we created Discipleship 101, a free eBook designed to help you get started with discipleship and answer your questions about being a disciplemaker:
- What is discipleship?
- What does discipleship look like in everyday life?
- What’s a good approach for inviting someone to follow Jesus with you?
Take your next step in discipleship today!
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