Explore every episode of the podcast Drivetime Doxology

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!

The Bible begins in Genesis Chapter 1, Verse 1 with four simple words:
“In the beginning God…”

The Bible begins with God because the Bible is all about God!

Your story begins and starts with God, too. Whether you are 4, 7, 11, 17, 37 or 77…

God made you.

God loves you.

And in your life story, God invites you to know and follow Him.

Do you know the names of your Grandparents? You might just call them “Grandpa and Grandma,” but do you know their first names? 

What about your “great-grandparents?"
These would be your parents, grandparents! 
Do you know their names? 

Today, we are going to talk about a guy named Enoch…
You can find Enoch’s story in Genesis, Chapter 5…
“Enoch was Adam and Eve’s great-great-great-great-grandson—seven generations into the human story!

Genesis 5 tells us he lived 365 years and that he "walked with God." Tune in to today's episode to hear about something really unusual and special that happened to Enoch!

Have you ever gotten so angry that you said something mean?

Have you ever been jealous because someone else got something you wanted? Have you ever wanted to get even with someone because they hurt your feelings?

I know I have.

But here is the good news...

When anger starts growing inside of us, we don’t have to let anger control us. When jealousy shows up, jealousy doesn’t have to control us.

When we want to get even with someone, revenge doesn’t have to control us.
Why?

Because of Jesus!
Our faith and trust in Him gives us a new heart and a new spirit.
Through His Spirit, He can help us forgive, love, and make a different choice.

Cain’s story shows us just how much sin can mess things up.

But Jesus’ story shows us just how far God was willing to go to rescue us from sin and give us a new life!

In the first book of the Bible, in Genesis, chapter 3, verse 1…we read about a snake, often called “a serpent” in most of our Bible translations…
Genesis 3, verse 1, tells us this, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Genesis 3:1 tells us the “serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals”…The word “crafty”  doesn’t mean he was really good at making crafts! Crafty means sneaky, tricky, and clever in a dishonest way. T
The snake wanted Adam and Eve to believe something that wasn’t true.

And in this moment, the very first man and woman in the very first marriage…chose to disobey God and instead listen to the snake…
It is one of the saddest moments in the entire Bible and one of the saddest moments in human history…

From this moment in Genesis 3 until now, sin has been part of our world because of the first humans choice to disobey God…

There is good news however! God sent us a rescuer from sin and his name is Jesus! Today's episode points us towards the forgiveness from sin we can find in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 2 tells us about the first people (Adam and Eve) and the first marriage.

The Bible tells us that marriage is meant to reflect Jesus’ love for His people, who love His people with an even greater, perfect, never-giving-up kind of love.

When you see a husband and wife loving each other, forgiving each other, serving each other, and keeping their promises to each other, you’re seeing a little picture of a much bigger story—the gospel.

Marriage isn’t just about a man and woman loving each other. God designed marriage to point us toward the amazing love Jesus has for His people. And whether you get married or not, that love of Jesus is available for you right now!

On today's episode, we will explore the idea of being image bearers of God, "Imago Dei." Every single person is made in God’s image. That means every person has incredible value, not because of what they can do, what they look like, how smart they are, or how popular they are, but because God made them.