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

Next Worship Service

Sunday, November 1, 2026
7F Chapel, 11AM
23rd Sunday after Pentecost

Scriptures: John 11:1-4, 11-16
Message: Lazarus is Dead
Preacher: Pastor Michael Lu

Recent Sermons & Services

Announcements

*** Announcements for the Week of November 1st ***

  • DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING (DBR)
    Join us tonight at 8pm for our weekly Sunday Devotional Bible Reading.
  • THE GATHERING WORSHIP & PRAYER
    EM Cafe has transitioned into “The Gathering” Worship & Prayer! Come join us for a time of personal reflection, worship, and prayer. Please join us on November 6 at 7:30 PM in the 7F Chapel. [Language: Mandarin]
  • HOLY COMMUNION
    There will be Holy Communion next Sunday (11/8). Let us prepare our hearts.
  • OUTDOOR WORSHIP
    We will have an outdoor worship at Linsen Park (林森公園) on Sunday, November 22 @ 11:00am. There will be no regular EM service in the 7th FL Chapel that Sunday. Light lunch will be provided after the worship.
  • CELEBRATION OF THANKSGIVING DAY
    SLPC has prepared Thanksgiving cards that you can fill out to express your gratitude and encouragement for people that have impacted your life. Cards are available at the Welcome table. After filling out the card(s) please put it in the designated box on the 1F counter before November 15 for later display.
  • 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


John 11:43
When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."


WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL

A MAN OF SORROWS
(REFLECTIONS ON JOB 16:1-22; 17:1-16)

Pastor Michael Lu

What kind of friends does Job have? Self-righteous friends? Friends that are more concerned about being right in their understanding of God and Job’s current circumstances than actually being friends?

Yes, it does seem like Job’s friends are more interested in being right, in proving their point, rather than actually showing compassion to their fallen companion.

2 “I have heard many such things;
Sorry comforters are you all.
3 “Is there no limit to windy words?
Or what plagues you that you answer?
4 “I too could speak like you,
If I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And shake my head at you.
5 “I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.

If in their position, Job says that he could also speak words of judgment and shake his head, but he could also strengthen with his mouth, and through compassion help give strength to the sufferer. This is something his friends could do as well, but rather they have chosen a different path, that is the path of self-righteousness.

20 “My friends are my scoffers;
My eye weeps to God.

Job’s friends are scoffers, while Job cries out to God. Let’s pause for a moment and imagine this in our minds. Job cries out to God, and rather than comfort, his friends stand above him, pointing fingers at him, and making judgment against him.

In Job 17 we read,

6 “But He has made me a byword of the people,
And I am one at whom men spit.

In their self-righteousness, Job’s friends do not demonstrate the wisdom they claim to possess. Instead, their failure to show compassion exposes the limitations of their understanding, while Job’s integrity becomes increasingly evident.

They could support Job, but rather they choose their self-righteousness. Does Job’s life remind us of someone else that was spit on, became a byword, that was mocked, laughed at and looked down upon? Isn’t this also what we see Isaiah in reference to the Suffering Servant, that is Jesus Christ?

Isaiah 53:2-5

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one for whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

A man of sorrows, the Savior of the world, the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, yet rather than compassion, understanding, putting our hope in Him, the world has brought judgment on Christ, saying that He was cursed by God.

A man of sorrows, yet He was pierced through for our transgressions, and by His scourging (His wounds) we are healed. This is the Christ, spit on, mocked, made fun of, judged for being condemned, yet the Savior of the world.

This is not to say that Job is the Christ, or even a Christ-figure, but as we look at Job’s suffering, and rather than compassion, how his friends judge him, making him a byword among the people, one whom men spit on, doesn’t that make us think of Christ?

Should we look at Job differently, at those that suffer for Christ differently, at Christ Himself differently? Yes, a man of sorrows, but the Savior of the world. This is the life Christ lived, the life Paul lived as servant of Christ, and perhaps the life that the Lord has called us to live.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

If we reject this life, then do we reject the teachings of Paul, the example of Job, and the life of the Man of Sorrows, Jesus Christ? And if we reject Christ, what else is there in life worth living for?

Is suffering a prerequisite for following Christ? No! But surrender is. If we have surrendered our lives to Him, then whether we experience success or failure, joy or suffering, we should live our lives to glorify Him.