Neighbour Sunday - Sunday 17 November 

Are you praying for the streets around you? An encouragement to pray for your neighbours this Sunday from the Neighbourhood Prayer Network and Faith in Later Life

At the National Day of Prayer and Worship at Wembley Stadium in September 2012, the Neighbourhood Prayer Network was launched. The vision is to call Christians to look at how they can pray for, care with and share the Gospel, as appropriate in their neighbourhoods.

According to 2011 statistics, there are 260,000 streets in the UK, and that number is set to rise. Since its launch, the Neighbourhood Prayer Network has seen more than 5,600 streets committed to prayer.

Alongside this, in 2017, five Christian ministries, including the Salvation Army came together to found the coalition Faith in Later Life, which is seeking to empower Christians to engage with older people, both inside and outside the church.



Faith in Later Life is looking to support Christians at a local level to serve their communities better. Through its activities' directory, Faith in Later Life has seen more than 2,300 projects added to enable people to serve the community. The directory includes lunch clubs and other groups. This is a free service for churches to sign and share what they are doing. 

Recently, the Neighbourhood Prayer Network and Faith in Later Life joined together to invite churches this coming Sunday, 17th November 2019, to join with us in praying for our neighbours as part of the first Neighbour Sunday.

Jesus said, we must love our neighbours as ourselves. That's a bold challenge, but one we must step up to.

We are delighted that Baptists Together General Secretary, the Revd Lynn Green has offered a prayer and endorsement to the campaign. She said, 'I am delighted to hear that the Neighbourhood Prayer Network and Faith in Later Life have teamed up to create Neighbour Sunday where we can bless those who live in our streets. 

'I commend this focus as a way for Baptist Churches to encourage people to continue to pray for their neighbours and look for opportunities to serve and bless those who live nearby; especially our older neighbours. 

'As we are encouraged, we are also challenged about how we, as disciples, are salt and light in our communities and whether our church communities truly reflect the communities where we live.'

Perhaps, this Neighbour Sunday, you could start praying for those who live around you? We are delighted to have the endorsement of this work from some amazing people who believe in the power of praying for the streets.

Look at our FREE resources and register what you are doing! This might be the start of seeing your community changed.
 

A prayer from Lynn: 

Loving Lord, we pray today for our neighbours and those who live in our communities. 

We pray a blessing over each person and every household and we ask that each one will be filled with your peace and experience fullness of life. 

Where there is goodness and abundance, we pray for a spirit of gratitude and joy; where there is pain and challenge, we pray that there would be an awareness of your presence with them in and through all things.

We pray for ourselves that we may be neighbours who are Beacons of Hope, embodying and sharing your light, life and love through the faithful daily witness of our discipleship. 

Please Lord, would you would stir up in us a deeper desire to bless and serve and pray for our neighbours and fill us with your Holy Spirit so that we may see with your eyes and respond with your love and grace. 

We long for you to be lifted up and glorified in our lives and our communities today.
Amen