The Family Table

Apple Fest Help This Weekend

This Saturday, Martha’s Park will host Apple Fest. LEFC is planning to have a booth to interact with the community and invite people to our church. Holly Crumrine is in search of people to help man the booth. No special skills or talents are needed, as we will be having free-to-enter raffle baskets and a giant Connect 4 for kids. Consider bringing your family to help serve in this way. See Holly if you’re interested.

Mom & Kids Meet-Up

Moms and their kids of any age are invited to a playdate in the fellowship hall on October 16th from 9-10am. Moms can enjoy visiting with each other while the kids play with provided toys, games, and activities. No RSVP is required, and moms are welcome to come and go as needed. We will continue on a monthly basis on the third Thursday of the month throughout the school year. See Jordyn Skacel for more information!

LEFC Harvest Party: Save the Date!

Save the date now for an upcoming Harvest Party on October 25th. We’ll gather together to enjoy fall-themed activities together on a cozy autumn evening. You can look forward to some quality time with your own family and with other families here at LEFC!

Keep an Eye Out for Our Upcoming Events

Along with our upcoming Fall Retreat and Harvest Party, we wanted to let you know about some upcoming events we’re planning! November 15th, we’ll have a Friendsgiving themed Mom’s Night Out with a guest speaker. Then, join us on December 7th after church for a Christmas Party to kick off the Christmas season and celebrate the beginning of Advent. Both events are free! More information will be coming soon. Watch The Family Table, the bulletin, the Lanse Link, or Facebook for details.

“The Reign of Ahab” 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 “The Reign of Ahab” (Volume 5: Unit 13: 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 an insightful article about how to relieve tension in your home–Christlike condescension.

Adam Griffin writes, “There is a condescending tone I use with my kids sometimes, in my worst moments, that if I used it with anyone else on planet Earth would be appalling. It’s a rude ‘That was dumb, and I know better’ tone that is all too common for me…Our culture accepts such levels of patronizing from moms and dads, but Christian parents are called to a higher standard. If we speak to our children in condescending ways, it reveals that we have a worldly idea of leadership: ‘I’m in charge. I’m up here. You’re down there.'”

Griffin then explains how Jesus’ brand of condescension is completely different and that when parents follow His example, it can completely change the climate in a home.

“Imagine if we followed Jesus’s example. What if when your child or your spouse wronged you, you responded by serving him or her, not passive-aggressively but out of sincere love? What if when your children disobeyed, you didn’t berate them but blessed them, not canceling all consequences but eliminating escalating hostility?

What if you addressed every conflict with a gentle tone and a heart to serve, cooking and cleaning for the one who broke your trust? What if when people in your family hurt you, you didn’t ask yourself, ‘How can I avoid them?’ or ‘How can I get back at them?’ but rather ‘How can I serve them?’ Or even ‘I wonder what they want for breakfast?’ Jesus made a grilled fish breakfast for Peter. One of my favorite things nineteenth-century pastor Charles Spurgeon ever said was “There is hardship in everything except eating pancakes.’ A few pancakes prepared with a servant’s heart can do more to ease family tension than a short stack of defensive arguments doled out by a selfish heart. Jesus starts addressing Peter’s betrayal of him by choosing to condescend. He finds a way to serve. In this case, he makes breakfast for a man who has worked all night.”

Griffin is not saying that pancakes are the answer to all conflicts in the home (though it might be worth a try!), but he does say, “Restoration is accomplished through sincere love and service, compassion for the humanity in the other person, humbly owning our own contribution to any conflict, forgiving, refusing to hold others’ contribution against them, and committing to do better together.”

There is much to chew on in this article which is adapted from his new book, Good News for Parents: How God Can Restore Our Joy and Relieve Our Burdens.

More: 

– Listen to Adam & Chelsea Griffin and Cassie Bryan every other week on The Family Discipleship Podcast.
– Read the first chapter of Good News for Parents: “Important but Impossible.”
– Listen to Adam on the FamilyLife Today podcast , a resource we mentioned a few weeks ago.

We hope our families eat it right up like a pile of pancakes!

Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor