Rev. David Holwick J
First Baptist Church
Nobleboro, Maine Church
October 29, 2023
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
HAPPY HALLOWED DAY
I. The night of the Living Dead.
A. It was a perfect movie for a camping trip.
In the 1970s I lived in Germany because my dad was in the Army.
My Boy Scout troop got to go on a camping trip at the Army
resort in Garmish, Germany.
They allowed us to watch a movie in the small hotel theater.
It was a classic horror movie, in black and white.
A virus brought back from outer space causes dead people to
come back to life, and they go around feeding on the living.
As ghouls stumble through his house, the hero has to kill them.
1) The movie's theme is a good fit for Halloween.
a) Halloween is one of the most popular holidays in U.S.
b) This year we will spend $12 billion celebrating it -
and $500 million of that will be for PET costumes.
2) People love to put on costumes and go to parties, or
trick-or-treat.
B. Halloween makes many Christians uncomfortable.
1) Do you cave in and accept it whole-hog?
a) Devout may consider you a Satanist.
1> My NJ church's autumn evening hayride - should we
have teenagers jump out and scare them?
b) New Agers relish the druid underpinnings.
2) Do you totally oppose it?
a) We cannot be united with Satan!
b) Any compromise sends the wrong message.
3) Do we convert it - adopt it with adjustments?
a) Churches convert Halloween parties to Harvest Festivals.
b) It is a similar idea to what first Christians did.
II. The original meaning of Halloween.
A. Pagan festival in autumn, called Samhain (pronounced "sow-win").
1) Druids were high priests of pagan Britain in the dark ages.
a) We actually know very little about their beliefs or
practices because they left nothing in writing.
b) What people THINK they know about druidism is largely
the result of imaginative romantics in the last
three centuries.
2) Traditions associated with the druids - Trick-or-treating,
jack-o-lanterns, even bobbing for apples - are actually
more modern additions to the holiday.
a) (Druids did have jack-o-lanterns but they were made
from turnips for harvest celebrations, not Samhain.)
B. The holiday was adapted by Christians.
1) Pope Gregory III in the 600's made Nov. 1 a day for saints.
a) "Halloween" means the evening of a hallowed or holy day.
b) Pre-Christian practices lingered.
2) New theme: remember and honor Christian saints.
a) Halloween is properly a Christian day, not Satan's.
C. Important themes are involved in Halloween.
1) Honor the worthy dead.
2) Be aware of evil.
3) Be prepared to die.
III. Honoring the saints.
A. What is a saint?
1) Catholic: saints are super-Christians.
a) We should emulate them, and pray to them.
b) They can help you from heaven and are especially
important for help getting out of purgatory.
c) There are 10,000 of them and they have had miracles
attributed to them when people pray to them.
2) Bible: saint is any genuine Christian.
a) In the New Testament, it is a typical expression for
living and dead believers.
b) Means someone who is "set apart" for God.
1> Since many Christians are not very "set apart,"
I can understand how saint came to stand for
special Christians.
3) Paul tells us to emulate exemplary Christians.
a) However, we should not pray to them - prayer in the
Bible is always to God alone.
b) But it is proper to recall good Christian lives.
B. Exemplary examples in our own faith community.
1) Donna Jackson
Donna remembers John, who sat behind her in church when she
was just a child.
He had a beautiful tenor singing voice and as he sang she
listened intently to every word and it penetrated her
heart and soul.
To this day she has a tremendous love for hymns and gospel
music and they still touch her deeply.
2) Russie Lane
Russie mentions George Dow because he was such a wise man
who always shared his wisdom with him.
George would let God use him to offer a gem of wisdom that
was exactly what Russie needed at that moment.
Donna Jackson and Russie Lane both mention Adney Peck who
died just a few years ago.
He was a devout Christian man and teacher.
He loved teaching people about God and how God wants us to
live and act and love others.
He showed this by his own example as well.
3) Patty Stevens
Patty has something in common with Donna and Russie - she
also viewed Adney Peck as an exemplary Christian.
But Patty - and her husband - have a special reason to
remember Adney fondly, because he led them both to
believe in Jesus as their Savior!
4) Elisha Hopkins
Elisha feels fortunate that many of her spiritual influences
are still alive.
But one person who has died and yet continues to have a
spiritual impact on her is Wes Keene.
He was part of her first memories of church.
At VBS he was always there with his guitar and a smile on
his face.
He taught so much with the songs he taught the kids.
He showed what it means to serve the church and love your
church family.
He was always happy to help.
5) Susan Powell
Susan has had many spiritual influencers but points
especially to Ruth Dow, a woman of great faith.
Ruth was born into a family that was ahead in social norms.
She was able to get a higher education, including college.
Back then, girls typically weren't given the opportunity,
especially when living on a farm.
Ruth went on to teach youths in school, and Sunday school
for women in the church.
Twenty years on, Susan can still remember many of her
lessons.
Ruth brought in the most interesting facts and made her
students dig deeper into God's Word.
Her faith was evident by her joy in teaching.
Ruth shared and gave testimony for the love of Jesus in all
she did.
This was her gift.
She was a wonderful mentor to the young women.
Your library is named after this woman who loved reading.
6) Nancy Courville
Nancy points to Irving Desper, her grandfather.
He was a great example of someone who had entrusted his own
life to Jesus.
He was daily happy to share his faith and Bible knowledge
with others.
As a child, Nancy did not have a father living in her home.
Her mother worked, and her grandparents filled many gaps.
Although inwardly she was embarrassed by not living in a
traditional family, she thanks God for allowing her
grandparents to step in.
Through them she had a front row seat to witness the
difference faith in Jesus makes in a life and how that
life can impact other lives.
They gave their time in such generous ways and it all
started with their mornings -- reading the Bible, praying
and singing.
Her grandparents included Nancy and her brother in those
morning devotions whenever they were with them.
The kids never thought, no, I'm too cool, because of the
welcoming way they included their grandkids.
Her grandfather's faith in Christ was his priority.
It wasn't that everything was easy for them.
In fact, her grandparents suffered a great loss when a
beloved daughter drowned at age 19.
Through it all, in joys and sorrows, Jesus was their source
of strength.
Nancy grew up in the 60s and 70s.
A lot of her choices must have grieved her grandfather, not
to mention her Heavenly Father.
One day, early in her 20s, she told her Grandpa that she was
reading her Bible and had some questions.
Could she come to him with them?
The glow on his face that day is one of the finest treasures
tucked away in her memory bank.
It was just the beginning of many talks and lots of
questions.
During his life, he was able to see changes in Nancy and
witness her choice to follow Jesus too!
Several years into their chats, Nancy had an opportunity to
thank him for being such a great example.
Because of that example, it was important to promise him she
would raise her family to see Christ alive in her home.
Her grandfather passed away that very night.
She can't wait to worship with him again in glory!
7) Heidi Lan
Heidi grew up in a Christian home and was raised to go to
Sunday school, church, youth group.
She was also a member of a youth singing group in the late
1970s called The Way Makers which performed in various
nursing homes and churches all over the state of Maine.
Heidi accepted Christ as a teen and was baptized, and she
still remembers that day.
However, after she left the home she did some serious
backsliding and was out of touch with God.
One day she found myself sitting in the kitchen along with
her 96-year-old grandfather.
He had served in WWI and was a devout Christian man who
went to Sunday School and Church his whole life.
He was feeble, hard of hearing, had no teeth, and drooled
almost non-stop.
That conversation, although short, made a huge impact on
Heidi's path with God.
He lifted his head just slightly and asked her one simple
question: Do you go to Sunday school?
Her response was, No, grandpa.
(He died 6 months later at 96.)
Heidi and her husband were in transition at the time and
moving to Pennsylvania and they had two small children.
She kept thinking about the question and as she did, she
realized how far she had allowed myself to slip away from
God and it made her very sad.
On their ride down to their new home in a U-Haul truck she
told her husband she wanted to find a church home and she
want their kids to grow up in Sunday school.
So, she searched and found one and went every Sunday, but
her husband stayed home.
Although they lived there for only one year, God blessed
them.
Her husband Russ did finally come to church and he accepted
Christ as his savior.
They moved back to Maine and bought a house and raised their
children to love God and that Christ was the way.
Her children encouraged Russ's parents to go to church, too,
and they started going and were baptized.
Heidi and Russ have served the Lord in churches over the
years and she still gives credit to her grandfather for
that one question he dared to ask her.
Now as she ages she often thinks about how just one question
can get someone thinking and help them make a change in
their lives and perhaps draw them closer to God.
C. Who are we influencing for eternity?
1) People look at your lifestyle.
a) A positive, loving attitude is important.
b) Piety - the foundation of what makes you different.
2) Americans are broadly religious, but shallow.
a) Everyone believes a little.
1> Do we have convictions?
2> Does it make a difference in way we live?
3> "Live a life worthy of calling you have received."
b) We could lose in one generation (like Canada has).
1> Since COVID, things look scary for the church.
2> Christians need to stand out, and be someone others
would want to follow.
IV. Evil is real.
A. Halloween rejoices in evil.
1) In a lighthearded way, but people seem to enjoy representing
the mirror image of what is good.
a) Demons, zombies, violent people.
2) Think of the irony of this in a week where we all locked
our houses due to a roving mass murderer.
B. The proof of evil's reality can be seen in human history.
1) Grim attack in southern Israel with terrible atrocities,
and destructive response of Israel's army.
2) People are capable of horrendous deeds. Even you...
3) Evil is real whether you accept it or not.
C. Evil should be confronted.
1) Great confrontations in history.
Boniface, missionary to Germans, confronted a mob of pagans
in Hesse in AD 713.
He began cutting down an ancient oak which was sacred to
the god Thor.
Before he had completely cut through, a powerful blast of
wind struck the tree.
It fell to the ground and broke into four fragments.
The pagan audience was convinced of the power of the new
faith and was converted.
Latourette, I:348
2) Recognize evil in our society, and in your own heart.
Steve Artaburn is a popular Christian writer and former
spokesman for the Minrith-Meier Clinics.
He attended Baylor University and then went on to seminary.
Since he is a "personality" he was asked to speak at the
Baylor University chapel.
Instead of a safe and inspiring talk, he decided to confess
his own personal sin.
When he had attended Baylor he had gotten his girlfriend
pregnant.
He saw his whole future at stake, and so he paid for her to
have an abortion.
He didn't think much about it in the coming years, but he
began to have stress-related illnesses which he
eventually attributed to guilt over the incident.
His chapel talk was well-received by the audience.
Soon after, his former girlfriend called him and told him
she had heard about his chapel talk.
He stressed that he had not mentioned her by name but that
wasn't her concern.
She said he was not being completely honest.
He hadn't just paid for the abortion, but had pressured her
to kill the child she wanted to have.
His pressure was subtle but effective - don't expect me to
be there for you if you have this child.
God is a God of second chances, of restoration.
Everything that happens has its reason, and God has a plan
for each of us.
Steve later got married in California only to discover that
he and his wife were an infertile couple.
He felt abandoned by God.
Some of his Christian friends suggested that this was God's
punishment for his past sin.
This angered him, because he does not see God as a
vindictive punisher.
Later, Steve told his publisher about his situation and this
man mentioned that he knew of a 16 year old Christian
couple who had gotten pregnant out of wedlock but
refused to abort it.
Instead they were looking for a Christian family to adopt
it.
It struck Steve that this couple was far more courageous
than he had been.
He and his wife received the child in a hotel room.
The baby was put in his arms first.
She is now a beautiful young woman.
God had given him what he had destroyed years ago.
#4194
D. Jesus has the ultimate victory. Colossians 2:15
1) Prophecy in Genesis says he will crush Satan under his heel.
2) His death conquers Satan.
3) We have victory in and over life. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57;
Revelation 15:2
V. What happens when we die?
A. Much of the fear reflected by Halloween is the fear of death.
1) Skeletons and ghosts speak to something deep in our souls.
a) Everyone fears death.
b) It happens to us all once, and we cannot see the other
side until we are there.
2) Jesus came to defeat this fear. Heb 2:14-15
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared
in their humanity so that by his death he might break the
power of him who holds the power of death -- that is,
the devil --
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by
their fear of death."
B. Everyone wants the dead to come back.
1) Grieving people often sense the presence of a loved one.
2) Man who led me to Lord - slept in beloved grandpa's house,
heard noises, woke up with a start to feel a hand
on his arm. Made hair stand on end.
C. Teaching of the Bible on death.
1) Dead can't come back on their own.
a) Rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-31
b) The Bible must be enough to influence living.
1> Ghosts are believed in, but not substantiated.
2) Someday God will bring back everyone.
a) Rapture of Christians. 1 Thess 4:13-19
1> End of age, before Second Coming of Jesus.
2> All believers are transformed, happens to dead first.
3> Living ones will never die, Enoch event.
b) Resurrection involves everyone.
1> Evil as well as good people. John 5:29
A> Not for salvation, but judgment.
2> Not just Hitler, but all who reject God's will
(& Jesus).
D. Establishing your destiny.
1) Are you born again?
a) Only way to get to heaven, according to Jesus. John 14:6
b) Spiritual rebirth can only happen in this life.
2) You can have confidence in your destiny.
a) Based on promises of Jesus.
b) If you are relying on good words, you will be shocked.
E. Saving your family.
1) Are your loved ones slipping?
2) Loved one not there?
a) Wishing doesn't make it so.
b) Speak to them about the Lord.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon is adapted from my previous one, "Happy Halloween," preached
on October 26, 1997, at the First Baptist Church of Ledgewood, New
Jersey. (Sermon #1303 in the Kerux database)
The main idea for this sermon came from the article “Is Halloween a
Witches' Brew?,” by Harold L. Myra, Christianity Today magazine,
October 22, 1982, page 32.
# 4194 “Our God of Second Chances,” from speech by Steve Arterburn at
the Friendship Pregnancy Center Banquet at Parsippany (NJ)
Hilton Hotel on October 17, 1997.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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