Sunday, December 15, 2024
3rd Sunday of Advent

Scriptures: Luke 3:7-18
Message: “What Should We Do?”
Preacher: Rev. Lian Chin-Siong

*** Announcements for the Week of December 8^th ***

• ADVENT CANDLE LIGHTING
  Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent. We light up the second purple candle, the Bethlehem Candle, or the Candle of Peace. It reminds us the Prince of Peace, the Savior who saves us from our sins, and gives us peace with God.
  
• THE YOUNG PROFESSIONAL CARECELL
  The Young Professional CareCell will have a meeting in Room 801 at 19:30 on Friday, 12/13.
• WORD & BREAD SMALL GROUP
  The small group will have a meeting in Room 702 after the service next Sunday, 12/15.
• CHRISTMAS EVE CONCERT
  On Tuesday, December 24, there will be a Christmas Eve concert in the 10^th floor hall at 19:30. Various groups in the SLPC will perform on stage. A musical play, the Fourth Wiseman, will be performed by the Children Choir. The concert is open to everyone.
• CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION LUNCHEON
  EM will host a Christmas celebration luncheon in the café area after the service on December 22. Besides food, there will be performance and sharing. Please register for the event if you wish to attend. Thank you. Registration: https://forms.gle/dpRgCLmsBZ2ciMKG8
• WELCOME TEAM RECRUITMENT
  EM’s Welcome Team is recruiting! If you would like to serve and engage more in EM, the Welcome team is a good place to start. Contact its team leader, Mandy, if you can lend a helping hand. Thank you.
• 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.
• SLPC PRAYER MEETINGS
  SLPC will host prayer meetings in Taiwanese and Mandarin in the 7^th floor chapel every Thursday night from 19:30 to 20:30. Pastors of SLPC will lead the meetings. We encourage brothers and sisters to attend.
• 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/zpe96k

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.

Preparing the Way

Zara Natolotra Razanandimby / Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” ~ Isaiah 40:3

When talking about preparing the way, we are directly compelled to think about the call in Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark:1:1-8. This chapter in Isaiah treats of the comforts of God’s people; of the forerunner and coming of the Messiah, which is in line with the chapter in Mark, talking about John the Baptist calling the people from wilderness, from the desert. The desert, that empty, unconnected place, often frightening, sometimes fascinating, as if to lose oneself in it. For the desert is a place without paths, without landmarks, a place of wandering. The people of Israel wandered there for 40 years, experiencing every possible doubt. In the desert, they rebelled, but also recognized their poor, sinful condition. The desert is like a waiting place. But waiting for what, if not for an encounter, for humanity? Nowadays, the call is not addressed in the desert but the context is similar. It is spoken to a place where hope is frail, many people are in despair and living is scarce.

If we read the newspapers or listen to the news on a regular basis, it won’t be hard to see how many stories of violence and scandal surround us. Every day we hear of countless murders, robberies, sexual assaults, scandals involving our rulers, multiple demands with an attitude of violence and contempt. The latest murder of the week, or the latest incest crime in town, are laid out before us with lengthy explanations. Many of these detailed descriptions would never have been uttered or even imagined by our grandmothers. But today, everyone, including our children, has free access to all this information. We feed on it, we live on this perpetual climate of aggression and this affects our lives.

Some parts of the world are at war while some others are facing famine or other calamities. The fact remains that we live in oppression. Our society is trapped in a form of slavery from which it is quite incapable of freeing itself, and which manifests itself in a wide variety of forms. The problem is not simply violence against women, disdain for the elderly or injustice towards this or that group of employees. It’s about an oppression of a much deeper and more encompassing spiritual nature, which has existed since the fall of our first parents, and whose instigator is the devil himself. He exercises his cruel domination because of man’s sin.

However, the Church of God is encouraged to expect renewed strength and persevering grace, and is blamed for giving way to a distrustful and murmuring spirit, Isa 40:26-31. Now the call is addressed to the church: Comfort my people, seek the lost sheep of Israel and tell them I am coming soon to bring peace and salvation. This is a call for evangelization. The Church then should not remain silent in such a context.