The Scriptures teach that the mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps. This lesson addresses a church leader's need to have a practical ministry plan for their first 12 months, especially in light of their completion of all the church development lessons. A ministry plan is a church leader's best estimate of the practical actions necessary during the next 12 months to begin establishing a healthy new church in their community. As we begin, let's take an overview of all the five major seasons of church planting, growth, and multiplication. The lessons in the church development courses are primarily focused on equipping church leaders for the first two seasons, the preparing season, and the gathering season. The lessons in the church renewal courses are focused primarily on equipping church leaders for the next two seasons, the developing season and the growing season. The final season, season five, is the multiplying season. That is its own separate course called Fundamentals in Church Multiplication.

Let's begin with a brief overview of the preparing and gathering seasons that are part of the church development lessons that you've completed. In the church renewal courses, you'll study the next two vital seasons. Immediately under the preparing season title, you see the word leader and the agricultural image of the sower. This means the primary focus in this season is on the church leader, or the leaders who will be establishing the new church. The essential goal for this season is raising up and equipping qualified church leaders with a clear vision, mission, and kingdom strategy. The desired outcomes include a leader who is recruited, assessed, and develops a learning plan, and a leader with a clear call, vision, mission, and strategy for planting. As you can see on the bottom of this season, the primary learning lessons for this season are found in the church development courses.

Most of this work you should have already completed in the lessons prior to this, so we won't focus on this season during this lesson. Instead, our focus in this lesson is more on the gathering season. Immediately after the preparing season title, you see the gathering season and the word community and the agricultural image of the seed. The essential goal for this season is equipping leaders to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel of the kingdom, resulting in professions and changed lives. The desired outcomes include a leader rooted and established in the foundations of the gospel, and a leader equipped to minister the gospel in word and deed, resulting in a core group, the primary focus of the next season called “starting”. As you can see on the bottom of this season also, the primary learning lessons for this season are found in the church development course.

Although we will not focus on the remaining three seasons now, it's helpful to grasp an overview of all five seasons, and understand how they are organically and biblically related. By organically related, this means the agricultural imagery develops organically with each season. As we've seen, the preparing season starts with just the sower's preparation for the task. Then the focus of the gathering season is on the power of the seed of the gospel to bring new life in the community. In the third season, the starting season, the focus shifts more to how the seed of the gospel produces the roots of a strong healthy core group, through the ongoing ministry of God's word and sacrament in both word and deed.

The fourth season is the growing season. Here the image is fruit. The seed has taken root, and now the growing plant is bearing fruit. This season has a focus on equipping and ordaining qualified church leaders to teach, shepherd, and lead a healthy growing church. And like the growing season, the final season never stops. Season five, multiplying. This is the harvest imagery. The sower has sown the seed which has taken root, bearing fruit to the place that it's time for a full harvest. This season is focused on equipping new leaders to repeat this entire process of the other seasons to start, grow, and multiply other gospel centered churches, not only in their community and their nation, but among all nations.

As we do this quick survey of these seasons, note how these seasons are based on the Great Commission Jesus gave us recorded in Matthew 28:16-20. When Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations, he also gave us three primary ways to do that, by going in evangelism, by baptizing new converts into the church, and by teaching those converts how to obey all that Christ commanded. The first season, preparing, is parallel to Jesus' ministry to make disciples for the three years leading up to the time he gave them the Great Commission. The emphasis of the next gathering season is ongoing, doing the ministry of the gospel in word and deed in a new community. And the emphasis of the next season, starting, is on baptizing and establishing the new followers of Christ in all the essentials of the gospel.

The primary emphasis of the growing season is on Jesus' command to teach them to obey all that he commanded. And lastly, the final emphasis of the multiplying season is on doing all this discipleship, not only in our nation, but in all nations.