I can still feel the rush and the excitement as I stood on Mt. Nebo on the eastern side of the Jordan River. I looked west out over the plains of Moab, the Jordan River, and the Dead Sea. The panoramic view was awesome and breathtaking. Then a thought about blew me away--it was on this very Mt Nebo, centuries before, that Moses stood looking at the same panoramic view that I was looking out. Deuteronomy 34:1-4, “Then Moses climbed Mt Nebo….”

Most of you know the story of the Hebrew children and Moses, the man of God, who led them out of slavery and to the brink of the Promised Land. Theirs is a story of God’s presence and power, of God’s deliverance and protection, of God’s promise and provision. Their story isn’t and can’t be boiled down to a 2-hour docu-drama for theirs is a life-long story, no actually a lives-long story. Through our adoption, their story is our story. Their history is our history.

As I stood on Mt. Nebo I wondered what Moses was thinking, what he was feeling. I know what I “remembered” but my remembrance was ‘book learned.’ Moses was ‘experience remembering’—he lived it! His amazing birth story and being reared in Pharoah’s palace. His exile into the wilderness and burning bush episode. His confronting Pharoah to “let my people go!” The 10 plagues and the Passover. The crossing of the Red Sea. The water at Meribah and the manna. His receiving the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. He saw the best of God and the worst of God’s people, but through it all God had brought them to the brink of the Promised Land. This wasn’t the first time they were this close. Some 40 years earlier Moses had sent 12 spies to reconnoiter the land. After their foray, these spies reported back of a land flowing with milk and honey—a land of abundance and plenty. But 10 of the spies reported back that there were giants living in the land who were well armed and their cities were well fortified. There was absolutely no way they could go in and take the land. But 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb, believed God’s promise that they could take the land.

The Israelites faced their giants and blew it. Because of their unbelief they stayed in the wilderness 40 more years in order that that unbelieving generation would die and a new generation of God’s people could take up God’s promise to take the Promised Land.

The story of God’s people called the Sicklerville United Methodist Church is our story, a story of God’s people who have both ‘rumbled, stumbled, and bumbled’ our way following God’s plan for us, and who have stepped out in tremendous faith and trust leaning on the Lord every step of the way! Some of us have lived more of it and some of us have been adopted into it!

Our story begins in the 1850s when a group of people met in homes for worship. A decision was made to build a church in this farming community. That church stands today across Church Road and marks a marvelous heritage that anchors our present and future. In the early 70s farmland was turning into housing developments. To reach the influx of new home owners, the church took an unbelievable step of faith and built a brick building across the street with a combination sanctuary and fellowship hall. It was not easy, most of the members left the church and those who remained were saddled with a huge mortgage and an uncertain future. The courage and faith of those remaining members was outstanding. One of those families was the Thornton family, and Jack has been a leader and vital player in the growth and building of SUMC ever since. Through the late 70s and into the 1980s God’s blessing was evident as the church grew in ministry and in numbers, which caused the church to grow in more in ministry, which attracted even more people. [How many of you were a part of SUMC in the 70s? Who came in the 80s? The 90s? Since 2000?] With 2 worship services, we were ‘stretching our stitches’ and after much prayer, discussion, and consternation, and exploring every alternative, we knew what we had to do. Alma Taylor said that everything on the table was merely a band-aid and we really need to build a sanctuary. That was it! God had spoken through Alma. We developed a master plan that would first include a sanctuary as our first priority, and then build educational space for discipleship, and then as our last priority fellowship space to complement our very unique and one of a kind kitchen!

This was the biggest giant I had ever faced in my life! How were we going to do it? I had no clue, but Jack Thornton reminded me that God provided earlier and He would again. People asked me if we could afford this new building and I responded, “No, we can’t, but God can, somehow, someway.” Today we are worshipping in this sanctuary brought about by God’s grace and provision and our faith. God blessed and we grew, but we had only a limited number of classroom space for our growing disciples of Christ. In 2000 we took another step of faith, and added an educational section so we would have more space to study God’s Word and grow in our faith. People asked me if we could afford to build this addition. I said, “No we can’t, but somehow, someway God is going to get it done!” And He did.

In the meantime, we took additional steps of faith and added staff, a part-time youth pastor and later a full-time children’s pastor. And people said, “Can we afford this?” and I said, “No, we can’t but somehow, someway, God is going to provide.” And He did. We continued to grow and experience God’s blessings. We added other staff to grow our ministry and reach more people for Christ, and God made a way where there was no way. We paid off our sanctuary mortgage and hired our present staff as another giant step of faith laying the groundwork to explode in our ministry and outreach. Again God has wonderfully provided

And now we stand on our own Mt Nebo and face the spector of Jericho…..more on that later.

Our God had led the Israelites to the Promised Land, but it wasn’t to be handed to them on a platter. Oh no, they had to take it and God said, “I will be with you.” Just across the border was the well-fortified city of Jericho. The walls were so thick that 2 chariots could circumvent its walls riding side by side. How was this rag-tag, ragamuffin band of wanderers going to capture this city? It was impossible. Here was the strategy from God—Joshua 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves….” The first step was to be in the proper frame of mind, perspective and relationship with God. God can’t work with non-dedicated people, but He will do amazing things through people who are committed to Him. The next step, the victory strategy, is found in Joshua 6:1-5,12-16. Can you imagine the dismay of the people? What? Circle the city for 6 days in total silence, and then on the 7th day shout and make a great noise? “Joshua, this is a joke, right? What’s your real plan? There is no way we can do this? The walls are thick, the people are giants and they are well-armed. It can’t be done!”

What was it that drove these ancient Hebrews? It was the vision of the Promised Land. They had dreamed it while in slavery for 400 years. They drooled over it, as they were “Following the Vision” in the wilderness desert. Now at Mt Nebo, it was theirs for the taking and it was and is only by God’s doing, not their own.

Today as a church we are at the beginning of the last leg of our journey about to realize the vision God give us over 20 years ago. We have been Following that Vision and like the ancient Hebrews, we have seen God work miracles and provide a way when we thought there was no way. Was it easy? No it wasn’t, there were lean times, frustrating times, and it took sacrifice and a lot of work and a lot of faith, but it was exciting because God was leading us on a journey to realize the work, the ministry, and its full potential that He has given to us for South Jersey!

This 3rd phase of this vision for ministry includes a Family Life Center. In our sanctuary we worship. In our Educational wing, we study God’s Word. In the Family Life Center we would fellowship. Over the past several months the Building Committee (Jan Devoe, chair) has wrestled over what that would look like, but what it looked like would depend on what we wanted to do there. We surveyed the staff and the church leaders, and here’s the bottom line. God has blessed us with greater and greater ministry. Our community is continuing to grow in numbers and God has planted us right in the middle of that growth. We ignore this mission field to our peril, but we haven’t and indeed sought ways to reach people for Jesus and His Kingdom. God has blessed but we have nowhere to fellowship, to come together as a total church and so we determined that we needed a large room to hold all 600+ of us at a church wide dinner. Since it would be a dinner and have so many wonderful cooks, we would need a large kitchen (to rival our current one!). What a perfect place to conduct our VBS and Pioneer Club closing programs and so a stage area would fit that need. Since it is a large room, how about basketball nets on either end with a volleyball net in the middle. Our summer basketball league could play indoors away from moving vehicles. Some of the over-the-hill guys could work off the stresses and a few pounds of their lives shooting some hoops.

Our youth activities are crammed into our small youth center when some 140 kids experience Rockwells coffee house, and the skateboard ministry has some 60-75 kids each week skating and Bible-studying. Wouldn’t it be great for the Senior Hi youth to have their own room and the Junior Hi youth to have their own space? And then the Lord’s Clothes Tree could take over the entire youth center for their ministry!

Then there is our Children’s Ministry with Sunday School, Pioneer Club on Wednesday nights not to mention the scads of kids who show up each summer for VBS, and the large number of KICS kids each Sunday night in the Fellowship Hall. The Puppet Ministry is overflowing its closet and has grown tremendously. Wouldn’t it be neat if they had a room with a stage that they could set up and use it for Children’s programs? We could have an entire area just for our children that is safe and secure with only approved persons allowed entrance.

Dream with me a little bit…around the top of the gym could be a walking track and we could add a workout room so our Tae-Bo groups and our exercise groups would have an appropriate place to keep fit for Jesus. Imagine a Starbucks right in our lobby with maybe a little Christian gift shop next door.

Dream with me a little more. Since there is no facility like this in Winslow Township, we would have a great opportunity to make an impact in our community. We could offer aerobic classes. An after school program for kids. Basketball leagues for kids, men and women. We could offer top-notch seminars and work-shops to meet the needs of our community. We could offer ministries to our senior citizens many of whom live just down the street. Hundreds of kids and teens could be actively involved in our church. I can image a rocking worship service in the Family Life Center aimed specifically at 20 somethings. There is no limit to what God can do in and through us as He grows us into a strong, spiritually mature, dynamic, outreached-oriented body of believers dedicated to worshipping God, introducing people to Christ and the Church, spiritually nurturing them, and then equipping them to serve God, each other, and the world.

To do this ministry which God has given us, we need more room, more space, more land, more building—the Family Life Center. We don’t know exactly yet what that is going to actually look like, but we know what God wants us to do in it and out of that Family Life Center. The ancient Hebrews didn’t know what the Promised Land was going to look like either, but they followed God’s vision and promise.

What a great vision! Can we do it? Not at all! Not unless God’s Spirit works in us and through us. Only He can do it. As a church we are facing a tremendous giant. Our Jericho is foreboding and we are so small and weak next to it. How can we afford such an expensive building? We don’t have wealthy people in our church. Almost all of us are struggling to pay the bills. We have kids in college and some of us have uncertain jobs. Many of us are thinking about retirement and a future on a fixed income. I know all that.

I also know that our God is able and we believe now is the time. This day we launch our Following the Vision campaign to begin the raise the necessary funds to make God’s vision for us a reality.

Just imagine how the ancient Hebrews felt at Jericho. But listen to Joshua 6:20, “When the trumpet sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.” With us it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Our God has done great things not only in ancient Israel, but in our own history right here at SUMC. I have lived through it and have seen it, and He is able to make it happen. So go ahead, ask me, “Jerry, can we do this, can we afford this? No, we can’t, but somehow, someway God can!”

After 23+ years as your pastor I am still excited about what God is going to do right here at SUMC! We are limited only by our vision and our faith. Listen again to Joshua 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

Thank You for Taking The Time to Read This Message.
May God Use These Words to Help You and Strengthen You.