Organic Disciples Study Guide: Seven Ways to Grow Spiritually and Naturally Share Jesus

By Kevin G. Harney and Sherry Harney

Connect your journey of discipleship with a passion for the world to meet Jesus Christ.

For many followers of Jesus, discipleship means doing certain things to deepen our connection with Jesus Christ. But our spiritual growth checklists are often disconnected from the mission of reaching a lost world with the gospel message.

Taking a holistic approach that unites evangelism and discipleship, Kevin and Sherry Harney demonstrate how God's plan for our spiritual growth is intimately connected to his mission to the world.

Based on the teachings and reflection of their book, Organic Disciples, Kevin and Sherry will lead you and your group through the seven markers of spiritual maturity and how these biblical practices can connect us with God's work of reaching people with his love:

• Bible Engagement
• Passionate Prayer
• Wholehearted Worship
• Humble Service
• Joyful Generosity
• Consistent Community
• Organic Outreach

 True spiritual maturity will always lead believers outward to engage the world with the good news and truth of Jesus. You'll learn how to overcome the common roadblocks and false narratives that stand in the way of spiritual maturity and how to design a personal pathway of growth to be more like Jesus in character and mission.

Used together with the Organic Disciples book and the free video study and online assessment available at OrganicOutreach.com, churches and individuals can better identify where they are in their growth journey and what the next steps are in becoming more like Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Dec 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9780310139096

Kevin G. Harney

Kevin G. Harney?is lead pastor of Shoreline Church in Monterey, California. He is the author of many books, including?No Is a Beautiful Word,?Seismic Shifts, and the Organic Outreach?Trilogy, as well as more than a hundred small group guides, curriculum, and numerous articles written in partnership with Sherry. Kevin and his wife Sherry are co-founders of Organic Outreach International, a ministry that trains and resources global leaders to do evangelism in natural and effective ways. He also does extensive teaching and speaking both nationally and internationally.

Book preview

How to Use This Guide

The Organic Disciples Study Guide is designed to be experienced in a group setting such as a Bible study, Sunday school class, or any small group gathering. Each session begins with a welcome section and a question to get you thinking about the topic. You will then watch a video teaching and engage in a small-group discussion, including several readings from the Bible. You will close each session with a key Scripture and a time of reflection and prayer as a group.

Each person in the group should have a copy of this study guide and a Bible. Whatever translation you have is fine. You are also encouraged to have a copy of the Organic Disciples book, because reading it alongside this study guide will provide you with deeper insights and make the journey more meaningful.

To get the most out of your group experience, keep the following points in mind. First, the real growth in this study will happen during your small-group time. This is where you will process the content of the teaching for the week, ask questions, and learn from others as you hear what God is doing in their lives. For this reason, it is important for you to be fully committed to the group and attend each session so you can build trust and rapport with the other members. If you choose only to go through the motions, or if you refrain from participating, there is less of a chance you will find what you’re looking for during this study.

Second, remember that the goal of your small group is to serve as a place where people can share, learn about God, and build intimacy and friendship. For this reason, seek to make your group a safe place. This means being honest about your thoughts and feelings and listening carefully to everyone else’s opinion. (If you are a group leader, additional instructions and resources for leading productive group discussions are included at the back of this study guide.)

Third, resist the temptation to fix a problem someone might be having or to correct his or her theology, because that’s not the purpose of your small-group time. Also, keep everything your group shares confidential. Doing so will foster a rewarding sense of community in your group and create a place where people can heal, be challenged, and grow spiritually.

Following your group time, reflect on the material you’ve covered by engaging in the between-sessions activities following each session called Adventures in Organic Discipleship. These are provided for you to use between sessions to dig deeper into the material. Each of these sections provides you with four practical and life-changing ideas to help you grow as a disciple. For each session, you may wish to complete the personal study all in one sitting or spread it out over a few days. Note that if you are unable to finish (or even start!) your between-sessions personal study, you should still attend the group study session. You are still wanted and welcome at the group.

Keep in mind that the videos, discussion questions, and activities are simply meant to kick-start your thoughts so you are open not only to what God wants you to hear but also to how to apply it to your life. As you go through this study, be listening and open to what God is saying to you as you learn how to grow as an organic disciple of Jesus.

Note: If you are a group leader, additional resources are provided at the back of this guide to help you lead your group members through the study.

Introduction

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. Salt and pepper. Mickey Mouse and Minnie. Peas and carrots. Mario and Princess Peach (of Nintendo fame). Some things just go together, hand in glove.

Loving Jesus and sharing his grace with the world should be at the top of the pairing list when it comes to the Christian life. When we grow as disciples, our hearts become more like Jesus’ heart, and our Savior’s heart is always for lost and wandering sheep.

When the leaders of the religious establishment of his day asked Jesus, Which is the greatest commandment in the Law? without skipping a beat, our Savior said, ‘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 neighbor as yourself’ (Matt. 22:36–39).

Grow in love with God (discipleship), and love your neighbor with God’s heart (evangelism). For some reason Christians can miss this beautiful and essential pairing established by our God from the very beginning. Every part of our spiritual journey should draw us closer to the heart of Jesus. As this happens, the Holy Spirit propels us outward with God’s grace to those who are broken, hurting, rebellious, and wandering.

Over the past thirty years, we have had the honor of equipping Christians to organically share their faith in ways that feel natural to them and to the people with whom they share. From New Zealand to El Salvador, from the Netherlands to cities all over the United States, we have heard a recurring theme. Every day Christians, pastors, and denominational leaders have asked us to build a bridge between discipleship and evangelism. It seems like almost every follower of Jesus believes that growth as disciples should make us more like Jesus and also naturally lead us into the world with his good news. Christian pastors believe that a natural byproduct of equipping their congregational members to follow the Savior should be dynamic and church-changing evangelistic activity. Denominational leaders seek to develop discipleship strategies that also kindle the fires of revival.

Here’s the problem. It is simply not happening! It is sad to say, but we have heard the brokenhearted refrain from passionate followers of Jesus around the world. We are discipling people well, but it is not leading to gospel sharing activity. They say, "We are watching believers grow in knowledge of the Scriptures, prayer, worship, and other aspects of spiritual growth, but they are not