Starting With a Solid Foundation

In this Sunday's reading from Luke 14:25-33, Jesus puts some tough demands on the large number of would be followers that he had attracted.

Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them,  ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.  Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?  Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him,  saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.”  Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?  If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.  So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

Jesus had a plan. He had a Church to build. He needed a strong foundation. He demanded a lot out of his disciples.

Does your church have a plan? You had better start with the foundation. We had better expect to give up a lot of our tightly held possessions, preconceived notions, our time, and opinions and get down to the hard work of studying the Bible together in order to be that foundation.