The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Challenge Accepted?
September 24, 2023
Dear LEFC Parents,
Here are some items to set the table for family discipleship in your home this week:
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.)
God’s Big Promises Storybook Bible
It’s here! The brand new storybook Bible that we recommended in last week’s Family Table has arrived in the church library. When she opened the box, Heather Mitchell immediately said, “This is really impressive!” One feature that stands out is a color-coded system for tracking God’s promises, made and then kept, through the storyline of the Scriptures. See Heather if you have questions about how the library checkout system works.
Pray for the DFM Search
As Cody Crumrine recently shared during worship, the search for the part-time Director of Family Ministry is now in full swing. The job description is located in the foyer and will soon be posted online. Please pray for locating God’s person for that role, for diligence for the Elders in searching, and for patience for all of us as we eagerly wait for God’s answers. Do you have someone in mind that you think might be a good fit for this position? Talk with Cody or Pastor Matt.
The Gospel Project at Home
Today’s Bible Study is “Zechariah Gave Hope” (Volume 6: Unit 17: 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.
Snack and Yack
When the auditorium empties after worship, girls and boys (grades 3-7) 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. Parents, if you would like to help host the discussion by providing the snack, see Holly Crumrine to get involved.
And for dessert…
Have you got to go to the Challenge Conference? Both of us have attended Challenge in the past (Holly 2014, 2018, 2020 and Pastor Matt 2014, 2016, 2018) and highly recommend the experience for teens and those who love them. There’s nothing quite like 6,000 excited teenagers gathered together to praise and serve Jesus!
A great way to profit from the conference, whether you’ve never been or to remind your teen of what they learned, is to watch videos of the teaching (and some of the fun) from past years. Neither of us got to attend in 2022, and it’s not the same as being there, but we’re glad we can catch up on what was taught from the big stage.
We hope your family eats it right up!
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
Holly Crumrine, 2023 Family Ministries Coordinator
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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!