In Genesis 18:13 we read,

"Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?...”

This is an incredible scene!
3 mysterious visitors visit Abraham and Sarah…

And they remind Abraham and Sarah that God has promised them children.

Sarah laughs! Not because the visitors tell a joke…

No she laughs because what they tell her and Abraham seems so unbelievable!

Have you ever heard something so unbelievable that it made you laugh about it?

“Imagine your teacher walked into class tomorrow and said, ‘Okay everyone, I have a big announcement. School is canceled for the rest of the year…AND everyone gets straight A’s!’

Or

“What if your parents came into your room one night and announced to you, ‘We’ve decided you never have to clean your room again!’”

“I bet you’d laugh because there’s no way you’d believe it!”

That is why Sarah laughed…She thought to herself, I know God promised us a child, but I am way too old, I just can’t bel
God tells Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18:14…

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

“Think about some of the hardest things you could imagine making.

Could you make a mountain? How about an ocean? Could you make the sun? Or a Elephant? Could you make a human brain? Could you make a tiny baby grow inside its mom?

Of course not!

Those things would be impossible for us.

But they aren't too hard for God.
The Birth of Isaac in Genesis 21 reminds us of this.

In Genesis 17, God restores Abram and Sara with an “I” despite their sin
and gives them new names…To Abram, he becomes Abraham.
To Sarai, she becomes Sarah with an “H” at the end of her name rather than an “I”…

The names are so similar to their old names, SO what is the big deal?

Well, to both Abram and Sarai’s names, God added the Hebrew letter heh (H) to their names, which comes from the sacred name of God (YHWH), signifying that God's presence and power were stamped upon their lives…Their old lives were now gone, God gave them new lives and new identity and re-affirmed his promise to give them children!

You see in Hebrew  Abraham means “Father of Multitude” and Sarah with an “H” means “mother of nations.”  God gave them new names to match his promise to them!  Wow, this is so cool!

When you and I become Christians, followers of Jesus today, we are also made new!
2nd Corinthians 5:17, tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Abraham and Sara with an H got new names to remind them that God was with them…
You and I receive new hearts through faith in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit dwells in our lives, reminding us that God is with us!

Today, we learn about Abram's nephew, Lot and his choice to move next to a wicked city (Sodom) and how that choice impacted his life.

Those we live near, next and with influence our lives more than we realize, so be careful who influences you, but also never be afraid to love people who need Jesus.

Choose friends who help you follow Jesus.

And then, together, move toward people who need to know how much Jesus loves them.

God didn’t bless Abram just so Abram could have a comfortable life and write hashtag blessed on his Instagram posts!
“I will bless you... and you will be a blessing.” — Genesis 12:2

God blessed Abram so that Abram’s life could ultimately be a blessing to others. Think about the difference between a swimming pool and a river.

A swimming pool stores water and holds onto it and the water doesn’t leave the pool!. (Unless you do one of those big cannonball dives!)

But a river receives water and then keeps it moving to other places.

God wanted Abram to be like a river. God’s blessings would come to Abram and then flow through Abram to others. Blessed to be a blessing…

Genesis 12:1 says,

“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.’”

Did you catch what God told Abram to do?

GO.

Leave your country.

Leave your cousins, your siblings, even your parents…

Leave your home.

Leave everything that feels familiar and comfortable…

…and go to a land that I will show you.

But there was one pretty important detail missing.

God didn’t tell Abram exactly where he was going!

Can you imagine that conversation?

“Okay God, I’ll go! Just give me the address and I’ll type it into Google Maps.”

Nope!

There was no Google Maps.

There wasn’t even an address!

God simply told Abram to go and trust Him to lead the way.

And look what Abram did.

Genesis 12:4 says:

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.”

I love that!

God said, “Go.”

And Abram went.

Abram didn’t know everything that was going to happen.

But Abram knew that it was God who was leading him.

And Abram trusted God enough to obey Him.

That’s called faith.

After the flood waters went down and, Noah’s family and the animals got off the boat, Noah’s family grew and grew.

Before long, there were many people living on Earth again.

At that time, everyone spoke the same language, so everyone could understand each other.

One day, a group of people had a really bad idea:

“Let’s build a huge tower that reaches toward the sky!”

Now Building a tall tower wasn’t the problem. The problem was why they wanted to build it.

They said, “Let us make a name for ourselves.”

They wanted everyone to see how great and important they were.

Instead of saying, “Look how great God is!” they were saying, “Look how great WE are!”

And there was another problem. God had told Noah to spread out and fill the earth, but these people disobeyed God and wanted to in one place.

So God decided to stop their plan in a surprising way. He confused their language.

But ultimately, God would use all of these languages to point the world toward the good news of Jesus! Jesus came in humility to deal with the consequences of our pride and give us a new life in Him! This is great news!

After the Ark, and the animals and the flood and the dove with a olive leaf in its beak, God made a covenant with Noah.
(A covenant is a special promise—a promise that God will keep.)

After the flood, God promised Noah that He would never again destroy the whole earth with a flood.

And guess what?

God is still keeping that promise today!

But God also gave Noah something he could see to remind him of that promise.

Do you know what it was?

A rainbow!

Whenever Noah saw a rainbow appear in the sky after the rain,
he could remember:

God keeps His promises.

And that wasn't just for Noah.

Every generation after Noah, including you and me, can look up at a rainbow and remember God's promise too.

So the next time you see a rainbow stretching across the sky, remember:

Our God is a promise-keeping God!

The Dove grabbed one small olive leaf in its beak.

But that one small leaf was significant.

Because that little leaf meant:

"There are trees out there."

And if there are trees growing...

the water is going down.

And if the water is going down...

the earth is becoming livable again.

And if the earth is becoming livable again...

God is keeping his promise and giving them a new beginning.

Sometimes a small sign can remind us that God is doing something much bigger.

So when we picture that dove flying back with a fresh green leaf, we can remember: God wasn’t finished when the flood destroyed the earth. In his grace and compassion, A new beginning was coming.

And through Jesus, God offers us an even greater new beginning.”

Noah obeyed God even before he saw the rain.
But when it started raining, oh wow, did it ever rain.
it didn’t stop raining for 40 days and 40 nights, and the ENTIRE earth was covered in Water. Only Noah and his family were saved.

However, the story of Noah isn’t just about a really big boat and a bunch of animals. It’s also a rescue story. Just like Noah needed to be rescued, we need to be rescued from our sin too. God didn’t send us a wooden ark, He sent us one who would die on a wooden cross.

Jesus took the punishment for our sin when He died on the cross, and then He rose from the dead. When we put our trust in Jesus, He saves us.

So Noah didn’t save himself from the flood.

He simply rested in God’s protection as provided for by the Ark.

In fact, Noah’s name in Ancient Hebrew means “rest.”

God provided the rest and the rescue for Noah.

We don’t save ourselves from sin.

God provided Jesus to rescue us and for us to rest in!

Here is a brief explanation of the "why" behind doing this podcast and the way we hope it encourages you to intentionally disciple and spiritually encourage your kids as you spend (a lot of!) time in the car!