What does Numbers 13 teach us about facing fear?

Numbers 13 records Moses sending 12 spies into Canaan — land God had already promised. Ten returned with fear, two returned with faith. The chapter teaches that the obstacle is not evidence that God changed his mind. Fear asks 'Are we strong enough?' Faith asks 'Is God faithful enough?' The answer to the second question is always yes.

What is the grasshopper mentality in the Bible and how do I overcome it?

In Numbers 13:33, the fearful spies said 'We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.' The grasshopper mentality is when your self-image dictates your courage — measuring potential by the size of your group instead of the size of your God. To overcome it: (1) identify the specific giant by name, (2) remember past fruit — times God came through — and ask if the promise is worth the fight, and (3) silence the bad reporter by refusing to let accurate facts become fear-soaked interpretation.

What does it mean that God is a giant shrinker and not a giant slayer?

This phrase captures a crucial distinction: we don't overcome giants by becoming stronger than they are. Caleb didn't see himself as powerful enough to defeat the Canaanites — he saw God as powerful enough to make them irrelevant. The giant slayer mentality says 'I have to be strong enough.' The giant shrinker mentality says 'God is big enough, and that changes the math entirely.' When God is in the equation, the obstacle becomes confirmation that the territory is worth taking.

Sermon · April 12, 2026

The Giant or the Promise

Name: Paris Church of the Nazarene
Address: 450 Houston Avenue, Paris, KY, 40361, US
Telephone: +18593635720
Price range: Free

🎙️ Pastor Curtis Hight 📍 Paris Church of the Nazarene · Paris, KY

Numbers 13

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Watch 'The Giant or the Promise' sermon — tap to play

🎧 Listen on Spotify

🎧

The Giant or the Promise

Paris Church of the Nazarene · Tap to listen on Spotify

Pastor Curtis Hight brings a message from the wilderness border of Canaan — a moment thousands of years old that speaks directly into the life of a church today.

In Numbers 13, Moses sends twelve leaders into the Promised Land to scout what God has already given them. Twelve men see the same grapes, the same giants, the same cities. But only two come back with faith. The other ten come back with fear dressed up as a report.

"When God opens an opportunity with a promise, the giant is just confirmation that the territory is worth taking."

For Paris Church of the Nazarene — and for every believer in the room — the question is the same one Moses' twelve spies had to answer. Which one are you choosing? The giant, or the promise?

Moses didn't send the twelve spies to find out whether God was going to give them the land. The land was already promised. He sent them to see what they were about to inherit.

Numbers 13:1–2"The Lord said to Moses, 'Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.'"

The spies returned with a single cluster of grapes so large that two men had to carry it on a pole — supernatural abundance proving the destination was real and worth the struggle.

They all saw the same grapes. They all saw the same giants.
The facts weren't in dispute. The interpretation was everything.

Numbers 13:33"We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

The Ten Spies

Compared the giants to themselves
Spread a bad report to fuel fear
Saw themselves as grasshoppers
Chose the giant over the promise

Joshua & Caleb

Compared the giants to God
Silenced the fear with faith
Saw God as the giant shrinker
Chose the promise over the giant

Pastor Hight brings the ancient story home — directly to the pews of Paris Church of the Nazarene.

Pastor Hight"I'm confident we all believe God has a plan for this church to thrive for years to come. But I'm also confident that giants are standing in our way."

"Traditions are meant to be anchors that hold us, not walls that shut others out."

We say we want children, teens, and young families to call this place home. But if our comfort with how things have always been done stands between them and Jesus — that comfort has become a giant.

Pastor Hight"We need to stop measuring our potential by the size of our group and start measuring it by the size of our God."

Identify the Giant

Name it. On your own or with someone you trust, identify one tradition, fear, or "we can't do that" thought that might be a wall instead of an anchor. Giants left unidentified keep us from the promise.

Taste the Fruit

Remember a time when the church was reaching new families — when teens filled the youth room and children ran the halls. That feeling is the grape. Is that promise worth the battle?

Silence the Bad Reporter

Stop calling yourself small. Every time someone says "we're just a small group," finish the sentence: "…with a big God." Don't let accurate facts become fear-soaked interpretation.

"We don't do it because it's easy. We do it because the promise is worth the price."

The weekly challenge: Write down your personal giant. Then spend five minutes every morning thanking God for being bigger than it. When you see someone from church this week, ask them: "Are you seeing the giant or the promise today?"

Numbers 13:1–2 God commands Moses to send men into Canaan — "the land I am giving to the Israelites."
Numbers 13:17–20 Moses' instructions — explore the land, assess the people, bring back fruit.
Numbers 13:21–25 Two men carry a single cluster of grapes on a pole — supernatural abundance as proof.
Numbers 13:27–33 The good report and the bad — "We can certainly do it" vs. "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes."
Matthew 13:31–32 The mustard seed — the smallest seed produces fruit in abundance.

Moses sent twelve leaders into Canaan — land God had already promised. Ten returned with fear. Two returned with faith.

The obstacle is not evidence that God changed his mind.

Fear asks"Are we strong enough to win?"

Faith asks"Is God faithful enough to keep his word?"

The answer to the second question is always yes.

Two of twelve leaders sent to scout Canaan. Not remembered for power or influence — remembered because they were the only two who chose the promise when the other ten chose the giant.

Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's trusting God's promise more than your own perception of the threat.

Every generation faces giants that look unbeatable
Every generation has a choice between the obstacle and the promise
Joshua and Caleb show us what the right choice looks like

"We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes." — Numbers 13:33. It's when your self-image dictates your courage — measuring potential by the size of your group instead of the size of your God.

Pastor Hight gives three steps to overcome it:

Identify the giant — name the specific fear or obstacle
Taste the fruit — remember times God came through
Silence the bad reporter — refuse to let facts become fear

Not because God stopped working — but because traditions quietly shift from anchors that hold us to walls that shut others out.

AnchorHolds the congregation together and draws people in

WallPrioritizes comfort over the people God called us to reach

The willingness to tell the difference — and act on it — is what separates an inspector who reports problems from an inheritor who takes the territory.

Giant Slayer"I have to be strong enough."

Giant Shrinker"God is big enough — that changes everything."

When God is in the equation, the obstacle stops being a reason to retreat and starts being confirmation that the territory is worth taking.

Yes. Jesus compared the Kingdom to a mustard seed — the smallest seed, producing fruit in abundance.

A small group with a big God has more capacity than a large group measuring itself by attendance numbers.

The founders of Paris Naz looked forward at us when they broke ground
Now it's our turn to look forward at the families who haven't walked in yet
The question is whether we're willing to be inheritors, not just inspectors

Pastor Hight says "the path to every promised land usually has a giant right in the middle of it." What giant are you facing right now — and what does trusting God's promise look like in that situation?

The ten spies gave accurate facts but spread a "bad report" by filtering everything through fear. Where in your life are you letting true information become a weapon against your own faith?

Caleb didn't see himself as a giant slayer — he saw God as a giant shrinker. How does that distinction change the way you approach the obstacles in front of you right now?

Pastor Hight challenges us to name one tradition that might be a wall instead of an anchor. What came to mind — and what would it look like to surrender it if it's standing between someone and Jesus?

The weekly challenge is to write down your giant and spend five minutes every morning thanking God for being bigger than it. What is your giant this week, and what promise are you going to speak over it?

Test Your Understanding

The Giant or the Promise · Pastor Curtis Hight · April 12, 2026

Part 1 — Fill in the Blank

Question 1

Pastor Hight said: "Traditions are meant to be that hold us, not walls that shut others out."

Question 2

Pastor Hight prayed: "We're not giant slayers. You're the giant . You can get it out of our way."

Question 3

"The obstacle isn't a sign to stop. It's a sign that we are standing exactly where wants us to be."

Part 2 — Multiple Choice

Question 4

How many leaders did Moses send to explore Canaan?

Question 5

What did the spies bring back as proof of the land's abundance?

Gold and silver from Canaanite cities

A single cluster of grapes so large two men carried it on a pole

Bread and olive oil

A map of the Promised Land

Question 6

What is Step 1 of the Three Promise Steps?

Taste the fruit

Silence the bad reporter

Identify the giant

Pray without ceasing

Question 7

How many minutes should you spend each morning thanking God for being bigger than your obstacle?

10 minutes

30 minutes

5 minutes

15 minutes

Question 8

"When God opens an opportunity with a promise, the giant is just _____ that the territory is worth taking."

proof

confirmation

warning

a test

0/8

Your Score

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Sermon · April 12, 2026

The Giant or
the Promise

🎙️ Pastor Curtis Hight 📍 Paris Church of the Nazarene · Paris, KY

Numbers 13

▶ Watch on YouTube

Watch 'The Giant or the Promise' sermon — click to play

🎧 Listen on Spotify

🎧

The Giant or the Promise

Paris Church of the Nazarene · Click to listen on Spotify

Pastor Curtis Hight brings a message from the wilderness border of Canaan — a moment thousands of years old that speaks directly into the life of a church today.

"When God opens an opportunity with a promise,
the giant is just confirmation that the territory is worth taking."

For Paris Church of the Nazarene — and for every believer in the room — the question is the same one Moses' twelve spies had to answer. Which one are you choosing? The giant, or the promise?

Moses didn't send the twelve spies to find out whether God was going to give them the land. The land was already promised. He sent them to see what they were about to inherit — to get so excited about the destination that the journey would be worth it.

Numbers 13:1–2"The Lord said to Moses, 'Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.'"

Pastor Hight pauses on that word — giving. Present tense. Not "thinking about giving." Not "might give if you behave." Already given. The outcome was settled before they even laced up their sandals.

The spies returned with something extraordinary: a single cluster of grapes so large that two men had to carry it on a pole between them. Supernatural abundance. Proof that the destination was real and worth the struggle.

They all saw the same grapes. They all saw the same giants.
The facts were not in dispute. The interpretation was everything.

Ten spies reported the facts and then weaponized them with fear:

Numbers 13:33"We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Their self-image dictated their courage. When we see ourselves as small, the world agrees with us. But Joshua and Caleb didn't measure the giants against themselves. They measured the giants against God — and suddenly the giants shrank.

The Ten Spies

Compared the giants to themselves
Spread a bad report to fuel fear
Saw themselves as grasshoppers
Chose the giant over the promise
Gave interpretation, not information

Joshua & Caleb

Compared the giants to God
Silenced the fear with faith
Saw God as the giant shrinker
Chose the promise over the giant
Trusted what God said over what they saw

Moses didn't ask for their opinion on whether they could win. He asked for information — because the outcome was already promised. The only question was whether they would trust the promise enough to step toward it.

Pastor Hight doesn't let the ancient story stay in the ancient world. He brings it home — specifically, to the pews of Paris Church of the Nazarene .

Pastor Hight"I'm confident we all believe God has a plan for this church to thrive for years to come. But I'm also confident that giants are standing in our way. Barriers that threaten to keep us from the future that God has in store."

The giants aren't outside the walls. They may be inside them — in the form of traditions that have quietly shifted from anchors that hold us to walls that shut others out.

"Traditions are meant to be anchors that hold us,
not walls that shut others out."

We say we want children, teens, and young families to call this place home. But if our comfort with the way things have always been done stands between them and Jesus — that comfort has become a giant. And it's one of our own making.

The congregation is asked to imagine what Paris Church of the Nazarene could become:

Imagine A lighthouse the neighborhood cannot ignore
Imagine Young people who don't just show up — but set the sanctuary on fire with passion
Imagine Neighbors asking: "What is it about those people at the Nazarene church?"
Imagine Doors open every night of the week for a different need Jesus can meet

The founders of Paris Church of the Nazarene weren't looking at a small group when they broke ground. They were looking forward — at us. Now it's our turn to look forward at the families who haven't walked through those doors yet.

Pastor Hight"We need to stop measuring our potential by the size of our group and start measuring it by the size of our God."

Pastor Hight closes the teaching section with three concrete steps — not abstract spiritual advice, but specific things you can do this week to move from the grasshopper mentality to the Caleb mentality.

Identify the Giant

Name it. On your own or with someone you trust at the church, identify one tradition, fear, or "we can't do that" thought that might be a wall instead of an anchor. Giants left unidentified keep us from the promise we're living for.

Taste the Fruit

Remember a time when the church was reaching new families — when teens were filling the youth room and children were running the halls. That feeling is the grape. Ask yourself: is that promise worth the battle to get back there?

Silence the Bad Reporter

Stop calling yourself small. Every time someone says "we're just a small group," finish the sentence: "...with a big God." Moses asked for information; the ten spies gave him fear disguised as facts. Don't do the same.

"We don't do it because it's easy.
We do it because the promise is worth the price."

The Weekly Challenge

Pastor Hight sends the congregation into the week with two specific assignments:

First: Write down your personal giant — a specific fear, tradition, or "we can't do that" thought that's standing between you and God's promise for your life or this church.

Second: Speak the promise over it. Five minutes every morning, thank God for being bigger than the obstacle. And when you see someone from church in the hallway or grocery store this week, ask them: "Are you seeing the giant or the promise today?"

Numbers 13:1–2 God commands Moses to send men to explore Canaan — "the land I am giving to the Israelites."
Numbers 13:17–20 Moses' instructions to the spies — explore the land, assess the people, bring back fruit.
Numbers 13:21–25 The spies return with a cluster of grapes so large two men carried it on a pole — supernatural abundance as proof.
Numbers 13:27–33 The good report and the bad report — "We can certainly do it" vs. "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes."
Matthew 13:31–32 The mustard seed parable — the smallest seed produces fruit in abundance.

Numbers 13 records Moses sending twelve leaders into Canaan — land God had already promised to give them. Ten returned with a report soaked in fear. Two returned with faith.

The obstacle is not evidence that God changed his mind.

The ten spies and Joshua and Caleb agreed on every fact — the land was rich and the people were strong. The difference was entirely in how they interpreted what they saw:

Fear asks"Are we strong enough to win this?"

Faith asks"Is God faithful enough to keep his word?"

The answer to the second question is always yes.

Joshua and Caleb were two of twelve tribal leaders sent to scout Canaan. They are not remembered because they were the most powerful or influential men on the mission.

They're remembered because they were the only two who chose the promise when the other ten chose the giant.

Their faith matters today because it proves that courage isn't the absence of fear — it's the decision to trust God's promise more than your own perception of the threat.

Every generation faces giants that look unbeatable
Every generation has a choice between the obstacle and the promise
Joshua and Caleb show us what it looks like to make the right one

In Numbers 13:33, the fearful spies said: "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." The grasshopper mentality is when your self-image dictates your courage — measuring your potential by the size of your group, your budget, or your resources instead of the size of your God.

To overcome it, Pastor Hight gives three concrete steps:

Identify the giant — name the specific fear, tradition, or obstacle you're avoiding
Taste the fruit — remember times God came through and ask whether that promise is worth the fight
Silence the bad reporter — refuse to let accurate facts become fear-soaked interpretation

Churches often stop growing not because God stopped working — but because internal traditions quietly shift from anchors that hold us to walls that shut others out.

When "the way we've always done it" matters more than the people God is calling us to reach, we've chosen the giant over the promise.

The path forward isn't to abandon tradition. It's to ask an honest question:

AnchorA tradition that holds the congregation together and draws people in

WallA tradition that prioritizes comfort over reaching the people God has called us to

The willingness to tell the difference — and act on it — is what separates an inspector who reports problems from an inheritor who takes the territory.

This phrase from Pastor Hight names a crucial distinction: we don't overcome giants by becoming stronger than they are. Caleb didn't see himself as powerful enough to defeat the inhabitants of Canaan — he saw God as powerful enough to make them irrelevant.

Giant Slayer"I have to be strong enough to beat this."

Giant Shrinker"God is big enough — and that changes the math entirely."

When God is in the equation, the size of the obstacle stops being a reason to retreat and starts being confirmation that the territory is worth taking.

Yes — and the Bible makes this case repeatedly. Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed: the smallest of seeds, producing fruit in abundance.

The size of a congregation is not a measure of God's investment in it.

The founders of Paris Church of the Nazarene weren't looking at a large congregation when they broke ground — they were looking forward at us
A small group with a big God has more capacity than a large group measuring its potential by attendance numbers
The question isn't how many are in the room — it's whether those in the room are willing to be inheritors rather than inspectors

Pastor Hight says "the path to every promised land usually has a giant right in the middle of it." What giant are you facing right now — personally or as part of this church — and what does trusting God's promise look like in that situation?

The ten spies gave accurate facts but spread a "bad report" by filtering everything through fear. Where in your life are you letting true information become a weapon against your own faith?

Caleb didn't see himself as a giant slayer — he saw God as a giant shrinker. How does that distinction change the way you approach the obstacles in front of you right now?

Pastor Hight challenges us to name one tradition that might be a wall instead of an anchor. What came to mind for you — and what would it look like to surrender it if it's standing between someone and Jesus?