Ezekiel 37 tells us the cool story of the vision that Ezekiel saw where a bunch of dead bones came together piece by piece and came to life. This story was used to prophesy to Israel but is also useful for us today to remind us that when we are without Christ, we are just like those dead dry bones. But when we believe in Jesus and ask Him to be in charge of our life, we receive His Holy Spirit which gives us life! It's like we are those dry bones coming to life when Jesus fills us up!

Romans 6:11 says "Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive in Christ.” Let's talk about this cool story and the visual that it gives us to what the Lord does within our hearts when He gives us spiritual life!

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Do you know what freedom is? Well, in case you don’t, I looked it up for us. According to Google, if you have freedom then it means you are allowed to act the way you want to, say the things you want to and think however you’d like to without anything holding you back.

It also means you’re not trapped. Like the lizards my kids keep catching and putting in our bug catcher. Those lizards are NOT free. They are trapped until we decide it’s time to play something else and let them go.

Anyway, freedom is a big deal! Lots of countries have worked and fought very hard for the freedom they have in their country. I live in America and freedom is a celebrated thing. The fact that we are free to go where we want to, say the things we want to talk about, and think however you’d like about different things. It’s a big deal!

There’s all different types of freedom. Maybe it’s summer now and you have freedom from school! Or if you were ever quarantined for COVID and felt the freedom after you got out of quarantine. Maybe freedom is as simple as being free to play the games you want to play every day. Or being free to sing a song when it’s in your head.

There’s all different types of freedom.

But, the most important freedom we can have is the freedom that Jesus gives us. The freedom from the consequences of our sin.

2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

When we are a follower of Jesus then we have the Holy Spirit and that means that we have the best kind of freedom. We will be free FOREVER and won’t ever be trapped by our sin. We will be free FOREVER with a freedom that is bigger than a freedom that we will find in any country in this world. The freedom found in Jesus is the best freedom!

 

Here are some questions to talk about. You can pause after each question and discuss. Oh, and there’s no wrong answer to these. So don’t overthink it!

1. In what ways do you have freedom in your own life? Like what are you free to do?
2. Let’s fill in the blank….The Bible verse, 2 Corinthians 3:17 said that “where the ________ is, there is freedom.” Can you fill in the blank?
3. Let’s talk about why we are so thankful for freedom both in this world but also forever. Why are you thankful for freedom?

 

One last time before we sign off, let’s practice our verse together. You can repeat after me. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

*Music: "Forest" by Vlad Gulschenko

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How much fun would your kid have making their own Backseat Bible Nuggets episode? You can help them follow these steps:

1. Choose your favorite Bible story or verse and read it!

2. Find out what the story/ verse teaches you about God.

3. Apply it! How does the story/ verse change your life?

4. Ask questions about the story or verse that will get people talking!

And remember to have fun while you do this and as always...don't overthink it!

You can let me know how your episode turns out @backseatbiblenuggets on Instagram or Facebook!

 

*Music: "Forest" by Vlad Gulschenko

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/backseat-bible-nuggets/donations

Peter, who was one of Jesus’ closest friends, got very scared in this story. Being scared and fearful is something we’ve all felt before. But guess what? When Peter called out to Jesus to save him, then Jesus was right there ready to reach out and save Peter.

We can learn from this story that Jesus is always with us. Especially when we are afraid. No matter what we are scared of, He is there! And we can ask Him to help us!

Here are some questions to talk about. You can pause after each question and discuss. Oh, and there’s no wrong answer to these. So don’t overthink it!

 

1. When was the last time you were scared?
2. What did Peter do when he was scared?
3. What can you do the next time you’re scared and afraid?

 

One last time before we sign off, let’s practice our verse together. You can repeat after me. “Right away Jesus called out to them, “Be brave! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Matthew 14:27

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Figuring out just who God is can often feel like putting a puzzle together. We learn Him piece by piece and overtime we start to make connections as we know Him more. Just as its fun to put a puzzle together, it can be fun to learn all the pieces of the Lord and put those pieces together! But He is so awesome and profound that He is a puzzle that we will never complete as humans. And that's okay! Just as we enjoy the process of working on a puzzle, we should enjoy the process of learning more and more about the Lord.

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Raise your hand if you want to be tall when you grow up? I think every kid I know cares a lot about their height. I know we do at our house! I bet you can tell me who is the tallest in your class or group of friends and I bet you can tell me who is the shortest. And have you noticed how adults so often make comments about how they just can’t believe how much you’ve grown?

 

As a kid it’s important to get the right amount of sleep and eat the right healthy foods in order to grow. Have your parents ever told you that? It’s true!

 

Well, just as you will get bigger and taller as you grow up, you can also GROW as a Christian as you get to know and follow Jesus. There’s a fancy word for this called sanctification. Can you say that? Sanctification. PAUSE. Good!

 

This complicated word just means that as we get to know Jesus better through reading about Him in the Bible or singing songs to Him or talking about Him with other people then we grow to become more and more like Him. Have you ever hung out with someone for a while and then you realize that you start saying some of the same things they say? Or maybe you start acting the way they act?

 

Same things happens when we hang out with the Lord. We start to think the way He thinks and we start to say the things He said. This is sanctification.

 

And it doesn’t happen over night! It takes years and years, just like it takes years for us to grow as a kid. It’s a process. And just as healthy food and good exercise and sleep can help you grow taller, in the same way, lots of time reading the Bible, praying and talking with other people about Jesus helps us become more like Him. It helps sanctify us!

 

So, that’s sanctification. The growing over your lifetime to become more like Jesus. Hard to say word – but pretty basic thing to understand, right?

 

The Bible has a lot to say about sanctification and we see that growing process played out in the lives of all people in the Bible. But, for today, I chose just one verse. 1 Thessalonians 5:23a says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely.”

Here are some questions to talk about. You can pause after each question and discuss. Oh, and there’s no wrong answer to these. So don’t overthink it!

 

1. What was that word that we talked about today that is a fancy word for growing to become more and more like Jesus over time?
2. How do we know if we are growing to be more like Jesus? It’s not someone that we can measure on a growth chart, like our height, so how do we know if we’re growing more like Jesus?
3. What are some things that you can do today to help you grow to be more like Jesus?

 

One last time before we sign off, let’s practice our verse together. You can repeat after me. “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely” 1 Thessalonians 5:23a.

*Music: "Forest" by Vlad Gulschenko

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/backseat-bible-nuggets/donations

It's been a full year of Backseat Bible Nuggets. This episode tells the story of the past year and all the Lord has done!
I want you to know that when you listen to this podcast, you’re listening to the product of small steps of faith and acts of obedience from the most ordinary average mom. I’m still in those same parenting trenches I was in a year ago and we still have lots of hectic days that are full of mom fails. But, I’m thankful that not only do we serve a God who in the trenches with me, but also we serve Him in a day and age where we can get a gospel centered parenting resources with the click of a button. What a time to be alive!

So to my long term listeners, thank you for encouraging me. Thank you for listening. I hope you love the changes you’ll see and hear soon. And to any new listeners, welcome! I’m so glad you found us. I can’t wait to have you along for the ride as we use this podcast to refocus your hectic busy days and orient our conversations around things of the Lord. 

*Music: "Forest" by Vlad Gulschenko

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The story of Noah and the gigantic boat that he built is a story that lots of you have probably heard before. But what does it teach us? What do we learn about the Lord through this story?

Well, we don’t just learn one thing, we can learn lots of things from one story!

We can learn that God is protector. He protected Noah and his family and all the animals from dying in the flood. 

He is provider. He gave Noah the brain and muscles to build a boat like that. God even gave Noah the exact measurements for how big it should be to make sure everything would fit in it.

What else do we learn?

We can learn that God is holy, which means He has absolutely NO sin. And because He is holy, He hates sin. He hates seeing people sin. He’s actually VERY serious about sin. So serious and so holy that God was willing to save just the few people that followed God on earth while wiping everyone else out in the flood. His holiness compared to the sin of the people on earth is what started this whole story of Noah and the ark!

 Now, we talk about sin a lot because it’s a fact of life for us humans. Remember, Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”? But there’s something different for us today when we sin compared to the sinful people who where killed in the flood that God sent. And that difference is Jesus! 

When we sin today, God still hates it. His feelings on sin hasn’t changed. It’s just that NOW we have a way to make our relationship right with the Lord again. When we believe in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross to forgive us from our sins and when He is king of our life, then we are forgiven from our sins. Jesus’ death changed everything. God doesn’t see sin in the world and have to flood the earth again, which by the way, He promised He would never do. And we are reminded of that promise whenever we see a rainbow.

Jesus is the way that we as humans can know and love a God who is holy. And whenever I read the story of Noah’s ark I’m reminded just how serious God is about sin. But also just how awesome He is for creating stories like this that show us His loving protection for those who follow Him.

Genesis 6:9b tells us that, “Noah was a godly man. He was without blame among the people of his time. He walked faithfully with God.”

So, let’s talk about some questions. The point of the questions is to get you talking about the Lord. You can pause after each question to discuss. Oh, and don’t overthink it!

1.     What do you learn about God through the story of Noah’s ark?

2.     What do you learn from Noah in this story? We didn’t have time to go in to this one so really think about how Noah responded, how hard he worked, and even what his friends must’ve thought about what he was doing.

3.     How does the story of Noah’s ark make us thankful for Jesus?

One last time before we sign off, let’s practice our verse together. You can repeat after me. “Noah was a godly man. He was without blame among the people of his time. He walked faithfully with God.” Genesis 6:9b

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In the Bible, the book of Jonah tells us the story of God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh. But Jonah refused and disobeyed what God told Him to do. He got on a boat and traveled in the opposite direction. Remember how we call sin anything opposite from God? Yeah…..Jonah was literally going in the opposite direction from God. Anyway, God’s plans always win so God sent a huge storm to surround the boat Jonah was on. One thing led to another and Jonah ends up in the sea being swallowed in the belly of a big fish.

Jonah chapter 2:1 literally says, “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.” You should go read his prayer from inside the belly of the fish. I mean, what would you pray in a situation like that?

God hears Jonah’s prayer. God makes the fish spit Jonah out on land. God repeats the plan to Jonah about going to Nineveh and this time…..this time Jonah obeys the Lord. He goes to tell the people in Nineveh about God. Jonah 3:3a says, “Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.”

This story teaches us that it’s important to obey the Lord. And the only way that we will get good at obeying the Lord is to know Him by reading the Bible AND to practice obeying people in your life like your parents and teachers. Obey is REALLY hard sometimes, right?! But the story of Jonah reminds us about how serious God is about obedience. And as we say in our house often, “slow obedience is no obedience.”

Jonah eventually obeyed, but he was certainly slow about it.

Now, guess what? There’s actually more to the story of Jonah that lots of people don’t often read. Jonah chapter 4 tells us more about how Jonah felt after he went to Nineveh. There’s also something that happened with a vine and a worm. You should read it. It’s like a hidden treasure that most people don’t remember about Jonah.

Here are some questions to talk about. You can pause after each question to discuss. Oh, and remember, don’t overthink it!

1.     Why did Jonah disobey?

2.     Did Jonah get his way in the end?

3.     What is one thing that you can learn from Jonah’s story and remember in your life today? 

One last time before we sign off, let’s practice our verse together. You can repeat after me. “Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.” Jonah 3:3a 

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/backseat-bible-nuggets/donations

There’s something that we’ve talked about in lots of these podcasts that I want to make sure we all understand. It’s so important to knowing God and understanding His plan for us… and even understanding WHY you were created! 

It’s a big deal!

 Okay, so here we go…The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:16 that “God is love.” This means that everything about Him – His personality, His plans, who He is…. is love.

You’ve probably heard someone say, “God loves you!” I mean, I’ve even told you that on this podcast before, right!? And that is the TOTAL ABSOLUTE truth.

And it’s not a truth that we should rush by quickly. No, the fact that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the maker of the heavens and the earth loves me. Little ole me. And He loves you. Little ole you….that’s life changing. Meaning it changes your life when you understand it.

We also know from the Bible that God’s love is unconditional. What does that mean? Unconditional. Well it means that God loves us no matter what. His unconditional love means it has NO conditions. There are NO conditions or things I could do that could make Him love me more OR less. Remember our verse that said, “God is love”? It didn’t say “God WILL love if you ________.” No, the Bible doesn’t say, “God will love you IF you go to church.” Or “God will love you IF you are nice to others.” Or “God will love you IF you pray to Him.”

What did the verse say? It says, “God IS love.” And there’s nothing we can do to change His love for us. In fact, Romans 5:8 tells us that, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 

That means that His unconditional love was given to us even though He knew ALL of our sin. His unconditional love that loves us no matter what was given to us even though we are sinners and will mess up and will fail. That’s what makes it unconditional, remember!?

So, let’s talk about some questions. The point of the questions is to get you talking about the Lord, so don’t overthink it!

1.     Let’s see if you were listening….What does unconditional love mean?

2.     How does God show you His unconditional love?

3.     How does it make you feel to know that God loves YOU with an unconditional love?

 One last time before we sign off, let’s practice our verse together. It’s pretty short so I bet you can memorize this one! You can repeat after me: “God is love.” 1 John 4:16 

*Music: "Forest" by Vlad Gulschenko

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/backseat-bible-nuggets/donations