Rooted in Jesus
A course
in nurture and discipleship for Africa
Rooted
in Jesus is a nurture course written in partnership between Holy Trinity
Leicester and our link diocese of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The problem
they had was that they were finding that people respond readily to the
gospel, but that there are few resources available to help them become
mature Christian disciples. Many fall away, and many confuse their Christian
beliefs with traditional religious practices. The diocese felt that there
was a need for some resources which would help the clergy and evangelists to
teach their people to live out their faith effectively – not translations of
Western materials but something especially written for the African context,
and capable of being used by leaders who may have received little
theological training. This is how Rooted in Jesus came into being.
Rooted in Jesus was written by a team of
clergy and teachers from Leicester, many of whom have experience of working
in Africa. The course takes its inspiration from Matthew 28.19-20 (go and
make disciples) and 2 Timothy 2.2 (who will be able to teach others also).
It is designed for a context where many come to faith but few have access to
culturally appropriate materials which will help them grow to Christian
maturity. It is not a course for private study, and it is not comparable to
TEE; its emphasis is on group work and practical
Christian living through the power of the Holy Spirit, rather than on
theological education per se. The aim is to build strong fellowships
of Christian disciples who will in turn be able to help others.
Rooted in Jesus is
divided into 12 modules, with 4 lessons in each module. It is
envisaged that the course will be taught over a period of two years. Each
lesson is led by a group leader, and will involve anything from five to
thirty people who wish to become effective disciples of Jesus Christ. The
course is designed to be taught orally (there are no workbooks), and it is
not assumed that course members will own Bibles or be able to read - the
Bible is taught through scripture memory, and a great deal of emphasis is
placed on prayer.
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Rooted In Jesus - the
syllabus
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A Leader’s Guide is available for group leaders
A team leader's
handbook is available for SOMA team leaders
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Book One
Module 1: What is a Christian?
Session 1: God knows you
Session 2: What is the problem?
Session 3: Who is Jesus Christ?
Session 4: What must I do?
Module 2: Introduction to the work of the Holy Spirit
Session 1: How to be sure God will never leave you
Session 2: The Holy Spirit is in you
Session 3: Assurance of victory
Session 4: Assurance of forgiveness
Module 3: Growing as a Christian
Session 1: An introduction to prayer Session 2: An introduction to
fellowship
Session 3: An introduction to the Bible
Session 4: Deeper into prayer
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Book Two
Module 4: Learning more about Jesus
Session 1: The Life of Jesus
Session 2: Human and divine
Session 3: Jesus is coming back
Session 4: Jesus is Lord
Module 5: Learning more about the Holy Spirit
Session 1: The gifts of the Holy Spirit
Session 2: Praying for healing
Session 3: Knowing the enemy
Session 4: Defeating the enemy
Module 6: Learning from the Bible
Session 1: The Bible – God’s part and our part
Session 2: Using the word of God
Session 3: Knowing God’s will
Session 4: Claiming God’s promises
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Book Three
Module 7: The Christian character, Part I
Session 1: Growing in Christ
Session 2: Learning to forgive
Session 3: Coping with suffering
Session 4: Living by the truth
Module 8: The Christian character, Part II
Session 1: Work
Session 2: The Christian and wealth
Session 3: The Christian and self-control
Session 4: Marriage
Module 9: What is the Church?
Session 1: The Church is a body
Session 2: The Church is a family
Session 3: Baptism
Session 4: Communion
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Book Four
Module 10: Developing in ministry
Session 1: Hearing God’s voice
Session 2: Living by faith
Session 3: Women in ministry
Session 4: Leadership in the church
Module 11: Sharing the good news
Session 1: The task of the church
Session 2: Talking about the cross
Session 3: Living like Jesus
Session 4: The gospel and other religious beliefs
Module 12 : Living in the world
Session 1: Living in the community
Session 2: Understanding the spiritual needs of the community
Session 3: Praying for the community
Session 4: Finishing well
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