From the Pulpit: God is with you through Halloween and all year long
As we enter October we begin to look forward to Halloween. We start setting our all our decorations, buying candy, trying not to eat the candy before the actual day, coming up with plans to scare the kids, deciding which costume to wear, what party to go to and on and on. For reasons I don’t understand, people love to be scared and scare others. This week someone said to me, the world is scarier than it has ever been and it is only going to get worse before it gets better. But the world has been scary since Adam and Eve threw us all into sin. People have been waring, killing, capturing, torturing each other since Cain and Abel. The difference today is that we hear and see everyone’s troubles faster and constantly, so it feels overwhelming.
But we have had something else from the moment of the fall, a promise. In Genesis 3:15, in the middle of God casting judgement on Adam, Eve and the serpent, He says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The first promise of our Savior comes to us directly from God and immediately after we fall into sin. And all the evil in the world was no match for him. He resisted the devil’s temptations, He cast out demons, He even defeated death itself when He rose from the grave. So, if you are feeling like everything is falling apart, turn your eyes to Jesus. Nothing can stand a chance against Him. He has won the victory and has given you eternal life with Him. Jesus is the light that is cast into the darkness and even the darkness can’t overcome it. He says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” He is everything, He is God. Freddy, Jason and Chucky are nothing next to Jesus.
God sent His only Son so that we could be saved from the punishment of sin and He defeated them all, evil, death and the devil. So, have fun this Halloween being scared and scaring others, but remember God is in control and in the end there is nothing to be afraid of. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
God is with you through Halloween and all year long. He has claimed you as His child and has promised eternal life to all His people. Do not be afraid. Amen.
