(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Right, today I want to talk about arguably the biggest religion in the UK. In fact, it's a religion that's big all over the world. In one year between 2020 to 21, 26.8 million, which is 40% of the population here tuned into live events of this religion, there are over 30 million physical attendances around this nation. And that religion is also known as football, which is also known as soccer, which by the way, in case anyone's wondering with that, why are you calling it soccer? We're not in America. We actually came from a soccer, which was short for association football, to distinguish it from rugby, which was rugby football. It came from Oxford University, apparently. A little bit of information for you there, you can switch off now. You might sit there and go, hold on brother, this isn't a religion, it's a sport, right? And for some it is, for some it is a sport, for many around the nation, that's just a sport. But make no mistake, for many it is a religion. It is a religion, and in many ways, a religion that's more important than anything else in the world. I know many people have been across many people where football is more important than literally anything else in the world to them. A religion that grown men will fight, even kill over. A religion that has come between marriages, families, friends. A religion that has a weekend meeting and often a midweek one too. A religion with religious chants and songs, which funnily enough, those religious chants and songs actually come from Christian chants and songs, yeah? Christian hymns, they just put new words to them. A religion that takes a sizeable chunk out of a man's paycheck. A religion that has a religious outfit. A religion full of idols and idol worship, like many false religions out there. And many of its leaders and followers, by the way, know full well it's a religion, okay? They even state boldly and proudly that it's a religion. Diego Maradona once said that football isn't a game nor a sport, it's a religion, okay? He made it clear what he thought about it. And yes, there's no plan of salvation, but do you know what? They don't care. They really don't care. Bill Shankly, the famous Bill Shankly, said this, some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I could assure you it is much, much more important than that, okay? And you know what? He's not the only one that thought that, okay? Many of them think that. The title of my sermon today is Lessons to Learn for Football Fans. Lessons to Learn for Football Fans. I'd like to pray before we continue. Father, thank you for, well, for the Bible, for the word of God that just kind of puts things into their correct place, you know, puts things in perspective compared with what's important in life. Help me to preach this sermon that I've been thinking about recently, that you've laid on my heart, I believe, just clearly and boldly and accurately and help me to preach a message here that people can take away and really apply to their lives. Help everyone to have a tent of peace. Please fill in with your spirit. Jesus, no parole of this. Amen. Right, now, for those women and girls out there thinking, we've just finished a series talking about war every week on a Sunday evening for six weeks. Come on. Well, look, you have Mother's Day, all right? Okay? So you can hold on for a couple of weeks. We'll try and get something a bit more female-oriented. But no, because you know what? There are a lot of female worshippers in the religion of football, too. Okay? It's not just men out there. There's a lot of female worshippers in this. And just make it clear before anyone starts to wonder, at the high end, this is a wicked false religion. Okay? In case you're thinking, right, is he going to start promoting football? Now, this is a wicked false religion when it's worshipped as a religion. The sport itself, I quite like the sport itself, but the religion of football is a false religion. And it's a wicked one. That's one that's obviously a massive time-waste. Keep your finger here and turn to Hebrews chapter 13. It is full of idolatry. Okay? Full of idolatry. They're idolizing these players on the pitch. They're idolizing all these different, well, you could just about call them men, because who are they idolizing, really? Cheating, diving, image-obsessed, effeminate little crybabies. I mean, they are an absolute disgrace. If you're raising children, you want them to have role models, and you've got to be very careful with that sort of thing anyway. I mean, can you think of much worse than the average football player? The average Premier League player? What a terrible example that is, and how bad that so many people make idols out of them. They walk around with many of these fans of football with a shirt with the name of one of these jewellery-laden, sorry, cheating, Alice band-wearing, effeminate, just little soppy excuse for a man, aren't they? And there are grown men out there with the name of this kind of, you know, earring-laden, you know, tats all over him to try and look pretty, decorated, just queer, really. And these grown men are walking around with their names on their back. I mean, it's sad, really, isn't it? It's really sad. Some of these followers, and kids especially, will then try and dress and act like them as well, won't they? They'll act like them. I've seen it on the kind of lower league football pitches with some of these young kids. They'll try and have their hairstyle like them. You get like, you know, eight, nine-year-olds with Alice bands on as well, and just all that weird stuff. It's pretty bad, isn't it? And look, it's natural that we will follow men, but we ought to be careful who we're following, right? Okay, we will. Look, people will follow men to some degree in life, but Hebrews 13.7 says, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. We should be considering the end of their conversation or behaviour, okay? When you're following someone, or when you're allowing your kids to at least start looking up to someone, you want to be very careful about what the end of their conversational behaviour is. And clearly, when it comes to these religions, comes to these footballers, sorry, this false religion of football, the end of their conversation is pretty bad, isn't it? Okay, with the vast, vast majority of these guys. And just like many of the other false religions over here, they're everywhere, really. All these false religions, these kind of football religious types are falling over themselves, or at least the ones promoting it, to basically correct thousands of years of the normal response sodomy. Okay, this is big in football right now. They're promoting it left, right and they had a World Cup in Qatar. And in Qatar, there are certain not strict enough rules on sodomites, yeah? They've got some liberal laws on sodomites in Qatar, but they weren't liberal enough. So there was all this sort of campaigning and protesting and all this pushing and promoting sodomy, but they've been doing this for a long time. I remember saying from behind their world back, I remember reading about many, many years ago, a team that I used to watch called Tottenham Hotspur, they used to, and they did it with a lot of these, if anyone's switching off now, going, you still follow who? Don't worry, yeah, we'll keep going. But basically, they send these LGBTQ plus whatever, I don't even know what letters they've added to it, these sort of, what do they call them, sort of teachers, instructors, trainers, intolerance, to these clubs, to their academies to brainwash the kids. So all these parents and you see them out and they're like, if only I could get my kid into an academy, throw a thousand pounds at them, going to all these extra skill nights, get them in the academies so they could just be brainwashed about sodomy. Once a month, I think they used to go in, once a month. So all the academy players at Tottenham Hotspur and most academies probably around the country were getting brainwashed by the LGBTQ plus mafia once a month, yeah? Surrendous, isn't it? And it doesn't stop there, you see on the football pitch. I remember last time I think I showed a clip to my son of some footballers just to try and show him what he was meant to do on the football pitch was when they were wearing rainbow laces. Oh, I'll just show you a clip and then some of these players are running around with rainbow laces on. I mean, how can a grown man sit through that? A normal grown man sit through that and say that's okay, that they've got rainbow this, rainbow that, all this sort of pride, advertisement, all that. It's unreal, isn't it? We've got to make a stand, don't we? Yeah, we've got to make a stand about this stuff because it's horrendous what they're doing. And it's not just that, and of course they're pushing it on all their followers, they're pushing feminism too, pushing all sorts. If you watch any sort of TV coverage, half the commentators are going to be women and it's ridiculous. It's a man's sport, okay? It always was, yeah? And suddenly you've got all these women in their trousers and they're going to like the female experts. You actually don't even know the offside rule. It's true, yeah? And this is what they're doing out there and it's just constantly pushing and promoting and all the panel, all the panel, I was talking to my brother about this, he's telling me about all the World Cup sort of coverage, all the panel of experts, they're all wearing loafers with no socks, aren't they? Yeah, they're all just very effeminate, very liberal, very soppy. They've got half it's going to be women, it's all like the PC brigade, absolutely ridiculous. And what does it say in verse eight here? You just looked at verse seven, verse eight says, Jesus Christ is saying yesterday and today and forever, okay? So for Christians, just an introduction to this sermon, for Christians in this sort of religion of football, look, there is no combining at all, okay? You can't be worshipping football fans, worshipping football stars, if you want to call, worshipping some team, some club and think that you're still right with God, okay? Yeah, no, it worked. Jesus Christ is saying yesterday and today and forever. It's the same Jesus that wrote Leviticus 2013 by the hand of Moses, which said, if a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination, they shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them. It's the same Jesus, isn't it? Jesus hasn't changed. So he doesn't say, oh, well, it's okay now. No, he looks at this stuff, he looks at this stuff being promoted and thinks that is wicked. He doesn't want his people looking at that. He don't want our children looking at that stuff, does he? The same Jesus which listed effeminacy as a sin over 1500 years after Moses wrote that through Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, 9, which says, you don't have to turn to their famous verses, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves and mankind, okay? That's listed as a sin like any other sin that will exclude you from getting into heaven obviously without being saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, yeah? The same Jesus that through him in 1 Timothy 5, 14 through Paul again said, I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak the poetry, not make a joke of themselves trying to be some sort of pro sports person. Is that what they call him? Ridiculous. Jesus hasn't changed. Regardless of how many ungodly weirdos and perverts influence our government, our media and these false religions like the religion of football and with such a big following, is it any wonder though that the rainbow brigade and the social manipulators are working overtime through football? It's no wonder, is it? Because it's got such a big following, it goes out to so many people, they're going to use football like they do with many false religions trying to push and promote their perversions on the people, yeah? They've even started to change their hymn books by the way as well. So now at football grounds where, and they use hymns, yeah, to sing their silly chants and their vain sort of empty nonsense at their players and everything else, they've now even started to ban certain chants. They've now started to have these police in the crowds trying to spot the people that are singing songs about queers, for example. I mean, you know that it's gone downhill when we get to that point. People are being arrested for singing a song about a queer. Unbelievable. It's a disgrace. And if you're paying money to watch some effeminate little sod brainwash you with his rainbow propaganda, you're a fool, okay? If you're paying money to go and watch that, you're a fool. Let alone the massive waste of time that this religion is. And this is how it looks, because there are people that go further than just watching it. There are people that will actually fight over this. They will meet up to fight over this. And the arguing, and by the way, it's not just hooligans, okay? I grew up with people arguing, rowing, falling out about whose football team was better than whose. And it kind of went along the lines of this, my foreign billionaire owned random chosen clubs for a millionaire conveyor belt of players is better than yours. That's basically what the argument was, yeah? What a nonsense. I've chosen that one, now I'm going to have a row with some old friend of many years because they chose another one. What a nonsense, right? And what are they all? They're all just basically a queer brigade. They're all just a joke, yeah? They argue, they fight about it whilst throwing more money at what is a money-making machine. It's a massive money-making machine. The money in football is unbelievable, isn't it? It's kind of like, and I was thinking about this in the religious aspect, it's like the arguing between different Muslim or Jew factions about whose weird interpretation of their stupid false religion is better. It doesn't matter because they're all taking you to hell. And it's kind of the same with football really, isn't it? Because they're so distracted by that, most of them, they're not even interested in life and death, are they? Because they're so distracted by what idiot, what effeminate queer is kicking a ball this weekend for their club. Now, however much of a waste of time and as ridiculous of a religion it is, there is, funnily enough though, plenty I think we can learn from what is often a dedicated congregation. There are some dedicated football fans out there. These are dedicated religious folk, you know? And there's a lot we can learn from them. The title is Lessons to Learn from Football Fans, but a lot of this is probably true of many sports fans. So if you're sitting there going, look, I've never even watched a game before, I don't even know what you're talking about here, I don't know any football fans, well, just apply it to whatever kind of sport or even hobby, pastime or something else, because a lot of this does apply to many, apply it to those fans or those sorts of things. But football for me growing up in this country, it's the biggest sport in this country, a lot of us have had a lot of exposure to it. Okay, so we have something worthwhile, don't we? Okay, everyone here, everyone here, if you're saved, you have something worthwhile. We have something which really is more than life and death, don't we? It's about eternal life and death, yeah? What we have here, what we focus on, what we're involved in, what we're coming weekly to, twice weekly, sometimes more, is something more important than a game of football. Look down at 1 Corinthians 15, where the Apostle Paul shows the simplicity of the Gospel, he talks of those that deny the resurrection, then goes on to explain in more depth the resurrection to come, where this mortal must put on immortality, he's talking about ultimately that glorified body that we're to get in the resurrection. He then concludes this long chapter, and there's some great doctrine in there, in verse 55 with this, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we have the victory over the eternal consequences of sin, don't we? We have victory over eternal death through the simplicity of the Gospel, and he made it so clear how simple that Gospel is in the first few verses of this chapter. And with all of that in mind, he then says this in verse 58, Therefore, therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. So we worship the true God, don't we? Everything we do, every bit of work that we put in for him has eternal consequences, doesn't it? And unlike the football fan, our labour is not in vain. If you're saved, you therefore know that, don't you? You know that your labour is not in vain, you know that what you're doing for God is affecting other people's salvations. Not just soul winning, but obviously soul winning is a big part of that. And we can all sit here and laugh at the vanity of football, the money wasted, the obsession, yeah? We could all mock it and scorn it and talk about what a joke it is. But who's the laughing stock really? Is it the one that puts maximum effort into vanity, or the one that puts no effort into something worthwhile? Who's the laughing stock? Look, they might be a bit off on what they're putting their effort into. At least they're putting their effort into something. What about the apathetic Christian that puts no effort at all into something that they know if they're saved has eternal consequences? Maybe they're the laughing stock. Someone who could affect people's destinies, who could earn themselves real eternal rewards. Someone who could, well, they have the chance at least to serve the one true God, yeah? Look, many of these football fans would give anything to have an appearance on the pitch, to be that beer belly bloke in the football shirt that runs on and like, you know, kicks the ball or does something, you know? They kind of give them a chance now to get, they're like, I can't believe, you know, yeah, we have the chance to serve the one true God. Who's the laughing stock? I would say the one that doesn't. So why is it then that so many Bible believing Christians put less effort in than the average religious football fan? Why is that? And I say average, because like with Bible believing Baptists there are different levels of religious football fans, okay? There are a lot of levels out there of football fan. You've got everything from the never actually watch a game types, yeah? There are those out there and then you've got the season ticket, every cup game, home and away fan, you know, who's absolutely everything, doesn't miss a game for anything, yeah? Why less effort? Why is it that many Christians put less effort in? Because one appeals to the flesh and the other to the spirit. That's really what it comes down to. One appeals to the flesh, the other to the spirit. You have to turn to Romans 8.7 says, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. You show me a bare minimum Christian, I'll show you a carnal Christian. There's no kind of, oh yeah, they're such a good Christian, but they just don't do anything for God. No, bare minimum Christian is a carnal Christian, okay? And because do you think that the Holy Spirit is urging you to do less Bible reading? Is the Holy Spirit just going, you just need to take a break today, you know? Is the Holy Spirit urging you to pray less, to do less soul winning, to attend church less regularly? Is that the Holy Spirit urging you to do that? Cool stuff. It's the flesh, the same flesh which is more likely to worship some footballer with the hair of a quare, which might still do, than the creator of heaven and earth, okay? That's really, you know, that's what the flesh is doing. And look, basically people are religious, aren't they? Okay? We have, it's not, oh I'm so spiritual because I'm religious. No, it depends what your religion's in. People are just almost pre-programmed to be religious, and their flesh puts their religion into something which is carnal, or at least their sort of religious endeavours. Now, here's the thing though with that. The flesh doesn't necessarily drive you up north on the midweek January evening, in some cold damp evening to some far away away ground to support your team. Yeah, the flesh I don't think does that. It doesn't keep you cheering and supporting when your team's getting relegated each season. And there is some loyalty with some of these football fans. There's loyalty, however misguided, there is some discipline, however pointless it is, that I believe we can learn from. Okay? There are lessons we can learn and there are at least, you know, there are at least, you know, there's a comparison that we can make which should hopefully help you, help you to learn these things as well. Because the other thing though is that it's not all super fan. So as much as, yeah, there are some loyal fans out there, they're not all, some of them are as bad as the church infiltrator. Okay? So I've been to football grads, yeah, some of these fans, I mean, they're an embarrassment. And there's fan behaviour that we want to avoid too. So the title of my sermon is Lessons to Learn from Football Fans. And number one, lesson number one, don't be a glory hunter, be a loyal fan. Now, some of these terms are going to appeal to those that kind of know the football game. But even if you don't, I'll explain it to you anyway. Number one, don't be a glory hunter, be a loyal fan. What's a glory hunter? It's also known as a glory supporter. This is a fan that chooses a team because they're winning, then ditches them when things don't go well. Okay? And there are many of those when you grow up, you know, I'm a Liverpool fan this week. I'm a Man United fan this week. That's known as a glory hunter, a glory supporter. And these people are the lowest kind of filth in the football world. They're really, you know, they really look down upon if you're a football supporter, glory hunters. I mean, that's like a real insult. Okay? And a lot of people just accuse someone of being a glory hunter because their team is a good team. And it's something you don't want to be called. When Eric Cantona wasn't talking about seagulls, he said this, and I'm not going to try and do the accent, but he said, you could change your wife, your politics, your religion, but never, never can you change your favourite football team. He got a lot wrong, Eric Cantona, but when it came to football, I mean, this was agreed with by most, okay? And sadly, people do change all these things like the wind. In our Christian life, you can apply this to churches as well. Okay? They're out there. There are people that pick their favourite online church and they've just kind of picked it. They've gone, I've gone with that one. Yeah? He sounds good. He's like, he's a man. Yeah? He's got the biggest following and he's got whatever else until the preaching pricks them. Until they fall from the pedestal, until they say something they don't like, until they start to feel insecure by the preacher or something else. And then it's like, man, I hate that preacher. Now he's my favourite preacher. And there are a lot of people like that. I've been around people like that. In fact, we have people here who are like that to some degree as well. We're like, suddenly they only listen to this one service. It's like, I thought you really liked that. You know? And it's like, no, I'm going to that one. I'm going to this one. Sometimes it might just be because the services aren't online on YouTube anymore. Oh, they're off. Right. Shut my eyes. Let's pick that one. Yeah, I'll start listening to that one because it's the ease of use. But is that how we should be? Should we be like that as Christians? No, verse 58 says where you are in 1 Corinthians 15. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable. We're told to be steadfast and unmovable. What does steadfast mean? Fast, fixed, firm, firmly fixed or established, constant, firm, resolute, not fickle or wavering. Obviously, we're not talking about attending false churches, but if you're part of a proper church, and obviously I'm talking to our church here, make sure you have some loyalty to your church. Yeah. And that's not loyalty to me. That's loyalty to your church. There's a lot that goes into a church. It's not just loyalty to Pastor Thompson. It's loyalty to your church. Yeah. Hey, do you know who the most loyal football fans are? Do you know who they are? The ones that support their local club? They're the most loyal ones. The ones that support their local club. Because the ones that don't, the ones that have just picked a random team from anywhere in the country or anywhere in the world usually aren't as loyal as the ones that live next door to the club. That's the reality of it. And look, those fans might watch the big teams on the side. Nothing wrong with that. They might enjoy those top players, but their loyalty is with their local club. Okay. And there's something we can learn from that, I believe, because it's the same for the Bible-believing Baptist. You want to find a church that you can be loyal to. Okay. Now, we have a hard situation in this country because there are, look, there aren't really, there are very few Gospel-believing churches in this country. Okay. Let alone Gospel-believing churches in this country which preach from the King James Bible and encourage you out of soul winning. So we are limited, but you want to make sure if you come to this church that you are loyal to this church. Otherwise, you'd be better not to become to this church. No one wants a disloyal fan, disloyal support, because what will happen is as soon as something's preached that you don't like, as soon as something doesn't go your way or something, you're just going to be out the door, or at least spiritually you'll be out the door. And look, enjoy the great preacher out there. Okay. Nothing wrong with that, but get plugged into a church. And for those here, you know, if you can't do that here, go somewhere you can. Go to a church that you can get plugged into. Go to a church that you can feel like I can be a loyal member of that church. 1 Corinthians 4, 2 says, Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Yeah, you want to be a steward of God, be faithful, right? Yeah, you're a steward of the Gospel, you're a steward of the Word of God, be found faithful. You know where a lot of those glory hunters are now? Backslidden and doing little to nothing for God. Those that haven't been able to just be a loyal member of a church eventually just backslide and end up on the backslidden scrap heap at the bottom of the slide somewhere. That's what happens. And like I said, make church your local church. And I would encourage people here that if you feel like you can be a loyal part of this church, try and be local. Find a way. It can work. There are people here that have made that work, made that happen to be local because those ones that are local, those ones that are the ones that will be here week in, week out. We've had people that have travelled and good on them, great on them. Yeah, you know, good on you. If you can make the travel here, good on you. But you know what happens with time? It wanes, doesn't it? Because that travels hard. Yeah, week in, week out, it's hard. The most loyal football fan is a local football fan. But obviously, you want to make sure you find your football club. That loyal football fan doesn't go, well, there's no football clubs in my area, so I'm just going to support a rugby club. No, because they're not going to be a loyal rugby fan. They don't even like all that egg-shaped stuff. Yeah? OK, so you've got to find an actual church, don't you? OK. The title is Lessons to Learn for Football Fans. Number one is don't be a glory hunter, be a loyal fan. Number two, don't be a TV fan, be an actual supporter. Don't be a TV fan, be an actual supporter. And like with a biblical church nowadays, the majority of football fans are sitting in their living rooms. That's the majority. Sitting in their living rooms with a football shirt on. That's weird, isn't it? It's true, though. Most then will put on their football shirt with, sometimes with their own name on the back. I mean, that's even weirder. With their own name printed on the back, usually peeling off a little bit because they want it so much in the mirror. And they'll sit in the living room watching the football match. Why do they have to have their shirt on? I don't know. But that's the majority of football fans. Many are down in the pub with their shirt on. I don't really know what different. And a lot of these, I've seen these guys, they're down in the pub with their shirt on playing the fruit machine during the match and now and again shouting and screaming at the TV before going back to the fruit machine. Or they're out on a kind of every five minutes smoking cigarettes or nowadays probably ridiculous amounts of nicotine in some vape stick, which is apparently healthier. The masses get conned by everything, don't they? Outside during half the game with their football shirt on. Why don't you drive past the pub? You're like, I'm sure that was kickoff. And they're outside smoking with their football shirt on. That's the majority, isn't it? You know that a stadium will hold somewhere in this country for Premier League match somewhere between 20,000 and 60,000, okay, is approximately kind of the top teams here. And they will have them usually fairly fill up. I think there's a discrepancy between what tickets are sold and how many actually attend. Because obviously there'll be some that don't turn up and illness and other issues, you know, kind of don't stumble out in the pub in time and everything else. And then you've got the live TV viewers usually go into the millions. Okay, so there's a big difference there. In fact, they actually had, I don't know if they still have this now, but they had a live TV broadcast ban in this nation for many, many years. So Saturday 3 p.m. games were banned from being shown live. And then there's all these kind of like backstreet pubs that used to show them because basically they were worried that then people wouldn't turn up to the ground. So they used to do this ban on live TV. And now I think they might still have, I'm not sure, I think they might, what they started doing is just having more games outside of these times. When I was young, one of the first questions that someone would ask a fan to see if they were an actual supporter. So they'd go, what football teams do you support? And then the second question, if they're like, hmm, would be something along the lines of do you actually, have you ever been to the ground or do you go to any, especially you'd ask someone who said like a big team that was far away, go, really? You ever been to the cop? Really? You ever been to Old Trafford, have you, old United fan? And then, you know, you'd be testing them and then sometimes, you know, you're like, okay, just about pass or something else. Yeah. Because that was a test of whether or not they were an actual supporter. Were they an actual supporter or were they just a TV viewer who just picked their favourite team? And that's kind of our sort of church is all over, isn't it? And the truth is, sadly for many, it's not because of distance. Now, for some it is, okay, I'm not picking your nose. We have people that travel from other countries to our church here and praise God for people like that. But for many, it's not. For many, they're actually very local and they don't turn up to the game in inverted commas because it's easier to sit at home and I don't think they even put the shirt and tie on. Maybe they do. Maybe they put the shirt and tie on some of these people, yeah? And they'll sit there instead because it's easier, isn't it? Because they can pause it, because they can get a cup of tea in the middle. They don't have to make the journey. But are they an actual supporter as where we're comparing to the football? Well, according to the average football fan, no. Okay. They would look, they would be like so-called fan and they don't even turn up at the match, yeah? And look, like I said, if you're in another country, it's different, okay? And in some countries, there is no football, yeah? And you know what the devoted fans did in those countries? They would travel from all over the world to a match. I remember there was a time when I think Manchester United used to have like half the ground filled with people from various parts of Asia and stuff where the football wasn't really a big thing, would come and instead come to this team that they supported far away. And these people were supporters, weren't they? They came and supported the club. They bought all the merchandise. They got involved. They came to the big matches. They used to pay through the teeth for it. And it's the same here because online is not church, okay? And that's why these people are traveling because there's a big difference being live at a game than there is watching it on TV. And there's a big difference being live at church and being in a church than it is watching it on our version of the TV. Verse 58 said, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Tuning in online isn't abounding in the work of the Lord, is it? It's not, is it? I'm sure the calling on the name of the Lord is works. People would probably say it is. They'd go, that press of a button was hard work, yeah? But it's not, okay? It's not actually work. It's just sitting there and listening to it, watching it from the comfort of your own home. It's not exactly hard work. You're not abounding in the work of the Lord there. It's a great consolation, but we want to find a way to be always abandoned in the work of the Lord, don't we? Okay? And look, don't be a TV fan, yeah? Make sure that you're finding a way to get to church. Work starts at church because it's not just being at church. It's not just getting to church. Getting to church can be work for a lot of people, can't it? Okay? But it's being sent out soul-willing, yeah? Look, those people that are watching us online at home, they might have some good intentions. But do you think they're rallying the troops and going out soul-willing in between services week in, week out? Do you think they're meeting up on a midweek somewhere else and getting out soul-willing? You can't send them. They're always abounding in the work of the Lord. It starts from church, exhorting one another, encouraging one another. Okay? That's the work of the Lord. That's why we're here. We're here to help each other, to do the stuff of God. And also, if you think about it, helping out at the church, that's part of it. And you might not have a set job here, but just being here, you can help out. You're part of the church service. Okay? David said in Psalm 27, you don't have to turn down one thing of our desire to the Lord, and that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. That was David's goal. And you get a thing that David would have found a way to make that happen, don't you? Don't you think he would have found a way to make that happen? And at least to be live where he can and when he can. And praise God for the people here that do that and find a way to make it happen. The title is Lessons to Learn from Football Fans. Number one, don't be a glory hunter, be a loyal fan. Number two, don't be a TV fan, be an actual supporter. And number three, don't be a fair weather supporter, be a season ticket holder. Okay? Don't just be a fair weather supporter, be a season ticket holder. What's a fair weather supporter? Now this is, you know, the literal meaning is someone that only turns up when the weather is nice. But you could add, they'll only turn up to the big games when the kickoff times are easiest for them. When there's no TV option that day. So they'll turn up to those 3 p.m. Saturday games because they can't get it on TV. But they're not going to turn up to the ones which are on live TV. They're not going to turn up when it's wet and windy and everything else. They're not going to turn up when their buddies aren't up for the group trip and they can't make it a bit of a party. Because sadly a lot of it, the reason is because it's often a boozy party going to the football ground and everything else. But there are a lot of fair weather church members out there. The smallest excuse keeps them from church. And you know that. And look, there are issues, there are problems, okay, sometimes. And everyone will have their own individual problems. But for many, many, look, you kind of start to get an idea. You've got to start to see a pattern over the years, yeah. And you'll have those that are there week in, week out, barring the odd illness. And then you get those that are not here week in, week out, barring the odd bit of fair weather, yeah. And we don't want to be a fair weather supporter. Bad weather isn't, well, bad weather, you know, for example, here's one, that midweek prayer and Bible study, yeah. Bad weather, I could just watch it on live stream, yeah. Oh, look out that window. Why don't I just tune in? Well, I'm tuning in at least, you know. For me, that's a fair weather supporter, isn't it? You want to get the season ticket, yeah. Get the season ticket. That's a, do you know what a season ticket is? Anyone's wondering, okay. This is a book of tickets that before the season, you'll pay for, and we're talking the tune of thousands of pounds, where before you've even seen, you even know when those times are, when those games are, when those matches are, you already basically have paid for it and you're committed. You'll say, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be there no matter what, yeah. And we want to be season ticket church members, okay. Whether it's convenient or not. Now, for these guys, it's a big outlay and commitment, but it means that the match comes first. Do you know what happens? Everything else gets planned around it. No, I've already paid, I already have a season ticket, that, no, sorry, this week we're actually playing on a Thursday night. This week, we're actually, this week, sorry, it's not a 3pm, it's a 12. Now it's a 5pm. Now, whatever it is, this week it's this day, these guys are like, doesn't matter, that comes first. And they're able to do that. Why? Because they made it a priority. They've made football for the wrong reasons, but they've made their religion first in their life. It's a priority. Everything else comes after. Someone tries to arrange something, someone tries to make a plan with you and it's like, no, that's a match. I've already paid for that. I'm already going because I paid upfront and I committed to it for the season. Not a bad way of being, is it? If you did it for the right things, did it for the right reasons, you did it for church, you said, no, church comes first. I'm a season ticket church, church member, that's what you want to be. And, look, it's amazing how many of those football fans make those awkward fixtures work. They've made their commitment, it's a priority to them and that's a choice that we have too. And look, look at the difference though with us as well, because you go, well, they just enjoy going to the football grounds, I don't always enjoy church. Well, look at verse 58, for as much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. There's a big difference for us, isn't there? When you come to church, your labour's not in vain. Not like these guys singing songs at bunch of queers on the pitch. Your labour's not in vain. They're going there anyway. Like I said, we can mock them and laugh at them, but if you're not doing the same for something that is worthwhile, who's the laughing stock? They're prioritising vanity of vanities, all is vanity. They're prioritising that over everything else in their life, whereas all we're asked to do is prioritise God. It's not really a hardship, is it? Ours isn't vain, the things of God, where your labour is not in vain, it's said here, and look, it can be tiring sometimes, can't it? Look, church can be tiring. Those mid-weekers, those full days on a Sunday, those soul-winning marathons, they can be tiring, but it's not in vain. It's not in vain. Galatians 6-9 says, and let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Okay, let us not be weary. Look, you're going to have tiring times, but that's not a reason to then skip the things of God. You're going to have times that, you know, I'm feeling a bit, I just need a break. Yeah? Take a break somewhere else, prioritise the things of God. Yeah? We shall reap. Look, we promise eternal rewards as well, and look, sometimes you're going to reap in this life as well, but often it's going to be in the world to come. That's what we're looking for. We shall reap if we faint not. That's basically if you don't give up. The title is Lessons to Learn for Football Fans. Number one, don't be a glory hunter, be a law fan. Number two, don't be a TV fan, be an actual supporter. Number three, don't be a fair weather supporter, be a season ticket holder. And number four, don't be a silent stadium filler, be the 12th man. Don't be a silent stadium filler, be the 12th man. Turn to Ephesians 2, because you know there are those that watch a football match and sit there silently. I've been to a few matches over the years, and they will literally sit there. They say nothing, they do nothing, they arrive at kick-off and they leave at the final whistle. They're there, they're watching, but they're not supporting. There's an old saying in football that the supporters can act as the 12th man. If anyone's wondering what I'm talking about here, it's an 11-a-side game. So you've got 11 players on the pitch unless someone gets kicked off for doing very little nowadays. But usually there's 11-a-side on the pitch, but they say that the supporter can be so effective they could be like having a 12th man, because it's almost like you're outnumbering, it's like you have that extra advantage of an extra player because of how much support and what an advantage it is to be supported during the match. They can create such a supportive atmosphere for their team that it's like having that extra player, and if anyone's ever been to a well-supported match, it can feel electric in there. It can be some atmosphere. You could imagine the fear for an opposing team sometimes when they come out to what can be a very loud, very vocal support of the opposition team. Most teams in football will have a much better record at their home ground, and one of the reasons is because of the support, because at their home ground they'll only allocate a small amount of tickets to the visiting fans and their own crowd will usually be very large at home, and that can be a big support for a team. And isn't that how it should be in a church like ours? Ephesians 2 says this in verse 19, Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. So if you're saved, you're part of the household. You're not just some paying punter like these football fans, by the way. You're part of the household of God. You're part of the team. Verse 20, And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. So you're part of this spiritual temple. You're a key part of this spiritual temple. Verse 22, In whom ye also are builded together through an habitation of God through the Spirit. So look, not everyone has an individual role in the service, and if anyone's ever wondered about individual roles, generally, you know, and I'll try and look and think who I think might be suitable for things, but also I just want to see some commitment as well. If people are here regularly and coming week in, week out and everything else, then I might, and if they look like they're willing, they're coming like they want to do stuff for the church, we're going to try and find stuff for them to do that I think they're suited to. But not everyone has that, but everyone can be the 12th man. So whether or not they have a role in the actual service, and obviously there are limited actual roles in the service, in the church, everyone could be the 12th man. Men can get involved in the preaching like I preached about before, okay? They could get involved, yeah? We want the men to arm men when there's a point that they agree with, yeah? And being a reserved Englishman isn't really an excuse, okay? Look, we might be English, we might be a bit more, yeah, we're not all going to whoop and shout and everything else. Yes, we were put off by some of the ridiculous stuff we had here before, because it was a bit bizarre, wasn't it, when I was literally preaching at them. That was just cringy, wasn't it? However, nothing wrong with supporting the preaching, nothing wrong with getting involved, being vocal, yeah? You could be the 12th man here, because often we're preaching something that someone else needs to hear and they need to hear some support in it, yeah? Yeah, you could be the 12th man, you could support the team, support the people here that maybe have the roles here. Women could be praying for the preaching during it, did you know that? You might be going, well, what about the women? How about you pray during the services? Did you know that when the men preach up here, and I'm sure other people do as well, I'll pray for them. And especially those that look maybe a bit uncomfortable, a bit awkward, maybe they're new to preaching, I'm praying in my head for them, yeah? I hope that you're praying for me while I'm preaching, praying that God's going to guide me, fill me with the spirit to preach what you guys need to hear, right? Yeah, we need that, you can all do that. Everyone can lift up their voice and sing, can't they? Yeah, and you know what, something some of these football fans put us to shame with is the way they lift up their voice and sing. Because you don't want to come into a church and it feels like a library and what we're singing to God, they're singing to some queer. Really, aren't they? Yeah, and look, we can all do a lot more, can't we? Yeah, Colossians 3 16 says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts the Lord. We're not just singing random rude songs at the referee, are we? And sometimes, obviously with these guys, the opposition team, now we are sometimes singing rude songs at the opposition team. What are you talking about? Psalm 3, for example, yeah? We're singing at the opposition. We're singing that he's going to break your teeth, yeah? And some of those are good songs, aren't they? Sometimes we are singing at the opposition, okay? But we want to lift up our voice when we do that and not just... And when I say lift up our voice, we don't want to do what then we had these wicked infiltrators doing before and encouraging their son to just shout at the top of his voice to ruin the songs, yeah? We don't want that, but we want people to lift up their voices, yeah? Lift up their voices, sing to the Lord, because that's part of supporting the local church, isn't it? It's lovely when we sing a song and everyone's singing, it feels good in here, doesn't it? Yeah, let's all be a part of that as well. We're teaching and admonishing one another, so lift up your voices. And here's a great thing, you can't get arrested for our songs either yet, okay? It'll probably be a date when you can. You're daring to sing that Christ is the only way, you know, what on earth? But right now you can't get arrested for the songs, so sing up. We haven't got spotters in the crowd here, trying to catch you in your words. Sing up, yeah? Sing up in this joke. And here's the last bit on being the 12th man. You could be the 12th man when you're not here, okay? That's by praying for the church. Look, I'll be with you, please, pray for this church. Pray for me, my family, pray for everyone in the church. Pray when those prayer requests come in, just keep praying for the church. Pray for everything we do to be guided by God, to be in the will of God and everything else, because there's a lot of opposition to a church like this, okay? We need your prayers, yeah? The title is Lessons to Learn for Football Fans. Number one, don't be a glory hunter, be a loyal fan. Number two, don't be a TV fan, be an actual supporter. Number three, don't be a fair weather supporter, be a season ticket holder. Number four, don't be a silent stadium filler, be the 12th man. And number five, don't be a moner, be a through thick and thin supporter. Don't be a moner, be a through thick and thin supporter. And sometime, something that never ceased to amaze me with football, okay? You can have a seemingly loyal attending season ticket holding like we got here, even singing supporter, who seems like the 12th man at times, who then spends the rest of the match moaning and complaining. And I've been at grounds and being near these people, it's like, what is wrong with you? Why are you here? Yeah, they'll just be there just moaning, complaining. And when I say moaning and complaining, sometimes it's loudly, okay? So it's not that they're just having a mumble to themselves going, why didn't they pass it? Why didn't they do it? I mean, they'll be literally shouting abuse at their own team. That's weird, isn't it? Shouting abuse at their own team, shouting abuse at their team's manager. They'll be booing when they lose. They'll be booing at the announced team selection, like, oh yeah, that's a real way to support your team, yeah? Like some guy's about to come out on the pitch, the manager's got them out there in this position. That guy's just like, boo, boo, yeah. I'm sure he's going to give a really good game now, isn't he? It's bizarre, isn't it? Because you're there because you're meant to be a supporter. They'll be shouting at their own manager, they'll be fine in fault with everything. What exactly are they achieving? Like, absolutely nothing. Do you know what they're doing? They're becoming the opposition's 12th man. That's what they do. These people then do the opposite, and then they're angry that they lose. I just can't work it out. You've just been shouting at them the whole game, you idiot. And they can hear that, yeah? I've done sports. You can hear the crowd, okay? Some things will just stick and go into your head sometimes, yeah? Okay, so turn to Jude. And this is something, sadly, that you get in churches. Now, sometimes in football, the opposition's supporters have actually sneaked in, okay? So they'll have fun like this. Some of the bolder ones will go in with the shirt on to look like one of the fans, and then just be in there and start shouting stuff, and people can't really work out. And sometimes they are just an opposition fan who are just there to completely spoil things and ruin things and ruin the atmosphere and everything else. And that's a reality in churches, too. They don't just teach open, damnable heresy, okay? And again, this is something that we've preached here now and again and will continue to do, because I think often people are thinking, well, as long as it seems like they believe the Gospel, they must be okay. No, because a lot of the time they will subtly and not so subtly cause discontent, okay? That's one of the goals. I'm going to preach a whole sermon on this. I did a series, Weapons of the Enemy, and one was just demoralisation. They just want to demoralise you. And this is what, like I said, the guy that sneaks into the football ground to just demoralise them, and he can't see money and complain, it's the same that you get in a church. And sometimes these people are brazen with it, okay? They'll openly attack the leadership, key members of the team as well. It's not just myself or Pastor Thompson, it will be others, just people in the church. What's the goal? To at least demoralise or even encourage, sadly, the genuine supporters to join in, and then to just create even more of a problem. And they'll do this in various ways. And sometimes, for example, if they're preaching, they'll use out of context verses to discredit the leadership, okay? So they'll just try and preach something out of context if they get a chance, or create fake unbiblical standards of holiness to beat others with, talked about this at length before, yeah? They'll try and just create this standard there to then try and make other people just feel uncomfortable and, you know, wonder, maybe I need to be more like this or more like that. And they'll also, others will just jokingly, so they'll do the joking criticisms, insults, complaints, okay? You'll get that a lot to anyone or at anyone that will listen, okay? So they'll just kind of, just constantly, it's just constantly moaning, constant little digs, little snipes, little attacks of people. Jude 1 16 shows us why we shouldn't be surprised. It said, These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts, and their mouths speak of great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. They have the advantage of not being, basically, believers trying to live by God's word. So they'll con you and trick you, and they'll speak these swelling words, people thinking, wow, so holy, so Christian. Well, they put these stands, these so-called stands up here, which they wouldn't even lift with one of their fingers, yeah? But for the vast majority out there, look, being some church-dividing reprobate isn't the issue, okay? That's not the temptation or the concern. The issue is not being influenced by them, okay? And that's what we don't want to be. We don't want to become those moaning, complaining supporters because the flesh can kind of do that anyway, let alone there's that subtle influence always in the background, whether it's outside or inside a church, to do that as well, to try and put doubt, shade on our types of churches as well, constantly trying to criticize our style of preaching, our style of church, whatever else. So it's constantly out there. The trick is not to get influenced by it. So how do we do that? Firstly, it's accepting church is perfect, okay? No church is perfect. No one's trying to be. No one thinks about it. Your job is to support the church, not hinder, okay? All of us. Our whole job here is to support the work of God in this nation, isn't it? It's not to hinder it. Whatever gripe we think that we have that's justified or anything else, that's not your job, yeah? No one's interested in that. And, of course, if there was something serious that needed addressing, then you have a right to do that, yeah? So this isn't like sweep everything under the rug church either, okay? If there was something really serious, then you should be coming to me though, yeah? Not trying to tell it to everyone in the church, yeah? Obviously, okay? And obviously if I then would not address something that was serious, then you go to the next level, okay? And then you go to our pastor. And if it was a real issue and he was like not having it as well, then you're welcome to leave the church, yeah? But it's not about trying to gossip and everything else, yeah? And trying to encourage some sort of issues. And the opposite though, the opposite to the eternal moaning and inverted commas supporter, which it's not, is it? It is the diehard, I was there cheering and encouraging the team through all the division supporter. And there are people out there like, I was a supporter of that team when they were down in division four, you know, and everything else. And, you know, in the football world, I mean, that's, you know, wow, man, that person's seen them through thick and thin. And if they were there cheering through thick and thin, I mean, good on them, again, in the football world, the through thick and thin supporter clapping the team's effort when they lose, cheering on in those cold, wet winter nights when they're getting spanked four-nil or something, yeah? And that's what makes the great church, isn't it? That's what we want in a church. Genuine, supportive, positive church members. That's what we want to hear, yeah? And because what's the goal is the support of the church, is for the church to go on to do great things. Turn to Hebrews 10. We want those that come to church with a common goal of the success of God's church, yeah? That's what we want here. That's what we want to have on board is those types of people. Hebrews 10.23, and this passage is quoted so often to remind people not to skip church, but it also highlights what should be our goal when attending. What is it? Is it just, I don't skip church, you just come and cause trouble. Oh, I don't skip church, I just come and moan and complain every week, yeah? No, Hebrews 10.23 says, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. Verse 24, let us consider one another. What's the point? To provoke unto love and to good works. That's what you're here for, to provoke others to love and to good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves, as long as I assemble. As long as I don't forsake the assembly, no, as a manner of summaries but exhorting one another. You're here to encourage people, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. So we're here to provoke unto love and to good works, to exhort one another and so much the more. That's the goal. We want to be a through thick and thin supporter because there's going to be low times at our church, you know that, yeah? There'll be times, look, we've lost bad people, there'll be times when we lose good people. There'll be times where, you know, people either get pulled out, dragged out, will backslide. There'll be times where things will go badly in this church for a time. There'll be seasons of everything. There'll be times when it's stressful getting here, maybe being here, there'll be other issues going on. We're going to have a lot that goes on here. Are you a thick and thin, through thick and thin supporter, or are you just going to be murmuring and complaining and finding any which way you can to criticise and find problems? Look, this is God's church in the UK, look, and I know everyone here hopefully believes that, otherwise why are you here, right? And if it is, we want to support it, right? It's not supporting me, it's the church, yeah? It's everyone involved in this church, we want to support it through thick and thin, not to find anything we can to criticise. And by the way, that's just super weird, isn't it? It is super weird. There are people like that, and it's weird. Just come to church to find fault, bizarre. The title is Lessons to Learn for Football Fans. Number one, don't be a glory hunter, be a loyal fan. Number two, don't be a TV fan, be an actual supporter. Number three, don't be a fair weather supporter, be a season ticket holder. Number four, don't be a silent stadium filler, be the 12th man. Number five, don't be a moaner, be a through thick and thin supporter. And like I said, the overlap with this is, as we prepare to take the Lord's Supper this evening, maybe it's a good time to think about whether you here are being put to shame by some drunken football fan. Whether or not you are all of these, whether you are a loyal fan, an actual supporter, a season ticket holder, the 12th man and the through thick and thin supporter, or if you're being put to shame by some drunk guy with a beer belly and some very tight-fitting, you know, shirt with his name on the back with some of the letters falling off. Are you being put to shame by that guy or are you putting him to shame and doing things for the right reasons? Because what it's saying in 1 Corinthians 15.58, therefore my beloved, rather than be steadfast, unmovable, always abandon the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. What we do here is not in vain, unlike sadly probably billions, at least multiple millions of people around this world. On that, let's pray. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for just the importance of what we do here, that we have something that's not just vanity, that's not in vain, that we have a work to do, we have a responsibility as, you know, members of your church here in the UK, you know, a church which is trying to do things your way, Lord, that we have a responsibility here to behave in the right way, to act, to have our just motives, to have our head in the right place for that, to just keep working hard for you. It has real reasons, it has real sort of, you know, everlasting consequences, what we do in this church, every single one of us, and what we don't do. Help us all to just be inspired by this, to help, help us to maybe remember some of these kind of points as, you know, for many here, the things that they've grown up being around and seen, and help us to apply that to our spiritual lives, help us to be, you know, the super fan when it comes to, when it comes to Christians in your church, and not to just be some sort of, you know, useless church member. Lord, help us to do that, you know, not just today, not just have the, have the right kind of goal going into the Lord's Supper, but to just continue that, to just, you know, really, really try and do our utmost for you, really abound in the work of the Lord. Help us to start that this afternoon, going out and preach your gospel to the lost, and return for the Lord's Supper this evening. In Jesus' name, for all this, amen.