About DiscipleTown
DiscipleTown uses a creative and adaptable town theme to teach practical "Disciple Skills." It is published by the creators of DiscipleLand, the most comprehensive children's Bible curriculum on the market. DiscipleTown teaches DiscipleSkills -— practical skills that every follower of Jesus Christ must develop in order to grow and live victoriously. The children's church format compliments DiscipleLand and/or your other ministries to kids. Learn more about DiscipleLand's Bible Curriculum at DiscipleLand.com.
Rather than providing a rigid plan to follow, you can quickly and easily modify DiscipleTown to fit your ministry needs. There is more than enough material for a full length service, but you can also choose only the elements you'd like to use. By design, DiscipleTown is packed with ideas so you'll never be left needing to supplement the lesson, but its flexibility allows you to add your own unique teaching elements.
Unit Summary
We spend a great deal of time in ministry doing a great many wonderful things—reaching, teaching, and training kids for Jesus. However, Jesus gave just one primary command when He returned to heaven: "Go and make disciples." What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Can young followers of Jesus experience victory in their Christian walk? This unit introduces children to five basic principles for having P-O-W-E-R to follow Christ in their faith: Praying from the heart, Obeying the Holy Spirit, Worshiping with the Church, Explaining their faith to others, and Reading their Bibles daily. Yes, children can experience profound P-O-W-E-R in their walk with God when they begin to apply these life-changing disciplines.
Lesson Summaries
Lesson 1: Disciples Join God’s Team
When Jesus invited people to follow Him, He was asking them to become His disciples. In the simplest definition, a disciple is a follower of Jesus. Disciples have made the decision to trust Jesus for their salvation and to follow Him with their lives. Often people try to apply the teachings of Jesus — prayer, Bible reading, or His wise sayings — without first determining to be one of His disciples. The first step to being a disciple of Jesus is making that all-important decision to trust Jesus alone for your salvation and to follow Him for the rest of your life. That decision begins your journey with God. All else follows.
Lesson 2: Disciples Pray and Obey
A disciple of Jesus is a friend of Jesus. Jesus said so Himself when He said that He used to call us servants, but now He calls us friends. Our friends are those we talk to and have a relationship with. One of the most important keys to a good relationship with God is talking with God, and that is called prayer. But what good is prayer if we don't follow through and do the things God asks us to do? A life of obedience is the mark of a true disciple. Jesus also said, "You are my friends if you do what I command" (John 15:14). When we pray and obey, we will discover all that God has for us and avoid so many of the pitfalls that this world would rather have us encounter.
Lesson 3: Disciples Show Up and Tell
Disciples of Jesus love Him. They demonstrate this love in two very important ways. The first is through worship. They show God how important He is by living in ways that overflow with acts of worship — not only by singing, but by making everything they do an act of praise. Second, when we truly love someone, we can't help telling others! Disciples of Jesus will be so impacted by Christ that they can't help but invite others to meet Him and discover how wonderful He is, too! They will show up in worship with their whole heart and they will tell everyone they meet about Jesus, their Friend and Savior.
Lesson 4: Disciples Follow the Book
It often has been said that "Christians are a people of the Book." The book this refers to is none other than the holy Word of God — the inspired words of our Creator, given to His people over the years to be written down so that we could know all that God wanted us to know. The Bible contains everything we need to know about the creation of the world, the history of God's people, the arrival of God's Son, and what He did for us on the cross. It also provides a rich source of instructions for how God expects His followers to live. Disciples who want to pray and obey and to show up and tell have the Bible to provide instructions on just how to do this until the day that Jesus returns, and we all get to enjoy the new heavens and earth.