The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Board Not Bored
December 17, 2023
Dear LEFC Parents,
Today is the third Sunday of Advent. This week’s LEFC Advent Reading centers on John 1:11-12 and radiates the benefits of receiving Jesus instead of rejecting Him.
Christmas Caroling – THIS AFTERNOON!
Bring your family along for our LEFC Christmas Caroling event this afternoon at 3:00pm! We will gather on the church campus and practice a few favorite songs before caravaning throughout our community to brighten the holiday season of some of our beloved church families (older folks and shut-ins). No sign-ups necessary. Just show up! The kids that came along last year had a great time.
Talent Night, Holy Night?
Does anyone in your family want to do something special for our Christmas Eve Candlelight service (December 24, 7:00pm)? We would love to have children, youth, and parents sing or play a special song, do a skit, read a poem or Scripture or do some other creative thing. See Pastor Matt with your ideas.
KBC Handbells – Christmas Eve!
The Bible Explorers Kids Bible Class will be sharing their handbell number December 24 during the 7:00PM Christmas Eve Service. All KBC Kids in Grades 1-3 are welcome and encouraged to participate. Kids need to meet in the Bible Explorer Classroom at 6:45PM for a quick practice.
We hope to see you there!
The Gospel Project at Home
Today’s Bible Study is “Jesus Forgave Peter” (Volume 10: Unit 28: Session 3). 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.)
No Snack Nor Yack
There will be no Snack and Yack on Christmas Eve. Snack and Yack will resume on December 31st.
And for dessert…
This week’s recommended resource for family discipleship is a new set of soft-padded board books to engage and inspire the littlest “readers” in our families.
Author Sally Llloyd-Jones and artist Jago, the creators of the delightful Jesus Storybook Bible, have recently produced a beautiful set of “board books” based on short excerpts from the original storybook chapters with vivid new illustrations.
Found is a retelling of Psalm 23.
Near and Known are both based on Psalm 139.
Loved is a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer.
Your toddler will probably ask you to read them again and again and again. And you will be happy to comply because you’ll be teaching them about how deeply the Lord cares for them.
These board books are available for check-out from the church library.
We hope your family eats them up.
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
Holly Crumrine, 2023 Family Ministries Coordinator
P.S. Got all your gifts ordered for your teen? A year later, this book is still Pastor Matt’s number one recommendation. He says, “If he could, I’d put 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity in the hands of every student in my path.”
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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!