Welcome!

Women’s Discipleship Concepts is a new ministry located in Knoxville, Tennessee. It serves women by teaching them what it means to grow in fellowship with Jesus Christ. When one comes into relationship with Jesus, everything changes, and women need help learning to navigate this new way of life. The Bible calls believers to mature in Him instead of just staying in the elementary teachings or in the “shallow end.” There are many Christians who stay in the shallow end their whole life, and the problem is many do not know how to grow. WDC is here to help women grow by a process called discipleship. This simply means learning to follow Jesus by meeting with a woman one-on-one to study the Bible, to pray, to cling to the gospel of Christ, to learn to serve, and to learn to deal with the sin in one’s life and grow in holiness.
In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus calls his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them and teaching them to observe everything he taught them. We, as followers of Christ, are called to teach others how to walk in Him. Through obedience and experience learning and growing and struggling, we learn, and we are called to help those younger in their life with Christ to learn, grow and mature.
Many in the church today are not stepping up to this role because they get so involved in their own worlds. We hope to encourage women one by one to give their lives away by sharing everything they know as they mature as obedient children of God. We do not look for perfect women, but we look for women who have been transformed by Christ and who are committed to investing in others.

WDC does this in two ways. The first way is one-on-one discipleship with college-aged and young adult women in the Knoxville area. Jennifer, our director, meets with 6 to 7 young women a year weekly to teach and encourage them to grow in Truth and love, and the goal is that they might also begin a life of pouring into other young women. The second way is equipping women to pour in, teach and encourage other women in the Truth. This is accomplished in group settings as women come together, learn in His word and are equipped to lead other women in one-on-one relationships and small groups. Both of these ways are with the expressed purpose of maturing the body of Christ to then pour in and help others mature. The goal is for multiplication to occur in the body of Christ.
Our passion is the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ, and we are about sharing that. Because of the limited size and scope of Women’s Discipleship Concepts, we cannot serve everyone in Knoxville, but we hope by multiplication of leadership and training, that a bigger portion of the body is encouraged. We also hope to provide suggestions and articles to help you as you participate in the discipleship of believers. We will list books, sermons, curriculum and other resources to point people toward the transforming gospel of Christ. So, please, visit us often and hear of what God is teaching us and growing us in. We are also a non-profit organization that is supported by the public, and we need your help to serve and grow. If you are interested in helping monetarily and/or prayerfully, please email us at womensdiscipleshipconcepts@gmail.com

Class Kick-off

Yesterday began the fall Equipping for Discipleship Class.  About 30 women of all ages gathered together to fellowship and learn more about discipleship.  It was so encouraging to see the women that God has brought together this semester.  Hearing the women share their hearts and connect afterwards was the most encouraging thing.  I will update the site as the class goes along.  Pray for us as we examine our hearts in the light of the gospel.

New Equipping for Discipleship Group

There will be a new Equipping for Discipleship Group starting this fall on September 8 through Women’s Connection at Fellowship Church.  This will run through November 10.  It meets every Tuesday from 9:30 to 11:30.  If you are interested in more about it, email me at womensdiscipleshipconcepts@gmail.com.

1st Annual WDC Beachaway

We just returned from a long weekend getaway to Florida at the beach.  It was a beautiful time of laughter, good conversation, stories, questions, cooking, making friends and encouragement.  Three young women went with me, Jen, and it was wonderful to spend time just getting to know them more in a relaxed environment and give them a chance to be around other Christian young women.  Liz suggested it be an annual event–and I am aiming to follow the suggestion.  Discipleship is done in every arena in life–and this was a wonderful opportunity to deepen those relationships both ways.  Hopefully some pictures will follow soon!

Reflections after a year with WDC

There are many lessons I have learned in the last year.  These are some in regards to disciple-making:

• Each woman has something unique to help the body because of the circumstances they have lived through and are living through.  Sharing those circumstances and the way God has taught and worked in them with others who are struggling is a huge part of the disciple-making process.
• Never assume people are listening to sermons…engage and ask questions about the Bible and their lives…dig in.
• There are not many people asking the hard questions in life that regard the heart and love for Christ.
• Women all around are HUNGERING for true relationships that sharpen them toward Christ and are starved of places to engage in that.  We ALL need the body.
• Believers often forget the gospel and strive to prove themselves to God.  Many believers cannot fully articulate the gospel therefore, they cannot fully live in it.  It all goes back to the gospel…one does not get “beyond” it or grow past it.
• Women are extremely performance oriented and struggle to be dependent on the Father and believe he loves and has grace for them.
• Understanding the gospel is the only means by which we live in worship to God–it brings thankfulness, humility, forgiveness and service toward others.
• Do not assume someone’s heart because they serve or are involved–the foundation may be really rocky…or rather, sandy.

Community

We encourage community in life–two are better than one.  God encourages us to live in dependence on him.  He, himself, is community–Father, Son, and Spirit.  He asks us to be one as a body–Jesus even prayed for us in that way (John 17).  We are commanded to love one another.  However, we can easily make it the ultimate.  Check this out to examine your heart about community.

Isolation: The Devil’s Playground

Check out my personal blog for a timely message for women.

We got it!

We are happy to announce that the IRS has officially granted WDC 501c3 status!  In laymen’s terms, this means that all donations to WDC are tax deductible.

Dealing with Technology in Our Lives

      Technology is a reality in our lives.  Cellphone, facebook, email, tv, radio, internet, etc, etc.  When is the last time you heard the sound of quiet?  How long could you stand it?  We are living lives with no margins…with no space.  God often speaks to us when we carve out time to be “with” Him.  We do not know how to be “with”—we do not give ourselves enough time without noise.  This article gives  a challenge to think about a sabbath from technology.  I have done this, and it is wonderful.  I think making space to be with God and others will create a hunger in you to do it more and more.

Let me see your fruit

     WDC continues to grow in many ways throughout each month.  Currently, there are 18 women involved in Equipping for Discipleship Groups and 6 young women that are participating in a One-on-One relationship with Jennifer.  Of these women involved, there are 60+ disciple-making relationships in the groups and one to one relationships they lead.  It is exciting to see God work shepherding the hearts of these women with the gospel.  Here are brief snippets of fruit from this last year…

• One of the young women started a Bible study on campus for her former sorority
• Women have reached out to one another through hardship…deaths, losses, child-rearing heartaches
• Women are learning to ask good questions of themselves and others to encourage growth
• Women of all ages making scripture memory and meditation part of their lives–seeing it transform
• Women cleaving to, wrestling with, and celebrating the gospel everyday in their lives and eagerly sharing that with others
• Seeing women in the community of Knoxville be excited for need of this type of ministry
• Seeing young women reach out organically in relationships to help impart truth to friends asking questions or just beginning to walk with Christ
• Seeing the curriculum be used to encourage deeper fellowship with Christ
• Seeing women begin to establish regular fellowship with Christ daily in His word and prayer

To God be the glory.

New Group Opportunity

This spring a new Equipping for Discipleship group starts through the Women’s Ministry at Fellowship Church in Knoxville.  The group will meet for 12 weeks starting Tuesday, January 20 from 9:30-11:30 am.  If you are interested, information and sign ups are here.