The Family Table

LEFC Christmas Party

Join us after church in a few weeks on December 7th for a Christmas party! Lunch will be provided as we play fun games together and hear about ideas for celebrating the season in your home. Your family won’t want to miss out!

This Week’s Challenge

With Thanksgiving on the calendar, this week’s challenge is to spend time with your family in prayer thanking God. For those with littles, you might even make this an extra fun activity creating a turkey such as this one, helping them to think about the things they are thankful for as they craft and then thanking God for those things in prayer.

The Family Table Recommendations

Does your family have a resource for growing in your faith that you love? A book you read that really encouraged, challenged, or helped you? We would love to feature you in The Family Table! As you’ll see below, the Quick family provided this week’s recommendation, and we love the opportunity to highlight what our families are “eating up.” Talk to Jordyn or email her at [email protected] to be featured!

Youth Group Schedule

Youth Group will be taking a three week break, with the next meeting being December 14th. Would your student still like to engage on Sunday nights? Check out the pop-up class being led by Keith Hurley on Sunday evenings!

“Judah Was Taken Captive” 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 “Judah Was Taken Captive” (Volume 5: Unit 15: Session 4), 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…

Our recommendation for family discipleship this week is a children’s book about gratefulness.

“On a fine, frosty day, in the small town of Kent
There awoke young boy who was never content.

‘This is boring,’ he’d say. As if nothing was good.
In his heart, he would never thank God as he should.”

So begins the delightful rhyming story of Why Do We Say Thank You?. Can you relate? Do the kids in your home sometimes sound like this grumpy little boy?

My (Pastor Matt) friend Champ Thornton has written this clever little children’s book with his illustrator friend Brad Woodard to help parents teach their children about thanksgiving (the attitude and action, not just the holiday).

As the story continues, the boy discontentedly interacts with his family and friends. But then, after his dad prays for him at bedtime, the boy has a dream where he gains real insight into the Source of all good gifts. He wakes up the second day having learned a great lesson and gives praise to God. The story really sings:

“When you finish this book–stop–give thanks to the Lord.
With the world he has made, there’s no cause to be bored.

The whole world’s like a window, through which you can see
A Creator who’s glorious as glorious can be.”

Why Do We Say Thank You? reminds me of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” for its cadence, creativity,  and memorableness, but the message is much more important! It’s only 32 pages and aimed at kids ages 4-7.

The last two pages offer insightful counsel for parents in understanding why children (and parents!) are bored, complaining, ungrateful and suggests six practical ways to lovingly counter these attitudes. I highly recommend it.

Check out Why Do We Say Thank You from the LEFC Library.
Read a sample of at the New Growth Press website.

We hope your family eats it right up!

Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor

P.S. We have recommended some of Champ’s other books before on the Family Table: You Count! and The Really Radical Book for Kids.