Trail Life Sunday: Faith on the Rugged Trail
September 14, 2025
Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Colossians 1:10; Numbers 13:25-33; Matthew 7:13; Joshua 4:6-7
Introduction: The Trailhead
Church, today we lace up our boots for a different kind of trail. This is Trail Life Sunday, a day where we celebrate our Trail Life boys and American Heritage Girls, but also where we as the church remember that the Christian life itself is a rugged trail. Trail Life’s motto is simple but weighty: “Walk Worthy.” And that comes straight out of Scripture. The apostle Paul writes in Colossians 1:10 “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
That’s not a suggestion. That’s a charge. Walking worthy means walking different — not like the crowd, but like Christ. And today, I want to take you back to a story in the Old Testament that is as rugged, adventurous, and faith-forging as any trail you’ve ever hiked. It’s the story of Joshua and Caleb — two men who stood in faith when everyone else wanted to quit. Two men who saw giants and said, “Let’s go.”
Backpack Weights (Giants vs. God)
Visual: A big trail backpack filled with heavy rocks (labeled with fears: “Giants,” “Peer Pressure,” “Sin,” “Doubt”). A smaller stone labeled “God’s Promise.”
Lesson: The ten spies saw the heavy weight and said, “We can’t carry this.” Joshua and Caleb looked at the same load and said, “God’s promises outweigh the giants.”
Application: Walking worthy means trusting God to carry the weight. “Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you” (Ps. 55:22).
At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
The Crowd vs. the Courageous
Picture this: The twelve spies return from scouting the land of Canaan. They’ve seen the mountains, the valleys, the grapes so big they had to carry them on poles. The land was everything God promised — fertile, abundant, rich. But ten spies step forward with trembling voices: “Yes, the land is good. But the people are giants. The cities are fortified. We can’t do this.”
Do you see what happened? Fear eclipsed faith. The crowd believed the majority report. But two men — Joshua and Caleb — saw the same giants, the same walls, and yet came to a very different conclusion: “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” (Num. 13:30).
Here’s the Trail Life principle: The easy path is almost always crowded. The narrow path is often lonely. Boys become men not by going with the majority, but by standing with conviction.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” (Matthew 7:13)
Grapes of Canaan (Faith vs. Fear)
Visual: A huge cluster of grapes (or substitute with oversized fruit basket).
Lesson: The spies all saw the same fruit. But ten saw obstacles; two saw opportunity.
Application: What do you see in the world today? Only giants, or the God who made the promise?
Joshua and Caleb didn’t deny the giants. They just remembered the God who promised.
A Different Spirit
And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. ( (Numbers 14:6–10 , 24))
When the people started panicking, Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes and cried out: “The land is exceedingly good. If the Lord delights in us, He will give it to us. Do not fear the people, for they are bread for us. The Lord is with us.”
Rope Knot (Faith Connection)
Visual: A thick rope, tied with a strong knot.
Lesson: Trusting God is like tying in — it’s what holds you steady when the trail gets steep. Caleb’s “different spirit” was tied into God
Application: Are you knotted to God’s promises, or loosely tied to fear?
That’s faith. That’s courage. That’s conviction.
And then God Himself makes a statement about Caleb: “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.” (Num. 14:24)
Trail Life isn’t about raising boys to fit into culture. It’s about raising them with a different spirit. A spirit of faith when the world chooses fear. A spirit of conviction when the world compromises. This is rugged Christianity. Not soft, not safe, not crowd-pleasing. Faith that can handle storms, stand against mockery, and keep going when the trail gets steep.
Joshua and Caleb were forged in the wilderness to stand in faith all the while staying tied to God.
The Legacy of Stones
that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:6–7)
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14–15)
Fast-forward forty years. Israel finally enters the Promised Land. They cross the Jordan River on dry ground, and God tells Joshua: “Take twelve stones from the river and set them up as a memorial, so that when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ you can tell them how the Lord made a way.”
Those stones weren’t decoration. They were declaration. A visible reminder of God’s faithfulness. Parents, mentors, Trail leaders: your job is to stack stones in the lives of these boys and girls. Stones of truth. Stones of courage. Stones of remembrance.
And Joshua closes his life with one more stone-stacking moment. He declares: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).
That’s the heritage we pass down — not just American freedom, as precious as it is, but a legacy of faith that outlasts nations and generations.
Stacking Stones (Legacy of Faith)
Visual: Bring twelve river rocks and build a cairn (stone pile) on stage.
Lesson: Joshua 4 — memorial stones as a sign for the next generation. Each stone = a marker of God’s faithfulness.
Application: Parents and mentors, what stones are you stacking for your kids? Boys and girls, what markers of faith will you leave behind?
Trailmen and AHG Girls: You are living in a world that will try to make you like everyone else. Don’t give in. Be like Joshua and Caleb. Stand firm in your faith. Be different. Walk worthy.
Parents: Your home is your camp. Stack stones of remembrance. Model courage. Don’t outsource discipleship to programs. Let your kids see your faith in action.
Men of the church: This is your time to model rugged, Christlike manhood. Boys don’t become men in front of screens; they become men when they see men of faith who live it out.
Church family: Support this ministry. This isn’t just about camping. It’s about raising a generation that walks worthy in Christ.
Trail Life is about raising up Joshuas and Calebs — young men and women with a different spirit. Not swayed by culture. Not paralyzed by fear. Not living safe, but living strong.
And remember this: the greatest trail ever walked was the trail to Calvary. Jesus walked worthy all the way to the cross. He bore the weight of our sin, conquered death, and opened the way to eternal life.
