Campus Ministry Resources for Discipleship

The Growing Movement Series contains the Campus Ministry resources for accomplishing the Build or discipleship component of our mission. Every tool serves a specific function in the process of personal discipleship process.

What follows is a brief description of the resources in the Growing Movement Series listed in the basic order in which they would be used.

While there is no shortage of other resources we strongly urge our staff and student leaders to use the resources in of this Series and we stress it for several reasons:

1. These resources carry Cru’s core teaching and training – they distinctly express who and what we are as a ministry.
2. Each resource builds on top of the next, referencing and reinforcing one another. That’s the strength of a curriculum.
3. As our ministry is broad and international, use of the same materials insures that areas of discipleship are not overlooked and that we are all being trained and taught similar content. They also insure that we are speaking a common language on projects, overseas, and from campus to campus, which is the reason for Crusade’s high value on transferability of materials.

In the parable of the soils, Jesus made it clear that new believers are vulnerable to influences that can quickly undermine faith in Christ, which is why basic Follow-up is so critical. “Life Concepts” provide one-on-one discussions on five critical topics for new and growing believers. Each topic is based on one key Bible passage:

• Assurance of Salvation – 1 John 5:9-13
• God’s love and forgiveness – 1 John 1:5 -2:2
• The filling of the Spirit – 1 Corinthians 2:9-3:4
• Walking in the Spirit – Galatians 5:16-26
• Growth Principles – Acts 2:40-47

The Discussion Guides make it possible for anyone to easily communicate these truths with someone else, examining each topic using the same easy-to-follow template: sharing your Stories; sharing your Struggles, studying the Scripture, discussing the Sketch, and planning next Steps.

The Christian life has been described as “the life of Christ, reproduced in the believer by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Yet for many believers their experience of the Christian life is one of frustration, guilt and defeat. For some it is due to ignorance, while others find themselves caught in patterns of gratifying their own selfish desires. Both groups need to be led into a genuine experience of Christ through the power of his Spirit.

The “Satisfied?” booklet communicates foundational truths about being filled and empowered with the Spirit. Using Jesus’ invitation to all who thirst and his promise of the Spirit (John 7) as the launching point, “Satisfied?” presents four key truths:

• The Divine Gift – the gift of the Spirit to each believer
• The Present Danger – depending on or gratifying self
• The Intimate Journey – walking in the Spirit
• The Empowering Presence – the filling of the Spirit

There is nothing more critical to spiritual growth than a daily Quiet Time with the Lord, and therefore this process needs to be introduced and explained to a new or young believer as soon as possible. That’s the goal of this four-week devotional, to introduce them to a Quiet Time.

Introductory content explains how and why to have a Quiet time, how to study a passage, the ACTS model of prayer (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication), why Bible translations differ, and other content foundational to a daily time with the Lord.

The 28 days of the devotional are spent going through the Gospel of Luke and focusing on the person of Jesus. At the same time the devotional is topically selective, touching on key teachings and topics fundamental to our discipleship. Each devotion provides insight into the passage, thoughtful reflection questions, and prayer structured on the template of ACTS, creating a pattern that should stick long after the four weeks are over.

“The Compass” is a comprehensive discipleship curriculum containing over 40 discipleship lessons as well as other practical how to’s and insight on how disciple a new or young believer.

To create the curriculum we pulled together experienced ministry leaders like Roger Hershey, Sarah (Gale) Evers, Tim Henderson, and others to compile what they communicate as they disciple others.

The content is divided into three levels. Walk is the beginners level, Communicate is the intermediate level, and Multiply is the advanced level.

“The Compass” includes MP3’s of Roger Hershey on discipleship, and handouts such as time management schedules, as well as disciple tracking sheets. “The Compass” is also available online at CruPress Green.

Discipleship Lessons Include: Community, Prayer, Position in Christ, Assurance of Salvation, Sharing the Gospel, Filling of the Spirit, Confession, Obedience, Sanctification, Eternal Perspective, Justification by Faith, Spiritual Multiplication, How to Share the Ministry of the H.S., How to Conduct Follow-up, God’s Will, Scripture Memory, Time Management, Sharing Testimony.

There are a number of significant concepts (lordship, reliance, confession) touched on in the Satisfied? booklet that warrant further reflection and development. That’s what this two-week devotional on the Spirit Filled life accomplishes: further explanation, reflection, and application on what it means to walk in the Spirit.

The devotional contains three sections. The first focuses on the spiritual implications of the Spirit’s indwelling.

But our experience of the Spirit’s empowerment requires our participation. The Spirit-filled life is a lifestyle and section two examines the critical aspects of that lifestyle: confession, humility, reliance, submission, obedience, praise, thanksgiving, openness and expectancy.

Section two describes the way in which we are empowered, but empowered to do what? That is the study of the final section: how the Spirit overflows from our lives in witness, holiness, love and service.

• Section One: Indwelt by The Spirit . Presence, Security, Empowerment
• Section Two: Influence of the Spirit . Walking, Reliance, Leading, Atmosphere, Expectancy, Humility
• Section Three: Overflow of the Spirit . Witness, Holiness, Service

Each of the over 100 bible studies in “Cru.Comm” presents classic, transferable Cru teaching through a distinctively redemptive lens, in a way that is easy to use in a dynamic, interactive small group community. Each study is designed to first teach the leader the passage and then provide them with questions they can use to lead their group through a process of self-discovered learning.

The process was to list all of the topics a student should learn through being involved in our ministry for four years. Then books of the Bible were selected that would best cover these topics. Finally, follow-up articles were attached to each study to reinforce the content. This is the Campus Ministry’s small group curriculum.

Content includes book studies on Luke, Ephesians, Thessalonians, James, 1 Samuel, John, Acts as well topical studies on issues such as spiritual leadership, God’s redemptive plan, and Old Testament character studies.

The studies are also accessible online at CruPress Green.

The health and success of a ministry is hinged directly to the health and success of our small groups. Our ministry is comprised of the building blocks of small groups. Considering the importance and complexity of the task it is disturbing to reflect on how little training small group leaders actually receive. And that is where this resource fits into the ministry.

“The Ultimate Roadtrip” was written to communicate all of the subtle, and not so subtle, nuances of leading a small group. It covers content, group dynamics, atmosphere, vulnerability and questions that help create a life-changing community. It fully equips the small group leader for the task they’ve been entrusted with and fills out the teaching with dozens of relatable stories and examples – good and bad.

Chapter Topics Include: Lesson Preparation, Lesson Content, Creating Community, Groups With a Purpose, The Right Questions, Facilitating Life Change, Common Roadblocks and Problems, Incorporating Outreach, Qualities of a Successful Group Leader.

Every ministry has a practice, process and philosophy of discipleship. Spiritual Multiplication, for example, is a distinctive of Cru discipleship.

“Postcards From Corinth” contains 47 articles divided into six major sections. The first section deals with life transformation. The second deals with issues of sin. The third division looks at gender issues, and the forth section is marked off for topics concerning ministry (sharing the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Basic Follow-up, etc). After the ministry section, there is a series of shorter, quick-read articles. Last is a section entitled “Foundations and History,” that brings us back to some fundamental principles of Crusade discipleship that have no expiration date.

Partial List of Topics: Dating, Spiritual Multiplication, Selection, Conducting Basic-Follow-up, Quiet Time – Journaling, Prayer, An Overview of WSN, Conflict Resolution, Christian Counseling, Fasting, Scripture Memory, Biblical Challenges, Cross- Cultural Ministry, Habitual Sin, Trials, Male/Female Issues, Sharing the Spirit Filled Life, Evangelism, Faith, Sanctification – How We Grow, and The Role of Leadership.