Vision Sunday Is Coming

We Are Not Grasshoppers

There are moments in our lives and in the life of a church when we are forced to stand still long enough to look at the landscape in front of us and decide what kind of people we’re going to be.

Maybe that’s where you find yourself today. Perhaps you’re wrestling with a decision you know will carry lifelong consequences. Maybe you’re battling pressures that feel too strong, too dark, too constant. Maybe you’re living with the residue of a decision made years ago, a decision still shaping your days.

In these moments, we stand on the edge of faith just like Israel did in Numbers 13. They too were on the brink of something monumental. And like them, we are approaching a decisive moment as a church — Vision Sunday on January 25 — where we will seek clarity, courage, and renewed obedience as we discover the specific direction God is inviting us into for this next season.

So, let’s step back into the wilderness with Israel. Let’s listen. Let’s learn. And let’s be courageously honest about what we see in ourselves.

The People of Promise Standing on the Edge of Possibility 

After centuries of slavery in Egypt…

After God’s mighty deliverance through plagues and a parted sea…

After manna in the desert and God’s presence in a pillar of cloud and fire…

Israel is now standing face-to-face with the land God had promised Abraham.

A land their ancestors had dreamed of but never touched. A land flowing with abundance, rich with possibility, and marked with God’s covenant faithfulness. God tells Moses: “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel” (Numbers 13:1–2).

Notice the grammar. God doesn’t say, “which I might give…” He doesn’t say, “which I’ll give if it’s not too hard…” He says, “I am giving it.” The outcome was already settled. All Israel had to do was trust. Twelve men go. Twelve men see the same things. And yet what they report reveals two very different spiritual realities.

What They Saw: God’s Generosity on Display

Before we talk about fear, we must acknowledge something important: God had already shown Israel how generous He intended to be. During their forty days of scouting the land:

  • They walked through the same valleys where Abraham once walked by faith.

  • They passed through Hebron, where the patriarchs were buried—a place saturated with memories of God’s faithfulness.

  • They tasted the fruit of promise, grapes so large two men were needed to carry a single cluster.

  • They saw pomegranates and figs, evidence of God’s abundance.

Everywhere they stepped was a reminder: God keeps His promises. God provides. God is faithful. And yet… that’s not all they saw.

Where Fear Began: The Majority Report 

Ten of the spies returned with full hands and empty hearts. They began positively: “Yes, the land is good… yes, it flows with milk and honey…” But then came the hinge of the entire story — a single word that often determines the difference between faith and fear:

BUT.

“But the people are strong.”
“But the cities are fortified.”
“But we saw giants there.”
“But we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.”

There it is: The Grasshopper Syndrome. What is the Grasshopper Syndrome?

It’s when we measure our situation only by what we see. We assess our battles only by our strength. We forget God’s promises. We drown out God’s voice with our fear. We make our problems giants and ourselves grasshoppers.

The saddest line of the entire chapter is this: “we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them” (Numbers 13:33). They weren’t grasshoppers. They were God’s chosen people, sustained by miracles, protected by glory, destined for more than slavery and wandering. But when they looked at themselves apart from God… they saw insects, not image-bearers. And often, we do the same.

The Minority Report: Seeing the Same Facts Through the Lens of Faith

Joshua and Caleb saw the same cities, the same giants, the same walls, and the same dangers. But they interpreted them through the lens of God, not the lens of fear. Their “BUT” was completely different: 

“The people are strong, BUT the Lord is with us.”
“Yes, the land has giants, BUT God delights in giving it to us.”
“The battle looks impossible, BUT God will fight for us.”

“Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land” (Numbers 14:9). Same giants. Same armies. Same fortified walls. Different worldview. Joshua and Caleb didn’t have stronger muscles or bigger swords. What they had was something better: a bigger God. Faith didn’t blind them to the obstacles; it correctly sized the obstacles.

Fear says: “Look at the giants.” Faith says: “Look at God beside the giants.”

Fear says: “We can’t.” Faith says: “God can.”

Fear says: “We are grasshoppers.” Faith says: “We are God’s people.”

Why Vision Sunday Matters: Because We Are Standing in Numbers 13

CityBridge, we are standing on the edge of our own Promised Land. Our mission — to make disciples of Jesus who make disciples — is bigger than our strength and beyond our natural abilities.  And the landscape in front of us includes giants:

  • The giant of cultural pressure.

  • The giant of spiritual apathy.

  • The giant of busyness.

  • The giant of unbelief.

  • The giant of fear.

  • The giant of comfort.

  • The giant of “I don’t know how to share the gospel.”

  • The giant of “I don’t know God’s Word well enough.”

  • The giant of “Someone else will do it.”

But here’s the truth: None of those giants are bigger than God.

Vision Sunday is not going to be a hype event. It is not a calendar filler. It is not a motivational lecture. Vision Sunday is our moment to choose:

Will we be the ten or the two? Will we be a church paralyzed by what we see? Or a church mobilized by who God is? 

The Grasshopper Excuses: Why We Shrink Back

  • “I can’t.” This is fear wearing humility as a disguise.

  • “I don’t know how.” Noah didn’t know how to build an ark either.

  • “I don’t have time.” This means “my schedule is sovereign,” not Jesus.

  • “It’s just me.” Elijah said that too — and God revealed 7,000 others.

  • “It’s too expensive.” The widow’s oil and the disciples’ leftover baskets disagree.

  • “I won’t.” This is Jonah’s vocabulary — and we know how that turned out.

Church, excuses never lead to obedience. Excuses are the language of grasshoppers. Faith is the language of giants.

How We Fight Fear as a Church Family

  • Remember God’s Promises. He said, “I am giving you the land.” Jesus says, “I am with you always.”
    We walk into Vision Sunday anchored in unbreakable truth.

  • Remember God’s Faithfulness. Like the spies at Hebron, we must remember the ground we stand on:
    answered prayers, transformed lives, salvations, baptisms, marriages restored, addictions broken. God hasn’t brought CityBridge this far to abandon us on the border.

  • Remember God’s Generosity. Think of your own “cluster of grapes.” Think of the evidence of His goodness in your life right now — the mercies, the provisions, the breakthroughs. God’s past generosity guarantees His future generosity.

  • Remember God’s Resources. Yes, the world is dark. Yes, the challenges are real. But the God who raised Jesus from the dead is not constrained by our fear, budgets, skill level, or comfort zones. Where God guides, He supplies. Every. Single. Time. 

CityBridge, the future in front of us is “exceedingly good.” But we will never enter it if we choose fear over faith.

The Invitation: Step Forward in Faith 

As Vision Sunday approaches, I want to ask you:

What if this year were different?

What if we, like Joshua and Caleb, stood up and said: What if CityBridge became known not for caution but for courage?
Not for fear but for faith?
Not for grasshopper thinking but for gospel boldness?

What if Vision Sunday became a stake in the ground — the moment we crossed from wandering into taking ground? 

We Are Not Grasshoppers. We are God’s people. We are filled with God’s Spirit. We are equipped with God’s Word. We are sent with God’s mission. We are empowered by God’s promises. We are strengthened by God’s faithfulness. We are carried by God’s resources. We are led by God’s presence. Giants do not fall when we grow stronger, but when our view of God grows bigger. The land is good. The mission is clear. The calling is urgent. The harvest is ready. The Spirit is willing.

And Vision Sunday is coming.
Let’s go.
Let’s take the land.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 25! I hope you will be praying now ahead of this important day.

Brad Kirby