Christian parents have a daunting task: helping their kids to love and follow Jesus in a world that doesn’t. But with the right tools, perspectives, and practices, discipling the next generation can be a creative, joyful, and faith-building adventure. Join Sarah Cowan Johnson, award-winning author of Teach Your Children Well, as she and her guests examine how the biblical story offers wisdom and good news for the twenty-first century parent.
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Forming Faithful Kids in a Screen-Filled World with Jamie Gordon
Season 1 · Episode 4
Monday, July 14, 2025 • Duration 53:12
Phones at the dinner table. DMs at midnight. Screens that seem impossible to put down.
Digital life is part of everyday life. But how do we raise wise, healthy, spiritually grounded kids in the midst of it?
In this episode of TheTeach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson talks with Jamie Gordon, a licensed social worker, mom of three, and director of the social work program at Screen Sanity, an international nonprofit equipping parents to navigate tech and screen use with clarity and purpose. Jamie also serves as the intake coordinator at legal firm Husch Blackwell’s human trafficking clinic, where she supports survivors with care and expertise.
Sarah and Jamie unpack the real-life effects of screen time, from emotional dysregulation and loneliness to redefined friendships and dopamine-driven addiction cycles. But they don’t stop at the problem. With warmth, insight, and numerous practical tips, they offer tools to guide families toward digital health, deeper connection, and Christ-centered purpose amid our tech-saturated world.
Tune in to a conversation that will leave you encouraged and equipped to parent intentionally and faithfully in the digital age.
This episode highlights the following themes:
The science behind dopamine, addiction, and screens
A faith-based lens for forming your family’s tech boundaries
How to talk with your kids, not just at them, to understand the “whys” behind their technology choices
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.
Forming Non-Anxious Children with Dr. Kevin Chapman
Season 1 · Episode 3
Monday, July 7, 2025 • Duration 42:01
From playgrounds to high school hallways to your kitchen table, more families than ever are feeling the weight of fear, stress, and emotional overwhelm. As parents, it’s hard enough to manage our own emotions, let alone help our kids process theirs.
So, how can we help our children walk through anxiety with hope, wisdom, and a grounded sense of peace?
In this episode of TheTeach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson welcomes Dr. Kevin Chapman, a licensed clinical psychologist and a leading expert in anxiety and emotional health. He’s the founder and director of the Kentucky Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and the author of Mastering Our Emotions: Biblical Principles for Emotional Health. In addition to clinical expertise, Dr. Chapman brings a deep understanding on how Scripture speaks into our emotional lives, drawing connections between cognitive behavioral therapy and the renewing of the mind described in Romans 12.
Together, Sarah and Dr. Chapman explore how anxiety shows up in families, why labels can hurt more than they can help, and what it means to parent with emotional awareness and spiritual authority. Whether you're navigating your child’s anxiety, your own, or both, this episode offers clarity, encouragement, and practical tools rooted in both science and Scripture.
Tune in now to discover how God’s word and proven strategies can transform the way you understand and handle anxiety in your home.
This episode highlights the following themes:
Why anxiety is rising in kids—and how to respond with wisdom
How to reframe negative thoughts using the skill of “being renewed”
Practical ways to help kids interrupt anxious spirals
“Steal This Idea” breath prayers:
Inhale: The Lord is my shepherd
Exhale:
Forming a Biblical Vision of the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker
Season 1 · Episode 2
Monday, June 30, 2025 • Duration 45:23
What if your child doesn’t “fit the mold” of what is considered successful and flourishing?
Christian parents in today’s culture can get swept up in the pursuit of achievement, perfection, and performance. They often feel pressure to measure their children’s success by grades, behavior, or milestones. But what happens when your child doesn’t hit those marks—or when you begin to question whether those marks matter in the first place?
In this powerful episode of TheTeach Your Children WellPodcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson welcomes Amy Julia Becker—author, speaker, and mother of three—for a profound conversation on parenting, disability, and what it really means to live the good life. Amy Julia is the author of To Be Made Well, White Picket Fences, Small Talk, and A Good and Perfect Gift, and the creator of the Reimagining Family Life with Disability workshop. Through her writing and podcasting, she helps others explore how disability, faith, and culture shape our vision of wholeness.
Amy Julia opens up about how her vision of the good life, once shaped by merit, achievement, and perfection, was undone and lovingly rebuilt. Through formative moments such as her own health crisis, the loss of a loved one, and the birth of her daughter Penny, she began to see that limitation is not a flaw to be overcome but a deeply human experience that can draw us closer to God. Sarah and Amy Julia reflect on how parenting through the lens of disability reveals the hidden values we carry, and how belovedness—not performance—is the foundation for true identity and growth.
Whether or not disability touches your family directly, this conversation offers a deeply human invitation to embrace limitations, see God’s image in every child, and parent with grace rather than pressure.
Tune in now to reimagine family life through a lens of grace, humanity, and spiritual formation—one that embraces both gifts and challenges, and makes room for every child to flourish.
Forming Healthy Family Habits and Rhythms with Justin Whitmel Earley
Season 1 · Episode 1
Monday, June 23, 2025 • Duration 46:56
Your children are already being discipled. The question is: by whom?
In today’s fast-paced, screen-saturated culture, spiritual formation is happening all the time—often invisibly. Our habits shape what we love, and what we love forms who we become. For Christian parents, that makes the ordinary rhythms of the home deeply sacred ground.
Justin shares how simple but intentional rhythms—such as morning prayers at the front door, phone-free dinners, and Sabbath rest—aren’t just good parenting practices. They’re spiritual formation in real time. In this conversation, Justin offers a rich blend of theological insight and down-to-earth practices that equip parents to resist the pull of a culture driven by speed, screens, and self.
Together, Sarah and Justin explore why discipleship must move beyond information. It must be practiced, embodied, and lived, because it’s not just what our kids hear from parents that shapes their faith—it’s what they see, feel, and do alongside us.
Formation is always happening. Make the intentional choice as a parent or caregiver to guide that formation instead of leaving it to the culture or other influences in your children’s lives.
Trailer: Parenting in the Way of Jesus
Season 1
Monday, June 16, 2025 • Duration 02:55
Parenting in today’s world can be a daunting task. Our kids are surrounded by increasing cultural pressure, whether it’s around technology, academic achievement, or finding their identity. And many Christian parents feel ill-equipped to guide their children through it all.
But, in the face of today’s cultural narratives, how might the biblical narrative provide a clearer path forward?
In The Teach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson—ministry trainer, consultant, and author of Teach Your Children Well: A Step-by-Step Guide for Family Discipleship—seeks to answer this question. A parent herself, Cowan Johnson knows firsthand the challenges of navigating societal pressures and the hope and possibilities when we turn toward the way of Jesus.
In this brand-new podcast, Cowan Johnson sits down with nine expert guests—including Jon Tyson, Justin Whitmel Earley, Natasha Smith, and Amy Julia Becker—to explore critical parenting topics such as mental health, gender, grief, and so much more. Each episode explores what the world says about these topics, and then how the biblical story responds, ultimately offering wisdom and good news for the twenty-first-century parent.
Cowan Johnson will also give listeners practical, gospel-shaped ideas they can use in their own homes.
Forming Lifelong Followers of Jesus with Sarah Cowan Johnson and special host Andrew Mook
Season 1 · Episode 10
Monday, August 25, 2025 • Duration 01:22:05
What does it take to raise resilient, Jesus-following kids when it feels like you’re swimming upstream against culture, norms, and sometimes even your own doubts?
In this final extended episode of the season, Sarah Cowan Johnson hands over the mic to Andrew Mook, founding pastor of Sanctuary Church in Providence, Rhode Island, to turn the tables and interview her. Together, Sarah and Andrew dig deep into the major themes, surprises, and the most memorable moments from this season of The Teach Your Children Well Podcast.
Reflecting on their shared passion for family discipleship, Sarah and Andrew examine why discipleship is at the heart of all parenting, how the Western church’s default approaches are often falling short, and what it looks like to help kids and ourselves embrace a faith that lasts. They candidly tackle the dizzying array of cultural narratives bombarding parents, how to “decode” the world for your kids, and ways to build rhythms of faith into busy family life, even when you feel spiritually dry or out of your depth.
They talk about various topics from swimming upstream in areas of sexuality, technology, and hurried family schedules, to building weird but wonderful faith communities, to why boundaries, not legalism, are essential to spiritual formation at home. You'll also hear directly from Sarah’s son Silas, whose honest reflections add both humor and practical wisdom for parents eager to see faith flourish in the next generation.
This episode is candid, encouraging, and deeply practical, reminding every parent that though the way of Jesus can seem lonely or hard, you’re not alone. Together, small habits and honest conversations can shape a faith that lasts through every stage of life.
Listen to the full conversation now.
This episode highlights the following themes:
Why discipleship is the key to faith that lasts
Ways for spiritually dry parents to lead with authenticity, not perfection
The crucial but overlooked role of faith communities in raising resilient kids
Forming Healthy Boundaries to Manage Family Stress with Tracie Braylock
Season 1 · Episode 9
Monday, August 18, 2025 • Duration 44:13
Parenting under constant stress and busyness takes a real toll, not just on our health, relationships, and spiritual well-being, but also on our children.
In this episode of TheTeach Your Children Well Podcast, Tracie Braylock, holistic nurse educator, wellness consultant, and author of Radical Relaxation: Releasing the Stress You Were Never Meant to Carry, joins host Sarah Cowan Johnson to talk about the real and lasting impact of stress on parents and children. Drawing on her expertise in mind-body-spirit wellness, Tracie explains how stress shows up in families physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and why the Surgeon General’s recent advisory is a wake-up call for us all.
Tracie and Sarah discuss the societal and cultural pressures that keep families trapped in cycles of busyness, the myths that convince us we have to “do it all,” and the quiet damage that pace inflicts on our bodies, families, and homes. This is a must-listen as they share practical ideas for breaking free from cultural norms that increase stress in families and instead creating rhythms of rest and sabbath in family life.
This episode is both grounding and hopeful, reminding parents that small, intentional changes can bring more peace, connection, and health into their homes.
Listen to the full conversation now.
This episode highlights the following themes:
The physical, emotional, and spiritual impact of parental stress on families
Practical ways to recognize, manage, and reduce stress at home
The biblical wisdom of sabbath rest and boundaries
Forming a Healthy View of Christian Sexuality in Our Kids with Rachel Joy Welcher
Season 1 · Episode 8
Monday, August 11, 2025 • Duration 51:37
Feeling unsure about how to talk to your kids about sex?
Many Christian parents want to raise their kids with a healthy understanding of sex, sexuality, and identity. But most don’t know where to start. Some are still working through their own experiences with shame or silence. Others are afraid of saying the wrong thing.
In this episode of TheTeach Your Children Well Podcast, author, editor, and poet Rachel Joy Welcher joins Sarah Cowan Johnson to help parents move from a fear-based narrative about sex to a redemptive, biblical vision of sexuality. Drawing from her book Talking Back to Purity Culture, Rachel unpacks what the church got wrong about sex, how those messages impacted a generation of Christians, and how parents can do things differently with their own children.
Sarah and Rachel explore how to teach kids that sex is not merely about setting boundaries but about love of God and love of neighbor. They talk about giving our kids a theology of desire, the importance of honesty and nuance, and how to walk with children through big questions with compassion and hope.
Don’t let fear or shame lead the conversation. This episode will help you start honest, gospel-centered talks about sex, identity, and God’s good design with confidence and compassion.
Tune in now.
This episode highlights the following themes:
How purity culture shaped Christian views of sex and bodies
Practical ways to talk about sex without shame or fear
How to affirm your child’s dignity while teaching self-control, consent, and character
What are the messages that boys are receiving about manhood from the culture around them?
In this episode of TheTeach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson sits down with pastor and author Jon Tyson for a conversation about raising boys in a culture that often champions toxic or unhealthy versions of masculinity. As the author of Primal Path, a discipleship curriculum for fathers and sons, Tyson has helped tens of thousands of families to walk the road from Christ-centered childhood to Christ-centered manhood.
Together, Sarah and Jon talk about the differences between passive parenting and intentional parenting, how cultural messages often prevent boys from developing a healthy sense of self, and why the goal isn’t to shield them from the world but to prepare them to follow Jesus within it.
Jon offers wisdom from his books The Intentional Fatherand Fighting Shadows, naming the lies boys and men believe and how families can resist shame and spiritual apathy by leaning into identity and purpose.
From dating and friendships to rites of passage and building courage in children, this conversation invites parents to form their children with love, clarity, and purpose so they’re ready to live as faithful disciples in a culture that constantly pulls them away from Jesus.
This episode highlights the following themes:
Unhealthy messages about masculinity in the culture and in the church
Forming healthy attachments with both boys and girls in the family
The importance of prayer as kids grow up from childhood into adolescence
Forming Healthy Responses to Grief with Natasha Smith
Season 1 · Episode 6
Monday, July 28, 2025 • Duration 45:27
Grief is not a detour from discipleship—it’s part of it.
When families walk through loss, parents often don’t know how to support their kids and process their own pain at the same time. What do we say? What do we do? And how do we help our children name their emotions and meet God in the middle of them?
In this episode of The Teach Your Children Well Podcast, host Sarah Cowan Johnson talks with Natasha Smith, grief advocate, speaker, and author of Can You Just Sit With Me? and Black Woman Grief, about navigating grief as a family. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, the end of a season, or something else entirely, Natasha reminds us that grief is part of being human, and God meets us in it.
Sarah and Natasha talk about the difference between lament and despair, the power of naming emotions, and how grief can become a space of spiritual growth for both parents and kids. They explore why sitting with pain is so difficult, especially for adults who feel pressure to "hold it all together" for their children. Natasha shares how parents can model emotional honesty without overwhelming their kids, and why creating room for questions, sadness, and even silence can be a powerful part of discipleship.
If you're navigating your own grief, helping a child process theirs, or wondering how to talk about loss with your family, this conversation offers practical wisdom and gentle encouragement to meet grief with grace.
This episode highlights the following themes:
What healthy grief looks like, and how it can form us
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
This episode highlights the following themes:
How cultural narratives about success distort our vision of the good life
Why every child—regardless of ability—bears the image of God
How to shift from performance to belovedness in our parenting
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.
This episode highlights the following themes:
How spiritual formation begins with ordinary habits
Why parents are the most influential disciplers in their kids’ lives
Practical rhythms that reshape home life toward Christ
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.
For more on complementarity without hierarchy, see Discovering Biblical Equality edited by Ronald W. Pierce, Cynthia Long Westfall, and Christa L. McKirkland
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.
Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
God of love,
As a sign of sorrow,
As a protest against death, injustice, and loss,
As an act of holy defiance against what should not be,
We tear this cloth,
Not to sever hope,
But to open our hearts in grief before you.
Hold us in our sorrow,
Meet us in the tearing,
And do not let this grief be wasted.
Amen.
Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
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