Spiritual Disciplines & Multiplying Disciples

Course Syllabus

Course Description

This is the capstone course of the Christian Mentoring & Discipleship Certificate and the Send Out movement of The Timothy Pattern: Be With, Build Up, Send Out. In Part One (Modules 1–5) you will learn the spiritual disciplines as grace-filled habits, not rules for earning God's love: Scripture intake and memorization, journaling, prayer and praying Scripture, worship, solitude and silence, Sabbath rest, fasting (always optional, with clear safety guidance), fellowship, service, and giving of your time and talents. You will practice each one realistically inside a facility and after release and write a personal Rule of Life. In Part Two (Modules 6–8) you will learn to multiply disciples (2 Timothy 2:2): launching a group of two to four women with a simple meeting pattern called Look Back, Look Up, Look Forward, raising new leaders, discipling new believers after release, evaluating fruit with humility, and finishing well. The course ends with a Multiplication Plan, a commissioning statement, and a commissioning prayer. A discipler is a fellow follower of Jesus, not a counselor, a clinician, or a spiritual boss. This certificate is not ordination or a counseling credential. Every activity can be completed on paper.

Faith Integration

Paul told Timothy to exercise thyself rather unto godliness (1 Timothy 4:7). Spiritual disciplines are that kind of exercise: not a way to earn God's love, but ways to stay near the One who already loves us. Jesus said, my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30), so in this course no discipline is a law, a test of worth, or a reason for shame. Missing a day is never failure; it is simply a reason to begin again. Out of a life that is fed by Jesus, we are sent to pass faith on. Someone carried the gospel to you; now you are sent to carry it to others also (2 Timothy 2:2), gently, humbly, and under healthy authority, trusting that God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). We never pressure anyone, never use the disciplines to control or shame anyone, and we refer women to chaplains, pastors, doctors, and licensed counselors when they need more help than a discipler can give.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Explain spiritual disciplines as grace-filled habits of training in godliness (1 Timothy 4:7–8) and distinguish them from legalism, performance, and spiritual pressure.
2. Practice Scripture intake, meditation, memorization, and journaling with simple methods that work on paper, inside a facility and after release.
3. Pray in several ways, including praying Scripture, and practice personal and shared worship.
4. Practice solitude, silence, and Sabbath rest with trauma-informed options, and explain fasting as an optional discipline with clear safety guidance and non-food alternatives.
5. Describe fellowship, service, and giving (including time and talent) as disciplines of love, and write a realistic personal Rule of Life.
6. Explain the multiplication principle of 2 Timothy 2:2 and lead a small discipleship group of two to four women using the Look Back, Look Up, Look Forward pattern.
7. Raise new leaders with the Hand-Off Ladder (Watch, Help, Lead, Launch), and disciple new believers after release by connecting them to a healthy local church and appropriate help.
8. Evaluate fruit with humility, plan to finish well, and present a Rule of Life, a Multiplication Plan, and a commissioning statement that complete The Timothy Pattern: Be With, Build Up, Send Out.

Course Materials

• This student workbook
• A Bible (King James Version)
• A notebook or lined paper, a folder, and index cards (for memory verses)
• Pen or pencil (no devices are required; every activity has a paper version)
• Your When to Get Help card from CMD 271 (a new copy is provided in Module 1)

Weekly Schedule

How You Will Be Graded

To pass this course: earn 70% or higher overall and attend at least 80% of sessions.

Classroom Covenant

• We begin and end each session in prayer. Participation in prayer is always welcome, never required.
• What is shared in class stays in class. We protect one another's stories.
• We speak with respect, listen without interrupting, and disagree with grace.
• We come prepared, do our own work, and ask for help when we need it.
• We follow all facility rules. Safety and security come first.
• We believe the best about one another and about what God can do.

Support & Accommodations

If reading, writing, vision, hearing, or any other need makes a part of this course harder, tell your instructor privately. Materials can be read aloud, enlarged, or completed orally. Missed sessions can be made up using the module pages. If you are transferred or released, your completed work stays on record and you can finish online.

Welcome

Welcome to the capstone of the Christian Mentoring & Discipleship Certificate: the Send Out movement of The Timothy Pattern: Be With, Build Up, Send Out. This companion walks beside you with a weekly reading, five devotions for the days between sessions, and a Quick Guide you can keep with your Rule of Life and Multiplication Plan. Remember: every discipline here is an invitation of grace, never a test. No practice should ever hurt your body, fasting is never required, and missing a day simply means you begin again.

How to Use This Companion

• Read the weekly reading after each class session. It takes about 10 minutes.
• Reflect on the questions. These are for you; you do not have to turn them in.
• Meet with God through the five daily devotions between sessions.
• Keep the Quick Guide at the end to carry home after release.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.— Psalm 119:105 (KJV)