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Someone once told me that, in his experience,
Christians and football were not a good mix. I agreed - too kind, no
physical presence and joy in defeat. This isn’t what my friend meant and I
quickly learned the awful truth. Christians mixed with football usually
meant explosive aggression (verbal and physical!), absolute commitment to
victory and a distinct lack of brotherly love. I can whole-heartedly confess
that I’ve been one of the worst!
Since the early part of last year Saltash
Baptist Church has been running a 5-a-side night at Sir John Hunt Sports
Centre every Monday from 8—9 p.m. This was started for two reasons: firstly,
an opportunity for men in the church to have a social activity which could
help build relationships and, secondly, to reach out to those who are not
believers. Since its inception about 9 or 10 members of the church have
played on and off and about 15 non-believers have also been involved to
differing degrees.
In our stats driven society our ‘conversion
rate’ would be regarded as woeful — zero! But for those of us who go, that’s
not really the point. The usual bad Christian-football mix is non-existent.
The football played is competitive, yet fun; committed, yet without the ill-
feeling which seems to plague football at all levels. The atmosphere is
simply brilliant and there hasn’t been a deliberate bad challenge or bust up
in all the time we’ve been playing. The football, believe it or not, has
also been of a really good standard and all players seem to enjoy the
evening.
I believe a small glimpse of the love of
Christ can be seen through this atmosphere and the way the game is played.
Relationships are growing within and outside of the Church and I
passionately believe this is a genuine outreach which could yield real
results. It nearly fell apart in the early part of January, but now seems to
be regaining strength. We would really appreciate your regular prayers
(maybe every Monday at some point between 8-9 p.m.?!) and if you wish to
play, then feel free to come along.
To Contact the
Football organiser
click here
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