Life and the Living!
Oct. 26, 2025
John 10:10–11 (NLT) 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
John 10:10–11 (TPT) 10 A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!
11 I am the Good Shepherd who lays down my life as a sacrifice for the sheep.
Jesus Came to Give a Full, Abundant Life.
The Devil came to bring Death and Fear.
On October 31, Halloween is Celebrated:
Halloween seems to be an innocent celebration:
It is a time when children (and now adults):
-Wear costumes,
-Go trick-or-treating for candy,
-Carve Pumpkins.
In reality, Halloween Celebrates Death and Darkness.
-Evil is glorified and treated as Fun, Good.
-Witches, warlocks, Demons, Devils, Death and Fear,
Is promoted as innocent and harmless.
To Satanists and witches, Halloween is a “high holy day.
-It is like Christmas or Easter for Christians.
-Satanists and witches believe that Halloween is the best time of year:
to cast spells,
see into the future,
communicate with the spirits of dead relatives.
Our church is not celebrating Halloween; instead, we will:
a. Have Prayer and Fasting for 3 Days:
Wed Oct. 29 to Fri. Oct 31
Wed. Prayer at Church, 730PM.
Fri. Prayer on Zoom, 6AM, ID: 864 4427 3211, Passcode: vosf
b. Have a Harvest Outreach: Fall-O-ween Jesus Candy Pop-up
Fri. Oct. 31, on 24th & Harrison.
Giving out Candy bags that will include tracts that share
Good News and the Love of Jesus
Halloween started over 2000 years ago
with the old Celtic (Kell-tic) festival of Samhain (Sah-win).
-It celebrates the end of summer and the harvest season.
-People believed that on this night, the spirits of the dead (or ghosts) returned to the earth to harm the living, so they lit bonfires and wore costumes to scare away the evil spirits.
-In the 18th century, the Catholic Church established All Saints’ Day on November 1, to blend some of the old Samhain (Sah-win) customs with Christian traditions.
-The night before—All Hallows’ Eve—gradually transformed into what we now know as Halloween.
“El Día de los Muertos” (The Day of the Dead), is a Hispanic holiday.
It comes from a mixture of …
-Indigenous Aztec beliefs about the dead and
-Catholic “All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days”.
People celebrate this day by making altars with offerings to dead relatives, Decorate with Candles, incense, food, and skull decorations.
People believe that Celebrating this Day:
-Helps the spirits of the dead return to their families.
-Keeps the dead happy and prevents them from causing trouble for the living.
Halloween and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is about honoring death—not just the dead.
God forbids these types of activities:
Deuteronomy 18:10–14 (NLT) 10 For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, 11 or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. 13 But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.”
Christians don’t celebrate death and fear,
Because Jesus defeated them.
John 10:10–11 (NLT) 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
John 10:10–11 (TPT) 10 A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!
11 I am the Good Shepherd who lays down my life as a sacrifice for the sheep.
Hebrews 2:14–15 (NLT) 14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.
1. As Christians, we celebrate Life.
The Life Jesus came to give. We do not need to fear death.
1 Corinthians 15:54–57 (NLT) — 54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:8 (NKJV) We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
2. As Christians, we are to be Light in Darkness.
Matthew 5:14–16 (NLT) 14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
-This means we are to be concerned about the people around us:
So that they can see Jesus in you and learn to know Jesus.
Be a good example.
Have a good testimony.
-Don’t let the devil overwhelm you with your personal life.
Remember, Jesus got your back.
Rest in Jesus.
Isaiah 30:15–16 (NLT) 15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.
16 You said, ‘No, we will get our help from Egypt. They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.’ But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
Many Christians fall into sin and temptation because
they don’t rest and trust in the Word of God.
3. Don’t live the way you used to live.
Ephesians 5:8–14 (NLT) 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.
(The Fruit of the Spirit is produced in your life,
Galatians 5:22–23 (NLT) 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!)
11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. 12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. 13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, 14 for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
4. As Christians we are to Spread the Good News:
Be a Witness for Jesus.
Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV) 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”