Rev. David Holwick Fall Festival Party
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey (a short devotional)
October 31, 2009
Matthew 12:24-28
JESUS IS BETTER THAN HALLOWEEN
I. A special time of year.
A. Beautiful colors and aromas.
B. The harvest of the farms is brought in.
C. And demons run through our neighborhoods.
1) All the movie channels have scary stuff this week.
a) Actually, it seems like it has been all month.
2) Tonight on AMC - the remastered horror film classic
"Night of the Living Dead" with revived zombies
eating their neighbors.
II. Halloween is popular these days.
A. One of our biggest holidays in how much money is spent.
1) People love to dress up.
a) Even weddings have Halloween themes these days.
2) We like to be scared, too.
3) Most trick-or-treaters will tell you they are not
worshipping Satan but getting free candy. Pounds of it.
B. But what are we really celebrating?
1) Catholics honor all the Christian dead tomorrow.
2) Tonight represents all the evil dead.
a) Ancient pagan roots, going back before Christianity.
b) This is why many Christians have problems with it.
III. There is another dimension to life.
A. Even before there was Christianity, people yearned for eternity.
1) We have always felt that life should not end at the grave.
2) We want to live on - but as what?
3) Faith tries to answer that question.
B. Christianity is not just about going to church and being moral.
1) It is about a struggle with supernatural forces.
2) There is a spiritual reality that our senses cannot
normally pick up.
a) Some of the spirits are good.
b) Some are not.
IV. For Jesus, every day was Halloween.
A. A big part of his ministry was delivering people from the
power of evil.
1) He was always able to do this.
2) Jesus has more power than the Devil.
B. When you are committed to Jesus, the Devil cannot touch you.
1) You don't have to be afraid of things that go "Boo!"
2) You have certainty about what will happen to you after
you die.
V. With Jesus we have hope.
A. He offers salvation to everyone who puts their trust in him.
B. Have you accepted Jesus as your savior?
