Following Jesus

Last Updated on June 18, 2025 by Rocklyn Clarke

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Overview

Description

This web page and the ones it links to support our Following Jesus Curriculum. This is the approach we use at Life Church to obey Jesus’ command to “make disciples of all nations . . .” (Matthew 28:18-20) – developing new Christians into mature followers of Jesus.

Follow Jesus. Join his family. Change your life. Change the world.

We follow Jesus in order to be like him. We join his family by living in community with others who follow Jesus. We then allow God the Father to position us so that we become extensions of Jesus – bringing freedom, healing, and blessing to the people around us.

Updates

This curriculum is a work in progress. It is being updated and revised as key team members make successive passes guiding people through the material. Here is a rough breakdown of what we plan to do:

• Add basic theological material relevant to each passage in Matthew. (mostly done)
• Add basic material that helps disciples to engage their communities in practical ways.
• Add basic material that is supportive of people in Recovery.
• Add material that helps believers be filled with and flow in the Spirit.
• Add material on spiritual disciples.

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Purpose

“What is a disciple and how will I know when I’ve made one?”
“How do I make a disciple?”
“How long does it take to make a disciple?”

Follow this link for answers to these questions and for information about these key aspects of our training:

Purpose, Goals, Habits, Ministries, and Assignments.

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Components

Our discipleship training has the 7 components preceded by an introduction. They are intended to be pursued progressively. As you gain an adequate foothold in one component, you should begin working on the next one. Near the end of this page you will also find a link to another page with tools to help you assess your progress.

Introduction to Following Jesus

This introduction will prepare you for the following 7 steps or core components of our discipleship training track:

Focus On the Message

Begin by focusing on Jesus’ message and the Bible’s unified story that leads to him. Learn about Jesus from the source rather than merely from what others told you about Jesus. Learn the whole life of Jesus rather than just focusing on your favorite stories.

Once you begin this step you will also begin working on . . .

The following components are still under development:

Family Up

We join Jesus’  family by walking in community with others who follow Jesus. This component will help you develop the understanding and discipline you will need to be an effective part of Jesus’ family (draft).

Once you begin this step you will also move on to . . .

Flow in the Spirit

Jesus is present in his church through his Spirit. Learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit in every area of your life (draft).

Once you begin this step you will be in a much better position to . . .

Face Your Problems

In Christ you can face your problems and overcome them!

Facing your problems will position you to be much more fruitful as you . . .

Farm Your Land

Learn how to function fruitfully wherever God has placed you.

Faithfully farming your land makes it easier for you to . . .

Find Your Purpose

Discover the ways that God wants to use you.

Once you understand how God designed you and how he wants to use you, you can gain real traction to . . .

Fulfill Your Mission

Accomplish the things that God wants to do through you.

These phases have a significant amount of overlap, so they are not completely consecutive. That notwithstanding, each phase builds on the one that precedes it.

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Assessment

Putting Them Together

Each of the above components builds on the one that precedes it. As your disciple progresses through these components, you will help him/her to:

1. Develop godly habits
2. Turn godly habits into skills.
3. Turn godly habits and skills into his/her ministry.

As we stated above, as you gain an adequate foothold in one component, you should begin working on the next one. 

It is important to assess progress in the discipleship journey. You will find some helpful tools and a guide to using one them with our discipleship components on the following page:

Following Jesus: Assessment

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Media

Here are some selected videos that present our teaching on this subject:

• “Adventures in Teaching the Gospel:  A Workshop on Discipleship” – 02/24/2022
  Pastor Rocklyn E. Clarke Sr. conducted a workshop for the Black Scholars and Professionals (BSAP) ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF).
  • Workshop Video (01:02:18)
  • Workshop Slides
• “Discipled Through Real-Time Engagement” – YouTube (01:04:21) – 07/29/2022
  Pastor Rocklyn E. Clarke Sr. was interviewed by Brandt and Charlotte Gillespie for the PrayTV YouTube channel of Congregation Leon de Judea in Boston.

Related Pages

The following pages on this website also draw on material from our Following Jesus training:

• Men’s Discipleship Bible Study
• Class Notes – This page tracks the progress of our Discipleship Training Classes.

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