Whether you are here in person or engaging from home, we are thankful you have chosen to worship with us today. If it is your first time, welcome! we would love to get to know you better. Would you consider filling out our Next Steps card and let us know you stopped by?

At Grace Family we focus our worship on Sunday to impact our lives every other day of the week as well. We also believe no one is perfect but everyone is welcome to worship God with us. So, no matter where you're from, what you've done, or what your week has been like, let's worship God and learn from His word together today.

Am I allowed to...?

Can I celebrate...?

Halloween Progression:

Samhain (sow-in): over 2,000 years ago

All-Saint's Day: 7th-9th century

Halloween: 19th century

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

"Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. 2 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. 3 But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.[a]

4 So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. 5 There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. 6 But for us,

There is one God, the Father,

    by whom all things were created,

    and for whom we live.

And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ,

    through whom all things were created,

    and through whom we live.

7 However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. 8 It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.

9 But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. 10 For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? 11 So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer[b] for whom Christ died will be destroyed. 12 And when you sin against other believers[c] by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. 13 So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble."

It's ok for Christians to have different convictions on different topics.

Psalm 24:1

"The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

    The world and all its people belong to him."

Psalm 118:24

"This is the day the Lord has made.

    We will rejoice and be glad in it."

Evil can only corrupt what was made good by God.

What God calls sin, we clearly call sin.

What evil tries to corrupt, we prayerfully consider and work to redeem.

Be careful about projecting your convictions onto other people.

What do I receive? 

What do I reject?

What do I redeem?

Do:

- Take a unique opportunity to connect with people.

- Celebrate the day God has made and find ways to point yourself and others to him.

Don't:

- Celebrate evil, demons, satan, or sin.

- Consider what God made good to be irredeemable.

- Project your convictions onto others.

Are the ways we celebrate Christmas pagan?

Christmas Date

- Based on Passover death date.

- Other pagan celebrations exist around the same time of year (Saturnalia, Sol Invictus) but were not established or directly connected to Dec. 25th.

Christmas Tree

- Paradise tree: (1500's) Trees were set up and decorated to remind us of the Garden/Crucifixion/New Heaven and Earth.

- Martin Luther: (1500ish) Possibly cut down a tree and decorated it with candles.

Jeremiah 10:1-5

"Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! 2 This is what the Lord says:

“Do not act like the other nations,

    who try to read their future in the stars.

Do not be afraid of their predictions,

    even though other nations are terrified by them.

3 Their ways are futile and foolish.

    They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.

4 They decorate it with gold and silver

    and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails

    so it won’t fall over.

5 Their gods are like

    helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!

They cannot speak,

    and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of such gods,

    for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”

Santa Claus

- St. Nicholas (3rd-4th century)

- Quietly generous.

- Became a legend after the reformation. His celebration shifted from Dec. 6th to Dec. 25th

What do I receive?

What do I reject?

What do I redeem?

Do:

- Place Jesus at the center of your Christmas celebrations.

- Be generous to others because of how generous God has been to us.

Don't:

- Worship your Christmas tree.

- Give in to greed.

- Project your convictions onto others

1 Peter 1:18-19

"18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God."

Am I intentional about living out my redemption, or am I just going along with the crowd?

Is there anything in my life that can be given a redemptive purpose?

Is my biblical literacy where it needs to be?

Use the space below to ask a question and one of our pastors will get back to you!

Every week we spend time praying for your requests at our staff meeting. Submit your request below and we will be sure to pray for you this week!