When was the last time you followed a plan?   You planned to do something, like make a birthday cake for someone.   You wrote up a list of ingredients and headed down to your local shops to pick up the flour, baking powder, sugar, and everything else you needed.   You mixed all the elements in a dish and put it in the oven to bake.   What a joy later on when you saw the smile on people's faces at the birthday party as many enjoyed the cake.

My wife Jeannie and I had a plan.   We needed to do something with the steep hill in our backyard.   The hill rose 2.6 metres over 10 metres.  It was hard to cut the grass.  Besides, the grass did not grow well on the hill.   So we planned to build some steps into the hill.  Before we started building the steps we spent some time planning what we would do.  We knew the goal:  to build steps using timbers and pavers from the bottom of our yard to the top of hill.  Knowing the goal we calculated that we needed 13 steps which would be built from 26 hardwood sleepers, 560 pavers, 4 cu. metres of fill and paver sand, and at least 104 150mm batten screws.   We budgeted money to cover the cost.   We even scheduled in the hours we would spend together on this project.  After many hours of hard work we got the job done.   We now enjoy going up and down the hill and we appreciate the gardens so much more(see picture).   The planning paid off.  We did the project ourselves.   The money was spent.   And in the end we had 6 pavers and about 1/2 shovel of sand leftover.  So little waste!

Now suppose if we did not take the time to do any planning.  We just got one day and decided to build these steps.  We would not get far would we?   We would have no idea what to do first.   We would not be prepared.   We would have no supplies.   There also might have been a lot of waste if we just took a guess at how much supplies we need.  What if we had a different goal?  A different style of steps.  Using different materials.   That would require of whole different list of supplies and projected budgets.   Planning was so important.   The old adage is true:  if you fail to plan you plan to fail.   You simply will not reach the goals you hope for.

It is no different in the church.   Planning is very much at the heart of following Jesus.   In Luke 10 Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship.  He says:  

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace."  (Luke 14:28-32)

Suppose my wife and I began to build our steps, and then ran out of money, or supplies, or time.   We would not finish what we had planned to do.   Or suppose you started to bake a cake, but ran out of flour, or did not have enough baking powder, or did not have a cake pan.   There would be no cake and a lot of disappointed people at the birthday party.  So too when we follow Jesus.   We must sit down and count the cost.   We must ask ourselves whether or not we are willing to do whatever it takes to be a Christian disciple.   As a church we must sit and plan to see whether or not we have enough resources to all that God would have us do.   If not, perhaps we need to raise up more resources or scale back what we hope to accomplish for the growth of the gospel and the glory of God's name.

Now we must always remember that we are sowers of the seed (God's Word).   We also must nurture these seeds when they begin to sprout in the lives of people.  But it is ultimately God who makes all things to grow. (see 1 Corinthians 3:7)   But planning in the church does not have to do with causing seeds to germinate and grow but rather determining how much seed we are going to sow and where.  You reap what you sow (see Galatians 6:7).   If you sow little you will reap little.   If you sow a lot, you will reap more. (see 2 Corinthians 9:6)   And when it comes to our task as churches to reach the lost for Christ, when it comes to growing as churches by expanding numbers of lives saved and churches planted, like the apostle Paul we want to finish well.   Paul said, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace." (Acts 20:24; see also 2 Corinthians 8:11: 2 Timothy 4:7; James 1:4)   To finish and complete the task God has given to us as churches, we must first sit down and plan.   We consider the cost and take note of what we need in order to finish what we start.  Then we sow the seed, be strategic where we sow the seed, and we trust the Lord of harvest when he tells us, "As the rain... waters the earth making it bud and flourish, ... so it my word that goes out from my mouth:  it will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11)

As a follower of Jesus where are you sowing the seed of God's Word?  How much seed are you sowing?  What about your church?  What is God's calling on your life and on your church?   Are you counting the cost?   Do you know what you need to finish what God is calling you start?   That is why planning is so important!   Plan well and you will finish well!   And there will much joy in heaven as the lost are found, the found discipled, and disciples making more disciples.  (Luke 15:7, 10)  It all begins with planning.