Save The Pumpkins – a wee tract

So this is the text of a tract I wrote for my younger London youth group (age 11-14) about 6 years ago. It’s not the best, it’s not incredibly well written, but it’s something. Feel free to use, change, adapt, laugh at… whatever!

Tim

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Do you like pumpkins? Have you ever tried Pumpkin pie? Yum! I sometimes think it’s a shame to see what Halloween does to those poor pumpkins. Really, think about it!

We start with a lovely big fruit, full of life, yumminess, and seeds which could grow into more pumpkins. We then cut its top off, spoon out all of its tasty life-full goodness and seeds, cut a miserable looking face into it and hide a candle inside it.

It all looks a little bit dark and gloomy to me. But I guess that’s the point of Halloween isn’t it?  Halloween is all about being dark, and scared, and gloomy. You don’t think so? Then why do we dress up as ghouls and ghosts and all things evil and scary?

The ancient Celts believed that at the end of summer evil spirits could pass through into our world and we needed to dress up like them to ward them off, which is kinda why we do it today.

You may think I’m trying to be a killjoy by putting Halloween down – but I’m not at all, I promise! Evil, scary, nasty things (like the things Halloween likes) tend to kill our joy. I want to tell you about something else that could bring you real joy!

You see, I believe that God created the world. I even believe He created those delicious pumpkins! But Halloween (which prefers dead and dark things) takes God’s good creation and spoons all the good out of it – just like we do to a pumpkin!

I also believe God send His own son Jesus Christ to show us where real, deep, and lasting joy can be found.

Jesus calls himself ‘The Light of the World,’ which is a little bit like the candle you put into your pumpkin. Now I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a candle in a really dark room? All the darkness leaves the candle – it runs away! You see, you can’t have dark and light together, light always wins!

I believe that Jesus is the good news, the best news – Because he chases away darkness, just like a candle in that dark room does.

I believe that Jesus saw a dark, scary world destroying itself, he also saw all the darkness in our own lives that comes out in all the bad things we say, and think, and do – and He came to die, so that darkness wouldn’t win, but light would.

Jesus loved us so much and wanted you and me to be so full of life and free of darkness that He died for us on a cross. When Jesus died, He paid the price for all that darkness; He chased it away!

But Jesus didn’t stay dead; He rose from the dead showing that He’s bigger than death itself! He’s the light that chases away all darkness!

What an AMAZING free gift! Jesus wants to chase away your darkness, even death itself! And He wants to give you life and light itself, even eternal life after you die here! How incredible is that?!?

But to accept this we need to ask Jesus for it. We need to tell him that we believe in Him, and that we want him to forgive all the darkness inside us, and come to be our best friend, and give us light and life!

Now this isn’t something I’d expect anyone, young or old, to do without thinking a lot about it and asking lots and lots of questions about it too! Christianity isn’t a cult, its about people really searching and finding Jesus to be true.

Save The Pumpkins!