Discipleship
A discipleship group is a few people who meet every week to read the Bible, obey what they read and share it with others. Here is how to invite people, what to do each week, how to lead without lecturing, and how a group multiplies.
4 min read · November 8, 2026 · By Daniel Ziedins
“He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach”
Mark 3:14
Jesus did not start with a crowd. He "appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach" (Mark 3:14). Two things in one sentence: be with him, and be sent. A discipleship group is a small, simple way to do both.
It is not a lecture or a class. It is a few people who meet every week to read the Bible, obey what they read, and share it with someone else. Paul described the same pattern to Timothy: "the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2). Four generations in one verse.
Start with prayer, then look at the people already around you. A new believer you led to Jesus. A friend who has been a Christian for years but never been discipled. Someone from your church who keeps saying they want to grow.
If you are walking with someone new to Jesus, the first seven days with a new believer and how to read John with someone are good places to begin before you invite them into a group.
Use the same three parts every time. Repetition is a gift: by week three, anyone in the group could lead it.
Look back (15 minutes). Ask each person two questions. How did you obey what we read last week? Who did you tell about it? Celebrate small steps. If someone did not do what they planned, no shame: ask what got in the way and pray for them.
Look up (30 minutes). Read one passage out loud, then have someone retell it in their own words. Then ask:
The Gospels are a good place to start. Read John in 7 days gives you a week of short passages and questions.
Look forward (15 minutes). Each person says one specific step of obedience and one person they will share with this week. Write them down so you can ask next week. Then pray for each other, by name, about those steps.
The leader's job is to ask questions, keep time, and make sure everyone gets to speak. Let the Bible be the teacher. When someone asks a question, try "What does the passage say?" before you answer it yourself.
Read the passage before you meet so you are not surprised. If a question comes up that you cannot answer, say so. "I don't know, let's look into it this week" is an honest answer, and your pastor is there to help.
Keep it warm. Eat together if you can. Text each person during the week. Jesus' disciples were with him; a group that only meets for an hour and never talks otherwise is missing half of it.
You cannot pray faithfully for what you do not remember. A simple list helps: each person's name, where they are on the journey, and the next step they said they would take.
The free printable discipleship tracker does exactly this on one page: nine stages from first contact to multiplying, and a next step with a day for every name. If you prefer your phone, the Discipleship Board in Kingdom Base uses the same nine stages, and you can give each person a next step in one tap. The discipleship pipeline explains the stages.
The goal is not a group that lasts forever. It is people who can do for someone else what was done for them. Say it from the first week: "One day, each of us will start a group like this."
Then make it possible. After a few weeks, let a different person lead each time. When someone is ready, help them invite two or three people of their own, and meet with them as they start. Agree a clear season (eight to twelve weeks works well), then decide together whether to keep going, multiply into two groups, or send someone out.
People miss weeks. Someone stops coming. A conversation gets heavy. That is normal. Follow up gently with anyone who drifts (how to follow up when someone stops replying has a kind pattern), and bring anything serious, such as abuse, a crisis, or safety concerns, to your pastor straight away.
Start small. Start this week. One person, one Bible, one next step. How to disciple someone has more on walking with one person at a time.
Small enough that everyone talks every week: usually three to five, including you. Once it grows much bigger, quieter people stop sharing and it becomes a meeting rather than a group, which is a good moment to start a second one.
A simple rhythm works: look back (how did you obey last week, and who did you tell?), look up (read one passage together and ask what it shows about God and about people), and look forward (one step of obedience and one person to share it with this week), then pray for each other.
No. You need to be following Jesus yourself, to read the passage beforehand, and to ask good questions. Let the Bible be the teacher and let the group discover it together. If a question comes up that you cannot answer, say so and look into it together or ask your pastor.
Agree a clear season to start, such as eight to twelve weeks, then decide together whether to continue. The aim is not to keep the group forever but to see each person grow to the point where they can walk with someone else.
Nobody forgotten. Kingdom Base is a free command center for the Great Commission — log the people you meet, follow up faithfully, and make disciples. Start free.
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.