PORVA Discipleship Track—An Introduction
The PORVA Discipleship Track exists to help people move beyond surface-level Christianity into a deeper, clearer, and more intentional understanding of Scripture, theology, spiritual formation, and discipleship.
DT is designed to build believers progressively, layer by layer. Rather than treating spiritual growth as random or disconnected, the Track creates a structured pathway that helps people develop biblical understanding over time.
Our philosophy is simple:
While many church environments naturally focus on inspiration, encouragement, worship, and practical life application, DT intentionally creates space for theological depth, biblical literacy, historical context, worldview formation, doctrinal clarity, and spiritual maturity.
We want people to not only feel connected to God… but to understand Scripture with confidence and think biblically about the world around them.
Because of that, we strongly encourage churches not to simply skip ahead to the curriculum links themselves. The material is important, but the system, structure, philosophy, classroom environment, and discipleship culture surrounding the material are a major part of what makes DT effective long-term.
Many of the lessons are intentionally designed to build on each other progressively over time. The sequencing, discussion structure, semester rhythm, teacher interaction, class environment, and overall discipleship philosophy all work together as part of a larger framework.
Without understanding the “why” behind the system, much of the long-term effectiveness and intentionality of the curriculum can easily be lost.
Our hope is that churches using DT don’t simply adopt lessons, but understand the broader discipleship philosophy driving the entire Track.
DT is designed to build believers progressively, layer by layer. Rather than treating spiritual growth as random or disconnected, the Track creates a structured pathway that helps people develop biblical understanding over time.
Our philosophy is simple:
- Sunday mornings are designed to reach broadly.
- Discipleship Track is designed to build deeply.
While many church environments naturally focus on inspiration, encouragement, worship, and practical life application, DT intentionally creates space for theological depth, biblical literacy, historical context, worldview formation, doctrinal clarity, and spiritual maturity.
We want people to not only feel connected to God… but to understand Scripture with confidence and think biblically about the world around them.
Because of that, we strongly encourage churches not to simply skip ahead to the curriculum links themselves. The material is important, but the system, structure, philosophy, classroom environment, and discipleship culture surrounding the material are a major part of what makes DT effective long-term.
Many of the lessons are intentionally designed to build on each other progressively over time. The sequencing, discussion structure, semester rhythm, teacher interaction, class environment, and overall discipleship philosophy all work together as part of a larger framework.
Without understanding the “why” behind the system, much of the long-term effectiveness and intentionality of the curriculum can easily be lost.
Our hope is that churches using DT don’t simply adopt lessons, but understand the broader discipleship philosophy driving the entire Track.
DT Core
DT Core is the foundation of the entire Track.
Every participant begins here because Core establishes the essential framework the rest of the material builds upon. These lessons focus on foundational discipleship, biblical worldview, spiritual formation, doctrine, stewardship, spiritual disciplines, and Christian living.
Core is intentionally structured. Each lesson builds on previous concepts. The goal is not simply information retention, but long-term transformation and spiritual formation.
This is also where the foundational doctrinal framework of the Track is established. Core intentionally teaches essential Apostolic beliefs and practices in a clear, biblical, and structured way so participants develop both understanding and conviction as they grow.
We strongly encourage churches not to skip or bypass Core. It creates the shared language, theological foundation, and discipleship culture that allows the rest of the Track to function effectively.
Think of Core as the “spinal column” of the entire system. Without it, the later material loses much of its depth and continuity.
Every participant begins here because Core establishes the essential framework the rest of the material builds upon. These lessons focus on foundational discipleship, biblical worldview, spiritual formation, doctrine, stewardship, spiritual disciplines, and Christian living.
Core is intentionally structured. Each lesson builds on previous concepts. The goal is not simply information retention, but long-term transformation and spiritual formation.
This is also where the foundational doctrinal framework of the Track is established. Core intentionally teaches essential Apostolic beliefs and practices in a clear, biblical, and structured way so participants develop both understanding and conviction as they grow.
We strongly encourage churches not to skip or bypass Core. It creates the shared language, theological foundation, and discipleship culture that allows the rest of the Track to function effectively.
Think of Core as the “spinal column” of the entire system. Without it, the later material loses much of its depth and continuity.
DT Extended (DTE)
DT Extended exists to continue the discipleship journey beyond the foundations established in Core.
While Core focuses on essential discipleship and doctrinal formation, DTE is designed to help believers continue growing in biblical understanding, theological depth, spiritual maturity, and leadership development over time.
Many churches have strong environments for outreach, inspiration, worship, and practical preaching. DTE intentionally creates an additional environment focused on deeper study, discussion, theological development, and biblical literacy for believers who want to continue growing.
DTE is designed to feel more academic in nature while still remaining practical, conversational, and spiritually formative. The goal is not intellectualism for its own sake. The goal is to help believers think more clearly, understand Scripture more deeply, and become more mature disciples of Jesus Christ.
One of the defining features of DTE is that it is designed to continually expand over time. Rather than functioning as a static curriculum that eventually ends, new modules and studies will continue being developed and added. This gives churches the ability to continually provide fresh learning opportunities while still maintaining a clear discipleship structure and shared foundation.
The result is a culture where people are always growing, always learning, and always moving deeper in their understanding of God, Scripture, and discipleship.
DTE helps create long-term engagement for believers who are hungry for more than introductory teaching. It gives people something new to look forward to, new areas of Scripture to explore, and new ways to continue developing as disciples and future leaders.
While Core focuses on essential discipleship and doctrinal formation, DTE is designed to help believers continue growing in biblical understanding, theological depth, spiritual maturity, and leadership development over time.
Many churches have strong environments for outreach, inspiration, worship, and practical preaching. DTE intentionally creates an additional environment focused on deeper study, discussion, theological development, and biblical literacy for believers who want to continue growing.
DTE is designed to feel more academic in nature while still remaining practical, conversational, and spiritually formative. The goal is not intellectualism for its own sake. The goal is to help believers think more clearly, understand Scripture more deeply, and become more mature disciples of Jesus Christ.
One of the defining features of DTE is that it is designed to continually expand over time. Rather than functioning as a static curriculum that eventually ends, new modules and studies will continue being developed and added. This gives churches the ability to continually provide fresh learning opportunities while still maintaining a clear discipleship structure and shared foundation.
The result is a culture where people are always growing, always learning, and always moving deeper in their understanding of God, Scripture, and discipleship.
DTE helps create long-term engagement for believers who are hungry for more than introductory teaching. It gives people something new to look forward to, new areas of Scripture to explore, and new ways to continue developing as disciples and future leaders.
How the Discipleship Track Functions
At PORVA, the Discipleship Track takes place during our midweek service environment.
DT Core and DT Extended run simultaneously during the same semester structure, allowing the entire church to participate in discipleship together each week while still engaging at different levels of growth and development.
We typically operate on two major semesters per year, with a summer break in between. During each semester, both Core and Extended are active at the same time. This creates a church-wide discipleship culture where:
Rather than separating discipleship into isolated groups, this structure allows the church to move together through a shared season of learning, growth, discussion, and spiritual development. It also creates a strong promotion and momentum cycle within the church. As excitement builds around DT each semester, people naturally begin looking forward to:
Core typically lasts approximately 15 weeks total. DTE modules generally conclude at 12 weeks while Core continues for 3 additional weeks to complete the foundational Track. In practice, this has worked very well because a large portion of the church is usually participating in DTE by that point, creating strong overall engagement throughout the semester.
This structure allows churches to:
The goal is to create a culture where discipleship is not viewed as a short-term program people “finish,” but an ongoing part of church life and spiritual development.
DT Core and DT Extended run simultaneously during the same semester structure, allowing the entire church to participate in discipleship together each week while still engaging at different levels of growth and development.
We typically operate on two major semesters per year, with a summer break in between. During each semester, both Core and Extended are active at the same time. This creates a church-wide discipleship culture where:
- newer believers and first-time participants begin in Core
- more mature believers continue growing through DTE
Rather than separating discipleship into isolated groups, this structure allows the church to move together through a shared season of learning, growth, discussion, and spiritual development. It also creates a strong promotion and momentum cycle within the church. As excitement builds around DT each semester, people naturally begin looking forward to:
- the next Core experience
- the next DTE module
- new studies being released
- and continued spiritual growth opportunities
Core typically lasts approximately 15 weeks total. DTE modules generally conclude at 12 weeks while Core continues for 3 additional weeks to complete the foundational Track. In practice, this has worked very well because a large portion of the church is usually participating in DTE by that point, creating strong overall engagement throughout the semester.
This structure allows churches to:
- continually onboard new people into discipleship through Core
- continually challenge mature believers through DTE
- maintain a unified church-wide discipleship rhythm
- and create long-term anticipation around spiritual growth and learning
The goal is to create a culture where discipleship is not viewed as a short-term program people “finish,” but an ongoing part of church life and spiritual development.
The Ideal DT Environment
While the Discipleship Track can function in different formats, we strongly believe the ideal environment is smaller classroom-based groups rather than one large centralized teaching environment whenever possible.
Smaller classes naturally create stronger:
DT is intentionally designed to be interactive, not simply lecture-driven. Most lessons include guided discussion throughout the class experience. In many cases, discussion happens table-to-table or group-to-group rather than requiring individuals to answer questions publicly in front of the entire room. This matters more than people often realize. Many people — especially introverts or newer attendees — will never voluntarily speak into a microphone or answer in front of a large crowd. But they will engage in smaller conversational environments where they feel safe, known, and comfortable. That interaction is an important part of the discipleship process.
Smaller classes also make it much harder for people to disappear into the background unnoticed. In a healthy way, there is a level of relational accountability that naturally develops.
At PORVA, our teachers regularly communicate with their classes throughout the week through personalized texts, updates, encouragement, and lesson promotions. Because classes are generally kept smaller (often around 12–20 people), teachers are able to genuinely know their students, recognize disengagement early, celebrate growth, and build meaningful relationships over time.
This relational dynamic becomes significantly more difficult in larger classroom environments. Large classes can certainly communicate information effectively, but they often struggle to create the same level of participation and personal investment.
For us, DT is not simply about transferring information. It is about creating environments where people are consistently engaged, known, challenged, encouraged, and discipled within community.
Smaller classes naturally create stronger:
- Discussion
- Participation
- Accountability
- Relationships
- And discipleship connection
DT is intentionally designed to be interactive, not simply lecture-driven. Most lessons include guided discussion throughout the class experience. In many cases, discussion happens table-to-table or group-to-group rather than requiring individuals to answer questions publicly in front of the entire room. This matters more than people often realize. Many people — especially introverts or newer attendees — will never voluntarily speak into a microphone or answer in front of a large crowd. But they will engage in smaller conversational environments where they feel safe, known, and comfortable. That interaction is an important part of the discipleship process.
Smaller classes also make it much harder for people to disappear into the background unnoticed. In a healthy way, there is a level of relational accountability that naturally develops.
At PORVA, our teachers regularly communicate with their classes throughout the week through personalized texts, updates, encouragement, and lesson promotions. Because classes are generally kept smaller (often around 12–20 people), teachers are able to genuinely know their students, recognize disengagement early, celebrate growth, and build meaningful relationships over time.
This relational dynamic becomes significantly more difficult in larger classroom environments. Large classes can certainly communicate information effectively, but they often struggle to create the same level of participation and personal investment.
For us, DT is not simply about transferring information. It is about creating environments where people are consistently engaged, known, challenged, encouraged, and discipled within community.
Accessing the Curriculum
Below, you’ll find DT Core along with our current DT Extended module.
Each lesson includes several resources designed to help teachers prepare effectively and understand how the class experience flows as a whole.
For each week, you’ll generally find:
Teacher Notes
Student Outline
Slides
Weekly Promo
At PORVA, teachers usually send these weekly promos directly to their individual classes through email or text communication. Meanwhile, the church itself typically sends a broader church-wide promotional text focused on the overall semester or midweek experience.
This creates two distinct promotional layers:
Over time, this has helped us build stronger anticipation, engagement, and consistency within the Discipleship Track culture.
Each lesson includes several resources designed to help teachers prepare effectively and understand how the class experience flows as a whole.
For each week, you’ll generally find:
Teacher Notes
- The expanded teaching manuscript used by the instructor. These notes include additional explanation, transitions, context, illustrations, and teaching material that does not appear in the student outline. This is the primary resource teachers study and teach from.
Student Outline
- The handout students receive during class. This allows teachers to clearly see what students are following along with throughout the lesson.
Slides
- The presentation slides used during class. We highly recommend reviewing these alongside the Teacher Notes so you can see how the lesson visually flows and where emphasis points occur. In our notes, blue-highlighted sections generally indicate content that appears directly on the slides.
Weekly Promo
- A content-specific promotional ent out Monday or Tuesday leading into Wednesday night classes.
At PORVA, teachers usually send these weekly promos directly to their individual classes through email or text communication. Meanwhile, the church itself typically sends a broader church-wide promotional text focused on the overall semester or midweek experience.
This creates two distinct promotional layers:
- a broad church-wide invitation
- and a more personal, content-specific class connection
Over time, this has helped us build stronger anticipation, engagement, and consistency within the Discipleship Track culture.
DT Core Curriculum
DT Core is intentionally divided into two major sections: Discover and Develop.
The first six weeks of Core focus on Discover lessons. These lessons are designed to help people establish foundational understanding in key areas of faith, discipleship, doctrine, spiritual identity, and relationship with God. The emphasis during this portion of the Track is helping participants discover:
Because many participants in Core are newer believers, newer attendees, or people still building foundational understanding, the Discover section intentionally focuses on clarity, accessibility, and foundational spiritual formation.
The final nine weeks shift into Develop lessons. While Discover establishes foundations, Develop focuses on:
The language shift is intentional. Discipleship is not only about discovering truth. It is also about developing the life, mindset, habits, and maturity needed to live that truth consistently over time.
This structure creates a natural progression throughout Core:
By the end of Core, participants have not only been introduced to essential biblical concepts, but have also been challenged to begin developing sustainable patterns of Christian living and discipleship.
Week 1: Discover Your Purpose
This opening lesson establishes the foundational vision for the entire Track by reframing purpose around discipleship rather than self-fulfillment or personal ambition. As you prepare to teach, the primary goal is helping students understand what discipleship actually means and how Jesus calls His followers to organize their lives around being with Him, becoming like Him, and doing what He did. This lesson works best when it creates clarity, direction, and excitement about spiritual growth while helping students see discipleship as an intentional lifelong process rather than a vague spiritual idea.
Week 2: Discover the Power of the Word
This lesson establishes Scripture as the primary authority shaping truth, direction, doctrine, and spiritual formation throughout the rest of the Track. As you teach, help students recognize why the Bible is more than a helpful devotional resource — it is the foundation for understanding God rightly and living faithfully. Key themes include biblical authority, interpretation, clarity, discernment, and the role of Scripture in protecting believers from confusion and speculation. This lesson lays important groundwork for later doctrinal and worldview discussions throughout Core.
Week 3: Discover the Plan of Salvation, Part 1
This lesson focuses on the biblical response to the gospel by examining Jesus’ teaching on being born again alongside the message preached in Acts 2. As you prepare to teach, the goal is helping students move beyond inherited assumptions, tradition, or vague belief systems and see the New Birth presented clearly through Scripture itself. Special emphasis should be placed on repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, and receiving the Holy Spirit as an obedient response to the gospel rather than merely symbolic ideas. This lesson often generates meaningful discussion and should be approached with both clarity and compassion.
Week 4: Discover the Plan of Salvation, Part 2
This lesson expands the discussion of salvation by tracing the consistent New Birth pattern throughout the Book of Acts as the gospel spreads beyond Jerusalem. As you teach through Samaritans, Gentiles, and other conversion accounts, help students recognize the consistency of apostolic preaching and practice across different cultures and groups of people. The lesson is designed to strengthen biblical confidence in the Apostolic message while helping students understand why baptism in Jesus’ name and receiving the Holy Spirit were treated as essential responses to the gospel throughout the early church.
Week 5: Discover Doctrine, Part 1
This lesson establishes the importance of doctrine by confronting the idea that sincerity, passion, or tradition alone are enough to sustain healthy faith. As you prepare to teach, focus on helping students understand why truth matters and how emotionalism, assumption, and untested beliefs can quietly lead people away from biblical alignment over time. The lesson creates an important framework for understanding doctrine not as cold intellectualism, but as protection, stability, and clarity for spiritual life and discipleship.
Week 6: Discover Doctrine, Part 2
This lesson focuses on how beliefs about God are formed and why doctrinal clarity is essential for long-term spiritual health and stability. As you teach through apostolic teaching, Scripture, worship, and the early church’s understanding of Jesus, the goal is helping students move beyond inherited assumptions and become grounded in clear biblical conviction. This lesson serves as a foundational doctrinal anchor for the rest of the Track and works best when students leave with greater confidence in both Scripture and the identity of Jesus Christ.
DT: Core - Develop (6 weeks)
Week 7: Developing a Manager’s Mindset, Part 1
This lesson marks the transition from discovering foundational truth to developing practical discipleship habits and mindsets. As you prepare to teach, emphasize stewardship as a way of viewing life rather than simply a conversation about money. The lesson reframes ownership, responsibility, pressure, and purpose through a biblical lens while identifying common patterns of mismanagement that affect spiritual growth. This week establishes an important foundation for the practical stewardship discussions that follow.
Week 8: Developing a Manager’s Mindset, Part 2
This lesson moves stewardship into everyday life by focusing on areas where people most commonly experience pressure, distraction, and imbalance. As you teach through stewardship of time, influence, relationships, testimony, and serving, help students recognize that faithfulness is often built through ordinary routines rather than dramatic moments. The lesson works best when it feels highly practical, helping students connect stewardship principles directly to the pace, priorities, and relationships of daily life.
Week 9: Developing a Manager’s Mindset, Part 3
This lesson brings stewardship into the practical area of finances, generosity, and possessions. As you prepare to teach, the goal is helping students see money as a spiritual issue connected to worship, trust, priorities, and discipleship rather than merely obligation or pressure. The lesson intentionally approaches giving from the perspective of alignment with God’s priorities rather than guilt-based motivation. This week often creates strong opportunities for honest self-reflection surrounding trust, security, generosity, and contentment.
Week 10: Developing Practical Holiness, Part 1 — A Holy Heart
This lesson establishes holiness as an inward process of alignment with God rather than merely external behavior or performance. As you teach, continually emphasize that holiness begins in the heart through surrender, love, obedience, humility, and integrity before it ever becomes visible externally. The lesson helps students develop a balanced understanding of holiness that avoids both legalism and casual Christianity. This week works best when students leave recognizing holiness as relational transformation rather than empty rule-keeping.
Week 11: Developing Practical Holiness, Part 2 — A Holy Mind
This lesson explores the mind as one of the central battlegrounds of spiritual formation and discipleship. Beginning in Eden, the lesson traces how humanity’s fall involved redefining truth apart from God and how spiritual renewal involves reshaping the mind through truth and the Spirit. As you teach, focus on helping students recognize the ongoing process of mental renewal, discernment, Spirit-led thinking, Kingdom priorities, and eternal perspective. This lesson works especially well when students begin connecting worldview, thought patterns, identity, and spiritual growth together.
Week 12: Developing Practical Holiness, Part 3 — A Holy Life
This lesson brings holiness into visible, everyday living by exploring how inward transformation eventually affects lifestyle, convictions, appearance, habits, and practical choices. As you prepare to teach, maintain the lesson’s emphasis that outward holiness is not presented as legalism or performance, but as the visible expression of a heart and mind surrendered to God. Topics include modesty, gender distinction, media influence, pastoral leadership, personal convictions, and cultural pressure. This lesson works best when approached with both conviction and pastoral sensitivity, helping students understand not only what Apostolics practice, but why.
Week 13: Developing Spiritual Discipline, Part 1
This lesson introduces spiritual disciplines as the steady practices that help form long-term spiritual growth and consistency. As you teach, focus on helping students understand that spiritual maturity is usually built through repeated rhythms and habits rather than emotional moments alone. The lesson reframes discipline as pursuit rather than perfection and establishes an important foundation for the weeks on prayer and community that follow.
Week 14: Developing Spiritual Disciplines, Part 2
This lesson focuses specifically on prayer as a relational and sustainable discipline that keeps believers connected to Jesus in everyday life. As you prepare to teach, emphasize simplicity, consistency, honesty, and relationship over performance or technique. The lesson explores different types of prayer while helping students develop practical confidence in building a personal prayer life that is genuine and sustainable long-term.
Week 15: Developing Spiritual Disciplines, Part 3
This final Core lesson focuses on the community disciplines that shape disciples through relationships, accountability, gathering, generosity, leadership, forgiveness, and shared spiritual life. As you teach, continually reinforce that discipleship is not meant to happen in isolation. The lesson highlights how God uses community to strengthen, protect, mature, and sustain believers over time. This week works especially well when students leave recognizing that long-term spiritual health is deeply connected to consistent participation in biblical community.
The first six weeks of Core focus on Discover lessons. These lessons are designed to help people establish foundational understanding in key areas of faith, discipleship, doctrine, spiritual identity, and relationship with God. The emphasis during this portion of the Track is helping participants discover:
- who God is
- what Scripture teaches
- what it means to follow Jesus
- foundational biblical doctrines
- and how spiritual transformation begins
Because many participants in Core are newer believers, newer attendees, or people still building foundational understanding, the Discover section intentionally focuses on clarity, accessibility, and foundational spiritual formation.
The final nine weeks shift into Develop lessons. While Discover establishes foundations, Develop focuses on:
- spiritually maturity
- Stewardship
- worldview formation
- spiritual disciplines
- practical holiness
- and long-term discipleship patterns.
The language shift is intentional. Discipleship is not only about discovering truth. It is also about developing the life, mindset, habits, and maturity needed to live that truth consistently over time.
This structure creates a natural progression throughout Core:
- first establishing foundations
- then building spiritual maturity upon those foundations
By the end of Core, participants have not only been introduced to essential biblical concepts, but have also been challenged to begin developing sustainable patterns of Christian living and discipleship.
Week 1: Discover Your Purpose
This opening lesson establishes the foundational vision for the entire Track by reframing purpose around discipleship rather than self-fulfillment or personal ambition. As you prepare to teach, the primary goal is helping students understand what discipleship actually means and how Jesus calls His followers to organize their lives around being with Him, becoming like Him, and doing what He did. This lesson works best when it creates clarity, direction, and excitement about spiritual growth while helping students see discipleship as an intentional lifelong process rather than a vague spiritual idea.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 2: Discover the Power of the Word
This lesson establishes Scripture as the primary authority shaping truth, direction, doctrine, and spiritual formation throughout the rest of the Track. As you teach, help students recognize why the Bible is more than a helpful devotional resource — it is the foundation for understanding God rightly and living faithfully. Key themes include biblical authority, interpretation, clarity, discernment, and the role of Scripture in protecting believers from confusion and speculation. This lesson lays important groundwork for later doctrinal and worldview discussions throughout Core.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 3: Discover the Plan of Salvation, Part 1
This lesson focuses on the biblical response to the gospel by examining Jesus’ teaching on being born again alongside the message preached in Acts 2. As you prepare to teach, the goal is helping students move beyond inherited assumptions, tradition, or vague belief systems and see the New Birth presented clearly through Scripture itself. Special emphasis should be placed on repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, and receiving the Holy Spirit as an obedient response to the gospel rather than merely symbolic ideas. This lesson often generates meaningful discussion and should be approached with both clarity and compassion.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 4: Discover the Plan of Salvation, Part 2
This lesson expands the discussion of salvation by tracing the consistent New Birth pattern throughout the Book of Acts as the gospel spreads beyond Jerusalem. As you teach through Samaritans, Gentiles, and other conversion accounts, help students recognize the consistency of apostolic preaching and practice across different cultures and groups of people. The lesson is designed to strengthen biblical confidence in the Apostolic message while helping students understand why baptism in Jesus’ name and receiving the Holy Spirit were treated as essential responses to the gospel throughout the early church.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 5: Discover Doctrine, Part 1
This lesson establishes the importance of doctrine by confronting the idea that sincerity, passion, or tradition alone are enough to sustain healthy faith. As you prepare to teach, focus on helping students understand why truth matters and how emotionalism, assumption, and untested beliefs can quietly lead people away from biblical alignment over time. The lesson creates an important framework for understanding doctrine not as cold intellectualism, but as protection, stability, and clarity for spiritual life and discipleship.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 6: Discover Doctrine, Part 2
This lesson focuses on how beliefs about God are formed and why doctrinal clarity is essential for long-term spiritual health and stability. As you teach through apostolic teaching, Scripture, worship, and the early church’s understanding of Jesus, the goal is helping students move beyond inherited assumptions and become grounded in clear biblical conviction. This lesson serves as a foundational doctrinal anchor for the rest of the Track and works best when students leave with greater confidence in both Scripture and the identity of Jesus Christ.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
DT: Core - Develop (6 weeks)
Week 7: Developing a Manager’s Mindset, Part 1
This lesson marks the transition from discovering foundational truth to developing practical discipleship habits and mindsets. As you prepare to teach, emphasize stewardship as a way of viewing life rather than simply a conversation about money. The lesson reframes ownership, responsibility, pressure, and purpose through a biblical lens while identifying common patterns of mismanagement that affect spiritual growth. This week establishes an important foundation for the practical stewardship discussions that follow.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 8: Developing a Manager’s Mindset, Part 2
This lesson moves stewardship into everyday life by focusing on areas where people most commonly experience pressure, distraction, and imbalance. As you teach through stewardship of time, influence, relationships, testimony, and serving, help students recognize that faithfulness is often built through ordinary routines rather than dramatic moments. The lesson works best when it feels highly practical, helping students connect stewardship principles directly to the pace, priorities, and relationships of daily life.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 9: Developing a Manager’s Mindset, Part 3
This lesson brings stewardship into the practical area of finances, generosity, and possessions. As you prepare to teach, the goal is helping students see money as a spiritual issue connected to worship, trust, priorities, and discipleship rather than merely obligation or pressure. The lesson intentionally approaches giving from the perspective of alignment with God’s priorities rather than guilt-based motivation. This week often creates strong opportunities for honest self-reflection surrounding trust, security, generosity, and contentment.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 10: Developing Practical Holiness, Part 1 — A Holy Heart
This lesson establishes holiness as an inward process of alignment with God rather than merely external behavior or performance. As you teach, continually emphasize that holiness begins in the heart through surrender, love, obedience, humility, and integrity before it ever becomes visible externally. The lesson helps students develop a balanced understanding of holiness that avoids both legalism and casual Christianity. This week works best when students leave recognizing holiness as relational transformation rather than empty rule-keeping.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 11: Developing Practical Holiness, Part 2 — A Holy Mind
This lesson explores the mind as one of the central battlegrounds of spiritual formation and discipleship. Beginning in Eden, the lesson traces how humanity’s fall involved redefining truth apart from God and how spiritual renewal involves reshaping the mind through truth and the Spirit. As you teach, focus on helping students recognize the ongoing process of mental renewal, discernment, Spirit-led thinking, Kingdom priorities, and eternal perspective. This lesson works especially well when students begin connecting worldview, thought patterns, identity, and spiritual growth together.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 12: Developing Practical Holiness, Part 3 — A Holy Life
This lesson brings holiness into visible, everyday living by exploring how inward transformation eventually affects lifestyle, convictions, appearance, habits, and practical choices. As you prepare to teach, maintain the lesson’s emphasis that outward holiness is not presented as legalism or performance, but as the visible expression of a heart and mind surrendered to God. Topics include modesty, gender distinction, media influence, pastoral leadership, personal convictions, and cultural pressure. This lesson works best when approached with both conviction and pastoral sensitivity, helping students understand not only what Apostolics practice, but why.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 13: Developing Spiritual Discipline, Part 1
This lesson introduces spiritual disciplines as the steady practices that help form long-term spiritual growth and consistency. As you teach, focus on helping students understand that spiritual maturity is usually built through repeated rhythms and habits rather than emotional moments alone. The lesson reframes discipline as pursuit rather than perfection and establishes an important foundation for the weeks on prayer and community that follow.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 14: Developing Spiritual Disciplines, Part 2
This lesson focuses specifically on prayer as a relational and sustainable discipline that keeps believers connected to Jesus in everyday life. As you prepare to teach, emphasize simplicity, consistency, honesty, and relationship over performance or technique. The lesson explores different types of prayer while helping students develop practical confidence in building a personal prayer life that is genuine and sustainable long-term.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 15: Developing Spiritual Disciplines, Part 3
This final Core lesson focuses on the community disciplines that shape disciples through relationships, accountability, gathering, generosity, leadership, forgiveness, and shared spiritual life. As you teach, continually reinforce that discipleship is not meant to happen in isolation. The lesson highlights how God uses community to strengthen, protect, mature, and sustain believers over time. This week works especially well when students leave recognizing that long-term spiritual health is deeply connected to consistent participation in biblical community.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
DTE Module: The Languages, Cultures, and Covenants of Scripture
This Extended Studies module is designed to help teachers prepare for one of the most academically rich and theologically connected semesters within the Discipleship Track.
The goal of this semester is not simply to teach isolated Bible stories or historical facts, but to help students see the larger framework Scripture is operating within. Throughout these studies, students will explore how language, culture, empire, covenant, leadership, exile, theology, and worldview all shape the biblical narrative from Genesis to the New Testament.
The first portion of the semester focuses on the major civilizations and cultural worlds surrounding Scripture:
These lessons help students understand that Scripture was written in real historical settings shaped by real political systems, cultural assumptions, philosophies, fears, languages, and empires. Rather than flattening the Bible into disconnected devotional moments, this module helps students see how the biblical story unfolds inside the pressures and realities of human history.
The second portion of the semester shifts into Biblical Covenants, tracing the major covenant relationships God establishes throughout Scripture and showing how they progressively build toward Jesus Christ and the New Covenant.
Together, these two sections create a powerful combination:
This module is intentionally more academic in nature than DT Core while still remaining highly practical and spiritually formative. Students are regularly challenged not only to understand Scripture more deeply, but to think differently about identity, obedience, culture, leadership, truth, and discipleship.
As you prepare to teach through this semester, the goal is not simply information transfer. These studies work best when they feel conversational, engaging, and discussion-oriented. Many of the concepts students encounter will be new, so helping them process the “why” behind the material is just as important as covering the content itself.
Below, you’ll find a week-by-week overview of the semester designed to help you quickly understand the major themes, progression, and theological direction of each lesson as you prepare your class.
Week 1: Why Language and Culture Matter in Scripture
This opening lesson establishes the foundation for the entire semester by helping students understand that the Bible was written within real historical cultures, languages, and worldviews very different from our own. As you teach, the goal is to help students begin recognizing how modern Western assumptions can affect the way we read Scripture. The lesson introduces concepts like oral tradition, collectivistic identity, repetition in ancient communication, and the spread of civilizations and languages after Babel. It also establishes Abraham’s call out of Ur as an important turning point in the biblical story. This week is less about memorizing historical details and more about helping students develop a new lens for reading Scripture with greater cultural awareness and depth.
Week 2: Order and Chaos — The Language and Culture of Ancient Egypt
This lesson explores how Egypt viewed the world through the lens of stability, order, and control, centered around the concept of Ma’at and Pharaoh’s role in preserving cosmic balance. As you teach, help students see how deeply fear of disorder shaped Egyptian religion, leadership, and identity. Through Joseph, Moses, the Exodus, and Pharaoh’s hardened heart, students will begin recognizing how God systematically challenged Egypt’s deepest sources of trust and exposed the illusion of human control. The goal is not simply historical understanding, but helping students recognize how modern people often wrestle with the same desire for control, security, and self-dependence.
Week 3: Power and Sovereignty — The Language and Culture of Babylon
This lesson focuses on Babylon’s obsession with greatness, dominance, power, and human achievement. As you teach through Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, exile, and Babylonian culture, students will explore how empires attempt to reshape identity, loyalty, and worldview through education, assimilation, and cultural pressure. The lesson provides an important opportunity to discuss how worldly systems still pressure believers to redefine identity and truth today. Throughout the lesson, continually bring students back to the central theological theme: earthly kingdoms rise and fall, but true sovereignty belongs to God alone.
Week 4: Diaspora and Dominion — The Language and Culture of Persia
This lesson explores how Persia differed significantly from Babylon by ruling through administration, tolerance, bureaucracy, and organization rather than forced cultural assimilation. As you teach, help students understand the long-term effects of exile and diaspora on Jewish identity, worship, and community life. The rise of synagogues, the spread of Aramaic, and the rebuilding efforts under Ezra and Nehemiah all become critical developments preparing the way for the New Testament world. This lesson also provides strong opportunities to discuss how God works through political systems, scattered communities, and ordinary faithfulness even during seasons of displacement and uncertainty.
Week 5: Ideas and Influence — The Language and Culture of Greece
This lesson explores the spread of Greek language, philosophy, education, and culture through Alexander the Great and the process of Hellenization. As you teach, help students wrestle with the tension Jewish communities faced while living inside an increasingly Greek-speaking and philosophically shaped world. The lesson traces the Maccabean Revolt, persecution under Antiochus IV, the Septuagint, and the rise of Koine Greek. A major emphasis throughout this week is helping students see how God was preparing the world for the rapid spread of the gospel long before Jesus arrived on the scene. This lesson also creates excellent opportunities for discussion surrounding cultural influence, compromise, identity, and worldview.
Week 6: Conquest and Control — The Rise of Rome
This lesson traces Rome’s rise from a small regional power to the dominant empire ruling the Mediterranean world during the time of Jesus. As you teach through the Maccabean period, Herod, Roman occupation, and the structure of Roman authority, help students understand how political oppression and messianic expectation shaped the emotional atmosphere of first-century Judaism. The goal is to help students better understand the tension surrounding Jesus’ ministry, crucifixion, and rejection. This lesson also provides important historical context for understanding why many Jews expected a political Messiah rather than a suffering Savior.
Week 7: Influence and Expectation — The World of Jesus’ Time
This lesson brings together the historical, political, cultural, and religious pressures shaping the world Jesus entered. Students will explore the Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots, and Essenes, along with the tensions created by Roman occupation and messianic expectation. As you teach, help students recognize that each group represented a different response to compromise, power, holiness, and cultural pressure. The lesson provides important context for understanding the ministry of Jesus, the rejection He faced, and the rapid spread of Christianity after His resurrection. A major theme throughout the lesson is the irony that the same Roman system used to crucify Jesus would later help carry the gospel throughout the known world.
Biblical Covenants
Week 8: Biblical Covenants — The Story Behind the Story
This lesson introduces covenant as one of the primary frameworks tying the entire biblical narrative together. As you teach, help students move beyond viewing Scripture as disconnected stories and begin seeing the Bible as a unified covenant story unfolding over time. The lesson explores covenant themes like initiation, identity, promises, obedience, blessing, consequence, and relationship through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and ultimately Jesus Christ. One of the major goals this week is helping students understand how misunderstanding covenant often leads either to legalism or casual Christianity. Continually emphasize that covenant begins with God making a way for relationship.
Week 9: The Adamic Covenant — The Cost of One Decision
This lesson establishes the covenant patterns that echo throughout the rest of Scripture. As you teach through Eden, identity, free will, boundaries, trust, shame, blame, and consequence, help students see that the Fall was not simply about eating forbidden fruit, but about humanity choosing independence from God. The lesson also introduces important theological concepts surrounding human nature, covenant responsibility, and the ripple effects of sin. A major emphasis throughout the week should be helping students understand both the seriousness of covenant violation and the mercy of God moving toward humanity even after failure.
Week 10: The Noahic Covenant — A Heart Aligned with God
This lesson traces how sin expanded from an individual act in Eden into widespread cultural corruption affecting entire societies. As you teach through Cain, Lamech, Noah, the flood, and the covenant afterward, help students recognize how cultures normalize sin over time when truth is repeatedly ignored. Noah becomes an important picture of remnant faithfulness in the middle of widespread compromise. The lesson also introduces the distinction between conditional and unconditional covenant elements, helping students better understand how divine promise and human response often work together throughout Scripture.
Week 11: The Mosaic Covenant — The Standard and the Struggle
This lesson explores the Mosaic Covenant as one of the clearest examples of a conditional covenant relationship in Scripture. As you teach through Sinai, the Law, covenant structure, blessings and curses, and the purpose of moral, ceremonial, and civil laws, help students understand that the Law revealed both the holiness of God and humanity’s inability to fully align with Him through external commands alone. This lesson provides important opportunities to discuss the role of obedience, covenant loyalty, sacrifice, holiness, and the way the Law ultimately points forward to Jesus Christ.
Week 12: The Davidic Covenant — The Promise of a King Who Would Not Fail
This final lesson explores the shift from external law toward the growing expectation for a righteous King who could lead God’s people in perfect alignment with His will. As you teach through Saul, David, covenant kingship, exile, messianic expectation, and hesed, help students recognize how Israel’s repeated failures created anticipation for a greater Son of David. The lesson culminates in Jesus Christ fulfilling the Davidic Covenant not merely as another earthly king, but as God revealed in flesh establishing the New Covenant through internal transformation rather than external law alone. This week works best when students leave seeing Jesus not simply as the conclusion of the story, but as the fulfillment the entire covenant narrative has been moving toward from the beginning.
The goal of this semester is not simply to teach isolated Bible stories or historical facts, but to help students see the larger framework Scripture is operating within. Throughout these studies, students will explore how language, culture, empire, covenant, leadership, exile, theology, and worldview all shape the biblical narrative from Genesis to the New Testament.
The first portion of the semester focuses on the major civilizations and cultural worlds surrounding Scripture:
- Egypt
- Babylon
- Persia
- Greece
- Rome
- and the world Jesus stepped into
These lessons help students understand that Scripture was written in real historical settings shaped by real political systems, cultural assumptions, philosophies, fears, languages, and empires. Rather than flattening the Bible into disconnected devotional moments, this module helps students see how the biblical story unfolds inside the pressures and realities of human history.
The second portion of the semester shifts into Biblical Covenants, tracing the major covenant relationships God establishes throughout Scripture and showing how they progressively build toward Jesus Christ and the New Covenant.
Together, these two sections create a powerful combination:
- biblical history
- theology
- worldview development
- cultural understanding
- doctrinal formation
- and discipleship application
This module is intentionally more academic in nature than DT Core while still remaining highly practical and spiritually formative. Students are regularly challenged not only to understand Scripture more deeply, but to think differently about identity, obedience, culture, leadership, truth, and discipleship.
As you prepare to teach through this semester, the goal is not simply information transfer. These studies work best when they feel conversational, engaging, and discussion-oriented. Many of the concepts students encounter will be new, so helping them process the “why” behind the material is just as important as covering the content itself.
Below, you’ll find a week-by-week overview of the semester designed to help you quickly understand the major themes, progression, and theological direction of each lesson as you prepare your class.
Week 1: Why Language and Culture Matter in Scripture
This opening lesson establishes the foundation for the entire semester by helping students understand that the Bible was written within real historical cultures, languages, and worldviews very different from our own. As you teach, the goal is to help students begin recognizing how modern Western assumptions can affect the way we read Scripture. The lesson introduces concepts like oral tradition, collectivistic identity, repetition in ancient communication, and the spread of civilizations and languages after Babel. It also establishes Abraham’s call out of Ur as an important turning point in the biblical story. This week is less about memorizing historical details and more about helping students develop a new lens for reading Scripture with greater cultural awareness and depth.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 2: Order and Chaos — The Language and Culture of Ancient Egypt
This lesson explores how Egypt viewed the world through the lens of stability, order, and control, centered around the concept of Ma’at and Pharaoh’s role in preserving cosmic balance. As you teach, help students see how deeply fear of disorder shaped Egyptian religion, leadership, and identity. Through Joseph, Moses, the Exodus, and Pharaoh’s hardened heart, students will begin recognizing how God systematically challenged Egypt’s deepest sources of trust and exposed the illusion of human control. The goal is not simply historical understanding, but helping students recognize how modern people often wrestle with the same desire for control, security, and self-dependence.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 3: Power and Sovereignty — The Language and Culture of Babylon
This lesson focuses on Babylon’s obsession with greatness, dominance, power, and human achievement. As you teach through Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, exile, and Babylonian culture, students will explore how empires attempt to reshape identity, loyalty, and worldview through education, assimilation, and cultural pressure. The lesson provides an important opportunity to discuss how worldly systems still pressure believers to redefine identity and truth today. Throughout the lesson, continually bring students back to the central theological theme: earthly kingdoms rise and fall, but true sovereignty belongs to God alone.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 4: Diaspora and Dominion — The Language and Culture of Persia
This lesson explores how Persia differed significantly from Babylon by ruling through administration, tolerance, bureaucracy, and organization rather than forced cultural assimilation. As you teach, help students understand the long-term effects of exile and diaspora on Jewish identity, worship, and community life. The rise of synagogues, the spread of Aramaic, and the rebuilding efforts under Ezra and Nehemiah all become critical developments preparing the way for the New Testament world. This lesson also provides strong opportunities to discuss how God works through political systems, scattered communities, and ordinary faithfulness even during seasons of displacement and uncertainty.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 5: Ideas and Influence — The Language and Culture of Greece
This lesson explores the spread of Greek language, philosophy, education, and culture through Alexander the Great and the process of Hellenization. As you teach, help students wrestle with the tension Jewish communities faced while living inside an increasingly Greek-speaking and philosophically shaped world. The lesson traces the Maccabean Revolt, persecution under Antiochus IV, the Septuagint, and the rise of Koine Greek. A major emphasis throughout this week is helping students see how God was preparing the world for the rapid spread of the gospel long before Jesus arrived on the scene. This lesson also creates excellent opportunities for discussion surrounding cultural influence, compromise, identity, and worldview.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 6: Conquest and Control — The Rise of Rome
This lesson traces Rome’s rise from a small regional power to the dominant empire ruling the Mediterranean world during the time of Jesus. As you teach through the Maccabean period, Herod, Roman occupation, and the structure of Roman authority, help students understand how political oppression and messianic expectation shaped the emotional atmosphere of first-century Judaism. The goal is to help students better understand the tension surrounding Jesus’ ministry, crucifixion, and rejection. This lesson also provides important historical context for understanding why many Jews expected a political Messiah rather than a suffering Savior.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 7: Influence and Expectation — The World of Jesus’ Time
This lesson brings together the historical, political, cultural, and religious pressures shaping the world Jesus entered. Students will explore the Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots, and Essenes, along with the tensions created by Roman occupation and messianic expectation. As you teach, help students recognize that each group represented a different response to compromise, power, holiness, and cultural pressure. The lesson provides important context for understanding the ministry of Jesus, the rejection He faced, and the rapid spread of Christianity after His resurrection. A major theme throughout the lesson is the irony that the same Roman system used to crucify Jesus would later help carry the gospel throughout the known world.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Biblical Covenants
Week 8: Biblical Covenants — The Story Behind the Story
This lesson introduces covenant as one of the primary frameworks tying the entire biblical narrative together. As you teach, help students move beyond viewing Scripture as disconnected stories and begin seeing the Bible as a unified covenant story unfolding over time. The lesson explores covenant themes like initiation, identity, promises, obedience, blessing, consequence, and relationship through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and ultimately Jesus Christ. One of the major goals this week is helping students understand how misunderstanding covenant often leads either to legalism or casual Christianity. Continually emphasize that covenant begins with God making a way for relationship.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 9: The Adamic Covenant — The Cost of One Decision
This lesson establishes the covenant patterns that echo throughout the rest of Scripture. As you teach through Eden, identity, free will, boundaries, trust, shame, blame, and consequence, help students see that the Fall was not simply about eating forbidden fruit, but about humanity choosing independence from God. The lesson also introduces important theological concepts surrounding human nature, covenant responsibility, and the ripple effects of sin. A major emphasis throughout the week should be helping students understand both the seriousness of covenant violation and the mercy of God moving toward humanity even after failure.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 10: The Noahic Covenant — A Heart Aligned with God
This lesson traces how sin expanded from an individual act in Eden into widespread cultural corruption affecting entire societies. As you teach through Cain, Lamech, Noah, the flood, and the covenant afterward, help students recognize how cultures normalize sin over time when truth is repeatedly ignored. Noah becomes an important picture of remnant faithfulness in the middle of widespread compromise. The lesson also introduces the distinction between conditional and unconditional covenant elements, helping students better understand how divine promise and human response often work together throughout Scripture.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 11: The Mosaic Covenant — The Standard and the Struggle
This lesson explores the Mosaic Covenant as one of the clearest examples of a conditional covenant relationship in Scripture. As you teach through Sinai, the Law, covenant structure, blessings and curses, and the purpose of moral, ceremonial, and civil laws, help students understand that the Law revealed both the holiness of God and humanity’s inability to fully align with Him through external commands alone. This lesson provides important opportunities to discuss the role of obedience, covenant loyalty, sacrifice, holiness, and the way the Law ultimately points forward to Jesus Christ.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo
Week 12: The Davidic Covenant — The Promise of a King Who Would Not Fail
This final lesson explores the shift from external law toward the growing expectation for a righteous King who could lead God’s people in perfect alignment with His will. As you teach through Saul, David, covenant kingship, exile, messianic expectation, and hesed, help students recognize how Israel’s repeated failures created anticipation for a greater Son of David. The lesson culminates in Jesus Christ fulfilling the Davidic Covenant not merely as another earthly king, but as God revealed in flesh establishing the New Covenant through internal transformation rather than external law alone. This week works best when students leave seeing Jesus not simply as the conclusion of the story, but as the fulfillment the entire covenant narrative has been moving toward from the beginning.
- Teacher Notes
- Slides
- Student Outline
- Weekly Promo