Sunday, July 20, 2025
6th Sunday after Pentecost

Scriptures: Luke 10:38-42
Message: “Opened her home”
Preacher: Rev. Lian Chin-Siong

*** Announcements for the Week of July 13^th ***

• WORD & BREAD SMALL GROUP
  The Word & Bread small group will meet in Room 702 after the service next Sunday (7/20).
• TAIZÉ PRAYER
  Rev. Lian will lead a Taizé Prayer in the chapel starting at 19:30 on Thursday, July 24. We encourage everyone to attend. It will be live-streamed as well. If you can serve in the prayer, please then let Rev. Lian know.
  
• SUMMER ACTIVITIES AT SLPC
  There are various activities available at SLPC this summer, including indoor / outdoor sports camps, kids summer schools, and a learning and exercising Taiwanese language camp. For availability and registration, please see flyers posted on the bulletin boards throughout the SLPC premises.
• ELDERS, DEACONS DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING II
  Rev. Lian will host the second part of the training session that focuses on how to read the Bible. There will be 4 classes, which will be offered on every third Saturday of every month starting this July (7/19). The topic of the first class is: What is the Bible? It’s open to everyone. Registration: https://reurl.cc/Gn2W9d
  
• 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://reurl.cc/3KnQRl

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.

A SONG NOT OF SELF, BUT OF GOD
(1 SAMUEL 2:1-10; LUKE 1:46-55)

Rev. Lian Chin-Siong

When Hannah gave her long-awaited son Samuel to the Lord’s service, she didn’t weep in reluctance, but broke into a powerful prayer—a song, really. This “Song of Hannah” is one of Scripture’s most moving expressions of trust and surrender. Her prayer overflows not with focus on her own fulfillment, but on God’s justice, sovereignty, and grace.

Hannah had suffered years of barrenness, mockery, and sorrow. Yet in her deep anguish, she cried to God—and He answered. But here’s the miracle beyond the miracle: Hannah did not cling to the gift. She gave Samuel away, not because she had to, but because she wanted her answered prayer to glorify God, not herself.

Hannah’s prayer foreshadows another woman’s song centuries later—Mary’s Magnificat. Mary, too, bore a son through a miraculous circumstance. She, too, sang of a God who scatters the proud, lifts the lowly, fills the hungry, and brings down rulers. Both women bore life through God’s intervention, and both offered their children back to God’s purposes.

What stands out is not just the miracle of birth, but the posture of worship. Neither Hannah nor Mary uses the word “praise” in a formulaic way, but every word they speak is praise. Their songs are not self-congratulatory testimonies but proclamations of God’s strange and wonderful ways.

This challenges us to reconsider our own prayers. Do we come to God only to ask, or do we come to align? Do our prayers seek only solutions, or surrender? Like Hannah, are we willing to let our weakness become a vessel for God’s glory, even when the answer means letting go?

True prayer is not about securing outcomes; it’s about transforming hearts. It makes our souls magnify the Lord, even in scarcity or pain. It reorients us to see that the heart of God is not limited by human status, plans, or expectations. The stone the builders rejected can become the cornerstone.

So may your life, like Hannah’s and Mary’s, become a song—not one that highlights your strength or achievement, but one that quietly, powerfully tells of God’s marvelous work. Even if no one hears your melody but God, may your life echo His justice, His grace, and His glory. Amen.