A Yearlong Discipleship Journey for Your Church

If you're looking to lead your church with greater focus and spiritual depth, this is a clear place to start. The Ways of Jesus is a ready-to-use plan built around 52 commands of Jesus. With a full year of aligned content—including sermon outlines, manuscripts, group discussion guides, and 210 daily devotionals—this journey helps your church grow in faith and unity.

How to use this resource in your church.

Think of The Ways of Jesus as a year-long discipleship journey for your church. It includes nearly a year’s worth of sermon series, outlines, manuscripts, sermon discussion questions, group discussion guides, and daily devotionals.

As we preached through the 52 ways of Jesus, we grouped them into themes and series to keep it fresh for an entire year. You can see how we did this by looking at the PDF below titled “At A Glance”.

You can really begin it whenever you’d like, but we ran it through an entire calendar year beginning in January. I think it’s easier to create all church alignment and spiritual momentum at the start of a new year.

Throughout the year-long spiritual journey, we invited our church to commit to the following five things. As they did so, we witnessed incredible spiritual momentum in the life of our church family.

Worship Weekly: Attend church each week and learn about the 52 ways of Jesus.
Grow Daily: Read and pray through the daily devotional that focuses on that week’s way of Jesus.
Connect Seasonally: Join a small group to discuss and practice the ways of Jesus together.
Serve Regularly: Serve in the church and/or out in the community through ministry teams and service projects.
Share with a Friend: Invite a friend to join you in one or all of these experiences.

I am convinced that this year-long journey has the potential to transform you and your church as you commit to following him and his ways. Jesus himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me” John 14:6 (NCV).

General Resources

At A Glance

This at-a-glance overview gives churches a clear roadmap for the year, outlining weekly sermon themes with Scripture references and Jesus’ commands for each topic.

DOWNLOAD

Devotionals

This 5-day-a-week devotional is designed for year-round use, with 210 ready-to-go entries that align with each sermon series and guide your community through Scripture, reflection, and prayer.

DOWNLOAD

Group Discussions

The Ways of Jesus Groups Discussion Guides:Weekly discussion guides created for Groups Season for the following series of sermons: Real Love, Closing the Loop, and FOR.

DOWNLOAD

The Ways of Jesus

This series invites the congregation to embrace a year-long journey of growth in "The Ways of Jesus. " Rooted in John 14:6, Matthew 28:19-20, and John 14:15, the series will guide believers through the principles and practices of a committed Christian life, centered on worship, growth, connection, service, and sharing. Each week, members are encouraged to deepen their commitment to following Jesus through these core aspects.

See Resources

Real Love

Real Love is a series designed to guide the congregation in embodying the depth, sacrifice, and transformative power of Jesus’ love in all areas of life. Each week, the series addresses a unique aspect of love—its expression, boundaries, challenges, and redemptive power—as modeled by Jesus. With anchor scriptures from both the Gospels and New Testament teachings, the series provides a foundation for understanding love as more than emotion: it is a commitment to live according to Jesus' example in every relationship.

See Resources

Overcome

Overcome is a series designed to help believers rise above the stressors, divisions, and weariness of life by adopting the teachings and peace of Jesus. Through his example and guidance, Jesus empowers us to live with priorities centered on God, to experience true rest, and to pursue unity in a fractured world. Each week, the series examines a key element of overcoming life's challenges by aligning our lives with the way of Jesus.

See Resources

Holy Week

Holy Week explores the significant events leading up to and including the resurrection of Jesus. Each service—Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday—focuses on key aspects of Jesus' mission and message. This series aims to deepen believers' understanding of Jesus’ journey to the cross and the transformative power of His resurrection.

See Resources

Closing The Loop

Closing the Loop explores the transformative paths that Jesus calls his followers to walk: paths of life, mercy, grace, and hope. Each week focuses on a distinct aspect of living the “narrow way” of Jesus, inviting believers to embody his teachings in their daily lives. Anchored in Scripture, this series helps believers choose a life shaped by Jesus' example in all circumstances, even as they look forward to his return.

See Resources

Freedom - The Way of Generosity

The Freedom series explores how generosity—both toward God and others—can transform lives and align us with God's vision for a life of true freedom. Each message in this series highlights the biblical principles of generosity, examining how giving reflects the heart of God and frees us from the hold of materialism, selfishness, and fear. By understanding generosity as a pathway to spiritual freedom, the series calls believers to live out Jesus' teachings on giving as a means of worship and compassion.

See Resources

Lifeline - The Way of Prayer

Lifeline is a seven-week series designed to deepen the congregation’s understanding of prayer as a foundational “lifeline” to God. Using the structure of the Lord’s Prayer, each week addresses a unique aspect of prayer, linking it to specific ways of Jesus. The series encourages believers to see prayer not only as a means of asking for God’s provision but as a way of cultivating a close, transformative relationship with Him. Through each theme, participants are invited to explore how prayer shapes their identity in Christ and aligns them with God’s will.

See Resources

The Way of Fruitfulness

The Way of Fruitfulness is a standalone message calling believers to live lives that produce lasting, godly impact. Using Jesus’ parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9), the message highlights the idea that God doesn’t want us to “waste our days.” Instead, He has good purposes and expects us to grow in character and actions that reflect His nature. The gardener’s response in the parable reveals God’s patience and goodness, as He allows time for transformation and fruitfulness even when we fall short. However, this message also underscores that we are responsible and accountable for the lives we live and the fruit we produce.

See Resources

Pillars

Pillars is a five-week series designed to deepen believers' understanding of five foundational qualities that Jesus modeled: confidence, service, discernment, self-control, and integrity. Each week explores a specific “pillar” of character that Christians are encouraged to embrace as part of their journey in following Jesus’ example. Through key scriptures and insights, the series emphasizes that these traits are essential not only for personal growth but for building a faithful, impactful community in Christ.

See Resources

Nope

Nope is a five-part series that calls believers to draw boundaries against harmful influences by saying “no” to anything that leads them away from God’s truth and character. With Jesus’ teachings as the guide, this series encourages discernment and freedom from deception, pride, greed, and false wisdom, affirming that true fulfillment and purpose come through Christ alone. Each week, believers are reminded to hold fast to God’s standards in their faith journey.

See Resources

FOR

FOR is a five-part series that focuses on embodying the compassionate, inclusive, and service-oriented heart of Jesus. This series calls believers to be "FOR" their Church, their Community, and their State, actively engaging in compassion, inclusion, invitation, and commitment. Each week encourages believers to live out their faith in ways that illuminate God’s love, inviting all people into His grace and truth through both words and actions.

See Resources