Do you accept evil, or do you resist it? If the devil asked you to follow him… would you? Would you rather have fun, or resist the devil?

Have you heard this story? The devil appeared to a man, and told him that he has to choose to do one of 3 sins. The devil said either (1) Kill his servant (2) Hit his wife, or (3) Drink wine. Which would you choose? Many of you would say that drinking wine would be the most “harmless”, and isn't as bad as the other 2. Even though you are still following the devil? Any of the choices are wrong. Here is why.

The man ended up choosing the wine… He drank the wine, and got drunk. When the mans wife saw him, she asked him what he was doing. He got mad and started to hit her. The servant saw what was happening and tried to stop him, but the man killed the servant.

But the man chose the most “harmless” sin. What just went wrong? The truth is that no matter what… if you follow the devil, nothing good can happen. Even a “harmless” sin can turn into a dangerous one.

What about halloween? Everyone does it… What do you think about halloween? Did you know? "Halloween," began as a day to give tribute and praise to the dark forces of Satan.

"Halloween" comes from the word Samhain (Sa-ween) "Halloween" comes from the word Samhain (Sa-ween). Samhain, the lord of the dead, called together all the wicked souls who had died within the past year and were destined to inhabit animals. The celebration of the dead honored the god of the dead on this particular night, October 31. Bonfires were lit high on mountaintops so the spirits of the dead could find their way. Suitable food and shelter were provided for these evil spirits or they would inflict havoc, cast spells, steal infants, destroy crops, kill farm animals, and instill terror as they haunted the living. This is where "trick or treat" comes from. To worship evil spirits and false gods is against the Bible.

According to Bishop Youssef: “We must make a decision to be for or against Christ. Our Christian practices must display our beliefs and be an example to the others.” If we participate in halloween… Are we being like Jesus Christ? Would Jesus dress up for halloween?

When you think of halloween… What automatically comes to mind? Do you not automatically think of skeletons, pumpkins, and blood? Pumpkins on halloween are made to look like a skull.

Because your friends are doing it? How can we celebrate a day that is meant to celebrate death, and darkness? Because your friends are doing it? What if your friends started smoking… what if your whole school started smoking? Would you smoke?

Lets read Ephesians Chapter 5: Verses 6-12 Then why halloween? Lets read Ephesians Chapter 5: Verses 6-12 "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret."

Why do we not greet one another from Wednesday to Saturday morning in Holy Passion week? Because we don’t want to do anything symbolizing Judas kiss

Even if you are not doing anything “wrong”… you are still participating in halloween. Participating in halloween symbolizes the practices of witchcraft and the celebration of the god of death. If we cant even greet each other for a week... What gives us the excuse to go “have fun” on halloween?

Satan worship is prevalent today in middle schools and high schools. At least 100 million Americans practice some form of the occult (Witchcraft). We know that using witchcraft was a crime that cost King Saul his life (Samuel 28: 7-18). What will the price we will have to pay "for just having fun" be?

What about all saints day? As Coptic Orthodox Christians, we celebrate and remember the saints not just on one day, but throughout the ENTIRE year. There is no such thing as all saints day.

Believe it or not… October 31st is actually the Commemoration of St. Mary and the feast of Anba Roewis How can we forget St. Mary and Anba Roewis, and participate in halloween (the celebration of death, and darkness)? The next day is the feast day of the Great Evangelist St Luke.

Halloween can be a great opportunity for you. No… Not to get lots of candy. It can be the one day in the year that you can show to yourself that you can resist the devil.

Peter asked last week about the Ouija board (Weejee) What is it? In US culture these boards are a spiritual gateway used to contact the dead A person who uses these boards is considered using witchcraft, which is against the teachings of the Bible.

But its “harmless” isn’t it? That is wrong. According to research, “There are relatively few accounts of positive, uplifting experiences with the Ouija, and many negative ones”

I don’t want to scare you, but many people believe that the spirits that communicate using the board are ghosts of people who died. The spirits are very confused. Would you want to “play” with something like that? Same thing applies to halloween… halloween looks harmless, and its “fun”, but how can you be a part of such a dark practice? A practice that does not glorify God.

The Bible specifically targets things such as the Ouija Board, and witchcraft in (Deut. 18:10-14) TV channels such as MTV have promoted the use of these boards during halloween. So don’t be fooled. This is actually a device used to open the doors of your life to the devil.

When in doubt about a certain practice or something that might be related to witchcraft… ASK. Don’t be embarrassed!! You can ask: Your parents Abouna Your Sunday school servants