The Big Picture

Pictured: Gary Hill, Executive Director

The Unstoppable Edition

When decades had passed, and Abram and Sarai hadn’t been able to have children, it seemed God’s plan of a to spread” (Acts 12:24). mighty people had been thwarted.

When the Israelites had been trapped between the advancing Egyptian army and the Red Sea, it looked like the journey had ended.

When mighty Goliath mocked the frightened army, it appeared that the battle was lost.

When a beaten and battered Jesus was nailed to a cross, and exhaled his last breath, it suggested that all hope was gone.

When Saul, with the backing of the Sanhedrin, launched a campaign to eradicate the fledgling church, you might have thought it was all over.

Yet time and time again, the Bible’s pages show us that God is unstoppable. “Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain…against the Lord and against his Anointed One?” asks Psalm 2, quoted in the face of persecution in Acts 4. We have Jesus’ promise that He will build His church, and not even the strongest forces can stand in the way of that (Matthew 16:18). Despite attack, despite hardship, “the word of God continued to spread” (Acts 12:24).

We’ve seen that at CRU throughout 2020. The year dawned with our views limited by bushfire smoke, and threats to life and property. COVID-19 brought lockdown, limits and loss of life. Yet God has continued to provide, and His Word has continued to change lives as the Spirit has worked. None of this year’s events surprised God. We celebrate those things in this issue of CRUview, including our Annual Report.

I love the last two stanzas of Heidi Tai’s poem, Unstoppable:

our Lord will build his church,

Though our headlines shake and crumble,

saving his people from sin and death,

reviving stone hearts with flesh and rebirth.

Though tomorrow may look uncertain

as first world idols continue to topple,

let us anchor our souls in the word of God

- unchained and unstoppable.