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The Best Resources for Discipling Students

A group of youth pastors asked Rob Conti this question at a previous youth ministry conference at Snowbird, here’s what he had to say:

What are the best resources for discipling students?

To start I’m gonna share a quick definition of discipleship.

“At its core, discipling is essentially whatever we do to intentionally help other Christians to grow up in holiness. It is a process of becoming like Christ, and it is not a program. It may mean reading a good Christian book and discussing it, or outlining a book of the Bible together, or it may mean going through a class together and discussing it over lunch. The key is, whatever you do should be rooted in the truth of Scripture and presented on the basis of an intentional loving relationship.”

So essentially what that is saying is that, as a disciple, you are following Jesus. You are growing in a relationship with Him that is marked by love, obedience, and submission. To disciple somebody is to bring them along in that relationship.

In discipleship, you are teaching them by your words and example how to follow Jesus. It can, and should, take on different forms such as one-on-one interactions, and small and large group settings.

However it looks, there should be formal and informal times of discipleship, and depending on where you are, what season of life you’re in, and the different groups of people you have, those forms are going to look different.

Primarily what I would fight for and hold to is taking somebody through Scripture. Teaching them how to feed themselves from the Word, and walking them through a book of the Bible. That can happen in a corporate setting, small group, or one-on-one. And the goal is for them to learn how to study Scripture for themselves, so that they will become lifelong students of the Word of God. They are learning how to read Scripture to get the meaning and application of it, and so that they will submit to it.

Practical Resources

I know that there are a lot of people who are volunteering their time.

You work a full-time job, you have a full-time family, and your pride is convicted as mine is over Jonge’s session, and you just want to call your wife, tell her you love her, and that you’re on your way home.
Frankly, we’re busy people.

There’s not always time to do everything, especially if you’re dipping into discipleship in different areas. But to help that, there are some really good resources out there, and I wanted to share some of them.

Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry

As a starting point, there is a great, simple book. I read the whole thing, cover to cover. And if I can do it, you can do it. It’s called Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry by Cole and Nielsen. This book breaks down different topics and different authors, all of them pointing you to further direction and help.

Youth Ministry 360

A resource that I’m only vaguely familiar with, but that I don’t have any hesitation in recommending, is Youth Ministry 360 or YM360. Many trusted people love this great resource. It seems like they’ve got everything in a package that will basically run your student ministry from teaching, corporately, small group setting, one-on-one discipleship, and even games.

The Gospel Project

The Gospel Project has a lot of great and simple tools to check out!

You can Google any of these resources and find them easily. So use them! But remember, discipleship is not a program. Nothing will replace the relationship that is built when your students see you, and nothing can replace your students seeing you share the Gospel.

If you want to teach your kids how to share the Gospel, let them see you share the Gospel.


January 18, 2025

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