Hook New Covenant Church

Discipleship opportunities

" Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28: 18 – 20

Becoming a Christian in the first place is about acknowledging and accepting Jesus Christ as your own Saviour and Lord.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

Having believed and received Jesus we set off on a lifelong journey of discovering His will and following it – i.e. becoming active followers of Him. You will see from the great commission of Jesus to His church (at the top of this page) that it is the mission of the church not just to make and baptise believers, but then to teach them and equip them to obey all his commands.

At Hook New Covenant Church we take this seriously, and we are making every effort to effectively help all who follow Jesus Christ to reach their potential in Him. This section outlines some of the ways we are working towards that goal, and some of the opportunities that you have to learn more and build onto the foundations of your faith.

You will notice that we work closely with Newfrontiers in this. They offer many training opportunities that individual churches would be stretched to provide on their own. Terry Virgo writes:

"Making disciples and training leaders have always been high on our list of priorities. God wants us to plant churches around the world and this will never be accomplished without the transformation of individual lives and the effective training of those who can communicate the truth in both word and lifestyle.

I want to encourage you to take advantage of the training programmes that are now available. Time spent in getting more aware of the content of the Bible and more confident in handling it is time well spent. Also, being trained alongside others who share similar values and zeal for the Kingdom of God is inspiring and motivating.

Those who teach you are themselves men who are not armchair academics but men who have hands-on responsibility in local church life and will ensure a practical edge to your training. So I invite you to get involved. Find these training programmes to be the next step in your progress towards fulfilling your potential in God in the days and years to come."

Some of the opportunities available for training

Alpha	Open door	First Steps
Foundations	Belonging	Cover to cover	Freedom in Christ
Systematic Theology	Cell Group Leaders Training	Wordplus*	3DT Teams*
	Frontier Project*	Church Planting Training School*	Leadership Training*

* These training opportunities are offered in partnership with Newfrontiers.

Alpha

The Alpha course is an opportunity for anyone to explore the Christian faith. It’s relaxed, non-threatening, low-key, friendly and fun. The Alpha course consists of a series of talks looking at topics such as "Who is Jesus?" and "Why did Jesus die?" and "How do I pray?" After each talk we divide into small groups for a time of discussion. Alpha is for everyone, especially:

Those wanting to investigate Christianity
New Christians
Newcomers to the Church
Those who want to brush up on the basics.

For more details visit www.alphacourse.org

Open door

This is an opportunity to make a step of faith into Christianity or else to confirm a commitment that has already been taken, either recently or some time ago. You will be taken through a short presentation and invited to ask any questions that you might have about the decision that you have made.

First steps

This is a fifteen part introduction to the Christian faith outlining the first steps that need to be taken in your new life. A simple and easy to use format based on a booklet written by John Robertshaw that has now been adopted by many different churches. You are able to either follow this course on a one to one basis or as part of a small group.

Foundations

Building on "First Steps", this is an excellent tool for building a strong foundation to your Christian life. Written by John Groves of Winchester Family Church, this course is broken down into seven units, each of which has five days of homework to do (each day taking about 20 minutes). Then there is a group meeting during which the material is reviewed and any questions answered.

"Having searched for some time to find some basic training material that reflects the values that we hold as important at Hook, I am delighted to have discovered ‘Foundations’ by John Groves. It would difficult to find something more thorough and well presented than this. I wholeheartedly recommend anyone who has not yet gone through some systematic basic Christian training, to attend one of our ‘Foundations’ courses." - Dave Colebrooke

Belonging

This is a five session course essential for anyone who wishes to become a member of Hook New Covenant Church. Based on a book by the same title by David Matthew, this course covers what the church believes, its vision and values, and what is expected of its members. It is fully interactive and gives the opportunity to ask any question of the church elders.

Cover to Cover

There is no better way to understanding the stories and details of The Bible than by being able to fit them into the Big Story – the complete picture of God’s revelation to man unfolded from the first page of Genesis to the last page of Revelation. Cover to Cover takes you systematically and chronologically through the whole Bible in one year – with helpful comments and explanations along the way. Every Christian should endeavour to read the Bible through at least once, and the likelihood is that having done this once you will be eager to do it again!

Freedom in Christ

"Freedom in Christ" is a flexible yet thorough course designed with a number of goals in mind:

To help you understand your identity in Christ
To help you win the battle for your mind
To help you overcome any susceptibility to deception
To help you to resolve personal and spiritual conflicts
To help you to live free in Christ.

It includes the two elements of teaching and ministry.

"Many Christians are forgiven but they aren’t free. Freedom in Christ is a great course for helping people enter into the fullness of what the Father wants for us." - Mark Stibbe, Vicar of St Andrews, Chorleywood

Systematic Theology

This is an opportunity for an individual to personally study in depth Wayne Grudem’s outstanding Systematic Theology, working through all the great scriptural doctrines in an ordered way. You will be required to study and answer questions on each chapter of this book at a pace to suit you, whilst receiving personal help and encouragement.

Other occasional courses

There are frequent further opportunities for study and training within Hook New Covenant Church, including "Battle for the mind", "Positive Parenting"’, "Demolishing Strongholds", "Word Plus Modules", etc. For more details contact the church office.

Training opportunities offered in partnership with Newfrontiers

There are further opportunities that are offered in partnership with Newfrontiers that fall under four basic headings:

Theology and Leadership,
Taking a year out,
Cross-cultural opportunities and
Church planting.

As these courses are under constant change, for the latest details ask for a brochure from the church office or visit the Newfrontiers website.

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