Halloween sermons for youth are a great way to get kids excited about Halloween, and they can also be used to teach kids about Jesus. Children love dressing up and pretending to be someone else, which makes Halloween a perfect opportunity to teach them about the Bible.
When it comes to Halloween sermons for youth, there are lots of fun ideas that you can use. One option is to have each child dress up as a Biblical character and then tell their story. This could be done by having each child read from their Bible or by having them write down their own interpretation of the character’s story in life.
Another option is for you to dress up as one of the more well-known Biblical characters and do a skit with your class. You could do this as part of your classroom decorations for Halloween or you could use it as part of your lesson plan for the day.
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Halloween Sermons For Youth
As a youth pastor, I’ve always been wary of celebrating Halloween, the spookiest day of the year. The costumes and candy may be fun, but the ghosts and witches and vampires tend to raise concerns about how Christians ought to approach this holiday. For many years, I told my congregation that it was best to simply ignore Halloween altogether by spending time at home with their families or going to church for a special event. However, recently I’ve begun to rethink my hard-line stance on Halloween, especially after talking with some of our younger members who are excited about trick-or-treating this year. In fact, I’m beginning to realize that there are lessons we can learn from some aspects of Halloween itself—lessons about facing our fears and defeating evil—that can help us grow closer to God.
Halloween is a time for celebration, and yet it can also have many dark elements to it.“
Halloween is a time for celebration, and yet it can also have many dark elements to it.
Halloween is a time for celebration, but it can also have many dark elements to it.
Ghosts and witches may evoke fear, but they can be defeated.
It’s Halloween time. Have you ever wondered why we celebrate such a spooky holiday? The answer is simple: we don’t really know. It seems that the original intent of Halloween was to mark the end of summer and to prepare for winter.
However, since Roman times there have been some who believe that Halloween is a time when evil spirits are released from their prisons and roam freely through our world causing mischief and mischief-making. But this is not true! In fact, most people today think of ghosts as being very scary, but they are not real! Ghosts do not exist either! No matter how much you want them to be real – it just isn’t going to happen!
You might wonder how we know this if many people believe in ghosts or witches? Well….it turns out that fear itself can actually make us feel like something scary is happening around us even though nothing may actually be there at all; this type of thing happens all the time when someone sees something moving in their house at night while they were sleeping but then realize that it was only an old curtain blowing around from an open window nearby…(or maybe even just their imagination).
Fear can represent the evil that is in the world.
Fear can be a good thing or a bad thing.
Fear can be a good thing if it helps you overcome the evil that is in the world and does not prevent you from doing what God has called you to do. Fear can also be a bad thing if it causes you to give up, but it’s important to remember that fear is only one emotion, and there are many other emotions that play into this.
Christians should not fear death because they will go to heaven when they die.
Yes, death is the end of our physical bodies. But it’s not the end of your existence, your story and hope, or your faith and love. Death isn’t a bad thing if we know that God has prepared a home for us in heaven after we die.
God promises to take good care of us when we leave this earth behind. He will never abandon us or leave us alone in an empty grave—because he doesn’t want his children to live with fear and worry about what’s going to happen next! Instead he wants them to know that no matter how many lies Satan tries telling people about what happens after death (like “you’re going straight into hell”), they can rest assured knowing there is no such thing as “eternal suffering” when they go through death itself because they are taken care of by God himself
We should live our lives as we would want to if we knew we only had one night left on earth to do what we want.
The truth is that we only have this one life. We have to make the most of it while we can, and there’s no time like the present to do so. We should be bold and courageous, doing what we want to do without fear or hesitation. Yes, there are consequences for our actions—but if you’re going to live your life anyway, why not do it with passion and intensity?
We must take advantage of whatever time is left us on this earth because “the days are evil,” as St. Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 3:1-9 (ESV). While we may not know when exactly they will end, they will end at some point—and when they do end for each one of us individually: “It is appointed for men once to die…” (Hebrews 9:27).
Being a Christian means being brave in the face of evil, even if you are afraid.
The Bible says that we should be like Jesus Christ and be brave in the face of evil, even if we are afraid. So it is important to stand up for what you believe in, even if it means standing up against something as scary as a giant spider!
When I was a little boy, my family went to visit some friends who had a very large dog named Brutus. The dog scared me because he was so big and loud—and I did not want him near me! But one day when I was playing at my friend’s house with another friend named Tyler, Brutus came close and started growling at us—so Tyler pushed him away from us. Then Tyler said: “Be brave!” He taught me how important it can be for each person to stand up for what they believe in no matter how much fear they may have inside themselves (or how big the other person might seem).
Some aspects of Halloween are great but others are no match for the power of God and His love.
Halloween is a time for celebration, and yet it can also have many dark elements to it. It’s important for children to know that not all of the symbols of Halloween are evil. Ghosts and witches may evoke fear, but they can be defeated by Jesus Christ who gave up His life on the cross so you could be forgiven of your sins and spend eternity with Him in heaven. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18 that “perfect love casts out fear…” This means there is no room for evil when we have God’s perfect love inside us!
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Well, it’s that time of year again. The nights are growing cooler. The leaves are changing colors and falling from the trees. Daylight savings time is just around the corner. And people at your church are arguing about Halloween . . . what joy! A godly, older saint frowns at you disapprovingly as you mention taking your kids trick-or-treating, while the family at the other end of the pew is preparing for their annual costume party bash, complete with pumpkin carving and spooky music! What’s a Christian to do, anyway, when October 31 rolls around?
As a father of four young kids, I’m right in the midst of the Halloween “craze.” Choosing the right costume requires weeks of careful planning. Hitting the prime street for trick-or-treating is the topic of school gossip and 8-year-old conversation circles (“I heard the Hunter family gives out full-size candy bars!”). My six-year-old is begging me to visit the local haunted house (the answer is no).
I don’t have all the answers, but my wife and I have sought to think biblically about this occasion that comes around every year at this time. And so, I humbly offer six aids for you parents, as you think through what to do with Halloween as a family.
- Enjoy it but don’t celebrate it.
This has become one of the ways that we seek to distinguish with our kids how we engage with Halloween versus how we engage with Christmas and Easter. We enjoy Halloween. We have fun with costumes, we like the candy (and, let’s face it, we parents take our cut!), and we enjoy taking our kids trick-or-treating with our friends and their kids. But we don’t celebrate Halloween. We don’t emotionally or worshipfully engage with this day in any fashion.
We enjoy Halloween; we celebrate Christmas and Easter.
We enjoy Halloween; we celebrate Christmas and Easter. These are magnificent days on our church calendar, not just our cultural calendar. We celebrate these days by calling to mind what they’re about—the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Halloween is a time for some fun; Christmas and Easter are times for worship.
- Don’t ever glorify violence, evil, or gore.
While Halloween can be an occasion for some harmless dress-up, costumes, and maybe even a “haunted hayride” with some good-natured people jumping out and yelling boo, there is never an occasion to glorify violence, murder, gore, or the harm of a human being. Some costumes, movies, and haunted houses go way too far in this direction. It is not a godly impulse that leads one to be titillated by severed limbs, bloody weapons, and grotesquely gory masks or scenes. As followers of the risen Lord who will one day raise his people from the dead—as followers of the loving Creator who made every man and woman in his image—we must not glorify or take pleasure in the violent destruction of his image. No, not even for one day each year. - Seek to know and love your neighbors.
When it comes to Halloween on the block, this day can be an occasion to serve, love, and get to know the people of your neighborhood. When you take your kids trick-or-treating, pause for a brief, kind conversation with the family down the block. Or, consider staying home, filling a big bowl of candy, and adding some words of encouragement as you hand it out to the children and parents who ring your doorbell. Last year, taking my kids trick-or-treating in my parents’ neighborhood actually helped my mom and dad meet one of their neighbors for the very first time! Don’t miss an opportunity to build relationships that could lead to a clear communication of the gospel of Jesus Christ. - Be confident in Christ’s power over darkness.
It is true that some aspects of Halloween can be traced back to dark rituals and linked with a fascination with the occult. October 31 has certainly been a day that has been named and claimed by people who are fascinated with the darkness, drawn to the demonic, and love to flirt with fright, fear, and even outright evil. But, as Christians, we do not need to be paralyzed by a fearful superstition that we might be supporting the work of the devil as we hand out candy to the 5-year-old dressed as a witch at our door. Jesus Christ, our Savior, is greater than he who is in the world. In fact, Paul reminds us that Jesus has already triumphed over the powers of darkness on the cross, putting them to “open shame” (Colossians 2:15). If you choose to engage with Halloween in any way, do it knowing that you serve a Savior who is more powerful than Satan and brighter than the darkness, and who causes the demons to shudder. And give some Skittles to the miniature vampire on your front porch.
Cameron Cole, Jon Nielson
This comprehensive handbook looks at every facet of youth ministry from a gospel-centered perspective, offering practical advice related to everything from planning short-term mission trips to interacting with parents to cultivating healthy relationships.
- Enjoy Halloween . . . and celebrate Reformation Day.
For those of us who celebrate the Reformation, sparked by Martin Luther and the translation and preaching of the Word of God, we can remember that October 31 is meaningful because of its place in church history . . . not just because of the candy in our kids’ plastic pumpkins. This coming Sunday at our church, we’ll remind our people that it is Reformation Sunday. We stand in the tradition of those Reformers who courageously insisted on the biblical truths concerning our salvation: through Christ alone, by faith alone, by grace alone. So, enjoy trick-or-treating on Wednesday; celebrate the Reformation on Sunday. - We can sometimes agree to disagree.
Finally, it’s okay to admit that the family in your church throwing the Halloween costume party and the frowning, disapproving woman are probably not going to quite meet in the middle on this one. Life can go on. But, that family can probably try to understand a bit more the hesitation about Halloween that some in their church have. Those who refrain from enjoying Halloween can probably give Christ-loving believers the benefit of the doubt.
And, by God’s grace, they can stand together and belt out “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” on Reformation Sunday.
Jon Nielson (DMin, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) serves as the senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Wheaton, Illinois. He is coeditor of the book Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry and author of the Theology Basics suite of products. He and his wife, Jeanne, have four children.
