Ralph F. Wilson, 'The Teacher' (2020), original watercolor.
Ralph F. Wilson, 'The Teacher' (2020), original transparent watercolor.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be trained as a disciple by Jesus himself? To be one of that band of Twelve and then Seventy who followed him around Galilee and Judea? As they walked with Jesus, he molded them as disciples.

Discipleship Training in Luke's Gospel is a conscious attempt to put you and me in the place of those first disciples. It's a JesusWalk. Over the span of 120 lessons, you'll look at each of Jesus' healing acts, each word, each confrontation, each parable, and ask the question: What should I as a disciple be learning from this?

Written over a period of three years and experienced by over 5,000 students from 123 countries, Discipleship Training in Luke's Gospel is being used by God to mold many in Christ's image. (Here's what people have said about it.) Now slightly revised and available in audio form and via e-mail, this series can help form you as a disciple.

Preachers will be glad for the careful exegesis of each passage, footnoted research, and relentless digging that results in an authentic, present-day interpretation. Teachers and small group leaders will use the deep, probing questions at the end of each lesson. But the one who will benefit most is you, the earnest disciple on your quest to learn genuine discipleship at the feet of the Master.

"Do not even think of undertaking a study such as this unless you are prepared to be challenged to grow spiritually.   It's all very well to receive the email each week, but it's a whole different thing to be prepared to honestly apply the teaching to your life in a way which will help you grow into the mature Christian man or woman God knows you can be." -- Al Ferguson
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, author, JesusWalk Bible Study Series.
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, author of the JesusWalk Bible Study Series.

This quest for disciple training is not for the faint of heart. The entire series consists of 120 meaty lessons drawn from the text of Luke's Gospel. Only the determined will get through it all and absorb the core of what Jesus has to say to his disciples. While crowds of thousands followed him as a popular teacher, only a few hung with him day after day, year after year, even to the cross. I hope you are one of the few who will dedicate yourself to learn from Jesus with particular intensity and determination to become his disciple indeed.

I look forward to studying with you,
Pastor Ralph

I have divided these lessons into six series most of which range from 19 to 26 lessons each to break the material up into manageable groups for study via e-mail. You can sign up to receive a lesson in two frequencies:

  1. Once a week (each Saturday) that will take you about two years to complete the whole series.
  2. Twice a week (Saturday, Wednesday) that you can complete in about a year if you're diligent.

If you need to go faster, all the lessons are available online to peruse. But faster is not necessarily better. The goal for an authentic disciple is not to amass knowledge, but let Jesus work in your heart to mold you. That's a process that takes time. There are no short-cuts, no tests you can cram for.

Our goal is to become disciples. Unlike most studies you've seen of Luke's Gospel, we begin in Luke 3, with John the Baptist, and skip the infancy narratives in Luke 1-2, which aren't yet dealing with discipleship lessons. However, you might subscribe to this series of 8 lessons of the Infancy Narratives during the Advent Season some year.

Each lesson contains in-depth Greek word studies, modern applications, and a number of probing questions that can be discussed with a group or Sunday school class (if you use this with others), or which you can discuss in an online forum with others who are studying these passages. If you're a preacher or teacher you can draw from the carefully footnoted research that underlies these lessons to help you build messages for your congregation.

For your convenience you'll find Discipleship Training in Luke's Gospel in multiple formats:

  • E-mail lessons (available once or twice per week at no charge).
  • Audio lessons in mp3 format that you can download or stream as a podcast (no charge).

    • Discipleship Training in Luke's Gospel, by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
    Lessons compiled in 805-page book in paperback, Kindle, & PDF.
  • Web pages you can browse at your leisure (no charge).
  • Book formats in paperback, PDF, and Kindle. In paperback format, I was able to reduce the size of type and margins to fit the text into 805 pages. Paperback, of course, is more expensive, but I am selling it at my cost to keep the price low for you. PDF and Kindle versions are quite reasonable. If you plan to make this a serious course of study for yourself or your congregation, I recommend getting it in book form, since e-mail is often unreliable. (Of course, all the material in the book formats is available the web or by e-mail at no charge; the book formats are just more convenient, that's all.)

To get started, go to the webpage for the series where you want to start, and sign up for the e-mail series. I recommend you start at the beginning, as Luke intended, and study one series at a time.

  • Series 1. Jesus and John: Early Ministry and Jesus' Galilean Ministry (part 1; Luke 3:1-6:49; 20 lessons). Available now. Starts Friday, January 8, 2021.

  • Series 2. Jesus' Galilean Ministry (part 2; Luke 7:1-9:56; 20 lessons). Available in February 2021.

  • Series 3. Jesus' Judean Ministry (part 1; Luke 9:57-15:10; 26 lessons). Available in March 2021.

  • Series 4. Jesus' Judean Ministry (part 2) and Jesus in Jerusalem (Luke 15:11-21:36; 27 lessons). Available in April 2021.

  • Series 5. Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection (Luke 21:37-24:53; 19 lessons). Could be studied during Lent. Available in April 2021.

  • Series 6. The Infancy Narrative (Luke 1:5-2:52; 8 lessons). Could be studied during Advent.

If you can't find a lesson, you'll find a complete list of links to all the lessons here.

Free e-mail: Series 1 | Series 2 | Series 3 | Series 4 | Series 5 | Series 6 | Maps | All

Discipleship Training in Luke's Gospel

Copyright © 2024, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor@joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.

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