Dear Prayer Warriors, With Halloween approaching now is the time to make use of all the great evangelistic opportunities this cultural holiday affords us. I realize that this is primarily an American Holiday so I ask those in other countries to excuse the specific nature of this posting. It may afford you though an opportunity of sharing Christ with the children of any American whom you know in your country. For Americans this is a great tool for Parents and Grandparents to use. For Sunday School teachers and those involved in children’s ministry. It is also a great opportunity for you to invite neighbor children over for a party and as part of it present this Gospel message. They can then take their pumpkin home and tell their parents about the good news of Christ. Simply print out the following talk and walk the group through it point by point. For readers, have New Testaments out so that they can read and follow along. For those to young to cut their own pumpkin, be there to help them along. What you will need… Pumpkins New Testaments Carving knives News Paper Black felt tip markers Candle Matches
The Pumpkin As A Picture Of Salvation
I. Before you is a pile of pumpkins. Please choose one. Why did you choose this pumpkin? What are your plans for this pumpkin? John 15:16 16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.
II. What is wrong with this pumpkin? It has a very serious problem. What is it? JOH 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. JOH 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
III. What will happen to this pumpkin over time? What then will we do with it? JOH 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
IV. The Bible says that we are like this pumpkin. Our sin has caused us to be separated from God. In fact we are worse because we chose to break off from the vine. Now that was pretty dumb wasn’t it? ISA 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
V. Let’s look inside this pumpkin and see what is inside. Pretty gross isn’t it? This is what is inside people who do not have Jesus. We look nice on the outside but inside we are full of sin. MAT 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. MAT 23:28 "Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
VI. Draw a cross on the newspaper your pumpkin is on. Now when we accept Jesus God takes all the sin out of us and puts it on Jesus. This is really yucky isn’t it? Use your hands and take all of this yucky sin out and put it on the cross you have drawn on the newspaper. How do you think God felt when he was taking your sin and putting it on Jesus? How do you think Jesus felt? Now just imagine if instead of one pumpkin you were doing this to all the pumpkins in the world. That would be a lot of rotting filth wouldn’t it? Now think of God taking all that sin in the world and putting it on Jesus? 1PE 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 2CO 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
VII. When we were separated from God, satan had our destruction in mind. Now that we have been cleansed of sin, we will experience the abundant life that Jesus desires to give us. Let’s carve a big happy face on this pumpkin, to illustrate this abundant life. JOH 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.
VIII. This pumpkin still has a problem. His sin is gone but he still has no life within him. If all that happened to us was that our past sins were taken away, we also would still have a problem. Take the votive candle and draw a cross on it. This candle will signify Jesus and the righteousness which He brings to the new Christian. Now put the lid on the pumpkin and using the candle, knock gently on the door of the pumpkin’s lid. This is Jesus convicting us of sin and calling us to Himself. REV 3:20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.
IX. Now take the lid off the pumpkin and place the candle inside. This is just what God does, He convicts us of sin, calls us to Himself, opens the door of our life and places Jesus in side. Now light the candle. This symbolizes the Holy Spirit which now lives in your life. 1CO 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? EPH 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, EPH 1:14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.
X. Who chose this pumpkin? Did it choose you or did you choose it? Even so God chose you to be His special new creation. EPH 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love
XI. What did this pumpkin do to receive this new life? What role did he play? He was dead, he was rotting, he was helpless. You did it all. It is the same with us. We were dead in our sins and God did it all for us. Our salvation is not and cannot be by works. It is by the grace of God. EPH 2:5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), EPH 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; EPH 2:9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.
XII. Why do farmers not sell all their pumpkins? How do you grow new pumpkins? Where do these seeds come from? Which pumpkins do the farmers save as the “seed pumpkins”? Why did God choose you? God chose you to bear fruit. Take some of the seeds off the cross and put them in the good soil in the Dixie cup. When you see your pumpkin, think of how Jesus gave you a new life. As you watch the new pumpkin grow from this seed ask yourself “Who is coming to church, who is a new growing Christian because of me JOH 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.
For school occasions, however, the children can have one pumpkin to paint and deliver home after the party. Prepare supplies like glues, paints, permanent markers, coloured paper, old papers, eye-drawing cut outs, ribbons, colorful decals and party hats. Let the kids paint funny faces onto their pumpkins and decorate them with all the supplies you supplied.
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