Dedications for Easter Flowers

The Easter Azaleas and Lilies 

are given to the Glory of Almighty God by:

Donald and Deborah Patterson                      

In memory of Donald and Barbara Lanning, and Merle and Elsie Patterson

 

Rita Reeves                                                    

To the glory of God

 

Kathryn Rivers                                              

In memory of Jay Rivers, Michael Laiche and grandparents

 

Cindy Romano                                               

In honor of my parents, Robert and Emma Ross

 

Les and Shirley Schnake                               

In honor Diane, Liam and Caden Byers and Dan, Derek and Brandon Schnake

In memory of David Schnake and Robby Byers

 

Patsy and Tom Schumacher                          

In memory of Paul J. and Peter S. Van Bloem

In honor of Debbie Boyd and her work around the church.

In honor of the Garden Club and all their hard work.

 

Stephanie Thomson                                       

In memory of my mother, Diana Back          

                                                                       

The Unangst Family                                      

To celebrate the glory of God

 

Mac and Tina Watts                                      

In memory of our sister in Christ, Joan Hand

 

Don and Beth Wright                                    

In honor of our long time member Nancy Royalty, greeter and member of the original First

Presbyterian Church of St. Mary’s County.

In memory of Don parents, Helen and Don Wright Jr. and Beth’s parents, Dorothy and Walter

Frazier.

 

Anonymous                                                    

In honor of Janice Dixon, my secret sister

 

Anonymous                                                    

In honor of Patsy Schumacher, my secret sister

 

Adams/Van Meter Family                             

In memory of John Adams

 

Leon and Mary Anderson                              

To the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ

 

Gloria Brady                                                  

To celebrate our risen Christ

 

Danielson Family                                          

In memory of Jeff’s mom, Marlene

 

Patsy Davidson                                              

In loving memory of my husband, Bruce Davidson.

In thanksgiving for my family and the birth of McKenna Shay Hart.

In honor of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

 

Carolyn Graessle                                           

In memory of Molly Martin

                                                                       

Carolyn and Dick Huff                                  

In loving memory of our loved ones who have gone before.

 

Agatha Lakin                                                 

In memory of Leonard and Bonnie Cochran and Toby and Pansy Lakin

 

Lawrence Family                                           

In memory of our loved ones

 

Karla and Jim Light                                       

In honor of our families

 

Glenda Lytle                                                  

In loving memory of my husband, Allen Lytle, our son-in-law Ian Seely, and my parents

 

Frank and Kathy Mazur                                 

To celebrate our risen Lord!

Two-Year Anniversary of the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Message of Encouragement

Rev. Matt Pooley

March 10, 2022

Greetings Pax Pres! If you’re encouraged by this message, please share it with others.

I composed this message and filmed a video of me sharing the following thoughts on Thursday, March 10, 2022. It was on March 13, 2020 that President Trump officially declared a national emergency related to the spread of the novel coronavirus that we all now know as Covid-19. Not to mention its endless variant names - have you enjoyed learning the Greek alphabet the last two years?

A lot of other milestones unfolded day by day in early 2020 - school shutdowns, travel bans, and so forth. But as we approach what would roughly be the two-year anniversary of the explosion of Covid-19 in our country, I want to offer some reflections and encouragement from God’s Word to you on such a sobering occasion.

Psalm 40 says:

“I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

    out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

    and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,

    a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the Lord

    and put their trust in him.

Blessed is the one

    who trusts in the Lord,

who does not look to the proud,

    to those who turn aside to false gods.”

“I waited patiently for the Lord.”  Two years of a global pandemic will test anyone’s patience. And for some of us, even after two years, the waiting continues - maybe on something related to the pandemic or something else in your life circumstances like a broken relationship, a loved one dying, job uncertainty, or more.  Jesus Christ came offering “life to the full” (John 10:10) to those who look to Him for rescue and not, as Psalm 40 says, “to the proud or to false gods.”

That doesn’t mean all our suffering will go away tomorrow. But it does mean that in the two years of a pandemic or the years still ahead of you, submitting to trust and obey Him offers us qualities from the Holy Spirit to get us through each day no matter how muddy, slimy and dark the days are – as the psalmist says. Qualities like the fruit of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, and so forth; the perseverance described in Romans 5, and more.

Jesus offers life to the full in the present-day sense. He also offers life to the full in the sense that there’s a long-term promise: one day, He will come again. Even if the struggles - pandemic or otherwise - don’t end anytime soon. Even if, as the psalmist says, he doesn’t lift you out of your slimy pits and mud and mire this year or next. One day he will wipe away all tears, reveal a new heaven and earth, and offer eternal joy and rest in His presence to those who confess Jesus as Savior and Lord.

I need these encouragements too. So join me in holding onto the hope of God’s daily provision to shape our character to persevere beyond the first two years of a global pandemic. Join me in holding onto the hope that, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Paul says “our light and momentary troubles.” He is not at all downplaying the severity of life’s suffering: six million deaths to Covid-19 worldwide. Employees of so many industries burned out: hospital staff and medical professionals; business workers; teachers; housekeepers in hotels; and more.  Constant questions of “How long, O Lord?” “What will the new normal be?” Beyond the pandemic itself, we’ve had tension around race relations and systemic injustice, ever-increasing anxiety about our global climate, a divisive presidential election season, and now a new war incited by Russia. Or just on the ordinary, daily scale, I read an article a couple months ago about “decision fatigue. We’re all tired of the constant pivoting, calling audibles, and rethinking one decision after another because of Covid-19.

Paul’s point is not necessarily that, in themselves, these are light and momentary troubles. His point is a comparison and contrast — if you could add up the physical weight of all these sources of pain, and then imagine a source of glory, goodness, and joy that far outweighs them all, I can’t even wrap my head around how much goodness and joy that is. Yet Paul says it is coming. It is coming for those who hang onto Christ, and when we can’t muster up the strength to hold onto Christ, that HE will hold onto us. 

I realize that even in two years of a pandemic, we’ve seen ordinary moments of unsung grace and resilience too, and we can give thanks to God for the way we see that in each other. But even then, God is preparing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs it all. If we wait patiently for the Lord, He will once, finally, and for all pull us out of the slimy pit of sin and suffering and set our feet in the presence of the rock, the glorious, loving, powerful, holy, compassionate King Jesus. Let’s cling to that hope together no matter what the rest of this pandemic or anything else in this world continues to bring. God bless you. 

Global Affairs in the Ukraine: Scripture & Music

Greetings Pax Pres! As the news regarding Russia and the Ukraine continue to unfold in significant ways this week, I honestly do not feel that more words from someone like me are needed in this age of every pundit under the sun offering their analysis of the global matters at hand. 

 

Instead, it is a time such as this when the timelessness of God‘s Word is what is needed.

 

Acts 17:26-27 says, “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”

 

Psalm 46 says:

 "God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

    and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

    God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done,

    the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease

    to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

    he burns the shields with fire.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us;

    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 

Romans 8 declares: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. …In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

 

Whether you are looking for hope in your own personal anxieties and uncertainties, or hope regarding the affairs in the Ukraine and its impact on civilians, military, missionaries for the Gospel, and the least of these - if that is the hope you are seeking in these tenuous days, then I point you back to Scriptures such as those above to guide your prayer and to fill you with God’s strength and hope. Not to remove us from caring about the affairs of the nations, but rather to deepen our perspective and the way we pray.

 

I also point you to a song that has meant a lot to me in various seasons of uncertainty in the last few years: “Ancient of Days” by Shane & Shane.

I admit I have shared this song in a previous church blog post, so if it’s already familiar to you, then listen again and be encouraged. The opening lyrics say:

“Though the nations rage

Kingdoms rise and fall

There is still one King

Reigning over all…”

 

May the word of Christ and the peace of Christ dwell richly in you as you look for ways to pray for global affairs and all those in need, and to do your part in showing the love of Christ to our neighbors.

Stillness in Motion (God is) by Kathleen Mead

 

Stillness in Motion (God is) by Kathleen Mead

 

Prologue:

 

Stillness in motion,

    both coming & going—

    a patient urgency

    of simultaneous division & peace,

    humbly exalted

    from death to life (no longer under wrath);

    He does, but most importantly,

    He is;

 

…

 

God is the God of stillness

    in how His seventh broke

    the rhythms of His creation

    while He rested to observe quiet beauty.

 

Stillness in the mountains,

    their glory found in stability;

    the silence of the evening

    that awaits the morning light & song.

 

God is the God of motion

    in the parting of the waters,

    the enemy’s plans frustrated

    since He’s already declared His victory.

 

Motion in the earth

    following gravity’s beaten path;

    wind’s power felt and yet unseen,

    rustling what was frozen.

 

God is the God of leaving

    behind the ninety-nine

    because He cares for the one,

    the lost, and the least of these.

 

Leaving behind the worries of tomorrow

    and the burdened weight of past mistakes;

    abandon the self of old

    to put on the one who gives before he takes.

 

God is the God of coming

    closer to His most precious love,

    the pursuit of His prodigal son,

    chasing whom He’s redeemed.

 

Coming toward the goodness

    which is lavished so greatly on us;

    the undeserved grace-filled breath

    which now fills our lungs to overflow.

 

God is the God of patience

    so that we may be led in the direction

    of having a repentant heart

    clinging to only Him.

 

Patience held when He died

    in the knowledge of our destiny;

    He saw us before our formation,

    never slow to fulfill His promises.

 

God is the God of urgency

    with His call to a holy rebirth

    for the sake of a clear sight

    of nothing less than His heavenly kingdom.

 

Urgency to be awakened

    to the truth of the light;

    it is coming soon

    so run away from fear to greet His safe radiance.

 

God is the God of division

    between righteousness and injustice,

    exposing darkness that hides in shadows

    to be replaced one day by fire.

 

Division that shows His holiness,

    our dissonance

    to be torn at His command

    since His presence is too bright to be friends with

    corruption.

 

God is the God of peace—

    demonstrated in who became flesh—

    through being fully reconciled,

    the earth to our creator, God.

 

Peace accessed though faith

    merely by floating upon the sea

    because no gift from Him is earned,

    rather, it can all be ours for free.

 

God is the God of exaltation

    on wings that charged the land with wondrous glory,

    awestruck at the mighty hand

    that holds eternal, sovereign power.

 

Exaltation of a king

    who reigns still to conquer sin;

    strength under perfect control

    as to rest once again on His throne.

 

God is the God of humility

    coming to bring salvation,

    the hope defeating any worldly despair

    delivered through virgin birth.

 

Humility that led to sacrifice

    of the meek coming not be served

    but to serve,

    revealing His humble heart divine.

 

God is the God of death

    to crucify Himself

    and the evil rebellion of us

    right alongside Him.

 

Death of our life before Him

    to abide in His resurrection;

    to take up the cross while the earth still turns

    is to be under obedience of His love.

 

God is the God of life

    to be made alive, restored, reborn—

    freedom in broken chains

    that teach me to be transformed.

 

Life that’s now worth living

    because I’m given a purpose amidst each problem;

    glorify Him in every thing—

    every increase giv’n to a planted seed.

 

God is the God of doing

    as we know His miracles so well,

    and He doesn’t leave it a mystery

    when He answers each whispered prayer escaping

    our lips.

 

Doing what only He can:

    opening our eyes to see He’ll be our help

    and offering wisdom with sacred comfort

    to sustain us with His Spirit .

 

But God is the God of being

    eternal, compassionate, true;

    why shall we turn away or insist our will

    when what is good is what He’ll do?

 

Being the only worthy of praise,

    He is our Passover’s spotless lamb;

    yet nothing tells us more of Him

    than how He’s the great I AM.

 

Praise be to God.

Encouragement for the New Year: Hope in the Darkness

As we celebrate Christmas and approach the end of 2021 and the start of 2022, I want to share a word of encouragement with you. One part of the original Christmas history that is not often given a lot of attention comes from the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2: 13 …an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” The son of God was born and made flesh in the midst of horrible darkness and evil. So as you consider the global and wide scale sin and evil this year, and as you consider your own personal darkness and sin, whatever that may be, take hope the Emmanuel, God With Us was born in the midst of pain to redeem us from sin. A couple years ago I was lamenting a number of places of pain in the lives of people I loved and cared about during Advent. Out of that time, I wrote a song based on Matthew 2 called “Rachel’s Lament.” I pray that the words of this song give voice to your prayers to God this Christmas and into the new year. Rachel’s Lament (Come to Us) Music & Lyrics by Matt Pooley, December 2018 VERSE 1 The Savior of the world Born to a trembling little girl Within a week, the king will kill them all They must run or fall A voice heard in the streets Beneath the snow a mourning mother weeps The hand of Herod took her infant child How can this be Christmas time? CHORUS Emmanuel, Lord, come to us The songs of angels not enough Oh Jesus who was born in pain, To weary souls, Lord, come again VERSE 2 A father on the run Crossing borders just to save his son A frightened mother clutching baby boy How can this be Christmas joy? CHORUS BRIDGE We’re crying in the night To see your Christmas light Come and make things right VERSE 3 The night that Christ was born A massacre was coming on the dawn Though times have changed, we need Him all the same God, be born into our pain CHORUS