The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: The Facts of Life
January 19, 2025
Dear LEFC Parents,
Welcome to 2025! Here are some nourishing items to set the table for disciple-making in your family this week.
You’re Invited to Family Night!
Join us for Family Night on the evening of February 21st! We’ll have a time of fellowship together as families of LEFC playing games and socializing. Keep an eye out here for more details coming soon!
Register for Summer Camp!
Has your child ever considered attending a summer camp at Miracle Mountain Ranch? Now is a great time to think about registering for one of their various camps, as those who sign up by February 1st will receive a discount. Camps are available starting at age 6. Visit their website to learn more about camp offerings, dates, and costs. See Marilynn Kristofits with questions or for more information!
Easter Egg Hunt 2025
Mark your calendars now for the LEFC Easter Egg Hunt on April 19th, the day before Easter. Be thinking about how you might want to volunteer to help out in various ways. We will also be looking for donations of candy and prizes when the time comes.
Family Discipleship Conference
Pathway Church writes, “Join us for our 3rd Annual Family Discipleship Conference sponsored by Geneva College. For this year’s event we’ve invited back Cornerstone Wellness, who joined us at our first ever conference! This will be a day full of practical learning, fellowship with other parents, and encouragement for you and your family as we seek to support one another in parenting and discipling our kids to know and love Jesus. The event will take place February 1st from 9am-1pm. The cost is $20/individual and $30/couple. Our youth ministry will be offering a one-day VBS childcare option as a fundraiser for their upcoming Summer Mission trips (requested donation is $10/kid, please pay in-person at registration on February 1. We will accept credit card, check or cash). Registration is now open at familyatpathway.com.”
We would love to see parents from LEFC attend this valuable event. Maybe join up with another family to carpool together, or make it a day out for mom and dad! More information can be found at the link above.
Volunteer Opportunities for Family Bible Week
Family Bible week will be held July 7-13, 2025. We have several volunteer opportunities that we would love for some of our LEFC parents to fill. We need teachers and helpers for nursery, Pre-K-K, 1st-3rd, and 4th-6th, members of the decorating team, kitchen help, games helpers, members of the worship rally team, photography/videography, security, and a finale team. See Jordyn Skacel if you have interest in filling any of these vital roles, or to get more information about each.
“Building the Tabernacle” Kids Bible Class Devotional
You have free access to a family devotional based on the curriculum our kids are studying each week in KBC! It’s called “The Gospel Project at Home.” Today’s Bible Study is “Building the Tabernacle” (Volume 1: Unit 5: Session 3), and the devotional can be found at this link.
Visit the Family Ministries page on our website for information about how to access The Gospel Project at Home for the first time.
And for dessert…
This week’s recommendation for family discipleship is a couple of excellent little books to help young people understand the changes that come with puberty and make good choices as their bodies grow into maturity.
Is there anything more awkward to talk about than puberty?
On Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, we are reminded of the beautiful and mysterious process that God has designed to produce new humans (see Psalm 139:14!). Yet even though we know it’s God’s good idea, it still can be hard to talk about, especially with our children as their young bodies begin to change.
Two Christian pediatricians, Chris Richards and Liz Jones, have done us all a great service by writing a set of books called Growing Up God’s Way.
Drs. Richards and Jones speak directly to the young people about what they can expect to happen to their bodies, their thinking, and their feelings as they mature. They use simple, tasteful, and understandable words that explain these things clearly while setting them in the context of biblical teaching on sexuality.
And, yes, there are pictures! Both books include accurate biological drawings and gentle cartoon illustrations to aid understanding. It is very tastefully done. While each book focuses on a particular gender, they also helpfully explain what is happening to the members of the opposite sex.
Heather and I (Pastor Matt) read these books to our kids when they hit that age (10-14) and kept them on the shelf for reference long afterward. We highly recommend them for teaching the facts of life to the next generation of Christians.
– Learn more about Lovewise the ministry the authors work with which helps parents, youth groups and schools on the subjects of marriage, sex and relationships from a Christian perspective.
– Download a sample of the boys’ book.
– Download a sample of the girls’ book.
We hope your family eats them right up!
Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
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EXPLAINER: THE GOSPEL PROJECT AT HOME
For the last several years, our Children’s Church ministry has utilized The Gospel Project as our Bible study curriculum. The Gospel Project is really excellent–it takes our Little Learners and Bible Explorers chronologically through the whole Bible over the course of three years while always focusing on Jesus as the center of the big story. If your student was in Little Learners or Bible Explorers this morning, they received a coloring page and take-home sheet that corresponds to this lesson. You have also been given a full-color Big Picture Card that you can use to reinforce the lesson with your child, as well.
To reinforce what your kids are learning each week in Children’s Church, you can now access The Gospel Project At Home online. Each week in this email, there will be a link to follow to get this free resource which includes:
1. A guide to using the Gospel Project at Home.
2. Scripture to read and discuss with a recap video of the Bible Story (Preschool and/or Elementary).
3. Scripture memory verses and a song to sing together.
4. Prayer prompts and family activities that correspond to the lesson.
Please consider setting aside at least 10-15 minutes once a week for a family devotional time using this resource as a guide. We are hoping The Gospel Project At Home will help keep all of our LEFC kids “on the same page,” and feed their faith in Jesus.
This might be especially helpful if for some reason your child has to miss a week of Children’s Church. You can show them the Bible story video to keep them up to speed on what the other children are learning.
**Note: The first time you access the link, you will need to register a free account with Lifeway’s Ministry Grid. This will also provide you ongoing access through the “training” tab to many other discipleship resources including the Gospel Project at Home for previous weeks. Many hours of excellent things to absorb for free!