For the Fifth Sunday in Lent

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Loving Lord,

We would worship you today in Spirit and Truth,

Which is good because we cannot gather with

Others, as has been our practice from ages past!

But though we remain un-gathered, still we “gather,“

Virtually and truly with myriads of the unseen hosts

From before, from now, and also from hereafter,

To celebrate your holiness, to delight in your love,

And to declare your presence with us now and ever!

 

We gather in “un-gathered” assemblies to hear again

Your call to follow the love and holiness you have

Embodied in your one and only Son, our one and only

Lord and Messiah, Jesus!  We consider again his call

To deny the self-life and enter in to the cross-life,

All the way to a dying and rising with him that promises

Rebirth for the world, its nations and tribes, us and all,

A re-assembling of all earth’s un-gathered healed whole!

 

Loving Lord, as we—un-gathered-gatherings—assemble

Before, with, and in your presence, let our prayers bring

Assurance to all near and far who serve the sick, that

Their attentive and trained touch becomes for the stricken

Your touch that tenderly and powerfully arrests viral attack,

And, let the cumulative impact of their multiple touches

Gather together sacramentally to become streams of mercy

Flooding our dying deserts with Edenic blessing and fruit.

 

In the name above all names, amen!

Published by David Kendall

Reverend David W. Kendall, an ordained elder in the Great Plains Conference, was elected to the office of bishop of the Free Methodist Church in May 2005. He serves as overseer of East Michigan, Gateway, Great Plains, Mid-America, North Central, North Michigan, Ohio, Southern Michigan, Wabash, African Area Annual Conferences; and Coordinator of oversight for the World Ministries Center.

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