SHIP BUILDING MATERIAL
(A DISCIPLESHIP PLAN)

At the beginning of this program we used the analogy of a ship to talk about how the L&S Jesus Christ is a Disciple Ship headed to heaven. The grace of God has offered us the way of salvation in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and we are called to get aboard. As we begin this journey of building discipleship, we can take solace in knowing we have been given the plan, the tools, the equipment, all we will need. Yet we have to learn how to use them. Guided by God, Christ and Holy Spirit, the Discipleship Plan will give us opportunity to study the plan and use the tools and equipment. The hoped-for outcomes of this Discipleship Plan are that we will

• grow closer to understanding and abiding in all that Jesus taught us - Like the wise man who built his house on rock
• come closer to understanding what Jesus means when he says, “You are the salt of the earth,” or “You are the light of the world.”
• come to believe we can change the world for Jesus through our words and actions, just as Jesus came and in his words and his actions of love, grace and mercy changed the world
• go from this place and invite others into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
• go from this place and no matter where we find our discipleship, as disciples, we embrace and assist Jesus in making disciples of all nations.

Here’s the plan.

Throughout the year, we will build on our understanding of who we are as disciples using seven themes; Prayer, Accepting Jesus, Worship, Holy Scripture, Hands-on-Service, Sharing the Good News, and Financial Giving. We will give each theme 4 weeks for study and implementation. We have set up times on Sunday at 9:15am and 6:30pm, and on Thursday at 10am and 7pm. During these times, members of our Stewards Team will help guide our conversation so that we may grow in our understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We hope everyone will take the opportunity to be in one or more of these gatherings. If you cannot attend any of these times, it does not mean you cannot participate in the Discipleship Plan. These times have just been set aside for added study and fellowship.

We begin with PRAYER. For those of us who might have already started the journey it may seem peculiar to begin with prayer. But that’s where we are going to begin. Prayer is one of those blessings God gives to us even when we may not know God. The child afraid at night, the soul lost in darkness, the broken hearted, the dying, any who have never heard of God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, organized religion of any kind; all are capable and often do lift their hands, bow their head, cry out into the abyss – “Help me, Somebody, Help me.” This may have been the first prayer you said. I believe God heard it. Even though we may not have heard the response, I believe God responded, saying, “I am here. Come to me and I will give you rest.”

As we continue to grow and build, we will discuss ACCEPTING JESUS. What does it mean to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and how do we get to that point in our journey. I am sure most of us love the idea of a savior, one to rescue us from danger. Although some of us might think we can do it on our own and don’t need any help. What does it mean to have Jesus as Savior? What does it mean to have Jesus as the Lord of our lives? Most of us don’t like to be told what to do. We didn’t like it when we were two, and age only adds to our deepening sense of disdain for authority. I’m old enough now; I don’t need a Lord. What would it mean for us to abide by the Lordship of Jesus Christ?

The third part of our plan will include a study on WORSHIP. We will talk about who we worship, why we worship, what we worship, how we worship, when we worship. We will talk about congregational worship, small group worship, and individual worship. We will talk about ancient worship practices of the past and the emerging worship of the future.

Though many of you may think it’s long overdue, the fourth part of the plan will include learning from and about HOLY SCRIPTURE. Fear not, for throughout the Discipleship Plan we will turn to Scripture for guidance and direction. When we turn our focus to Holy Scripture, we will discuss the necessity of being in the word in a deliberate and in-depth way. Not just skimming the surface, but allowing ourselves the blessing of diving deep into the Word. We will talk about the need for deeper reflection so that we might come to a richer understanding of what is meant by the Word. We will talk about the need to be in the Word and for the Word to be in us. May we yearn for that day, when, as the Scripture says, the Word will be written on our hearts.

HANDS-ON-SERVICE is part of the Discipleship plan. We are already blessed with many opportunities here at Grace United Methodist Church for Hands-on-Service. We hope to continue to offer more opportunities in the coming weeks, months, and years. When we arrive at this part of the plan, we will discuss and learn the blessing of being in service to others, reaching out and actually offering our time and talents as a disciple of Christ, helping to build and promote the kingdom of God. Hopefully and prayerfully we will come to understand more fully that in order to be a disciple, we must serve. For Jesus, our Lord and Savior said, I did not come to be served, but to serve. As disciples, we would be wise to do likewise.

As Disciples of Christ, SHARING THE GOOD NEWS may be the most important part and biggest blessing of being a disciple. If we accept the definition of disciple as one who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another--in this case Jesus Christ--we will come to understand ourselves as called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the whole world in word and deed. Most of us have no problem doing good deeds, but become tongue tied when it comes to telling somebody about what Jesus has done for our lives and for the world. We hope that by the time we reach this part of the Discipleship Plan, we will be so well-equipped that the bow of our boat will be bursting with a desire to flood the world with the grace and mercy God has shown in Jesus Christ, to proclaim his name.

Sisters and brothers in Christ, FINANCIAL GIVING, or Stewardship as we often refer to it, is only another part of discipleship. We will discuss the blessing of being able to joyfully offer gifts in monetary form that will help us to build the kingdom of God. We will discuss the ways in which our monetary giving is just another extension of God using us to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that through the process of growing and building on our discipleship we will come to Financial Giving with a renewed sense of understanding the Scripture when it says, “God loves a cheerful giver” and that when the time comes to discuss Financial Giving we will celebrate the opportunity of offering our monetary gifts with loud praises and hearts full of joy, remembering the willingness of God and Son to offer us salvation. What time is it? OFFERING TIME, HALLELUJAH.

There you have it, a Discipleship Plan for the year. The hoped-for outcome of this Discipleship Plan is that we will grow closer to understanding and abiding in all that Jesus taught us - Like the wise man who built his house on rock. That we will come closer to understanding what Jesus means when he says, “You are the salt of the earth,” or “You are the light of the world.” That we will come to believe we can change the world for Jesus through our words and actions, just as Jesus came and in his words and his actions of love, grace and mercy changed the world. That we go from this place and invite others into a relationship with Jesus Christ. That we go from this place and no matter where we find our discipleship, as disciples, we embrace and assist Jesus in making disciples of all nations.

I don’t know if all of us will arrive at journeys end at the same time, but the L & S Jesus Christ, which is a Disciple Ship, is headed to heaven. All aboard, who are going aboard.

On Sunday, we took time to sign a piece of paper declaring our intent to participate in the Discipleship Plan. If you were not present and want to sign up, fear not, we will make room for you. It’s a big ship.