Discipleship Begins at Home helps parents, pastors, caregivers, and teachers create a plan of biblical discipleship and growth for the children in their care. Our objective is to instruct on the importance of discipleship and to outline a framework that provides the tools necessary to fulfill it effectively.
Additional topics include practical and theological themes that shape a child’s worldview and character, such as identity in Christ, biblical sexuality, spiritual growth in older children, and the role of Scripture in everyday life—all with the goal of leaving a lasting legacy of faith.
When you purchase Discipleship Begins at Home, you will receive access to two courses: Year One and Year Two.
Our current discipleship model within the church isn’t working. However, it isn’t for obvious reasons. For the last 20 years, we have seen youth involved in the church dropping out at an alarming rate (70-88%). In this session we will look at the subtle steps that have led to the current culture in the church that keeps even the most dedicated family from producing mature Christian children through the programs of the church. Once you see it, you’ll understand why and you’ll never be able to not see it again.
An idol is anything that takes the proper place of God in our lives. We often associate idols with things that are evil. However, an idol can also be something that is good but valued far above its proper placement in our lives. Many families unknowingly struggle with three idols that can hinder or destroy the foundation of faith in their children. In this session, we will identify what those idols are and the impact they are having on our children. Are you brave enough to knock them down and put them in their proper place?
Most Christian families have a godly desire to fulfill the Great Commission in their home by making disciples of their children. However, our children didn’t come with instruction booklets on how to grow them in the faith (wouldn’t that be nice?). Most of us muddle along doing the best we can by taking them to church and telling them about God as we have the opportunity. But what if there was something that actually gave us greater instruction on how to do discipleship with our growing children & youth? In this session, we start rebuilding the foundation of faith in our families again with a blueprint that keeps Jesus as the foundation and grows as your children grow.
Because I said so” was such a dissatisfying answer when we heard it from the lips of our parents. Often it represented the end of a discussion without an actual reason as to why a certain rule or punishment was being enforced. However, now as parents, we have often created rules for our families in much the same way. In this workshop, Pastor Jeremy Bannister will help us break that cycle by appealing to the only foundation for discipline that will outlast our influence as parents…the Word of God.
There are several factors happening in our culture right now that are an assault on God’s will for us to work. But God expects our kids to know how to work diligently and spend money God’s way. And it’s our job as parents to teach them. Theologian, Krista Bontrager, will lay out the theological framework for a Christian view of work and money, as well as some practical ways to engage in family discipleship.
The biggest question our current culture is asking young people is, “Who are you?”. From Instagram hashtags like #ChooseYourGender to TikTok videos asking “What are your pronouns,” to demands to become “allies,” or “anti-racist,” our children are surrounded with invitations to accept fraudulent identities, ways of being and belief systems that are outside of God’s declared word.
The pressures to self-identify have left many young people searching and asking a different question: “Who Am I?” Without biblical guidance, young people will allow culture or popular opinion to define or identify them. As parents, aunts/uncles, and leaders, we have an important role in the life of young people: to reinforce their God-given identity.
Together, let’s discuss the importance of affirming a child’s God-given identity and strategies to reinforce what Scripture declares over them.
Culture continually bombards our children with its philosophy that truth changes from person-to-person. How can we make a compelling argument for the existence of objective truth and train our children to discern truth from falsehood? In this session, we will explore answers to these questions and engage in strategies for implementing truth-education with our children.
We typically reserve apologetics instruction for high school and college students. However, is it wise to wait until the late teen years before we equip our children to understand why we can confidently place our trust in the biblical worldview? Come explore developmentally appropriate strategies we can use to capitalize on the elementary years and begin apologetics training with our children!
I talk to many students who simply seem bored with Christianity. They have grown up in a Christian home, attended Christian schools, and have gone to church every week. They are tired of the same stories being repeated over and over again. Their knowledge of God is limited to: God loves me, he has a plan for me, and Jesus died for me… that’s all. No wonder they’re bored! Other students keep hearing about God but become bitter because they keep asking “Where is he? Does he even exist?”, only to never get their questions answered. That is why I created this talk. I think that when we understand how relationships are formed, then our students will grow into a deep, loving, committed relationship with God.
Many Christian parents want to disciple their kids. But they also recognize gaps in their own knowledge of the faith. Theologian, Krista Bontrager, shares practical strategies to help parents fill in those gaps and transfer that knowledge to the next generation.
When you purchase Discipleship Begins at Home, you will receive access to two courses: Year One and Year Two.
A trailblazer is someone who forges a path for others to follow, exactly what we are called to do for our children concerning their faith in Christ. In this session, we will look at the attributes of a trailblazer essential for every parent to have to ensure they are not losing sight of the goal of a mature faith in Christ for their children. We will also look at those things that threaten our trailblazing ways onto the meandering but familiar path of mediocrity and compromise.
Parenting is an overwhelming task. In our own strength, raising kids who love and trust Jesus is not only difficult, it is impossible. However, when we truly understand our identity in Christ, that changes everything, including our parenting. When we ground our parenting in this true and unchanging identity, we are freed from the idols of our culture and heart and can parent out of love for our Savior.
As our children grow, challenges to their faith come from both the outside and inside. Outside forces challenge their faith at every turn through their friends, their entertainment and their education (whether the school system or the internet). Inside this can produce feelings of apathy & doubt toward their faith that can lead to drift or even rebellion. How we guide our children through these feelings and their underlying causes is important for their continued growth in Christ and the equipping they will need to navigate these same feelings as an adult.
Growing up, most of us remember “the talk.” But were you ever told that how we use our bodies directly reflects what we believe about truth, God, and our identity? One of the biggest culture battles is waging on the field of sexuality. If we want to raise children who can think well, recognize cultural lies, and stand firm in the faith, they have to be discipled to see sex for what it truly is: not an act, but an expression of their entire worldview. In this talk attendees will learn the true purpose of sex, how to navigate tough questions, and equipped with practical discipleship techniques to help children understand who they are in Christ and why His design for their bodies matters.
Our kids may know Bible stories and have a handful of verses memorized, but do they genuinely know how to think biblically? Do they have the tools they need to read, interpret, and apply Scripture in a world that wants them to do anything but this? If we want to raise our children to know and love Jesus, we must equip them with the skills they need to seek God through His Word all the days of their lives.
Legacy is much more than tradition — it’s a biblical mandate. In this session, we’ll look at biblical and current examples to help paint a clear picture of what legacy is (and isn’t). Ultimately, as Christians, we all want to plant seeds, not weeds, and this session will give you the confidence to jump in and make a lasting and eternal impact on those you influence.
The secular world is speaking more loudly than ever to kids and is ultimately competing with parents for influence over their kids’ worldview. In light of this reality, how should Christian parents transform the nature of their discipleship to be a stronger voice in the midst of so much “noise”? In this talk, you’ll learn practical answers to this question and gain takeaways you can begin using immediately.
The culture of the world has and will continue to challenge the good and Godly purpose and design for marriage, for sex, and for relationships generally. On TV, in music, and other media, the most attractive relationships presented to us are toxic, and dysfunctional at the core. This is the world’s idea of a desirable relationship: sex with no commitment, unrequited love, abuse both physical and psychological, and utterly self-concerned. This challenge, unlike ever before due to the increasing presence and influence of online worlds, is bypassing parents and guardians and coming straight to the minds and hearts of children. To tackle this, parents must be equipped and willing to speak to their young children about difficult, perhaps uncomfortable topics, and answer questions about why the world does things one way, and why we ought to follow another. We all must defend virtues and values like chastity, patience, wisdom, self-discipline; and above all, love for the Lord, and love for the neighbor.
Erin Kunkle is the co-founder of MAVEN (www.maventruth.com). She is a speaker and co-host of the MAVEN parent podcast. She also co-hosts the Strong Women Podcast for the Colson Center. She received her bachelor’s degree in social science from Biola University and is a veteran homeschooling mom of 14 years.
Pastor & Founder of The Next Generation Ministries
Theology Mom & Cofounder of Center for Biblical Unity
Author, Speaker & Podcaster
Cofounder of Center for Biblical Unity
Founder & Director of Them Before Us
Founder of Foundation Worldview
Apologist, Speaker & Teacher
Writer for Mama Bear Apologetics & Women in Apologetics
Author & Speaker
Cofounder of MAVEN
When you purchase Discipleship Begins at Home, you will receive access to two courses: Year One and Year Two.
For individual families only.
