Letter: The recent football cup final at Windsor Park was an example of the desecration of Sabbath in Northern Ireland

(Scroll down for a link to a letter from Wallace Thompson about Sunday football)

It is with a deep sense of regret that I must respectfully raise my deep concerns of the ever increasing desecration of the Sabbath day and the rejection of God with recent Cup final at Windsor Park and now a European International being played on the coming Sunday. I am not speaking on behalf of any organisation but purely personal but the amount of silence on this is so disturbing and people are substituting Lords Day worship with a football match and there is minimal of condemnation.

The late William Booth (Founder of the Salvation Army) said approximately 130 years ago that the chief danger facing the Church in the 20th century was and I quote “Christianity without Christ, Religion without the Holy Ghost, Forgiveness without Repentance, Salvation without Regeneration (ie being born again), Politics without God and Heaven without Hell."

If I may add another a religious veneer without any concern for souls. We are living in perilous unbiblical days.

The Lord’s day is not for sports and entertainment, it is for the public and private worship of a Holy God, and could I quote the Shorter Catechism The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a Holy resting all that day even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days and spending the whole time in the public and private exercise of God’s worship, except so much as to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

Sadly, there is no fear of God in our people and no concern about their soul. I know many churches have no evening services but you can worship God in another Meeting House but society is so bigoted that people refuse to go to where they will hear the gospel preached.

You ask why I write this, I do so because of a great concern for our land and for the souls of the people so I appeal to all those who might be planning to attend Sunday Football, to think about your soul, think about where you will spend eternity – either in Heaven or in Hell, these are the only two places taught in Scripture – so will you Honour God and give your life to Him and receive His great Salvation or will you harden our heart, say No to Christ, deliberately reject His Commandments and spend eternity in Hell. Oh, I pray your count the cost or your soul will be lost.

Yours because of Calvary

​Raymond Adams, Banbridge

Wallace Thompson letter: Cup final is a reminder that respect for Lord’s Day has evaporated