What is a Healthy Church?
By Mark Dever
Chapter Twelve
Week 8 (June 2nd & June 4th) An Important Mark of a Healthy Church: Biblical Discipleship and Growth
1. The Need for Discipleship
Read Philippians 3:12-21
What does this passage teach us about
 The basis and motivation for our growth as Christians?

The kind of effort we should spend on growing as Christians (vv. 13 & 14)?

How we are to grow as Christians (v. 17)?
How do you respond when a fellow believer corrects or rebukes you? What does this reveal
about how you see yourself?
What is one practical way you can seek to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ this week?
2. The Definition of Discipleship
Read Matthew 4:18-20, Matthew 16:24 & 25, and John 12:25 & 26
Based on these passages, what does it mean to follow Jesus?
Read Matthew 28:18-20
What do these verses teach us about following Jesus?
What’s one area of your life in which you struggle to follow Jesus?
3. The Motivations of Discipleship
Look at Colossians 3:1-13
What motivations for discipleship can you identify in this passage?
What are some ways you can use the truths in this passage to spur on your own and others’
growth in godliness? How can you practically reshape your heart’s motivations?
What impact have these truths already had on your discipleship?
4. The Means of Discipleship: Following Godly Examples
Look at 1 Corinthians 10:23-11:1
Why do you think Paul tells the Corinthians to imitate his conduct, in addition to giving them
instructions in writing? Why is imitating others’ good examples an important aspect of
discipleship?
If learning by imitation is a large part of discipleship, why is being involved in a healthy church
crucial for the Christian life?
As a Christian, you have the responsibility—and the joyful opportunity—to set a godly
example for others to follow. How should that impact the way you live your day-to-day life?
What are some practical steps you can take to personally model godliness for others?
5. The Means of Discipleship: Teaching One Another
Read Ephesians 4:11-16
According to verse 15, by what means are we to grow up into Christ? What are some practical
ways you can begin speaking the truth in love into other believers’ lives?
Read verse 16. In this verse Paul teaches that the body of Christ grows as every single part “is
working properly.” What are some practical ways that you can help to ensure that other
church members are contributing to the body’s growth?
How would you describe your role and responsibilities as a church member in light of this
passage? What should you be consistently striving to do in the church?
6. The End of Discipleship
Read Colossians 1:27-29
What does this passage teach us about what discipleship demands of us, both as we seek to
grow in Christ and as we seek to help others grow in Christ?
Read 1 John 3:1-3
In light of this passage and the prior one, how would you respond to someone who said, “If
God is going to purify us from sin in the end, why do we need to bother about that now?
Can’t we just keep on living however we want, since God is going to perfect us in the end?”
What are some specific ways you can grow as a disciple, and help others grow as disciples, by
bringing the hope of glory to bear on the stuff of our daily lives?