Group Discussion Guide
3.21.21
ONE Series

Apprentices to Christ

15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
1 Corinthians 4:15-17

OPEN
Who taught you how to tie a shoe? What are some other things that you learned from that person?

NEXT
Read Matthew 11:28-30 together. What do you know about that word “yoke?” What do you think Jesus means by it? If you have a way to do so, read these same verses in the Message translation. What phrases do you hear that describe the process of apprenticeship or discipleship?

Read Mark 9:17-29 together. Pay close attention to verses 18 and 28-29. Lay this story alongside the story told in Luke 10:1-17. Pay close attention particularly to v 17. How might these two stories interact with one another? What might we learn from this about the process of discipleship that Jesus was engaged in with those who followed him?

Read 1 Corinthians 4:15-17 together. What picture do we get here of the process of discipleship or apprenticeship? Consider 1 Timothy 1:15-16 and Romans 7:14-20. How can that same person say, “Imitate me?”

What does apprenticeship look like in our day? What does it look like for the church to be a community of apprenticeship? What makes it difficult for discipling relationships to form among people in the church? What can we do to help foster relationships that look like that?

Who taught you (or is teaching you) how to be like Jesus? How did they become this kind of influence in your life? What have you learned about living like Jesus from someone else in this group? How can you move toward intentionally being that kind of person for others in our church family?

CLOSING
The disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray.” Perhaps this group is learning more about how to talk with our Father from listening to one other as you pray. What do you need this group to be praying over you this next week? Pray together.