The Unstoppable Spirit - 18 May 2025

Dear friends of BCUC,Have you ever seen a glacier?I remember going to Fox Glacier in New Zealand as a kid—a slow-moving, powerful force that changes landscapes, creating beautiful fjords and valleys over centuries. It’s a place where pure, frigid, blue glacial waters flow out. A massive bulk of centuries of snowfall and ice, both awe-inspiring and intimidating.It moves with dynamic power—sometimes retreating, sometimes steadily working its way down the mountain range to fall into the ocean. I think glaciers can be a great image for the work of the Holy Spirit: powerful, awesome, life-giving, world-changing.Imagine yourself standing in front of a glacier with a battery-powered hairdryer, saying, “Stop right there!” Pretty ineffectual. That’s the kind of statement Peter makes about the movement of the Holy Spirit when it fell on the Gentiles (non-Jews) in chapter 11 of the book of Acts: “Who was I to stand in God’s way?” (verse 17).If it weren’t for the events in chapters 10 and 11 of Acts, the movement of Jesus might have remained a sect within Judaism. It’s what happens here—the vision Peter received and the defence he gave to the early church—that led to the wonderful conclusion in Acts 11:18:“When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, ‘We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.’”I’m so personally thankful that Peter couldn’t stop the glacier of the Holy Spirit—because I have so much to benefit. And so do you! Nothing less than “the repenting of sins and the receiving of eternal life.” Thanks be to God.Come this Sunday to hear more about this world-altering story from Acts.Your brother in Christ,Benji