From the Desk of Pastor Kim

by Pastor Peter Kim

New Beginnings

At the beginning of every year, the theme of "New Beginnings" is prominent in many spheres of life. It is a time to start anew with your New Year's resolutions (mostly about diets or exercising). Perhaps it is a new school year (in some parts of the world) or a new start to a career. It is a new beginning for businesses with a new fiscal year. There may be new goals and new objectives whether personal or professional. Or, generally speaking, it may be a new beginning in a person's attitude or mindset about life. This year is particularly new and special for our church, not because it is also a new decade, but because there are new things happening that we can be excited about.

What are these new things? Our church offices and Sunday worship service will be temporarily moving to a new location just about a 5-minute walk from our current location. Beginning Sunday,February 16th, our services will be held on the 6th floor of the old China Evangelical Seminary building at No. 101, Section 3, Tingzhou Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City (click here for a map). This is happening because our current church building will be undergoing some renovations according to new government regulations. This is something that sets up a new situation for us, and it is something that we can be excited about. But, of course, with the idea of newness, there comes an implication that there will be change.

Change can be difficult. It will require us to make adjustments. It will require us to get out of our routine. And it will take some getting used to. There may be things that no longer seem intuitive, and there may be things that will require much patience from every person in our church. This will be possible when we look to the Lord together and remember that we are all sinners saved by grace, and that He is moving to grow our hearts and our church for His purposes. Growth, by definition, involves change.

Through the redeeming work of His Son, Jesus Christ, God has shown His love to us and to our church through many decades, and I believe that He will continue to use this church for His glory as long as we continue to look to Him and depend on Him. Let us pray together that the Lord will be glorified through our church and that He will protect and guide us through this time of transition as we look ahead to an exciting new year of depending on Him and watching how He will move through it all.