Horoscopes
Spike convinces Liz and Scooter to follow horoscopes, so what's Scooter doing on top of a water tower?
Before You ListenLet's Get Started
Theme: The folly of following horoscopes
1. 1 John 4:1 challenges you to “test the spirits.” How do you recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood?
2. In 1 Kings 18:16-39, God’s prophet Elijah challenged 450 prophets of the false god Baal, and the people of Israel gathered to watch. Elijah turned to them and said, “How long will it take you to make up your minds? If the Lord is the one and only God, follow him. But if Baal is the one and only God, follow him.” He asked the people to make a choice between what was true and what was false. Elijah gave the order for sacrifices to be prepared on two altars, one for God and one for Baal, then the people waited to see if God or Baal would send down fire from heaven. Since God is true and Baal is false, you can guess how the story ends! The people proclaimed “The Lord, he is God!” As you listen to this episode, think about ways that you can test whether or not something is from God.
After you listen
Memory Verse
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”
Quiz
Reflect
In this episode, Liz, Spike, Granny, and Scooter make decisions based on how they read a horoscope. Instead of following the Bible, which is the true word of God, they read the newspaper to see what astrologers had predicted for the day. They got into trouble when they decided to go their own way instead of God’s way, and ended up following a spirit of falsehood.
Remember that if you don’t follow God, then you’ll follow something else. Romans 1:25 tells us that all humankind “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator.” But then in Romans 5:1 we get good news: when we follow Jesus, we “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” and God will give us the wisdom needed to recognize the Spirit of truth and of falsehood.
Want to dig deeper about how to recognize the Spirit of truth? Check out 1 John 4:1-6, Romans 12:2, and Deuteronomy 11:16.
Challenge
Look for someone in your community (or your church, school, or neighborhood) who is serving God in a positive way. Maybe you can see that they’re seeking justice for people who need help, or working to clean up God’s creation. Perhaps you can simply recognize the Spirit of truth in them! Send him or her a short note of encouragement. Find a way to bless their work.
