Level 1: Get Started

The Freedom in Christ Course is a Bible-based discipleship course designed to help every Christian break free from what is holding them back and become who they are made to be in Christ. It is for every Christian—from those who have been Christians for a long time to those who are brand-new followers of Jesus. Unlike many Christian discipleship courses today, the focus of this course is not on how to behave, but on what to believe.

The course is led by a trained FICM staff or volunteer and runs for 12 weeks, including an intro week and a week for participants to work through The Steps to Freedom in Christ, a step-by-step prayer and repentance process. Participants will be expected to watch the videos prior to class, do the weekly homework, and attend each weekly Zoom meeting to discuss what they have learned.

Some of the areas covered in the course include:

• The reality of what it means to be “in Christ”
• The spiritual battle as one of truth vs. deception
• How to resolve the effects of deep issues from the past
• How to deal with repeating patterns of sin
• Dealing with your emotions
• Understanding what God’s purpose is for your life

The Grace Course is a Bible-based discipleship course designed to help you understand God’s grace and be motivated by God’s love alone, so that you can go on to bear much fruit. It provides powerful, practical ways to submit to God, identify faulty thinking, and renew the mind. Prepare yourself for a life-transforming journey into the heart of the God of grace through this course. We believe you won’t be the same!

The course is led by a trained FICM staff or volunteer and runs for 9 weeks, including an intro week and a week for participants to work through The Steps to Experiencing God’s Grace, a step-by-step prayer and repentance process to help you address anything keeping you from experiencing God’s grace. Participants will be expected to watch the videos prior to class, complete the weekly homework, and attend each weekly Zoom meeting to discuss what they have learned.

Some of the areas covered in the course include:

• Grasp hold of your forgiveness in Christ and stop guilt trips!
• Leave behind a shame-based identity
• Find freedom from fearful living into a new walk of faith and courage
• Discover the keys to get rid of pride
• Enter into the “grace-rest” life of abiding in Christ

Prepare yourself for a life-touching, life-transforming journey to the heart of the God of grace through The Grace Course. We believe you will never be the same!

Understanding who you are in Christ is where it all begins. The powers of darkness attack us daily, but you have the power and protection of God to conquer these attacks and live triumphantly by realizing your identity in Christ. That is what this course is all about. Participants will go through Dr. Neil T. Anderson’s best-selling book, Victory Over the Darkness.

The course is led by a trained FICM staff or volunteer and runs for 13 weeks, including an intro week and a week for participants to work through The Steps to Freedom in Christ, a step-by-step prayer and repentance process. Participants will be expected to do the weekly reading and homework and attend each weekly Zoom meeting to discuss what they’ve learned. The homework includes reading chapters from Victory Over the Darkness and doing the daily homework in the study guide.

Some of the areas covered in the course include:

• Realize the power of your identity in Christ
• Accept the power of believing the truth
• Stand against the spiritual forces of this world
• Deal with emotional wounds and rejection from your past
• Become the spiritual person you want to be

Unraveling the Lie-Knot Book & Bible Study is a 12-session discipleship course for every Christian woman. Whether we realize it or not, we have come to believe things that are not actually true about ourselves. All of us are products of our upbringing and experiences, and those false beliefs hold us back. It really is possible to silence the thoughts in our heads that have tied us in knots for so long. We can find peace. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can learn to tell ourselves the truth found in God’s Word.

Each chapter in the book concludes with short, easily implemented small group study questions and guided journal opportunities that will help the reader:

• uncover areas of deception holding us back.
• learn how to understand the anatomy of a lie.
• discern the difference between the voices of God and Satan.
• discover how unresolved past trauma affects us and others.
• resolve personal and spiritual conflicts.
• understand the chemistry of depression.
• break through to a deeper level of spiritual maturity.
• find freedom through forgiveness.
• untangle the snares of shame, unworthiness, and guilt.

Through this trek to freedom, Sheryl helps participants grow in their faith journey as they study God’s word, learn how to combat lies, come against anxiety and break through bitterness. Discover how to identify and “unravel the lie-knot” so that you can move forward and become a fruitful disciple of Jesus.

    and more! 

This leadership course (previously called Freed To Lead) is designed for the mature Christian who is biblically literate and has experience leading small groups. Students who are most able to excel in this course are Bible teachers, pastors, Christian ministry leaders and anyone who knows the Bible well and leads groups of people. We are seeking to invest in people who are currently investing in others. This course focuses on your new identity in Christ and teaches participants to examine leadership motives in light of their own significance, security, and acceptance issues. Individual coaching is available from the course leader.

*It is highly recommended that students have a familiarity with the basic Freedom in Christ message as found in the Freedom in Christ Course or other foundational books such as Victory Over the Darkness and The Bondage Breaker.

The class includes one, 90-minute meeting per week in a small group Zoom setting. It runs for 17 instructional weeks. Participants will be expected to read one chapter of the course textbook per week (between 30-50 pages) and be prepared to discuss their observations during the weekly meeting. In addition, there is a process of self-examination that students will work through on their own that should take about 30 minutes per week to complete. During the length of the course, participants will work through two distinct processes: The Steps to Freedom in Christ and The Steps to Freedom for Leaders.

If you are interested in the course but would like to visit with the instructor before signing up, please contact Craig.Bess@ficm.org.

Some of the major topics covered in the course include:

• Praying for your sphere of influence
• Spiritual warfare
• Identifying and removing personal strongholds
• Building healthy people systems
• Overcoming personal and group anxiety
• Building and keeping trust
• Overcoming personal pitfalls
• Overcoming group pitfalls