Sporting events on Sunday

[Fez]

I could not care less if it was a Sunday or a Saturday.

 

With our eyes centered on Jesus it matters not.

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Brother Fez,,,,,

    I feel the same way.......however,I really do understand ricky's plight,,,,,,,,,,,,,I don't know if any stadium representatives would ever consider whether or not they were disrupting a church service,so sad,,,,huh?    Unless the townspeople get together & really make a big fuss over this then nothing will be done about it,the fans will hoot & holler,park everywhere and never give it a second thought,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,The only way to change things or NOT have things change is to speak out,loud & clear and show good cause,,,,,,,,,,,,,I believe worshipping God Almighty is good cause.And,someone once told me ,when there is just you PLUS GOD..........you ARE the majority!!!!!!~    To God be all the glory,..............                          With love-in Christ,Kwik

[ayin jade]

Recently a church had some street issues with some "fun run" closing off part of the street getting to the church. The church announced a couple of weeks ahead of time how to get to church and avoid the closed off parts of the road. While not ideal, that a sports event was placed ahead of the functions of a church, Im sure the local churches around a sports stadium have figured out ways to cope with the traffic and other disruptions.

[WilliamL]

Since the first day of the week is indeed "the Lord's Day" according to Scripture, and has been held as sacred by most western countries until very recently (some even having a law regarding the Lord's Day) sporting events on Sundays are indeed an insult to Christians.  The secular world does not care one way or another, but the Lord's Day must remain the Lord's Day.

 

William: Which scripture specifically says the Lord's Day is the first day of the week? I don't know of any.

 

Sabbatarians disregard the Lord's Day also, presuming that they are honoring the Lord in doing so.  But Christ declared that He is the Lord of the sabbath, which meant that He had every right to institute the Lord's Day for Christian worship.

 

William: Possibly true, but only if it was the will of his Father, who had sanctified the 7th-day Sabbath from the very beginning of creation, Gen. 2:3: "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it..."

 

It was on the first day of the week that Christians met for worship in the New Testament, to remember both the sacrifice of Christ as well as His glorious resurrection.  The Day of Pentecost was also on the first day of the week.

Only partly correct: Gentile Christians generally met on the first day of the week; Hebrew Christians met on the Sabbath.

 

When Paul began his ministry among the diaspora, he would first preach the Gospel to the Hebrews (having some Gentile worshipers among them) on the Sabbath. Generally he was kicked out of their assemblies after a time, and then went to preach to the Gentiles. So as not to create a conflict for Hebrew Christians, the next day was chosen for worship, so that Hebrews could attend both assemblies.

 

In 4th century AD, after Christianity became the state religion of Rome, and Constantine made the day of the Sun an official day of rest for the Roman empire, the papacy officially anathematized any Christian who continued to keep the 7th day sabbath. Papal Rome was the one who officially made Sunday "the Christian sabbath," not Jesus.

 

As far as Pentecost goes, that date is determined by Lev. 23:15-16 to always fall upon the first day of the week, both before and after Christ came:

 

"And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.

Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD."

 

That first day of the week, the day after a sabbath (which sabbath was the time of YHWH's descent in glory upon Mount Sinai), was the same day Moses, Aaron, and the 70 elders went up onto Mount Sinai into the Presence of YHWH. Ex. 24:9f. For this reason, some people believe that a future Pentecost will also be the day of the Rapture.

[Ezra]

William: Which scripture specifically says the Lord's Day is the first day of the week? I don't know of any.

Do we always need to have such Scriptures before we will believe the Word? What does John mean by being in the Spirit on the Lord's Day in Rev 1:10?  I will quote from Matthew Henry since he is a generally accepted commentator:

The day and time in which he had this vision: it was the Lord’s day, the day which Christ had separated and set apart for himself, as the eucharist is called the Lord’s supper. Surely this can be no other than the Christian sabbath, the first day of the week, to be observed in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ. Let us who call him our Lord honour him on his own day, the day which the Lord hath made and in which we ought to rejoice.

 

 

Sabbatarians disregard the Lord's Day also, presuming that they are honoring the Lord in doing so. But Christ declared that He is the Lord of the sabbath, which meant that He had every right to institute the Lord's Day for Christian worship.

William: Possibly true, but only if it was the will of his Father, who had sanctified the 7th-day Sabbath from the very beginning of creation, Gen. 2:3: "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it..."

Was it not the will of the Father that the Lord Jesus Christ declare Himself "Lord of the sabbath"?  And if so, did He not have the Divine right to establish the Lord's Day -- the first day of the week -- for Christian worship?  And in keeping with this let us hear what the apostle Paul has to say (Col 2:16,17): Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Notice carefully: THE SABBATHS WERE THE SHADOW, CHRIST IS THE REALITY. The context is the criticism by the Judaizers who desired to have Christians observe the sabbath, circumcision, etc. etc.

 

It was on the first day of the week that Christians met for worship in the New Testament, to remember both the sacrifice of Christ as well as His glorious resurrection. The Day of Pentecost was also on the first day of the week.

Only partly correct: Gentile Christians generally met on the first day of the week; Hebrew Christians met on the Sabbath.

Where would you get such a strange notion, since you will not find it in Scripture? It would not only be strange, but the cause of great conflicts if Hebrew and Gentile Christians isolated themselves from each other for worship. Indeed, the epistle to the Hebrews is an attack against any such notion.

In 4th century AD, after Christianity became the state religion of Rome, and Constantine made the day of the Sun an official day of rest for the Roman empire, the papacy officially anathematized any Christian who continued to keep the 7th day sabbath. Papal Rome was the one who officially made Sunday "the Christian sabbath," not Jesus.

The Seventh Day Adventists use this as an excuse to shun the Lord's Day.  But since John and Paul and the other apostles were already observing the Lord's Day as the day of Christian worship, this is totally irrelevant. And Justin Martyr lived in the first century and wrote about Christian worship on the Lord's Day long before Constantine.  That it happens to be the day of the Sun (hence Sunday) is irrelevant also. And Christian's at least should call it "the Lord's Day", not Sunday, when announcing their services. 

As far as Pentecost goes, that date is determined by Lev. 23:15-16 to always fall upon the first day of the week, both before and after Christ came:

And that is exactly my point.  I see many Christians here simply dismissing the first day of the week as though God did not have anything to do with setting this day for Christian worship ("we can worship corporately any old day" or words to that effect).  It is indeed significant that the Church was established on the first day of the week, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first day of the week, about 3,000 souls were saved and baptized on the same day, Christ rose on the first day of the week, and the eighth day stands for a new creation, just as the resurrection of Christ stands for a new creation.

[WilliamL]

 

William: Which scripture specifically says the Lord's Day is the first day of the week? I don't know of any.

Do we always need to have such Scriptures before we will believe the Word? What does John mean by being in the Spirit on the Lord's Day in Rev 1:10?  I will quote from Matthew Henry since he is a generally accepted commentator:

 

William: Yes, we always need to have Scripture to establish primary doctrines. Re: John's use of the Lord's Day, some believe it means he was spiritually taken to the Day of the Lord, which term is otherwise not mentioned in Revelation, but most of the book is  visions of it. Matthew Henry is a commentator, not holy writ.

 

Sabbatarians disregard the Lord's Day also, presuming that they are honoring the Lord in doing so. But Christ declared that He is the Lord of the sabbath, which meant that He had every right to institute the Lord's Day for Christian worship.

 

William: Possibly true, but only if it was the will of his Father, who had sanctified the 7th-day Sabbath from the very beginning of creation, Gen. 2:3: "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it..."

Was it not the will of the Father that the Lord Jesus Christ declare Himself "Lord of the sabbath"?  And if so, did He not have the Divine right to establish the Lord's Day -- the first day of the week -- for Christian worship? 

 

William: Yes, he declared himself Lord of the 7th-day sabbath, on a 7th-day sabbath. He said nothing then or thereafter about making another day his sabbath.  

It was on the first day of the week that Christians met for worship in the New Testament, to remember both the sacrifice of Christ as well as His glorious resurrection. The Day of Pentecost was also on the first day of the week.

 

William: Only partly correct: Gentile Christians generally met on the first day of the week; Hebrew Christians met on the Sabbath.

Where would you get such a strange notion, since you will not find it in Scripture? It would not only be strange, but the cause of great conflicts if Hebrew and Gentile Christians isolated themselves from each other for worship. Indeed, the epistle to the Hebrews is an attack against any such notion.

 

William: I find it in history. Jewish believers in the Holy Land, called Nazarenes, often fellowshipped with non-believers in the same synagogues on the sabbath, up until the Temple was destroyed. Then the rabbinate effectively expelled them, by instituting in their liturgy an anathema against Nazarenes. At which time they began to keep the sabbath in their own synagogues.

In scripture we find,

 

Acts 21:17 And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; 21 “but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. ... 23 “Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. 24 “Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. 25 “But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple...

 

There is no way these Jewish believers had instituted the first day of the week as their sabbath.

 

In 4th century AD, after Christianity became the state religion of Rome, and Constantine made the day of the Sun an official day of rest for the Roman empire, the papacy officially anathematized any Christian who continued to keep the 7th day sabbath. Papal Rome was the one who officially made Sunday "the Christian sabbath," not Jesus.

The Seventh Day Adventists use this as an excuse to shun the Lord's Day.  But since John and Paul and the other apostles were already observing the Lord's Day as the day of Christian worship, this is totally irrelevant. And Justin Martyr lived in the first century and wrote about Christian worship on the Lord's Day long before Constantine.

 

William: wikipedia: "Justin Martyr was born at Flavia Neapolis (today Nablus) in Judaea into a pagan family, and defined himself as a Gentile." Gentiles chose to call Sunday the Lord's Day. Jesus did not, neither as far as we know did his Jewish disciples.

As far as Pentecost goes, that date is determined by Lev. 23:15-16 to always fall upon the first day of the week, both before and after Christ came:

And that is exactly my point.  I see many Christians here simply dismissing the first day of the week as though God did not have anything to do with setting this day for Christian worship ("we can worship corporately any old day" or words to that effect).  It is indeed significant that the Church was established on the first day of the week, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the first day of the week, about 3,000 souls were saved and baptized on the same day, Christ rose on the first day of the week, and the eighth day stands for a new creation, just as the resurrection of Christ stands for a new creation.

Pentecost only comes once a year, and was a holy day established by the Law of Moses. It had nothing to do with making Sundays the weekly day for Christian worship.

And the Church was established on the Passover, when Jesus made his covenant with it -- on a Tuesday night, beginning the 4th day of the Hebrew week. Far from the 1st/8th day.

 

Brother, you quoted Paul above saying, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days..."  -- but isn't that exactly what you are doing? "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." Not by custom, or the laws of men or churches or nations.

[ricky]

Interesting development, major cracks have started to appear in one of the stands in the stadium, which means it is unusable for games. Some of the protesters are saying it's because of the Sunday game.

[creativemechanic]

Well seeings how I don't consider Sunday to be the Sabbath, and I try to have a holy life and not just one day, I personally don't have a problem with sports on Sunday..... well any more than any other day of the week. I think we put too much into sports though, and some take it to levels of idol worship it seems.