Well now that we come to the book of Haggai and Zechariah, we find them writing in a time period when the 70 years of exile was ending and the people were returning to Jerusalem. What a time to have been alive, right?! Seeing God’s people be able to return to their homeland, the land God promised them surely had to be exciting. And it was! But Haggai and Zechariah wanted to warn them too. They tell the people that God has great things planned, His promises are still true, if the people commit to the Lord and His ways as they return to the land.

Haggai focuses on the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem and how it’s important that they do it the right way so that it’s holy and honoring to God. Remember that the temple was where God’s presence would dwell, so it’s important to get it right! That’s what Haggai was communicating. And God cheers the people on through Haggai’s words by saying things like ‘be strong’ and ‘don’t fear, my spirit remains among you.’

And then there’s Zechariah….like any good prophet, Zechariah has all sorts of crazy dreams with crazy images. Things like horsemen and horns and a guy who has a measuring tape and a gold lampstand and olive trees and my favorite, the flying scroll…. but these dreams were like symbols and confirmations to Zechariah and the people of God’s plans for them. And while these dreams spoke of things that would happen Zechariah’s lifetime, they also pointed forward to when Jesus would come both as Messiah and Conquering King. Almost like setting the stage for God’s grand plan that He’s writing throughout history.

This classic episode helps us get excited for Easter where we celebrate Jesus' resurrection! The best news ever is that Jesus came to this earth, died for our sins, and rose to life again. He conquered sin and death and now offers us the victory and hope of eternal life!

Listen to this podcast with your kids and get ready for Easter!

Have you ever played a game of telephone? Where you whisper something to someone and then they whisper that same message to someone else and it goes on and on until you get to the last person and they say the message out loud. It’s usually pretty funny because the last person never gets it right. They say some gibberish that’s totally different from what the first person said.

Well, in some ways, the Bible for thousands of years, was like a game of telephone. They didn’t have it written down like we do today. For thousands of years they just told the next person and they told the next person and they told the next person. Like a game of telephone. So, how do we know that the Bible we have today isn’t some gibberish version of what the first person said? I think that’s a great question to ask. So let’s talk about how we know the Bible can be trusted today.....

What do emojis and Psalms have to do with each other? Take a listen to this free preview of our Extra Nuggets: Psalms episode to find out! You'll learn that we can take all of our emotions to God and pour our heart out to Him.

If you enjoy this episode, check out Backseat Bible Nuggets: Extra Nuggets by subscribing in Apple Podcasts. We have are working our way through the books of the Old Testament in the Bible.

I’m sure this never happens in your house, but in our house there are some weeks where I’ve heard my kids ask, “do we HAVE to go to church today?” And it’s not that they don’t love our church, it’s just that some weeks they wake up tired or with other plans in mind for that day.

Well, whenever they ask, our answer is always, “we don’t HAVE to go to church, we GET to go to church today.”

So we GET to go to church, not because we HAVE to, but because we WANT to. And that’s what I want to remind us of today. But there might come a day where you’re tired or have other plans and so we wrote a fun song for you to sing on those days…..

“I want to go to church. I want to go to church. The Bible will be taught to me, I want to go to church.

I want to go to church. God’s people will be there. It is good for me to see God’s people everywhere.”

Hebrews 10:25 says, “let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

Hear from a Backseater as they read Luke 19:1-10 to us! This scripture is the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector. He climbs a tree because he wanted to see Jesus. And the story ends up with Jesus going to Zacchaeus' house to eat with him! This unexpected act changes Zacchaeus' life and salvation comes to his house. What a story of redemption!

Jesus’ birth is one of the biggest events to ever happen in human history. It changed everything when He came to this world as a human. And so today, I want us to read together the story of Jesus’ birth written by Luke.

Luke was a guy who became a follower of Jesus after Jesus died. So, Luke’s writings are based on things he learned about Jesus from people who personally knew and followed Jesus. He does a great job recording the amazing, miraculous facts of this story. But as you listen, I want you to imagine these things taking place. This is a real story, not a fairytale, but a story that is true. And it changes everything, listen to Luke 2:1-21…

A few questions I want you to think and talk about.

1. Why is this story so important?

2. What part is the coolest to you? What was your favorite part?

3. What is your response to this story? Does it make you want to thank God or do you want to tell someone else this awesome story? Or do you want to think on it more, read it or listen again and again? Or maybe something else…what’s your response after hearing this?

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EXTRA NUGGETS:
All I want for Christmas are some extra nuggets, extra nuggets, extra nuggets.

We could all use a few extra nuggets in our life, right!? So hit the subscribe button in Apple podcasts and you will find episodes where we are doing an flyover of every Old Testament book. It’s a great way to see God’s big connected story. Oh, and it’s only a few dollars for the most convenient kid’s devotional ever!

Maybe you’ve heard the Christmas story lots and lots already. But have you taken the time to listen, I mean REALLY listen, to what the Bible has to say about Jesus’ birth as written by Matthew. There are 2 different people who wrote down the majority of the details of Jesus birthday and it’s Matthew and Luke. Today, we are going to read through Matthew 1:18-2:23 together. And while we do, I want you to think deeply about the details. This is a real story! All of these details are true. And this is one of the most important stories ever written. I mean, it changed the WORLD! So listen to what Matthew wrote about just how Jesus was born.

Matthew 1:18-2:23

A few questions just to get us talking about this story….

1. Was there anything new you learned from listening that you didn’t already know?

2. What does Emmanuel, the name given to Jesus, mean?

3. If Emmanuel means God with us, why is that important to me and you today?