DERELICT SUNDAY & NATIONAL PRAYER WEEKEND

We had a great time at church – with lots of prayer because this was National Prayer Weekend 2016 - a weekend to initiate a wave of prayer over our nation – one life, one street and one community at a time.
 
We were encouraged to write our prayers on a sticky note and then put it on the cross at the front.  The idea behind this is that we believe that local people praying for their community, whether it be where they live or work, can transform the nation.
 
We prayed for our leaders and local councillors, our neighbourhood, schools, church communities, workplaces and anywhere we would be going this coming week and we were encouraged to bless those around us, either by speaking blessing or just by thinking about people as we passed by.
 
One of the songs we sang has the chorus:
 
We are blessed to bless a world in pieces,
We are loved, to love where love is not,
We are changed, to be the change you promised,
We are freed to be your hands, O God.
 
You can listen to the song Bring Heaven to Earth, Lord, here.
 
My Derelict Sunday photograph, taken near Liddington Hill, reminds me that many people in the world today are living in places that look like this – with piles of bricks, rubble and wood - and it’s up to us to make the world a better place for them – we can’t just sit back and do nothing!  Next Sunday for our Harvest Service, we will be thinking about the forgotten families of Syria and even if we can’t afford to give much, we can pray.
 
The first thing I want you to do is pray.
Pray every way you know how,
     for everyone you know.
Pray especially for rulers
     and their governments to rule well
          so we can be quietly about our business
               of living simply,
                    in humble contemplation.
This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.

1 Timothy 2 : 1-3 The Message