Context for Kids

This week we will be talking about the mysterious angels in disguise, what Lot did to make his neighbors angry, and what a city gate was. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/05/06/episode-138-mysterious-strangers-in-sodom/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/b2LMiM2ulJg

The truth is that we know more about angels on tv and in Christian art than we do about angels in the Bible, and so before we dive into our first real encounter with angels in Genesis 19 we’re going to see what the Bible does and doesn’t say about Angels. And we’ll talk about the three most famous angels of all! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/04/09/episode-137-talking-about-angels-in-the-bible/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/nGEpf1E44xI

Who is the first intercessor in the Bible? Abraham! He went to bat for the people of Sodom, appealing to and reasoning with God's mercy over His sense of justice. This makes him very different from everyone who went before Him--especially Noah! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/03/27/episode-136-the-one-when-abraham-tries-to-save-sodom/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/3S6g6yZth5M

Last year, we talked about the stories of Esther and Vashti, but this year, we are going to focus on irresponsible King Ahasuerus, Esther’s cousin Mordecai, who didn’t follow his own wise advice, and the wicked Haman. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/03/20/episode-135-esther-and-the-great-big-mess/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fq9diKf9mG8

Do you know what a prophet is? There are many stories going around that make it look like prophets were fortune tellers, but nothing could be further from the truth. God is going to name Abraham a prophet in chapter 21, but in Genesis 18, he is already being treated like one. Understanding prophets and what they are and are not will help you understand much more of the Bible than if you think they are all about predicting the future. And what does all this have to do with Sodom and what God is telling Abraham He expects from his family? Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/03/12/episode-134-abraham-the-first-prophet/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/jIWyR6Vxe0s

Most people look at Sarah’s laughter in Genesis 18 and think nothing of it. We think of what it looks like in the movies or in our picture books but what does the Bible tell us about Sarah laughing when she heard she was going to finally be a mom? Why are we so confused about what the Bible does and doesn’t say and what does it tell us about the story Moses was telling the children of Israel? Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/03/05/episode-133-sarahs-mysterious-laughter/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/XHQmICJa-cA

This week we are beginning Torah portion Vayera, which covers the time from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to the Akeida in chapter 22. Today we start out with a very mysterious appearance of three strangers soon after Abraham circumcised all the men in his household. From the very first line, we know that one of the strangers is God but why is He there and how will Abraham react? Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/02/29/episode-132-abraham-and-the-three-mysterious-visitors/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/57C8PgcxFJo

Well, I was planning on doing a teaching on patience but that isn’t going so well lately so I decided that this was the perfect time to do a lesson on hospitality because that’s mostly what Genesis 18 and 19 are about! Just like Honor and Shame and Covenants, once you understand the rules of ancient hospitality, you will know it when you see it and it makes the Bible a lot more interesting. So, until I get a lot more patient, we’re back to studying Genesis and beginning Torah Portion Vayera—which starts in chapter 18 and goes all the way to the end of chapter 22. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/02/21/episode-131-hospitality-travel-and-family-in-the-bible/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/HUH8ocjk7vM

Kindness is complicated. It’s a lot different than just being nice because Jesus wasn’t always nice but He was always kind. Being nice is just being pleasant to people, but kindness is treating people better than we think they deserve to be treated. And that isn’t easy when we are angry, sad, in pain, or just plain frustrated. Kindness is going to be really important to understand when we get back to Genesis 18 and 19! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/02/14/episode-130-being-like-jesus-kindness/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/--gql90WhDI

Well, whenever someone says goodness is how to be like Jesus, it makes me want to say, “Well, duh…” but what does goodness even mean? It means so many different things in English that it makes your head spin. This week we will talk about what “goodness” means in the Bible and how the Holy Spirit works in us to get us closer and closer to being good. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/02/07/episode-129-being-like-jesus-goodness-and-the-holy-spirit/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/IKKwwvTyMw8

What faithfulness means to us today and what the Greek word pistis meant to Paul are sort of the same but also very different. Fortunately, what Paul meant will teach us how much we can trust Jesus and how we want to become people who can be trusted by Jesus. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/01/23/episode-128-being-like-jesus-faithfulness/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/IcI7sxNeYmA

Mercy is a huge thing in the Bible and so we would expect Jesus to not only teach about the importance of being merciful but also that He would be merciful. Mercy is a big step up from showing self-control. To show how mercy works, we’re going to look at one of the funniest parables about the Ungrateful Servant. It doesn’t seem funny at first, but believe me, it’s really hilarious once you stop to think about what is going on and how crazy the situation is. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/01/16/episode-127-being-like-jesus-gentleness/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/MSmYNFzHCTI

It’s one thing to say that Jesus had every single fruit of the Spirit to perfection, but quite another to look at what that really means when you have the authority and power to do absolutely anything you want. It isn’t so much about what Jesus did but what He was capable of. That makes Him even more amazing! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/01/11/episode-126-being-like-jesus-self-control/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/y0xhF3ElCzY

Have you ever been scared to pray because you don’t want to say the wrong thing or because you are afraid that you can’t trust God to do what is right or that He will be angry if you are honest? Today, we’re going to talk about why we can always be ourselves when we are talking to God. And not only that, but about how having to be perfect in our prayers comes from pagan religions and not from the Bible. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/01/01/episode-125-your-prayers-dont-have-to-be-perfect/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/KxlBNUKxwMk

Forgiveness is hard to understand and even harder to do. Grownups ask me all the time about what forgiveness is and isn’t, and if it means forgetting and acting like nothing happened or if we can still be careful when someone is dangerous. Learning about the forgiveness from God we have through our King Jesus, and what Jesus told us to do, and how He helps us grow from people who never want to forgive and don’t know how to even begin, to people who are able to forgive, helps us to follow God maybe more than any other thing He asks us to do. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/12/27/episode-124-being-like-jesus-forgiveness/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/KG3k-vYPE64

We are about halfway through the story of Abraham in the Bible. His life story in Genesis is traditionally divided into two "Torah Portions"--Lech Lecha and Vayera. As we just finished Lech Lecha, I wanted to toss out all the context and to just enjoy myself telling the first part of Abraham's story the way that extra-biblical Jewish writers did to tell the story more creatively. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/11/13/episode-123-the-lech-lecha-story/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/qTLi1VVJWo4

Special episode: Many kids feel (or are made to feel) that they are mistakes for this or that reason. It’s an issue near and dear to my heart so we are going to tackle it. Oh no! God has made it clear that it was always His plan to give a miracle baby through Sarai and now Abraham realizes that his beloved thirteen-year-old son Ishmael won’t be his heir. From now on, what was once just a mess is now heartbreaking and it will only get worse. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/11/08/episode-122-was-ishmael-a-mistake/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/A0XDVWuLRIk

This week we will be talking about one of the themes of Scripture—miracle babies! Sarai’s will be the very first of seven and that calls for a new name, new promises, and new problems for Abraham. Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/10/31/episode-121-sarais-new-name/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/vgnbqUGa-MY

God is going to tell Abraham to make a decision that can’t ever be taken back, by obeying a commandment that can’t ever be undone. And what does it tell us about how different our God is in how He feels about kids and slaves? And why weren’t women included?? Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/10/23/episode-120-circumcision-no-slave-or-free/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/vP_r2e-kiD8

When God makes a Covenant, He really makes a Covenant. In chapter 17, Abraham is given the promise of a permanent Covenant, which means it will be around as long as God is around. And you know, that’s forever! Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2023/10/18/episode-119-a-permanent-covenant/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/2hACXSgYML0