Oakdale Emory - United Methodist Church
Our Mission: "To make and empower disciples for Jesus Christ"
Disciple Bible Study
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Disciple is an approach to Bible study that encourages daily Scripture reading and weekly group discussion with the goal of moving people toward a closer relationship with Jesus. Disciple aims to transform not just inform. Disciple calls on each person to submit themselves to examination by Scripture; to put themselves under the power of God's Word and to be changed by it.
Below are a list and descriptions of the Disciple Classes offered at Oakdale Emory Church:
Disciple 1: Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study
This 34-week course covers a large part of the Bible from a thematic perspective. You get the "big picture" and see how it all fits together. It prepares you to take any of the other Disciple Bible studies.
Disciple 2: Into the Word, Into the World
The emphasis of this 32-week study shifts from the broad view to a deeper, more detailed view. The first "semester" examines Genesis and Exodus, which play a distinctive role in Torah teaching and Old Testament tradition. The second "semester" focuses on Luke and Acts. The teachings, sermons and life of Jesus in Luke provide the impetus for the strong movement of the Holy Spirit in Acts.
Disciple 3: Remember Who You Are
Participants in this 32-week study will devote 16 weeks to the Old Testament prophets, and 16 weeks to the letters of the Apostle Paul. The prophets and Paul continually call their hearers and readers back to their God and to a sense of who they are as a holy ("set apart") people. The prophets and community cannot be separated. The prophets spoke for God, out of the community, to the community. Paul used the language of his Greco-Roman culture to carry the message that arose out of his roots in the Hebrew Scriptures and Judaism, as well as his experience with the risen Lord.
Disciple 4: Under the Tree of Life
The Hebrew version of what Christians call the Old Testament has three divisions: Torah (first five books of the Bible), the Prophets and the Writings. This Disciple course concentrates on the Writings in the Old Testament: Ruth; 1 & 2 Chronicles; Ezra; Nehemiah; Esther; Job; Psalms; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Song of Solomon; Lamentations; and Daniel—and in the New Testament: the Gospel of John; 1, 2, & 3 John; James; Jude; and Revelation. Present through the whole 32-week study is the sense of living toward completion—toward the climax of the Gospel message and promise, extravagantly pictured in the Revelation.
Graduate Disciple
This study was developed specifically for those who have completed all four levels of Disciple Bible Study but would like to continue to look at the Bible from that perspective. Through our review of the four years of Disciple lessons, participants will have the opportunity to revisit their notes, rethink their answers, and revive discussions with other graduates.
Disciple Second Generation Studies: Jesus in the Gospels
This 30-week study looks at the way each Gospel writer—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—presents the events and teachings in the life of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark provides the framework for the study, and in most lessons provides the lead passage to which are added accounts of the same story or event from the other Gospels and supportive Scriptures from the Old Testament and other parts of the New Testament.
Christian Believer
This 30-week study assumes that participants are already followers of Jesus and that they come to the study to understand the faith they already have. It emphasizes the head as well as the heart. The goal of Christian Believer is to make available to people the substance of the Christian faith that the Church has confessed throughout history as a way of connecting to God and living faithfully.
Contact: Tricia Congdon
Director of Disciple Bible Study