Using Halloween For Spiritual Growth

• Scary stuff is everywhere and we can't avoid Halloween. So let's leverage it for spiritual growth!

WHERE I’M COMING FROM BIBLICALLY

• God is a god of peace and joy
• Jesus came to bring people back to life from death and sin
• Jesus is described as the hope and light of the world
• If you’re a follower of Jesus, then our worldview should correlate with Jesus
  • Jesus came to bring healing, not glorify sickness
  • Through His death we gain eternal life, the end result being the focus not his death
  • Eternity is real and the missions of every Jesus follows is to get people to Heaven, not Hell

HOW TO TALK ABOUT THIS HOLIDAY

• Decide with your spouse, by yourself where you stand
• You can talk about these things without adding a spooky factor to it
• Death is the main topic of Halloween
  • Give a Christian understanding of death
  • God didn’t want us to die, but sin caused death. Jesus came to save us.
• Fear
  • Try and identify fear
    • What is scary about it?
    • What is the concern will happen?
  • Bible stories (Lazarus mummy, Daniel and being afraid)
  • “Goodbye fear, God is here!”
  • Prayer with and for

SAFE ACTION STEPS FOR YOUR FAMILY

• Protect their innocence as long as possible
• Pass out Jesus loves kids cards to Trick or Treaters
• Illustrated sermon
• It’s ok to avoid scary aisles, houses, etc.
• Can do activities without adding the scary/death factor
  • Pumpkin carving, painting.
• It’s ok to not watch Halloween themed tv episodes
  • Right Now Media (oakcreekag.org/rightnow)