Welcome to SLPC English Ministry
Join Us for Worship: Sundays at 11 a.m.

Next Worship Service

Sunday, May 3, 2026
5th Sunday of Easter

Scriptures: Exodus 5:1-9 (ESV)
Message: Get Back to your Burdens
Preacher: Pastor Michael Lu

Recent Sermons & Services

Announcements

*** Announcements for the Week of May 3rd ***

  • DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING (DBR)
    We will begin our weekly online Devotional Bible Reading starting tonight at 8:00pm. Meeting Link will be sent out prior to the meeting via our EM Family Line group.
  • HOLY COMMUNION
    There will be Holy Communion next Sunday (5/10). Please prepare your hearts.
  • MOTHER’S DAY
    Next Sunday (5/10) is Mother’s Day. Please bring your mother and come worship together! If you are married or a mother we will have a special gift prepared for you.
  • TAIWANESE HYMNS FEST
    Renowned Taiwanese gospel song writer, Michael Cheng (鄭明典老師) will come to SLPC to share his stories and songs in the 10F Hall from 12:30pm to 3:00pm on Sunday, May 31. Open to everyone. Please register if you need refreshments. https://reurl.cc/xWKoK1
    (LANGUAGE: Mandarin / Taiwanese)
  • 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.
    eConnectCard
    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.

Bible Verse of the Week


Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.


WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL

FIND STRENGTH IN THE LORD
(REFLECTIONS ON PSALM 129)

Pastor Michael Lu

3 “The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.”

Let us take some time this morning to visualize this verse. Plowers are farm workers who prepare land for planting by plowing the soil. Plowing involves turning and loosening the soil to break up compacted ground. During this process, workers create furrows, which are long, narrow trenches that help with planting, water flow, and overall soil preparation.

However, rather than the ground, the psalmist describes the plowers plowing and creating deep ridges and trenches on their back. It is this image of a slave master that is physically digging into the back of one of their slaves, or an oppressor treating the oppressed as an object, in such an inhumane way that furrows are dug leaving flesh, blood and scars, that the psalmist is describing here.

Again, let us take some time this morning to visualize this verse. Brothers and sisters, this image is not just for a moment in time, but it is an experience and an image for the psalmist buried deep within his memory because of how long-lasting this oppression was.

This is not just the psalmist’s experience, but it also represents the experience of Israel. Not just for one short moment in time, but “from my youth up.” Although Israel was treated as a field, with their oppressors plowing upon their back, lengthening their furrows, yet the psalmist also declares, “They have not prevailed against me.”

This is Israel’s testimony. Oppressed, enslaved, but not broken. However, it wasn’t out of their own personal fortitude that they endured, but it was the Lord’s righteousness that gave them strength to overcome. As the psalmist writes,

4 The Lord is righteous;
He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.

The chains of oppression, the cords that bound Israel, were cut in two by the Lord because He is righteous. In His righteousness, He was faithful to His covenant relationship with Israel, and He set them free.

Brothers and sisters, let us find strength in the Lord because He is righteous, and His righteousness is upon us that believe in the faith of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He is righteous, and so we find strength in the Lord, because through Jesus Christ, His righteousness will cut in two the cords of the wicked. Just as the Lord came to the rescue for Israel in their slavery, so too can we find strength in the Lord and say, “Yet they have not prevailed against me.”