Paul, today's question comes all the way from New Zealand. Sarah writes, we have an almost

11-year-old who plays soccer. He's very gifted in this and would love to keep on playing in the hope of

potentially going professional. As he gets older, the games will be held on Sunday mornings.

As a family, we attend worship in the morning. However,

there's also an evening service each week. By God's grace, we strive to walk and talk to Christian

life on a daily basis and were involved in church in different ways. It's not just attending

worship once a week. We wouldn't have this wondering if the games were later in the morning

or in the afternoon on a Sunday. Are you able to offer guidance as whether it's wrong for him to play on a Sunday morning

and attend the evening worship instead?

For me, the issue is not so much a given Sunday.

The issue is being aware as a parent, I am always defining and shaping my child's values.

I'm always defining to him what are the important things in life.

And so, you know, if you just all the time miss worship because there's a baseball game,

what is the conclusion of that child? The expendable item is not baseball. The expendable item is worship.

Gathered worship.

I think that's a big deal because of the fact that you're defining what is essential and important in life.

I had a dad.

I love this. Tell me just a couple weeks ago, his daughter is a real good soccer player. She's in a youth league and she's a goalie. And he said, I just want you to know, my daughter won't be in the net on Sundays.

And they explained to him why.

And he said, this is core value for us as a family.

And she will play her heart out any other time,

but she won't be there on Sunday.

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