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Kingdom Builders

Kingdom Builders is the name of our weekly discipleship small group for adults. In this study, we learn how to put our Christian ideals into practice, to truly live what we believe. Incorporating regular study, prayer, application, and mutual accountability, we meet on Sunday evenings from 5 to 5:30 pm in the Sonshiners classroom. We will post weekly study questions below.

Weeks 10 & 11

MEMORY VERSES: Romans 3:23; 6:23

BIBLE STUDY: Genesis 3

READING: Bewitched and Beguiled

CORE TRUTH: What severed the relationship between God and humanity, and what were the consequences?

Though we were created in the image of God and therefore in perfect harmony with him, we willfully disobeyed God’s authority and distrusted his goodness. As a consequence, our relationship with God was broken, resulting in spiritual death, which in turn tarnished our relationship with ourselves, others and creation.

  1. Identify key words or phrases in the question and answer above and state their meaning in your own words.
  2. Restate the core truth in your own words.
  3. What questions or issues does the core truth raise for you?

MEMORY VERSE STUDY GUIDE

The two memory verses are classics in describing the universal nature of sin and its dire consequences for our relationship with God.

  1. Putting it in context: Put in your own words Paul’s indictment of humanity in Romans 3:9-23.
  2. The memory verse is Romans 3:23. Copy the verse verbatim.
  3. What is the extent of our sin? Does it make any difference in our standing before God that we might not all sin to the same extent?
  4. How is sin defined? Is the glory of God a fair standard to be measured by?
  5. The second memory verse is Romans 6:23. Copy the verse verbatim.
  6. Putting it in context: Note Paul’s argument from Romans 6:15-23, contrasting being slaves to sin with being slaves to righteousness. How does 6:23 summarize Paul’s line of reasoning?
  7. What do we earn by our sin?
  8. What is meant by “death”?
  9. How have these verses spoken to you this week?

INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

Genesis 3 tells the story of the fall of humanity, which ushered sin into the world. The very nature of sin—its ability to deceive and confuse us and distort our knowledge of right and wrong—is exemplified in the serpent’s beguiling persuasion of Eve to taste the forbidden fruit and then in Adam and Eve’s hiding in shame from God.

  1. Read Genesis 3. What was the serpent’s ploy in verse 1? How does he distort God’s generous words from Genesis 2:16-17?
  2. In 3:2-3 how does the woman demonstrate that she is already distrusting God?
  3. What temptation is placed before the woman in verses 4 and 5?
  4. From observing the serpent’s strategy, how would you define sin?
  5. How do the consequences of sin affect humankind’s relationships with self (v. 7)?
    with God (vv. 8-10)?
    with fellow humans (vv. 11-16)?
    with creation (vv. 17-19)?
  6. What questions do you have about this passage?
  7. What verse or verses have particularly impacted you? Rewrite key verses in your own words.

Ogden, Greg. Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ (The Essentials Set). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Weeks 8 & 9

CORE TRUTH: What activity defines the primary purpose of the church?

The functions of the church have been variously defined as teaching, fellowship, outreach and worship (see Acts 2:42-47). Of these important functions, honoring God through worship is the church’s primary purpose, because it is our eternal vocation.

  1. Identify key words or phrases in the question and answer above and state their meaning in your own words.
  2. Restate the core truth in your own words.
  3. What questions or issues does the core truth raise for you?

MEMORY VERSE STUDY GUIDE

In Revelation 4 we are brought into the throne room of God. His throne blazes with glory and beauty and is surrounded by creatures who continually praise the Lord, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” (v. 8).

  1. Putting it in context: Beginning with Revelation 4:1, note the elements of worship in this heavenly scene?
  2. The memory verses are Revelation 4:11. Copy the verse verbatim.
  3. Why is God declared worthy?
  4. What does it mean that God is worthy?
  5. What does it mean for God to receive glory and honor and power?
  6. What do you think are the benefits to us when we worship God?
  7. How has this verse spoken to you this week

INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

Revelation 4—5 opens a window on the continuous activity around the throne of God. Through this window we get a glimpse of our eternal vocation.

  1. Read Revelation 4—5. Describe your impressions of the heavenly scene around the throne of God (4:1-11).
  2. What characteristics are ascribed to God (4:1-11)?
  3. What images are used in chapter 5 to describe Jesus? What do you make of the sudden shift of images for Jesus from “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (5:5) to “the Lamb looking as if it had been slain” (5:6)?
  4. Why is Jesus considered worthy to open the scroll (5:9-10, 12)?
  5. What do these chapters teach us about the worship of God?
  6. What questions do you have about this passage?
  7. What verse or verses have particularly impacted you? Rewrite key verses in your own words.

Ogden, Greg. Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ (The Essentials Set) (pp. 25-30). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Weeks 6 & 7

CORE TRUTH: What is prayer, and how can a disciple pray effectively?

Prayer is transparent dialogue. It is a conversation with God in which we address him and in quiet are addressed by him. There are four types of prayer, which are summarized by the acronym ACTS:

  • Adoration: appreciating God for who he is apart from what he has done for us.
  • Confession: acknowledging to God our specific sin and seeking his pardon.
  • Thanksgiving: appreciating God for his benefit to us.
  • Supplication: interceding for ourselves or others according to God’s will.
  1. Identify key words or phrases in the question and answer above and state their meaning in your own words.
  2. Restate the core truth in your own words.
  3. What questions or issues does the core truth raise for you?

MEMORY VERSE STUDY GUIDE

There is no better place to begin to learn how to pray than to study the prayer that was a response to Jesus’ disciple’s request, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

  1. Putting it in context: The Lord’s Prayer is set in Matthew 6, where Jesus contrasts true and false ways of showing devotion to God. How is the Lord’s Prayer an expression of true love for God?
  2. The memory verses are Matthew 6:9-13. Copy these verses verbatim.
  3. The first petition is that the Father’s name be hallowed. Why does Jesus start here?
  4. Notice the different types of prayer in the Lord’s Prayer. What seems to be missing from the types listed?
  5. Why is this a helpful model for prayer?
  6. How have these verses spoken to you?

INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

These two passages of Scripture help to interpret one another. This study weaves them together, so be ready to flip back and forth between them. We will discover how Luke 11 helps explain Jesus’ unusual comparison of God to an unrighteous judge in Luke 18.

  1. Read Luke 11:5-13; 18:1-8. What is the point of Jesus’ stories about prayer in 11:5-8 and 18:1-5? How do the widow and the friend illustrate this point?
  2. What position do the friend, and the widow have in relationship to their “benefactors”? What does this teach us about the posture of prayer?
  3. What do these passages teach us about God?
  4. What attitude of prayer is Jesus calling us to have in 11:9 and 18:1, 8?
  5. Why does God want us to ask him for things when he already knows our needs?
  6. Can God’s actions be influenced by our prayers? Why or why not?
  7. What questions do you have about this passage?
  8. What verse or verses have particularly impacted you? Rewrite key verses in your own words.

Ogden, Greg. Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ (The Essentials Set) (pp. 25-30). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Week 5

CORE TRUTH 1: Why Do You Want to Make Disciples?

Motivation matters deeply in disciple making. If your heart is not aligned with God’s purposes, even your most diligent ministry efforts could be spiritually hollow—or even harmful. Scripture teaches that God is more concerned with your heart than with your actions. The Pharisees were devoted to ministry and religious rituals, but Jesus rebuked them for having hearts far from God (Matt. 15:8–9). Outward actions done without inward sincerity are worthless to God.

God wants more than activity—He desires obedience that flows from genuine love and humility. As disciple makers, we must first examine why we want to make disciples: Is it obedience? Duty? Visibility? Recognition? Or is it love and worship?

REFLECTION QUESTION

Take a moment to examine your heart. In all honesty, why do you want to make disciples? Do you struggle with wanting your actions to be noticed by others?

CORE TRUTH 2: Teaching is Dangerous

Teaching others is a serious and weighty responsibility. While God desires that we teach and lead willingly (1 Pet. 5:2) and joyfully (2 Cor. 9:7), He also warns us to proceed with caution. James 3:1–12 warns that the tongue is powerful—capable of both life-giving truth and deadly destruction. Leaders must beware of pride, manipulation, or seeking glory for themselves.

If you’re eager to teach, consider your motivations. If you’re reluctant, ask God to give you joy in the task. Either way, take James’s warning seriously: your words can build the kingdom—or tear it down.

REFLECTION QUESTION

Read James 3:1–12 and meditate on James’s warning. How do these powerful words affect you? How might you need to adjust your approach to making disciples?

CORE TRUTH 2: Love Comes First

According to 1 Corinthians 13:1–3, even the most spiritual acts—like speaking in tongues, prophesying, or making huge sacrifices—are meaningless if they’re not driven by love. Loveless ministry is just noise.

Many disciple makers unintentionally slip into teaching without loving. Paul reminds us that love must be our highest aim. Do you truly love the people you are trying to lead? Or do you see people as tools to serve your own purposes—approval, affirmation, status?

Ministry rooted in love is the only kind that bears fruit. Without love, even right theology is empty.

REFLECTION QUESTION

Up to this point, would you say that your desire to make disciples has been motivated by love? Why or why not?

REFLECTION QUESTION

Describe your love for the people God has placed in your life. What evidence can you point to that shows that you love the people around you?

REFLECTION QUESTION

In addition to praying fervently, what practical steps can you take to increase your love for people?

Chan, Francis, and Mark Beuving. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples. David C Cook, 2012.

Week 4

CORE TRUTH 1: Equipped to do the Work of the Ministry

Many churches wrongly view disciple making as the exclusive role of pastors or missionaries. In reality, the early church saw disciple-making as the responsibility of every believer. The Apostle Paul emphasized this in Ephesians 4:11–16, explaining that church leaders are given to the church to equip all the saints for the work of ministry. Every Christian is a minister, not just pastors.

  1. Read Ephesians 4:11-16 and note the key words, phrases, and ideas in your own words.
  2. Restate the core truth in your own words.
  3. What questions or issues does the core truth raise for you?

This paradigm shift reveals that ministry is not the job of a few professionals but the shared mission of the whole church. The church, as a body, only functions properly when every part is active. The excuse of being too busy, unqualified, or unprepared doesn’t hold up against Christ’s command to make disciples. Jesus expects obedience, not perfection.

REFLECTION QUESTION

What excuses tend to keep you from following Jesus’s command to make disciples? What do you need to do in order to move past these excuses?

CORE TRUTH 2: Taking the First Step

Becoming a disciple maker starts with a new lens on your relationships. Everyone in your life is made in God’s image and is someone Jesus calls to follow Him. You have a responsibility to influence those around you toward Christ.

This may involve initiating a new relationship or deepening an existing one. The mission field includes both the church and the world, those similar to us and those very different. Making disciples begins with intentionality—seeing where God has placed you and acting in obedience to reach others.

REFLECTION QUESTION

Whom has God placed in your life right now that you can begin making into a disciple of Jesus Christ?

CORE TRUTH 3: Working Together to Make Disciples

Disciple making was never meant to be a solo endeavor. God designed the church as a community where believers support, challenge, and equip one another. Being part of a local church provides the environment for collaboration in discipleship.

You are encouraged to study God’s Word alongside others, seek out mature Christians for guidance, and form disciple-making partnerships. Isolation hinders spiritual growth and effectiveness; community fosters it. The body of Christ grows stronger when it works together.

REFLECTION QUESTION

Whom has God placed in your life for you to partner with in making disciples?

FOLLOW-UP PRAYER

Spend some time praying that God will make you into a committed and effective disciple maker. Confess any feelings of unpreparedness and insecurity. Ask Him to empower you for the ministry He is calling you to. Ask Him to lead you to the right people to partner with and the right people to begin discipling.

Chan, Francis, and Mark Beuving. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples. David C Cook, 2012.

Week 3

CORE TRUTH

How does a disciple grow in Christ on a daily basis? Just as Jesus went to a “solitary place” to meet with his Father (Mark 1:35), so a disciple should daily pull away from the busyness of life for a quiet time, a personal rendezvous with our Lord and Savior.

  1. Identify key words or phrases in the question and answer above and state their meaning in your own words.
  2. Restate the core truth in your own words.
  3. What questions or issues does the core truth raise for you?

MEMORY VERSE STUDY GUIDE

Jesus never enticed someone to be a disciple under false pretenses or promises. He clearly laid out the conditions and benefits of being one of his followers.

  1. Putting it in context: Read Psalm 1. In what ways are the wicked contrasted with the righteous?
  2. The memory verses are Psalm 1:1-3. Copy these verses verbatim.
  3. The blessed man is first defined by what he does not do. What is the blessed man to avoid?
  4. What does it mean to delight in the law of the Lord?
  5. What comparison is made in verse 3? What does this image teach us about how fruit grows and is nurtured in our lives?
  6. How would you define prospers (v. 3)?
  7. How have these verses spoken to you this week?

INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

Jesus also selects an organic image to describe the kind of relationship that we are to have with him if we are to bear fruit. Jesus says that he is the vine, and we are the branches (John 15:5).

  1. Read John 15:1-11. The word remain defines the connection between the vine and the branches (vv. 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10). According to these verses, what does it mean to remain?
  2. What do we do to remain in the vine?
  3. Our purpose, according to Jesus, is to bear fruit (v. 8). What is the nature of the fruit that is to be produced through our lives?
  4. Pruning is a necessary process in order to produce more fruit (v. 2). What does the Lord use to prune us of the “dead” branches in our lives?
  5. Jesus issues a warning that those branches that do not remain are cut off, thrown into the fire and burned (vv. 2, 6). What does Jesus mean by this?

Ogden, Greg. Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ (The Essentials Set) (pp. 18-20). InterVarsity Press.

Week 2

CORE TRUTH

Who is a disciple?

A disciple is one who responds in faith and obedience to the gracious call to follow Jesus Christ. Being a disciple is a lifelong process of dying to self while allowing Jesus Christ to come alive in us.

  1. Identify key words or phrases in the question and answer above and state their meaning in your own words.
  2. Restate the core truth in your own words.
  3. What questions or issues does the core truth raise for you?

MEMORY VERSE STUDY GUIDE

Jesus never enticed someone to be a disciple under false pretenses or promises. He clearly laid out the conditions and benefits of being one of his followers.

  1. Putting it in context: Read Luke 9:18-27. What is the setting for Jesus’ call to discipleship?
  2. The memory verses are Luke 9:23-24. Copy these verses verbatim.
  3. What does it mean to deny self?
  4. Illustrate ways from your own experience that you attempt to save your life.
  5. Why does losing your life for Jesus actually save it?
  6. How have these verses spoken to you this week?

Chan, Francis, and Mark Beuving. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples. David C Cook, 2012.

Week 1

CORE TRUTH

What is discipling?

Discipling is an intentional relationship in which we walk alongside other disciples in order to encourage, equip, and challenge one another in love to grow toward maturity in Christ. This includes equipping the disciples to make disciples who make disciples.

  1. Identify key words or phrases in the question-and-answer above and state their meanings in your own words.
  2. Restate the core truth in your own words.
  3. What questions or issues does the core truth raise for you?

MEMORY VERSE STUDY GUIDE

Jesus’ mission statement for the church is to make disciples. These pivotal verses (Matthew 28:18-20) are commonly referred to as the Great Commission.

  1. Putting it in context: Read Matthew 28. What key events precede Jesus’ giving the Great Commission, and how would they have affected the disciples?
  2. The memory verses are Matthew 28:18-20. Copy these verses verbatim.
  3. What do these verses teach us about Jesus?
  4. Why does Jesus stress his authority (v. 18) as a backdrop to his command to “make disciples”?
  5. What do the action words of “go, baptizing and teaching” tell us about how disciple making is to be carried out?
  6. When is a disciple made?
  7. How have these verses spoken to you this week?

Chan, Francis, and Mark Beuving. Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples. David C Cook, 2012.

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