Sandy Mount Church Family,

Greetings in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It
seems as if it has been such a long time since we were able to gather together as a
body of Christ. I’m feeling a little selfish in wanted to see everyone, yet the first
priority is to keep us all safe, so we are apart for a short time.

I was reminded that the first Easter celebration was with Mary Magdalene in
the garden, weeping at the tomb of Jesus. Even though she was alone, Jesus
appeared to her. The greatest miracle for each of us was first celebrated by a single
person. Perhaps we too are feeling a bit isolated. In our own ways we are also
weeping at the tomb. We don’t realize how much we enjoy being with others until
that is not possible. Yet Jesus meets us where we are.

I have been encouraging folks to practice personal and family worship,
devotions, prayer, and meditation. Perhaps we can use this time to commune with
God – maybe that practice had been set aside in our busyness.

There have been some allowable activities at the church. We held a very
successful blood drive in conjunction with a drive-thru dinner service. Both will
continue as there is a critical shortage of blood and we are able to safely host blood
drives on a monthly basis. The drive-thru dinners will continue this Thursday, and
pick up again weekly after Holy Week (no dinner served 4/9). We provided over
250 dinners our first week – clearly there is a need for help in our community.

I am so grateful to all who continue to financially support Sandy Mount
UMC. You are helping us to remain viable and active even during this time of no
in-person worship services or events. We are able to gather for worship on line, we
are able to feed the hungry in our neighborhood, we are able to provide protective
gear for local assisted living facilities, and we are able to shine the light of Christ
for those who find themselves in a very dark and uncertain time. The song says it
best, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

If you are able to tune in via our website or FaceBook page, we will be
hosting on line services for Palm Sunday 4/5 at 10 AM, Maundy Thursday 4/9 at 7
PM, and Good Friday 4/10 at 7 PM. The Baltimore-Washington Conference will
host an Easter Service and we are all encouraged to tune in. The time for this will
be sent later this week.

As Easter people, I plan for us to enjoy a special celebration on our first
Sunday back to in-person worship. It will be a time to reconnect, to celebrate the
resurrection, and to experience worship together like never before!

God’s peace be with you all.