YEA Lesson Library
Trick or Treat
About This Lesson
This lesson teaches that Halloween is not a holiday that God’s people should celebrate if they want to please God.
Scriptures
Leviticus 18:3-5
Deuteronomy 12:29-32
Deuteronomy 18:10-12
2 Kings 17:15
Matthew 22:31-32
Acts 20:35
Romans 13:12
Romans 13:12-14
2 Corinthians 4:4
Philippians 4:8-9
1 John 3:4
Words to Know
EVIL - something bad or wicked that God does not like
CRUEL - mean, hurting other people
IMPURE - unclean, dirty on the inside
The Lesson
A very long time ago, Halloween started as a celebration of very bad things. It celebrated cold, darkness, and death. We don’t like to be cold and we don’t like to think about darkness and death.
People thought the spirits of dead people returned to their homes on this evening. They made huge bonfires. They burned animals, crops, and sometimes even people. The people wore costumes that were made of animal skins and heads. Does that make you think of what people do on Halloween?
Today, people still dress up for Halloween. Some people dress up as something evil. They may dress like Dracula, a ghost, a witch or a horrible monster. Then they go door to door saying, “Trick or treat.” That means, “If you don’t give me something good, I’m going to do something mean to you.” Some people don’t even bother to ask. They just do mean, cruel things anyway.
Halloween is a day when people think they can be as bad as they want to be. They think evil things are fun and no one will say anything to them. But God sees what they are doing!
In the Bible God tells us what He thinks. God is very angry at people who are doing evil things. Dressing up as something evil and doing bad things makes God angry. He is very angry with people who have killed their own children during these celebrations. God remembers what people have done on Halloween. And He does not want us to have anything to do with such an evil day.
Halloween is not a day to celebrate for people who love God. We all want to be in God’s Kingdom. He tells us that no impure or evil thing will come into His kingdom. We must ask God to help us live as we should and not make plans to enjoy evil.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says “Here are things you must not do. Don’t sacrifice your children in the fire to other gods. Don’t practice any kind of evil magic at all. Don’t use magic to try to explain the meaning of warnings in the sky or of any other signs. Don’t take part in worshiping evil powers. Don’t put a spell on anyone. Don’t get messages from those who have died. Don’t talk to the spirit of the dead. Don’t get advice from the dead. The Lord your God hates it when anyone does those things.” Do you want God to hate what you do?
When God created Adam and Eve, He put them into a beautiful garden. They were surrounded by beautiful plants, trees, and animals. God told them that they should not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God didn’t want them to do bad things or even know about bad things.
God doesn’t want us to think about evil or bad things either. He wants us to always think about things that are true, right and pure. It’s much more fun to think about good and beautiful things. When we celebrate, we should celebrate with joy like we do at the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus is our example.
We should be like Him in our action and thought. Jesus always did good things. Instead of going trick or treating, why not find something good we can do for someone who is hurting or is in need. This would please Jesus very much.
Student Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for teaching us to stay away from evil things. We know these things can hurt us. Thank you for giving us Jesus to be our friend and example. Help us to always act like Him. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Daily Devotions
Sunday - Deuteronomy 12:29-32
Monday - Leviticus 18:3-5
Tuesday - 2 Kings 17:15
Wednesday - Acts 20:35
Thursday - 1 John 3:4
Friday - Matthew 22:31-32
Saturday - 2 Corinthians 4:4
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Recite that God hates evil things.
2. Explain what “evil” means.
3. Distinguish between things that are suitable to emulate and those that are not.
4. Say that Jesus is our example.
5. Explain that “trick or treat” is not amusing or right in God’s sight.
Topics & Themes
Evil
Garden of Eden
Halloween
Holidays, Halloween
Jesus Sets Example
Pagan Traditions
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA students and teacher’s books, newspaper circulars with Halloween costumes, songbook, CD/cassette tape and player, stars, scissors, glue, pencils, construction paper and paper, attendance and memory verse charts, stars
Preparation
You may want to bring some area stores’ newspaper circulars. These should have many Halloween costumes advertised. Having the pictures of costumes may help the children see what is evil and wrong with wearing the costumes. However, be prepared for questions like “But what if I dress up as a princess or Cinderella?” At that point, you’ll need to be ready to explain that dressing up in those costumes isn’t necessarily wrong. You don’t want to do it on that day because you don’t want anyone to think you are participating in the evil of that day – especially God. Remind them of Isaiah 9 which talks about the wickedness of the people and God’s wrath against them.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 shows God’s prohibition against witches. Romans 13:12- 14 talks about the desire of the sinful nature and the necessity of being clothed in Jesus Christ, “putting on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11).
How to Teach This Lesson
Origin of Halloween - Discuss how this day has been celebrated for many, many years with evil things. Ask: Are you afraid of the dark? Many of the children may be. Ask: Do you like to talk about dying? Explain that this day depicts all the gruesome things that we are afraid of and don’t like to talk about. Discuss how originally horrible things happened on this day.
Halloween costumes - Show pictures of the costumes from the newspaper circulars. Ask: Why do you think God would not want us to act like a horrible monster, Dracula, or a witch? Then do you think He wants us to even look like one of those characters? Explain that if we dress up like one of them, it will influence our actions. God does not like it when we look evil or do evil. He wants us to be “clothed” in Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14). Talk about the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:11.
Why God’s people shouldn’t celebrate Halloween - Explain that God hates evil. He will not allow any impure or evil thing to come into His Kingdom. Remind them of The Last Great Day’s lesson and how everything will be new and beautiful. God is a God of beauty. Look at the beautiful sunsets and the clouds in the sky, pretty birds and flowers. God makes things beautiful. He didn’t create ugly things like Halloween costumes. He wants us to have good thoughts and not think of evil or bad things. Jesus, our friend, is our example. He thought good thoughts and did good things.
Celebrate by doing good - Remind the class of how we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles with joy. We have joy when we do good for others. There is no joy in doing bad things. Encourage the children to think of good things to do for people rather than trick or treating.
Review Questions
1. What does “evil” mean?
2. Why is Halloween “evil”?
3. How does God feel about evil things and evil actions?
4. What does God expect us to do about evil things? (Stay completely away from them.)
5. Why isn’t it a good idea to dress up like an evil thing or person?
6. Should we dress up as a good thing on Halloween and go Trick or Treating?
7. Why or why not?
8. Who is the best choice for us to act like?
Teacher-Directed Activity
Before class enlarge the door to 8. 5 x 11" and make enough copies on green construction paper for each child to have one. Give each student white paper to cut out pieces the size of each window. They are to write their own hidden message to Jesus on the back side. Their messages could be simple things like “I hate evil,” “I want to do good,” or “I love Jesus.” Then glue two of the “windows” on the right side of the paper and two on the left side so that they will open like little windows or doors. Give them a star or seal to stick on each window to keep their message hidden until they want to look at it.
REACH Activity
1. Do a sword drill with the Daily Devotional Scriptures. Read the Scripture reference to the child. Then start the timer. When the child has found the verse, stop the timer. Read the verse and talk about how it relates to the lesson. Challenge the child to see how quickly he/she can find each of the verses in the Bible.
2. Sing:
A. From Kids Classics Collection: “Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart” on pg. 75, “I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N” on pg. 52, and “The B-I-B-L-E” on pg. 18.
B. From The Group Songbook: “”Thy Word” on pg. 30, “Create in Me a Clean Heart” on pg. 36, “Open Our Eyes” on pg. 50.
C. From the CEM Hymnal: “Give Of Your Best to the Master” on pg. 147, “I Love to Tell the Story” on pg. 80, “Let Others See Jesus in You” on pg. 178, “Yield Not to Temptation” on pg. 149.
3. Choose one of the songs from the list. Write a paragraph in your Bible notebook about why it would be a good song to sing to refute the celebration of Halloween.
4. Choose one of the verses from your daily devotions. Write the scripture in your Bible notebook. Then explain how the verse you chose relates to not celebrating Halloween.
5. Sometimes when we take a stand against celebrating Halloween, people think that your parents are being too strict and don’t want you to have any fun. You know that your parents love you and want the best for you. So how do you defend why you do the things you do? Read 1 Peter 3:15. Then write a paragraph in your Bible notebook defending why you don’t celebrate Halloween.
6. Read Romans 13:14. What does this verse say you should put on? Write about this in your Bible notebook.
7. Many children like to play dress up. Is that wrong? No, but there is an appropriate time to do it. Dressing up in anything on Halloween gives people the impression that you are okay with this pagan holiday. So it’s a very good idea to stay completely away from Halloween and dressing up on that day. But we are to put on something (other than our clothes) every day. Read Ephesians 6:10-18. In your Bible notebook, write down all of the items that we are supposed to put on every day. Make a note that this list is from Ephesians 6:10-18.
8. Draw a picture of yourself wearing the armor of light. What would that look like? Write your memory verse across the bottom of the drawing as a caption. Add color with your favorite coloring tools. Remember to practice your memory verse three times every day this week.
9. Draw a picture of yourself wearing your favorite clothes. Add color with your favorite coloring tools. Then, make the full armor of God pieces on another piece of paper. These are listed in Ephesians 6:10-18. Color the individual pieces and cut them out. Tape or glue them onto your self-portrait. Display your finished project on your bedroom door or in your classroom at church.
10. Spend some time focusing on the full armor of God listed in Ephesians 6:10-18.
A. Ephesians 6:14 - Belt of Truth. Look up three scriptures which talk about truth and how important truth is to God. Write a paragraph in your Bible notebook about what you find. Be sure to add a sentence about the lack of truth in Halloween. How important is it to have truth belted around you?
B. Ephesians 6:14 - Breastplate of Righteousness. Look up three scriptures which talk about righteousness and how important it is to do what is right before God. Write a paragraph in your Bible notebook about what you find. Be sure to add a sentence about the lack of righteousness in Halloween. How important is it to have righteousness as your breastplate to protect your heart?
C. Ephesians 6:15 - Feet fitted with the Gospel of Peace. Look up three scriptures which talk about peace. Write a paragraph in your Bible notebook about what you find. Do you think Halloween promotes peace? How important is peace to God? Do you spread peace with what you do?
D. Ephesians 6:16 - Shield of Faith. Look up three scriptures which talk about faith. How important is faith to God? What does the shield of faith protect you from? Are you wearing a shield of faith if you do what is not pleasing to God? Is celebrating Halloween pleasing to God? Write about this in your Bible notebook.
E. Ephesians 6:17 - Helmet of Salvation. Look up three scriptures which talk about salvation and where it comes from. What part of the body is protected by a helmet? What kind of protection does a helmet provide? Is it better protection or worse protection than a ball cap? If Jesus has nothing to do with the deeds of darkness, will you have protection from evilness if you choose to participate in pagan celebrations? Write about this in your Bible notebook.
F. Ephesians 6:17 - The Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God). What does God say about participating in pagan celebrations? God’s word, the Bible, is a vital piece of your armor against Satan’s desire to destroy you. Look up three scriptures which talk about the Word of God. Write about how this applies to celebrating Halloween in your Bible notebook.
G. Ephesians 6:18 - Prayer. It’s very important to pray for wisdom and guidance from God about our activities. Write about this in your Bible notebook. Write a summary paragraph about putting on the full armor of God. How does putting on Godly armor work with celebrating Halloween? What do you think you should do? Talk about your conclusions with your parents.
Song
“Isn’t He Wonderful” is on page 42 of the Kids Classics Collection.
Closing Prayer
Lead the children in prayer asking God to give them wisdom to know the difference between good things and things that will harm them. Give God praise for giving us Jesus to emulate.
Printable Pages
