The Family Table

Dear LEFC Parents,

Here are some key things to know as you lead your kids in family discipleship in 2024:

New Leaders in Family Ministries

Holly Crumrine, Jordyn Skacel, and Vicky Albert have begun serving as the Interim Family Ministries Leadership Team while we continue our search for a part-time Director of Family Ministry. If you have questions, ideas, or concerns about ministry to children, youth, and parents, please see one of them.

Family Discipleship Conference at Pathway Church

Registration is open for the family discipleship conference at Pathway Church in Beaver Falls (January 13, 9:00-2:00) and all parents are invited. The cost is only $20 for individuals or $30 for a couple which includes lunch, and they are offering a childcare option (requested donation $10/kid). Our Family Ministries Interim Leadership Team is offering 75% scholarships for families for whom this may be a hardship. See Holly, Jordyn, or Vicky for more information.

The Gospel Project at Home 

Today’s Bible Study is “The Disciples Replaced Judas” (Volume 10: Unit 29: Session 2). Ask your kids what they learned in Kids Bible Class this morning and/or do the family devotional you can find at this link.

Challenge Conference – Advanced Planning

The 2024 Challenge Conference has been announced for July 1-5 in Kansas City. We’d love to send a group from LEFC as we have in past years. To do that we need interested youth (grades 7-12) and willing adult leaders. That seems like a long time from now, but it will be here before we know it. (Read more about Challenge on the official conference website.)

Snack and Yack

When the auditorium empties after worship, girls and boys (grades 3ish-7ish) who listened to the sermon (remember to fill out a handout!) are invited to Pastor Matt’s office for a tasty treat and a brief discussion with one of the LEFC elders and their wives (and sometimes guest preachers?!) about the message.

And for dessert…

Our recommended resource for family discipleship this week is a set of fun devotional experiments from the trusted folks at Focus on the Family.

The introduction to “Kinda Dangerous Family Devotions” says:

“It’s happened to all of us. Your family sits down for devotion time, you’re ready to share Biblical truths, aaand…they’re not paying attention. You ask them what they thought, and they barely remember a thing you just said. It’s enough to make you want to smash a watermelon!

What if this was the year that your kids actually looked forward to family devotions? This free 4-part series will help you make devotions exciting for your kids. Tim Shoemaker, author of The Very Best, Hands-On, Kinda Dangerous Family Devotions, will guide you through four experiments and the lessons they’ll teach. Your kids won’t be yawning when you electrocute a pickle!”

Focus on the Family has provided 4 video-based lessons for free:

Episode #1: Electro Pickle
Episode #2: Take a Stab at Kindness
Episode #3: TP Blaster
Episode #4: Watermelon Drop  

Each video comes with discussion questions, a Scripture verse, a prayer, and links to additional resources for digging deeper.

Please let us know what happened at your family table when you electrocuted your pickles.

Matt Mitchell, Pastor
Holly Crumrine, Family Table Editor