Sunday, November 2, 2025
21st Sunday after Pentecost
No EM Sunday service on 10/19 and 10/26

Scriptures: Malachi 1:1-5
Message: “The Chosen People of God”
Preacher: Pastor Michael Lu

*** Announcements for the Week of October 12^th ***

• MID-AUTUMN BBQ PARTY
  The Mid-Autumn BBQ Party will take place on the 12^th floor after the service.
  
• SPECIAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS
  SLPC will call two special congregational meetings after service on October 19 and 26 to elect new elders (19th) and deacons (26^th). There will only be ONE Sunday worship in Taiwanese and NO EM service in those two Sundays. Worship will start at 10 AM in the 10^th floor hall. All SLPC member should make an effort to attend both meetings.
• YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CARE CELL
  The Young Professionals Care Cell will meet in Room 801 at 19:30 this coming Friday (10/17).
• SLPC CHURCHWIDE PRAYER MEETING
  Pastor Lu will host a bilingual church-wide prayer meeting in the 7^th floor chapel at 19:30 this coming Thursday (10/16) night. All EMers are welcome.
• EM RETREAT
  EM will host a Retreat at Hsinchu Bible College from November 21 (Friday night) to 23 (Sunday noon). Dr. Yakhwee Tan will be our featured speaker. Please register by scanning the QR code:
  
  Or, click the following link to register:
  https://forms.gle/kWc54rq2vmuqAywt9
• OFFERTORY RECORDS VERIFICATION
  SLPC encourages its congregation to verify his/her offertory records through SLPC’s Line OA member service. Contact James for help on access.
• OFFERING ENVELOPES
  Please use the dedicated envelopes for different kinds of offerings: tithe, building fund, thanksgiving, seasonal, special occasions, and etc.
• THE ELECTRONIC CONNECT CARD
  The electronic version of the Connect Card can now be accessed by scanning the new QR Code below.
  
  Or by clicking this link: https://forms.gle/AJqmNU2HkizjJXNH6
• SCAN OR CLICK TO SIGN-IN EVERY SERVICE
  Please scan the service QR Code around the Chapel entrance or on the bulletin, or click the Sign-In link that will be posted in the EM Family Line group chat each Sunday morning for attendance.

***Special Notice***

Hello brothers and sisters in Christ! May the peace of Christ be with you!

The Taiwan CDC has loosened its policies on the COVID-19 restrictions. However, it’s an enclosed space inside the church. As a result, please observe the following guidelines when inside the church premises:

1. Please make sure you have your masks properly worn when entering and inside the church. Disinfect your hands with alcohol if necessary. Maintain social distancing whenever possible.

2. If you don’t feel well, exhibit symptoms of cold, or have been in close contact with people who are contracting COVID-19, please consider to stay at home and participate the online service instead.

3. Food and drinks are conditionally allowed inside the church compound.

Thank you and let’s worship God together on Sundays!

Electronic Sunday Bulletin
EM encourages its congregation to use the electronic version of the Sunday bulletin to save paper.  Please click the following link to access the eBulletin:

https://shorturl.at/R1UBt

Or scan the following QR code.

If you have any suggestion regarding the eBulletin, please let us know.  Thank you!

SERVE IN EM

Come and serve in EM!  You can join the Liturgy, the Audio/Video team, the Praise team, the EM Choir, the Homeless Ministry team, or the Kids Club.  Email: emcaresforyou@gmail.com for more info.

IS THAT ALL I AM TO YOU?
(REFLECTIONS ON EZEKIEL 33:21-33)

Pastor Michael Lu

³⁰ “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ ³¹ My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. ³² Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.”

Is that all I am to you? What is our relationship to each other, and what is our relationship with God? Is it still about relationships or has it become about one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, but whose message is lost in the performance? Has our voice, like Ezekiel, become nothing more than a sound, a wonderfully crafted speech, an eloquent public speaker that is here to entertain like a performer on a stage to be watched, applauded, or on the flipside, critiqued and criticized?

Do we hear God’s words anymore? Isn’t the speaker but just a vessel, like Ezekiel, that is not someone that just sings love songs with a beautiful voice, but one that has been called to deliver God’s message to His people? Yet, even to Israel, Ezekiel has been reduced to just another performer. His words are talked about throughout the city, and his speeches publicized as if a great orator has come to town.

Sounds more like a promotion for a circus, than anticipation for words of God, through the voice of His servant, truth to the world. Yes, many people gather in anticipation to watch this amazing performance, these skills of speech and rhetoric, but in the end the message is lost, and the people do not put God’s words into practice.

Is that all I am to you? Just a performing artist, a flavor of the month, the new hot thing? Is that all you are to me? An audience, to give me applause, to boost up my ego, to be my fans? What is our relationship to each other, and what is our relationship with God?

Yet there will be a day, when the words of Ezekiel, that are the very words of God, will not just be an artistic expression, but will be fulfilled in their midst. And when it does, they will know that a prophet has been among them. But when they know, will it be too late?

May we hear God’s words through the mouth of the prophets. May we hear God’s words through His servants and His people. May ours be a relationship built on the words of God, the love of God, and hope in God. May ours be a relationship in community and in Christ. Remember, prophets are not just fortune-tellers, but are those that speak the word of God, yesterday, today, and forever.

³³ “When all this comes true—and it surely will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”