He’s been introduced to Christ, has responded to Christ’s invitation, and then is growing in faith and obedience. That’s what we mean when we talk about disciples.

Let me talk for a moment about the process of discipleship. In its simplest term, a disciple is a "learner" or a "follower". How often in the gospels do we hear these words from the mouth of Jesus, "follow me". The discipleship process is not automatic. Disciples are made, not born. A few years ago when I was over at conference at Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church, I was fascinated by their church brochure. It said, "Welcome to the Ginghamsburg United Methodist Discipleship Center." I thought that was pretty good. And then on the inside were all the ways in which you could become a disciple through their ministry.

The choice we make to follow Jesus is a voluntary one. If you remember that picture of Christ knocking at the door, there isn’t a doorknob on the outside. Christ never barges in on our life; He waits for us to open the door to invite Him in. But once we have chosen to follow Christ, then we must be willing to let Him do the leading, give the directions and the requirements, not us. If you’ve gone to a national park and been a part of a large group taking a tour led by a ranger, what would you feel if about half way through the tour someone in the group said to the ranger, "We ought to go this way, not that way"? You’d say, "How stupid. You’re a part of the group. You are not the leader of this expedition." But how often, friends, do we tell God what it is He’s supposed to do and how he’s supposed to lead! The disciple understands he’s the follower not the leader.

Genuine discipleship always costs us something! If you’re not making sacrifices in areas of your life today for Jesus Christ, you are not His disciple! Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German theologian whose final moments of his life were standing in front of a Nazi firing squad for his execution, wrote in prison that great book, Cost of Discipleship, with this famous line, "When Christ bids a man to come and follow Him, He bids Him to come and die." Bonhoeffer talked in that about "cheap grace". What God has done for us came at a great price; how dare we think that following Christ doesn’t cost us something.

Being a disciple of Christ is not a matter of doing things perfectly. I want many of you to hear that. Being a disciple of Christ does not mean doing everything perfectly. Go back to the preliminary definition of disciple as a "learner". People, when they are learning, make mistakes. Now as we learn hopefully we get better; the mistakes become fewer. But being a disciple is not a matter of doing things perfectly. In fact, God delights in using ordinary, imperfect persons to do extraordinary things. If you don’t believe that, look at Peter. Peter was the subject of our text last week. He raised the crippled man. Christ said, "Peter, you are the rock on which I will build my church." But do you remember what Peter did just a few weeks before he healed the crippled man? When Jesus is on trial for his very life, Peter is out in the courtyard and three times says to people, "I do not know that man." God didn’t give up on Peter; and he doesn’t give up on us. He delights on using imperfect, ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

In fact, next week as Duane preaches, he will ask people to respond to be a part of the Care Ministry. Some of you are going to be hearing God say to you, "Yes, here’s your place to be involved in ministry." But Satan’s going to whisper in the other ear, "You’re not qualified. Look at your life! There are still a whole lot of areas where you haven’t arrived." Don’t listen to the enemy. Being a disciple doesn’t mean doing it perfectly; it means being an obedient follower.

The environment in which disciples are made is seen in Acts 2:42-46 in our scripture we read this morning. "They devoted themselves to the disciples TEACHING and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to PRAYER. They GAVE to anyone as they had need…they continued to MEET TOGETHER…with glad and sincere hearts." I want you to notice the words that are bold printed up there on the screen. I think they are important to the environment. You see teaching, you see prayer, you see giving, and you see persons meeting together. That’s the environment in which discipleship takes place. We see the result of a church that puts an emphasis on making disciples in Verse 47, "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." There’s the environment for disciples.

I decided this morning that on this critically important topic you needed to hear from some living examples of what it means to be a disciple. What that process looks like in flesh and blood. Shelly and Duane Reindl are one of my most special friends. It’s been a privilege to be a part of their spiritual growth here at Grace Church over the last four years. And I’ve asked them to come; we’re going to talk together for just a minute.

Reverent Mike: I think you came to Grace Church about 4 ½ years ago. What was going on in your life when you came? What were the fears that you had walking in to a strange place that first Sunday? And you’ll need to take that mike and hold it up pretty closely.

Duane: I guess probably what was going through my mind; I had just started my own business with two other people who were devout Christians. And they were working on me trying to help me discover my faith. So I think at that time I was seeking and we were trying to find a church home.

Shelly: And while Duane was seeking, I was avoiding as much as I could. I was terrified. I was really scared that Duane was going to find what he was looking for and I wasn’t and that that was going to affect our relationship. And we were church shopping, I think that’s what you would call it, and I was terrified every Sunday when we walked in to a new church. I was scared that we wouldn’t fit in, that I wouldn’t know anything, that I would look stupid, and all of those things.

Reverend Mike: Is it fair to say because I followed up your visit with a visit to your home pretty shortly, that you had some background in religion but understanding the relationship with Jesus Christ wasn’t a part of your understanding of faith?

Shelly: I think that’s right. I don’t think I had ever even heard the term "having a relationship with Jesus" before.

Reverend Mike: In that afternoon there in your home I invited you, I think, to be a part of the Discipleship Training Class, a 13-week class. Share a little bit about what that experience meant to you.

Shelly: Well, I think that was the first time that what being a Christian meant was really spelled out for us in a way that we could understand it. And the people that were in the class with us were absolutely key in that experience. It was a very diverse group of people from age range to where people were in their spiritual journey. We were in there with people like Mal and Chris Houghton and other people who were a lot like us, like Michael and April Moss, and so on, and everything in between. And what we learned from people was that it was okay to have questions, nobody’s perfect, and everybody’s on this journey together even though we’re in different places. It was very reassuring to be part of that group.

Reverend Mike: In our philosophy of ministry, if I can digress a second, one of the principles is, "Lives are best transformed in small groups". I will never forget, Shelly, after about the fourth or fifth class, we were four steps from the doors of the Wesley Room. I0 turned and just making casual conversation said, "Shelly, what’s the group meaning to you?" Expecting just to get a standard, "Oh, it’s okay." With tears streaming down her cheeks she said, "It has transformed my life." Lives are best transformed in small groups. But your journey didn’t end there; it only began. Talk about some of the things in the next three or four years that you became involved with that helped you continue to grow.

Duane: I don’t remember the exact sequence, but I know probably the next biggest thing that we got involved in that really helped our growth was going to the Disciple Bible Study course with Paul Taube and some other folks in our group. And that really helped. I mean, we worked through the entire Bible in 35-weeks or something like that. So as new Christians that really helped us wrap our arms around a lot more of the bigger picture and helped us to understand more. And then we’ve also, since then, gone out and started getting involved in a little bit more of the ministry. We did some work in the ALPHA ministry and some other things like that.

Reverend Mike: Anything you want to add their Shelly?

Shelly: I think just being part of different groups because in addition to Bible Study and ALPHA I was also part of the Tech Team and hand bells and so on. And I just think that the opportunity to fellowship with other people is just an opportunity to continue to learn and grow. And to be able to see God working in other lives is just tremendously rewarding. And I know that while we’ve been here at Grace we’ve witnessed that so much.

Reverend Mike: How has your life changed over the last four or five years?

Shelly: I think that’s kind of hard to answer in one or two sentences. But I think that it’s been great to finally understand why we are here and what we are supposed to be doing. And I know that I, I’m not going to speak for Duane on this, but I don’t always do what I know we are suppose to do. But it’s just been so reassuring. I spent so many years trying to find a purpose. And to know that God is always with is is just tremendous.

Reverend Mike: Duane, do you want to add anything?

Duane: It’s changed our priorities, clearly. I think it’s really helped us to grow a little closer together and to know that we are working together towards something with some help.

Reverend Mike: In fact, you talk about growth, the sheer fact that Duane is setting on this stool is a step of growth because every time previously when I’d ask you to share, Shelly would say, "I will; Duane can’t." So this is one of those steps. If you are not aware, unfortunately, Duane and Shelly to be closer to Duane’s job—Shelly had been an engineer at Cummins and Duane works for a real estate firm up in north Indianapolis. They moved here from Wisconsin to Franklin and splitting the difference. Shelly is now a stay-at-home mom and Duane has two more hours a day to be with his family now because they live in west Carmel instead of in Franklin. We’re going to miss them terribly and we thank you for all of you’ve contributed to this church. In fact we feel privileged that we were the lighthouse to get you on your journey. As you look to the future, what goals do you have spiritually?

Duane: We’re church shopping again, right now.

Reverend Mike: And we’re going to pray for you!

Duane: But we want to find a new church home that’s hopefully going to be as rewarding as the last one that we found and one that we can continue to grow in our relationship and find other areas of ministries that we can hopefully get involved in.

Shelly: And I know that I’m feeling a very strong need to step back from the leadership roles that we’ve had and just kind of learn and grow again and get back in to the Bible. As Mike said earlier, nobody’s perfect. I know that my study of the Bible has not been as intense as I’d like it to be. When we went through the Disciple Bible Study class we just loved it so much that falling away from being in it every day has been kind of sad. So that’s where we want to go.

Reverend Mike: Well, would you thank them for their ministry with us, and also sharing with us today? You can go back there now with Joey. It’s not going to be the same without you back in the tech booth Shelly.

I want to close this message on a very practical note. Grace is truly an inter-generational church. And when we’re talking about discipleship this morning, we’re talking to 18 year olds and we’re also talking to 88 year olds because it’s a journey that never stops. So in that light, I asked myself in preparing this message, what discipleship looks like at different points in life’s journey? Now I know I’m painting in broad-brush strokes, but let me try these things on with you.

Youth: During our youth, I think discipleship means accepting God’s gift of salvation. For the statistics indicate that about 80% of all believers came to faith in Christ before age 15. The odds drop off dramatically if you haven’t accepted that gift at an early age. For youth I think discipleship means guarding carefully your body, which the Bible says is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In terms of your sexuality, what you feed your mind, alcohol, and drugs. Those things, if we don’t guard the temple of the Holy Spirit during our youth, can have tremendously negative consequences for the rest of our lives. For youth I think discipleship means placing yourself in an environment where the seed God has planted in your heart can grow. That’s why Jesus told the Parable of the Soils. The seed started to grow in all of those soils, but some of those soils couldn’t support it; and it died. And that’s where you as parents, I know they don’t always want to come to youth group or Sunday School, but you need to see that they are in that environment where they can grow.

Young Adults: For young adults, I’ll let you define what ages they are; I just know I’m not in that category any more. In the young adult years I think discipleship means establishing priorities that honor God. Young adults are caught in a tremendous battle between the world’s ways and philosophy and "Kingdom ways". And the pressure to follow the world’s ways is strong. Discipleship for young adults means I’m going to paddle upstream with my priorities. For young adults, I think discipleship means seeing our vocation as a place of ministry. Rather you be working as a pharmacist, as an administrator at the United Methodist Community, as a school teacher, where ever it is we are, we’re seeing that as our ministry to be used for God.

Middle Years: In the middle years of life, I think discipleship means passing on the faith to our children. There are never any guarantees in that area, but James Dobson says, "The most important responsibility parents have is to pass the baton of faith on to their children." And then, also, the middle years of life I think issues related to stewardship and discovering and using our spiritual gifts are important discipleship items.

Later Years: And then, finally, the later years of life. I think the call to discipleship in the later years of life involves retaining a soft heart. Because when you’ve lived a number of years you’ve been disappointed numerous times. People have failed you; you know how much evil there is in the world. You’ve been disappointed countless times. And it’s so easy to become negative and critical and hard of heart. I think in the older years it means keeping a soft heart. I think also discipleship in the later years of life is being open to the new things that God is doing. Giving thanks for the way in which God worked in your life but realizing it’s a new age and let God be God and do some new things and be open to those. You long term older members I patted you on the back big time Monday night in the Charge Conference. Because I said if there are any true saints in this church, it’s our long time older members--let me just illustrate--that can’t understand at all why you need a set of drums in front of our beautiful sanctuary, but you didn’t block it. Notice we don’t use it at 9:30 a.m.; they remain silent. But in most churches, they’d have shot the preacher down in a minute on some of the things you’ve let me do. And the kingdom of God has advanced because you’ve been open.

In the older years I think we learn about growing and praying. I’ll never forget the lady that lived in the Wesley Center that was united with our church. And I went to visit her. She was very apologetic about not being able to do what she used to do. She said, "All I really do now is give and pray." I said, "Think about what you just said. That’s pretty important."

And, finally, I think the call to discipleship in the later years of life involves investing in that which will outlive you! We’re hoping in the next couple of years to build some facilities that will still be here 50 to 100 years from now. Some of you who are older can invest in something that will out live you. Some of you know Ray Pierson, a retired clergy who lives down by Tell City. Ray called me about a year ago and said, "Mike, will you do my funeral?" And I said, "I’d be glad to Ray, just don’t get in a hurry." But you see, Ray is the one who pushed me over the line to go into ministry. And every month when I was down at Asbury, a check was in the mail from Ray. He wanted to invest in what would outlive him.

There are two key questions that we as a church ought to address repeatedly in one way or another as we go about or work. The first question is this:

Have you accepted God’s gift of salvation in Jesus Christ?

And if so, what are you doing to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ?

In these two questions, is found the church’s central task, which is "the harvest"--helping persons find wholeness of life in Christ. God wants to use the Care Ministry of Grace Church to become more intentional about meeting the needs of hurting people, bringing them in to a relationship with God through faith in Christ (as Duane and Shelly talked about this morning), and then providing an environment where they can become disciples.