The Family Table

Back to School Bash

We’re excited to let you know about our Back to School Bash, happening on Back to School Sunday, August 23rd! Stay after church to enjoy lunch as well as games and activities for the kids. Stay tuned for an extra special, fun surprise that your kids are sure to get excited about! Be sure to put it on your calendar so you don’t miss that Sunday.

Youth Group and Junior Youth Group Start Dates

Our Youth Group and brand new Junior Youth Group will kick off for the school year on September 13th! Be sure to let your 7-12th and 4-6th graders know and prepare for them to get involved!

Fall Retreat is Coming Soon!

Our fall retreat is coming up in just three months on October 16-18! We want you there! Today in church we shared more details about this great opportunity for your family to get away with the LEFC family and enjoy fellowship, teaching, and more. Registration is open! Register your family now(opens in new tab) to take advantage of our Early Bird discount of $5 off, running through September 20th. Join us for a great weekend!

Youth Group Instagram

Our Youth Group has a brand new Instagram account, lansefreeyouth(opens in new tab)! Follow along to be encouraged by what our Youth Group is up to and share the account with your 7th-12th grade family and friends so they can get a glimpse of what it might look like for them to participate as well!

This Week’s Challenge: Considering Extracurriculars

In this week’s Friday Family email, Child Discipleship highlighted the topic of extracurriculars in our kids’ lives. They pass on wisdom for parents when considering if these activities are helpful or detrimental for our families:

“Things like sports, music and art lessons, drama club, etc., are a great way to help kids develop skills that help them become well-rounded adults. But the time they require can also be a drain on the life of a family. So what are we to do? Remember everything is a season. If your children have specific goals or interests they want to pursue, talk about them together. Decide, “This activity will make us busier, but for this season, it is worth it for ____ reason.” Then, create a schedule that prioritizes intentional family discipleship moments even in the busyness.

Alternatively, perhaps you’ve just had a busy season and your family needs a break. In that case, decide together, “For this time, there will be no extracurricular activities.” Then work together to create a plan and set goals for what you want your family to get out of your extra time together.

Whatever you choose this season — extracurriculars or no — make sure you and your family have a specific reason for your choice. From all the good things you can do, pray together that God would show you what is best. When this season is over, take some time to review what worked and what didn’t and use that information to help you as you look ahead to what’s next.”

This week’s challenge is to talk about their wise follow-up question in this season of fall sports kicking off: “What is your goal for this season and what do you believe God is teaching you?” This might be more relevant if you have older children, but with extracurriculars starting at younger ages, you might just discuss between mom and dad or simplify the question for your kiddo. However, you approach it, be sure to think critically about the activities and schedule-fillers you’re letting onto your family’s agenda.

“Jesus the Promised One” Kids Bible Class Devotional

(opens in new tab)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 “Jesus Raised a Widow’s Son” (Volume 8: Unit 24: Session 2, and the devotional can be found at this link.(opens in new tab)

Visit the Family Ministries page(opens in new tab) 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 jumpstarting conversation on family devotions.
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Jordyn recently sent me (Pastor Matt) a link to a podcast she listens to called “M is for Mama” titled, “Why Family Devotionals Matter.”(opens in new tab)

In this episode, host Abbie Halberstadt (a mother of 10!) interviews Melissa and Michael Kruger about a new book they have written, The Good News Family Devotional(opens in new tab), which includes 52 devotionals on the gospel of Mark designed for parents to do together with their children.

It looks like a really good resource for families to use, but most of the interview wasn’t about the book so much as why and how to start family devotions and how to to keep them going well. Halberstadt asks great questions, and the Krugers provide their customarily insightful answers.

The Krugers tell their own story about how they got started in family devotions, how they divide up the responsibilities between mom and dad, and deal with common objections and problems that parents face when they try to get the family to learn together. Family devotions can be difficult but are definitely rewarding in the long run.

If you are thinking about starting (or re-starting) family devotions, this might be the podcast to listen to next.(opens in new tab)

More:

– Read more about The Good News Family Devotional at Michael Kruger’s website(opens in new tab) (which is full of many other great resources for Christian beyond parenting, especially on the New Testament canon).
– Read an excerpt from The Good News Family Devotional at the publisher’s website(opens in new tab).
– Check out two other key resources from Melissa Kruger we have recommended on The Family Table: Five Things to Pray for Your Kids(opens in new tab) and Parenting with Hope(opens in new tab).

We hope your family eats it right up!

Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor