Protest Service against Sunday Football

The crowd as it gathered outside Tyndale Free Presbyterian Church for the protest meeting. While the protest service was taking place others gave out Gospel tracks and a leaflet explaining the importance of upholding the sanctity of the Sabbath day.

Sunday Football - Sabbath Desecration

Sadly, tomorrow [Lord's day 29th March 2015] will witness a further decline in the acknowledgement and upholding of the law of God respecting the Sabbath day. A new low in departure from God will take place in Northern Ireland. This is the first time that a home international football match will be played on the Lord's day. It is part of the Euro 2016 qualifying competition.

Representatives from The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, Government & Morals Committee, met with the Irish Football Association some weeks ago to express our opposition to this football match going ahead, and also to make known the inconvenience it will cause to one of our local Free Presbyterian congregations. Tyndale Memorial congregation, on Donegall Avenue in Belfast, is situated a few hundred yards away from one of the main entrances to Windsor Park, where the football match will be played. 

The Evil of Sabbath Desecration

This is the outline of a sermon preached in March 2010 on the subject of the sabbath and its desecration, as a result of the first Irish League football match to be played on a Lord's day. It is worth posting here in the light of the recent changes to the law regarding Sunday racing.

Text: Nehemiah ch 13:15-22 & Jeremiah 17:19-27

As most of you are aware from the events of last weekend [March 2010] we witnessed the first Irish League football match on a Lord’s day. For 60 years a rule has existed, within the Irish Football Association, that prohibited such a thing taking place. It was sadly overturned last year as part of wider constitutional changes within the Irish Football Association.

It would not have been surprising if it was mainly Roman Catholic teams which chose to play on a Sunday, as the model of religion in a Sunday morning and sport the rest of the day is a long established practice among them. But it was two teams that have associations with Protestantism. It is a sad reflection on the decline in true religion in this land that these things are taking place. 

Sadder still to learn that some who profess to be believers see no wrong in such desecration of the Lord’s Day. Some have even defended this latest development and described it as moving forward with the times and not something to be concerned about.

Northern Ireland may be forced to play football on a Sunday

Thankfully there has been a reluctance to play football on a Sunday in Northern Ireland over the years. The rules were changed some time ago to permit Sunday football but few Football Clubs have taken up the option.

There is, however, a possibility that Northern Ireland may be forced in future to play Sunday football by UEFA, during the the 2016 European Championship group stages.

To read further details see Belfast Telegraph.

To read other articles on this Blog about Sabbath Observance, see here.