Church Picnic - October 2018

Photos by Stephen Tsai, Nanson Lai, and Peter Brown.

Noteworthy Events

• Monthly Prayer Group – Tuesday, Oct. 9th, 7:30-9:00pm: Come join us at The Engine Room, FPC’s monthly prayer group, for an evening of kingdom-centered prayer. We gather at 7:30pm on the 4th floor of the church building and go into prayer from 7:45 to 9:00. All
are welcome.
• Church Picnic – Sunday, Oct 21st: Grab your lunch and come join us for an all-church picnic. After the service, we will be gathering together at the Triangle Park outside the church building at 1:00pm before heading over to the Tai Da Lake to enjoy fellowship together.
• Church Membership Class, Oct 27th & 28th: Introduction & Membership is designed to introduce you to the vision, values, beliefs, and practices of FPC. This course will benefit everyone and is required for those seeking membership. We will meet in Room 502 of the church building, October 27th, from 9:30 to 12:00 and breakfast will be provided. A follow-up meeting to finish the course will be held on Sunday, October 28th from 1:00 to 3:00pm in Room 701 of the Roosevelt Rd. building. Bring your own lunch! Sign up for this class at the Welcome Table on Sunday.
• Spotlight on Service: Our Hospitality Team is looking for individuals to help serve refreshments during our fellowship time after the Sunday service. If you are interested in joining our team, please email the deacons at FPCTaipeiDeacon@gmail.com.
• Leader Nominations: We will be receiving nominations on behalf of the Session from Oct 14th to Oct 28th. The nominations are only for men as elders, or men and women who will engage in diaconal work. Please click here for details on how to make an appropriate nomination.
• New Mothers & Wives Facebook Group: A new Facebook Group has been created to support mothers and wives in their walk with the Lord and their families. The group is called The Same Boat and you can email the church if you would like to join this group. We encourage all mothers and wives from our FPC congregation to join. This group is created specifically to find a safe place to reach out to one another. Email fpchurch@friendshiptaipei.com for more details.

From the Desk of Pastor Peter

I have been reading through the Book of Proverbs, lately, and I have come across quite a number of proverbs concerning kings and rulers. One such verse that I found recently said, "If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked." (Proverbs 29:12, KJV)

Let us break this down a bit. First of all, the Book of Proverbs is to be read not as a collection of promises or sayings that are always true, but rather as wisdom which usually is true but not all the time. There are exceptions. Secondly, “a ruler” can be understood as anyone in a position of authority, not just the ones at the very top. Thirdly, servants (or “officials,” as in the ESV and NIV translations) are those who are under the authority of the ruler. So, let us change the wording of this verse a bit to make it more modern: "If a leader listens to lies, all his followers are wicked."

This caught my eye because it points to the importance of leadership and the importance of who you follow. A leader may be entertaining lies that come from another person or lies that come from within. When lies come and the leader listens, the leader has the potential to sin, which then leads him to command those under him to follow him in his sin. Again, this is a proverb. This is not a statement that is always true. It is possible for people to not follow their leaders. But in the usual case of someone following their leader, even if out of ignorance, the follower may be subject to guilt because of the leader.

Leadership is a weighty position, and it is important to follow the Lord. However, I will be the first to admit that I am a sinner. I make mistakes and I have sinful thoughts and actions. As the leader of our church, everyone in our congregation has the potential of guilt because of me.

Thanks be to God that the church is not established upon my righteousness. Jesus Christ is our leader, not me. And because of this, we can be confident that as long as we follow Christ, even if we fail, that Christ has covered our sins and will lead us forward in the right path.

In this season of nominating leadership for our church, let us think about who would be great leaders not because of experience or leadership gifts, but because of their hope in the Lord.