A Sweet OpportunitySeeing the GOSPEL in HALLOWEEN

Path Through the Narrow Gate

Fall is in the air!(Which means that Halloween is right around the corner.)

Try as you might, you probably won't be able to escape from Halloween this year. If you need tobuy eggs from the grocery store during the month of October, Halloween will be there waiting for

you. Facebook, magazines, car commercials, kids' school crafts, the neighbor's yard decorations --whether we love it or hate it, we are surrounded by Halloween.

How are you going to talk to your children about Halloween this year? When your little girl ishorrified by a scary decoration hanging in your neighbor's yard, what are you going to say? Whenyour son mentions that vampires are cool, what will your response be? When your daughter wants

to know why people are so obsessed with death, what will you say?

How can you discuss a holiday that celebrates death, evil, darkness, and fear with your kids?

A Sweet Opportunity: Seeing the Gospel in Halloween is a Bible study designed to help you talkto your kids about Halloween and the gospel. A Sweet Opportunity will show your kids how the

gospel relates to six different aspects of Halloween - Trick or Treating, Costumes, Darkness, Fear,Evil, and Death. Discussion questions will help your children work through their own ideas of

Halloween, while being challenged to think a little deeper about what it really means. EncouragingBible verses will remind your children that God is still in control and that Jesus has conquered

darkness, fear, evil, and death.

You don't have to avoid Halloween this year. You can openly talk to your kids about what the Biblehas to say about Halloween. You can use Halloween to share the Gospel with your kids. Why not

get started?

I strongly encourage families to go through this Bible study together, talking about the questionsand deciding what their own approach to celebrating Halloween will be. This Bible study will talk

briefly about hell and vampires, so please glance over the lessons ahead of time to make sure thatit is suitable for the maturity levels of your children. Thanks!

The graphics in this Bible study were purchased from Prettiful Designs and Edu-Clips

Please feel free to make multiple copies of this Bible study for any children orgrandchildren in your immediate family. If you are a teacher, you may make

multiple copies for the students in your classroom. You may not make copies ofthis Bible study to distribute to other people outside of your family or classroom.

A Note to Parents:

Anna Joy Lowell

Trick or TreatFinding Our Satisfaction in the Lord

Lesson One

Welcome to "A Sweet Opportunity: Seeing the Gospel in Halloween". Over the next several days, weare going to be studying some Bible passages that help us to think about Halloween. There will be

questions for you to answer and verses to look up, so make sure that you have a pencil or pen and aBible handy.

What do you think about when you think about Halloween? On the lines below, list some things thatcome to your mind when you think about Halloween. There are no right or wrong answers, so have

fun with this!

I hope that this Bible study will talk about some of the things that you wrote down on your list.

Today, though, I want to talk about "Trick or Treating." (Is that on your list?)

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"Trick or Treating" is a common tradition at Halloween. You may have gone "trick or treating"yourself or seen other people do it. What do people do when they go "trick or treating"?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

What are people hoping to get?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

After people get candy or other goodies, do you think that they are happy? How long do you thinkthat their happiness lasts?

As humans, we often spend our whole lives"trick or treating".

No, I don't mean that we literally get dressed up in a costume and go knocking on people'sdoors for our whole lives.

But, we are always hoping to get something bigger and better that willmake us happy.

We can't wait until we can buy or get something new, or do something fun, or be at/ watch/ eat/play something that will make us happy. We often think, "If I could just _________(you fill in the

blank), THEN I would be really happy." But after we get something new or do something fun, howlong does the happiness really last? An hour? A day? A month? A year?

Once the happiness is gone, we have to search for something even biggerand better that will bring us even MORE happiness.

Just like the "Trick or Treaters", we think that if we just knock on enoughdoors and get enough candy, we will someday find lasting happiness.

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_________________________

Have you ever really wantedsomething only to find out that it did

not bring lasting happiness? Talkabout it or write about it below:

To be satisfied means that we have everything wewant and need. We don't need or want anythingelse. We don't need to knock on any other doors

because we have the one thing that will give us joyFOREVER.

Nothing on this earth will evertruly satisfy us.

There is only one thing that can give ustrue satisfaction and joy forever. Thatone thing is having a relationship with

God. God created us to love Him and toworship Him. Only God can fulfill all ofour wants. Only God can fill all of the

empty, sad, lonely, and crying parts ofour hearts.

Before God can give us satisfaction, though, He must change our hearts to want and desire Him.Our hearts are filled with sin. Instead of turning to God to fulfill our wants and to satisfy us, we thinkthat we can satisfy ourselves by living life our own way. But, as long as our hearts are full of sin and

empty of God, we will never find satisfaction in anything that this world offers us.

Only a relationship with God will ever give us true and foreverjoy, peace, and satisfaction.

When we find our satisfaction in God, we don't have to go on "Trick orTreating" the rest of our lives, always hoping to get something better at the

next door. We already have everything we need in God.

Let's Go to the Bible:Read Psalm 107:8-9. What does the LORD do for the children of men,according to verse 9? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Read Psalm 17:15. When does the Psalmist say that he will be satisfiedin this verse? What do you think that this means? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Let's Pray:I am praying that God will change my heart and cause me to delight in Him and find satisfaction inHim instead of the things of this world. I am also praying for my neighbors and the people around

me who will be out trick or treating this Halloween. I am praying that they will find a relationship withGod that will bring them true satisfaction. I am praying that God will give me opportunities and

boldness to speak with people about Him, rather than being too shy or scared.

I am also praying for you, that you will find your satisfaction in God alone. I am praying that yourheart would be stirred to seek Him and love Him.

How about you? What are you praying for as you think about these things?

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Read Psalm 37:3-5. God will give us the desires of our hearts when wedo what? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trick or TreatFinding Our Satisfaction in the Lord

Lesson One

Further Discussion:Read John 4:5-30, 39-42

What was the difference between the physical water that the woman wasdrawing up from the well and the spiritual water that Jesus was offering to her?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The woman at the well was a spiritual "Trick or Treater", always going from onedoor to the next door, hoping to find satisfaction in the things of this world, butalways ending up unhappy and dissatisfied.

Where had she looked for satisfaction and fulfillment in the past? (See verse18) ____________________________________________________________________________________Do you think that she had found satisfaction in this lifestyle? _____________________Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________________

What are some other places that people frequently look for satisfaction?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you agree or disagree that the "candy" of this world can never bring lastinghappiness? Why or why not? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This woman finally found true satisfaction in Jesus Christ. She was so excitedthat she left her waterpot at the well and ran to tell other people about herSavior. Have you found satisfaction in Jesus Christ, or are you still looking forsatisfaction from the things of this world?

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