Embark on a journey through history to discover what it means to be a great leader in the Kingdom of Heaven. David Bercot explores the lives of exemplary Christians from the Apostles to Alexander Campbell.

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Course Content

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What True Greatness Looks Like
Patrick – Missionary to Ireland
Francis of Assisi
The Personal Testimony of Menno Simons
John Wesley
What Would Alexander Campbell Say to the Church Today?
Survey: True Greatness
Additional Readings: True Greatness
Free Course Guide

What This Free Course Covers

True Greatness is a free course by David Bercot that looks at Christian history through the question of what greatness looks like in the kingdom of heaven. The lessons do not define greatness by fame, institutional status, or public success. Instead, they trace examples of humility, obedience, endurance, missionary faithfulness, love for God and neighbor, and unity among believers.

The course begins with the twelve apostles, especially the way their own records highlight their failures rather than their accomplishments. It then moves through Patrick’s mission to Ireland, Francis of Assisi’s life of obedient love, Menno Simons’s testimony and teaching on the new birth, John Wesley’s concern for holy living, and Alexander Campbell’s appeal for Christian unity around Scripture. The final items are a survey and additional readings.

Together, the lessons invite students to reconsider greatness as quiet faithfulness before God rather than reputation before people.

Kingdom greatness Humility Obedient love Missionary faithfulness New birth Holy living Christian unity Perseverance Scripture and practice Godly fruit

What You Will Study

  • How the twelve apostles model humility by recording their failures and avoiding self-promotion
  • Patrick’s obscure lifetime, his mission to Ireland, and the difference between his own writings and later legends
  • Francis of Assisi as an example of obedient love for Christ and neighbor in a morally troubled church setting
  • Menno Simons’s personal testimony, his break with the Church of Rome, and his teaching on the new birth
  • John Wesley’s emphasis on grace, conversion, endurance, holiness, and practical obedience
  • Alexander Campbell’s concern for Scripture, baptism, Christian unity, and receiving other believers with godly fruit
  • Repeated contrasts between outward reputation and inward faithfulness before God
  • A course conclusion with a survey and additional readings connected to the theme of true greatness

Questions This Course Helps Answer

  • Why does David Bercot present the twelve apostles as examples of true greatness?
  • What can the apostles’ own accounts teach about humility and selflessness?
  • How does Patrick’s own testimony differ from common legends about St. Patrick?
  • How did Patrick’s years in Ireland prepare him for later missionary work?
  • What does Francis of Assisi’s life suggest about loving God and loving one’s neighbor?
  • Why does Bercot warn against making theological correctness greater than the two greatest commandments?
  • What did Menno Simons say about his conversion and involvement with the Anabaptist movement?
  • How did persecution shape Menno Simons and early Anabaptist life?
  • How does the lesson on John Wesley distinguish conversion from lifelong endurance in Christ?
  • What practical concerns did Wesley raise about plainness, pride, vanity, and holiness?
  • What did Alexander Campbell argue about Scripture, creeds, baptism, and Christian division?
  • How should believers think about unity with other Christians who show godly fruit?

Lesson-by-Lesson Guide

What True Greatness Looks Like

Bercot argues that the faithful apostles show true greatness through humility, selflessness, unity, and quiet obedience. He emphasizes that their own records often preserve their rebukes and failures rather than seeking honor for themselves.

  • Why are the apostles presented as examples of true greatness?
  • What does their willingness to record their failures reveal about them?
  • How did the apostles work together without rivalry?
  • Why does humility matter in the kingdom of heaven?

Patrick – Missionary to Ireland

This lesson separates Patrick’s own testimony from later legends and presents him as an obscure but deeply faithful missionary to Ireland. Bercot highlights patience, prayer, preparation through adversity, language learning, and humility.

  • What do Patrick’s own writings tell us about him?
  • Which common stories about Patrick are not found in his writings?
  • How did hardship prepare Patrick for missionary work?
  • Why was Patrick not famous in his own day?

Francis of Assisi

Bercot presents Francis of Assisi as a striking example of an obedient love-faith relationship with Jesus Christ. The lesson stresses love for God and neighbor, literal obedience to Christ’s teachings, and caution against limiting where God’s grace can reach.

  • What made Francis of Assisi’s life stand out to Bercot?
  • How did Francis respond to the moral decay of his time?
  • Why does Bercot connect Francis with the two greatest commandments?
  • How should Christians think about grace and theological error?

The Personal Testimony of Menno Simons

This lesson reads Menno Simons’s testimony of conversion and his involvement with the Anabaptist movement, along with his work on the new birth. It also describes persecution, hardship, and Menno’s desire to proclaim a purified gospel.

  • How did Menno Simons describe his own spiritual awakening?
  • What was the disaster at Münster, and why did it affect the reputation of Anabaptists?
  • What did Menno teach about the new birth?
  • How did persecution affect Menno, his family, and other Anabaptists?

John Wesley

The Wesley lesson presents him as a major eighteenth-century Christian leader who preached more than a single conversion experience. Bercot emphasizes Wesley’s concern for grace, endurance, holiness, plainness, humility, and putting on Christ.

  • How did Wesley understand conversion and ongoing salvation?
  • Why does Bercot say Wesley did not preach easy believism?
  • What did Wesley warn about costly clothing, pride, and vanity?
  • How does holiness relate to an obedient love relationship with Christ?

What Would Alexander Campbell Say to the Church Today?

Bercot introduces Alexander Campbell’s concern for Scripture over creeds and reads an exchange about communion and unity. The lesson applies Campbell’s concerns to modern Christian division and urges care in receiving believers who show godly fruit.

  • Why did Alexander Campbell emphasize the Bible rather than creeds?
  • How did Campbell’s study of Scripture affect his view of baptism?
  • What did he say about communion with other believers?
  • How should Christians respond to other branches on Christ’s vine?

Survey: True Greatness

This course item is listed as a survey for True Greatness. No transcript sample was provided, so its contents should be reviewed in the course before adding further detail.

  • What feedback does the course survey request?
  • How does the survey relate to the True Greatness course?

Additional Readings: True Greatness

This course item is listed as additional readings for True Greatness. No transcript sample was provided, so the specific readings should be checked before describing them.

  • What additional readings are provided for this course?
  • How do the readings support the course theme of true greatness?

What students are saying

4.78 out of 5 — 27 reviews
Jason Perez Aug 23, 2026
★★★★★
This course was very insightful; I truly enjoyed learning about the lives of Patrick and Francis. Very inspiring to see the great lengths they went to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Verified Student Feb 20, 2024
★★★★☆
Love the Wesler one
Verified Student Sep 27, 2022
★★★★★
I was challenged by the course on True Greatness to examine my own heart and my motives for serving God. Am I serving God so others look up to me? I came to the realization that I am not fit for service until I am willing to be an obscure servant others barely notice. Only when I want to see God use others mightily can He really use me the way He wants to.
Verified Student Jun 19, 2022
★★★★★
What especially inspired me in this course was how God doesn’t work inside a box. Whatever the ‘theological’ situation a person may be in, the sincere seeking heart finds Him, and God works through him/her. We do well to follow Christ’s teachings on love and mercy, instead of pointing fingers and judging those who may not understand secondary teachings the same as we do. I’m grateful to have that message spoken into my life!!
Verified Student Jun 10, 2022
★★★★★
Huge challenges from little known heroes of the faith from long ago.
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True Greatness

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Course Includes

  • 8 Lessons
  • 6 Quizzes
  • Course Certificate