Any coach scared to pray publicly with his team is just making his wife happy. Doesn't want to ruin the comfortable lifestyle they have

Ok, I have a problem w/ it. I, however, would have a problem w/ it if it were a religious affiliated school. Pray to God to play at your best, to avoid injury, and for your opponent to avoid injury. Praying to him for victory...seems trivial and kind of sacraligious to me.

When a team uses a verse like this for a sporting event how are they defining "victory?"

 

It seems to me the term was being used in relation to the final score of the athletic contest. That doesn't feel right to me.

 

Ok, I have a problem w/ it. I, however, would have a problem w/ it if it were a religious affiliated school. Pray to God to play at your best, to avoid injury, and for your opponent to avoid injury. Praying to him for victory...seems trivial and kind of sacraligious to me.

 

I was wondering if my original post was written in Chinese since no one answered.

 

Praying for victory seems to also be saying "God, do them harm so we can win this thing."

I was wondering if my original post was written in Chinese since no one answered.

 

Praying for victory seems to also be saying "God, do them harm so we can win this thing."

I missed your original post. As you see, I agree w it

I was not involved in the creation of the sign, so I can't definitively answer your questions Clyde and mexitucky. I guess it depends upon what they define as "victory" and how it was/is discussed. Being close to the program I would speculate they were not simply praying for God to help them win and they certainly weren't asking God to cause harm to their opponent to aid them. I feel the sentiment goes a bit deeper than that and is more along the lines of encouraging all of us to seek our own victories with God. And that victory can be gained regardless of wins and losses. I'm pretty confident God couldn't give a flip about a football game, but he does care very much about all those individuals involved. Perhaps the question should be was God pleased with those who were looking to Him for strength in their quest for the victory they seek?

 

Perhaps the victory can be found in the discussion in this thread, or the opportunity to have the post game prayer with the boys from Central. Perhaps it was just an expression of their faith and the fact that they rely on God for their strength and give him the credit for anything they accomplish.

 

You can draw your own conclusions. I will say that the messages on these signs are a pretty good representation of our community as a whole.

 

Other signs that I recall from this season included the following:

One that read simply "Faith, Family Football"

One that included the verse Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

One that included the phrase "That they might set their hope in God" from Psalms 78:7

Phil 4:13

 

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That they might set their hope in God

 

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I think what they were trying to convey is that they wanted to win with God in their hearts, and consecrate their efforts to the Lord. It's no different than a batter crossing himself before he hits, or a football player pointing up to heaven after a touchdown. I don't think they meant it to sound like they expected God to take sides in a high school football game.

True, but I was at a Belfry game once when the guy giving the pre game prayer got a little excited and in the middle of his prayer, he did ask God to let us have a "good, hard hitting game". :lol:

I was not involved in the creation of the sign, so I can't definitively answer your questions Clyde and mexitucky. I guess it depends upon what they define as "victory" and how it was/is discussed. Being close to the program I would speculate they were not simply praying for God to help them win and they certainly weren't asking God to cause harm to their opponent to aid them. I feel the sentiment goes a bit deeper than that and is more along the lines of encouraging all of us to seek our own victories with God. And that victory can be gained regardless of wins and losses. I'm pretty confident God couldn't give a flip about a football game, but he does care very much about all those individuals involved. Perhaps the question should be was God pleased with those who were looking to Him for strength in their quest for the victory they seek?

 

Perhaps the victory can be found in the discussion in this thread, or the opportunity to have the post game prayer with the boys from Central. Perhaps it was just an expression of their faith and the fact that they rely on God for their strength and give him the credit for anything they accomplish.

 

You can draw your own conclusions. I will say that the messages on these signs are a pretty good representation of our community as a whole.

 

Other signs that I recall from this season included the following:

One that read simply "Faith, Family Football"

One that included the verse Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

One that included the phrase "That they might set their hope in God" from Psalms 78:7

The prayer at the end of the game should have said it all...they praised Him even when they lost.

The prayer at the end of the game should have said it all...they praised Him even when they lost.

 

I think that is great. That is what you pray for, protection and thanks. The high school and college that I went to were all religious affiliated. However, never once do I remember praying for victory. That's what I take from the picture. If you run through a sign that has a Bible passage relating directly to being victorious, right before you run on the field to compete in an athletic event...it just seems to miss the message of why we pray.

I was not involved in the creation of the sign, so I can't definitively answer your questions Clyde and mexitucky. I guess it depends upon what they define as "victory" and how it was/is discussed. Being close to the program I would speculate they were not simply praying for God to help them win and they certainly weren't asking God to cause harm to their opponent to aid them. I feel the sentiment goes a bit deeper than that and is more along the lines of encouraging all of us to seek our own victories with God. And that victory can be gained regardless of wins and losses. I'm pretty confident God couldn't give a flip about a football game, but he does care very much about all those individuals involved. Perhaps the question should be was God pleased with those who were looking to Him for strength in their quest for the victory they seek?

 

Perhaps the victory can be found in the discussion in this thread, or the opportunity to have the post game prayer with the boys from Central. Perhaps it was just an expression of their faith and the fact that they rely on God for their strength and give him the credit for anything they accomplish.

 

You can draw your own conclusions. I will say that the messages on these signs are a pretty good representation of our community as a whole.

 

Other signs that I recall from this season included the following:

One that read simply "Faith, Family Football"

One that included the verse Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

One that included the phrase "That they might set their hope in God" from Psalms 78:7

 

If that was their intention then God bless them.

If that was their intention then God bless them.

Again, I can't say with any certainty what their intention was, my speculation was only an educated guess. I do understand your point and agree that asking God to help you win a game would seem misguided.

That they might set their hope in God

 

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I believe this banner might have been at the Garrard County game, correct 2C? I couldn't make it out perfectly that night so I'm glad you posted it. I'm impressed their cheerleaders (or whoever makes them) go through all of the work and trouble to produce such nice banners. Good work Belfry! :thumb:

Yes, that one was used at Garrard Co in the semifinals. Whomever does those banners (I honestly don't know if it is the cheerleaders, or a spirit team, or who) they do put in a ton of hard work on them and they produce something beautiful every week. Kudos to them :thumb: