This past Sunday we finished the ‘Sermon on the Mount.’ Thank you again for walking the journey with me through the passages. And I am sure that many times over the next few years we will lean on the wisdom of this amazing sermon to see our situation from the Lord’s perspective!

This Sunday I have felt called to give an FCCB Vision Sermon. Let’s look at “where have we been, where are we now and where are we going” with an attempt at clear focus and a sense of our next steps. Also, please mark your calendars for Sunday, March 26th as Pastor Tom Pfizenmaier will be preaching. Tom is the new professor of “Discipleship and Spiritual Formation” at Gordon Conwell Seminary. He and his wife Donna have been attending FCCB over the last few months. I am looking forward to hearing from Tom!

This Sunday we hone in on  Numbers 13:26-33 and 14:1-9. This is the first time that I have preached on Numbers! So let’s take a look…

In v. 17 Moses has sent a group of spies to explore the land of Canaan to see what was there. He wants to see what the land was like, what the people are like and if everything is good to go for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land. Then in v. 26 the spies come back with a report. The land looks good, but the people are giants. This is frightening and discouraging for those who looked at the land. Yet, Caleb has a different spirit. Caleb believes they can take the land. (v. 30). Caleb wants to the face the giants, because he knows God is with them. Yet, the other spies say, “we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (v. 33).

What are the ‘giants’ in our lives? What holds us back as a church from the fullness of what God has for us? Is our fear of people greater than our fear of God? Before we talk about moving forward as a church and individuals, I thought that it would be good if we could identify some areas of challenge in our lives, whether real or imagined.

Then in chapter 14:1 the people of the community become all worked up about the negative report from most of the spies and so they raise their voices and weep aloud. Not only that, but they grumble against Aaron and Moses and say, “if only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!” The thought of moving forward with the Lord into the unknown is so daunting to them, they actually want to go back to slavery….amazing!  They are now on the precipice of the place God has prepared for them and they want to go back to the wandering. How could this be? The unbelief of the people would now lead to 40 years of wandering in the desert.

People are interesting. Sometimes we prefer the comfort of discomfort more than walking into the unknown. This even if we know that God may be calling us into the unknown and be with us in those places. In the face of the unknown, we begin to doubt and can choose to be stuck and fearful. Yet, Moses and and Aaron were true leaders and fell face down in front of the whole Israelite assembly (v. 5). Joshua tore his clothes and said to the Israelite assembly,

Caleb, was no longer alone in his courage and he would believe God even through 40 years of waiting for what the Lord has for them. As Habakkuk 2:3 says,

Caleb believed God, Caleb trusted God and ultimately Caleb loved God. And he knew that he was loved by God. This deep knowledge built into him courage while he waited for the unfolding of what God had for the Israelites.

We too want to be a church that lives by an ‘irreducible core’ as Ron Giovannacci states….

 “to love God, love others and make disciples as we go.” 

This Sunday I will highlight each of these areas in light of where the Lord may be taking us as a church, even in the midst of significant odds. It is our belief as an elder board that as our church embraces these truths in a deeper way, God will give us all a vision for the glory of who He is and where He will lead us.

We believe that there is a unique call unfolding at FCCB. Let us be people who come along for this wonderful ride God has for us to experience. As we experience this more and more, I have no doubt that our church will impact this town and region in an astounding way for Him. What a joy and privilege that He would entrust to us these things. So, may we all have a ‘Caleb spirit’ to believe God for the impossible and to live for Him. Many of the Israelites lived in unbelief and missed out what He has. May this not be said of us in our generation! Lead us, Lord Jesus. I hope to see all of you this Sunday for an exciting and encouraging service in worship of our Lord!

Blessings,

Pastor Andrew