REACH >> BEYOND
Part 1 – Facing the Giants
Numbers 13:1-3, 25-33
September 16, 2018
Dr. Mark S. Hartman, Lead Pastor
1. INTRODUCTION
A. Numbers 13:1-3 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Send twelve men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” 3 So at the LORD’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
B. Numbers 13:25-32 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. 26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored.
C. A Defining Moment is a point in time in which the decision and response we make will define us for years to come. We will look back for years to come and remember this moment as history making for Sugar Creek.
2. SUGAR CREEK’S KADESH BARNEA.
A. Our Sugar Land campus is raising funds for 3 key projects. We are asking for a 2 year commitment from our members to accomplish these goals:
1. First, we will pay off the last remaining debt in the purchase of the Missouri City campus of $2.6mm.
2. Second, we will launch our third campus in the Richmond / Rosenberg area on Highway 59. It will cost more than $2.4 mm to turn an empty space into a church with worship center and classrooms for our families.
3. Third, we will raise $700,000 for our yearly Missions Month offering.
4. Together, the Sugar Land campus goal is to raise $5.7 mm to be given over the next 2 years to accomplish these three goals. This needs to be money over and above our budget giving.
3. THREE TRUTHS WE MUST GRASP IF WE ARE TO MOVE FORWARD IN FAITH.
A. We must recognize and recommit ourselves to God’s destiny for our church.
1. Leviticus 20:24 But I said to you, ‘You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations.”
2. Numbers 13:2 Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.
3. The land was theirs; they had the end of the desert behind them and their destiny before them. But, their job was to trust and obey Him.
B. We must decide how big we believe our God is.
1. The 12 Israelite representatives were to spy out the land – find out its wealth, what kind of people were there, the kinds of cities, etc. They were not to decide if Israel was strong enough to take it. God had already told them they could. They were only to report about the greatness of the land.
2. Numbers 13:28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.
3. There will always a reason to not go forward. There will always be giants in the land. There will always be great obstacles. But, those willing to trust God and obey Him, will always see His Power.
4. Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
C. We have to decide to get off the sidelines and actually take the risk for God to use us.
Faith is an action; it isn’t just a positive feeling.