The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Child Proof
June 8, 2025
Dear LEFC Families,
It’s been a full spring of ministry here at LEFC, and we’re just getting ramped up for a fun-filled summer! When planning your summer fun, be sure to include our LEFC fellowship opportunities on your calendar!
Family Bible Week Registration is Open!
Family Bible Week registration is now open! Take a moment to register your child in advance to help our teachers plan well for their classes. Don’t forget to invite friends to come along, too!
Family Bible Week Volunteers
The sign up for Family Bible Week volunteers can be found in the church foyer. Check it out to see how you might be able to fill a need. Take a flyer to hand out or hang up in the community as well!
Touch a Truck at the Good News Cruise
The Good News Cruise will be held on August 16th, and we’ll once again be incorporating Touch a Truck for the kids. Plan to join us for the fun!
Save the Date Reminder for Fall Retreat
The date for this year’s fall retreat has been set! Save the date for September 19-21 to join us back at Seven Mountains Scout Camp for a weekend of fun and fellowship for the whole family. Last year was loads of fun, and you won’t want to miss it this year!
“Saul Rescued Israel” 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 “Saul Rescued Israel” (Volume 4: Unit 10: Session 2), 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 book for parents brimming with wisdom for raising kids by faith, not by formula.
On the first page of Child Proof, family-counseling expert Julie Lowe writes:
“At a meeting with my editor, I was holding a mug of coffee (essential to daily life) that read, ‘I childproofed the house, but they keep getting in.’
We laughed about that—she has four children and I have six—but our laughter was rueful. Because the truth is that we do want to childproof our homes. Not to keep our children out, but to make sure that once and for all they remain safe.
It’s what all parents want, right? Safety and a guaranteed good outcome. We want that so much that we are easily persuaded to reach for a parenting formula or recipe—Do this! Don’t do that!—that promises to ‘childproof’ our homes. But parenting formulas not only don’t deliver the promised outcome (safe, happy, never-in-trouble kids), they keep us from parenting by faith. So we miss out on a rich life of trusting God to guide us in knowing and loving our children and guiding them toward love for God and others in ways that are specific to their unique gifts and needs.”
What follows is 163 pages of pure gold for parents who believe that, in the Scriptures, God offers something better (though often harder) than an one-size-fits-all formula.
I (Pastor Matt) think that Child Proof would make great summer reading for any Christian parent in our church family. It’s very accessible with short, readable chapters. The first 6 chapters lay a wise foundation, and then the last 9 chapters build out practical application with titles like these:
– Parenting a Difficult Child
– Parenting an Anxious Child
– Parenting a Child with Disabilities
– When Your Child Says, “I Don’t Know”
– When Your Child Says, “I Am Bored”
– When Your Child Isn’t Thankful
– The Importance of Role Playing and Practice
– Technology and Your Child
– When Your Child Breaks Your Heart
I wish that I had this book when our kids were younger, and I hope that many of the families in our church take advantage of it now.
For More:
Sample: Read the introduction, table of contents, and first chapter online.
Watch: Julie Lowe was interviewed on Focus on the Family: “Parenting by Faith Not By Formula.”
Access: We have recommended Julie Lowe’s teaching before: Prepare Your Kids to Disobey.
Borrow: I have a copy of Child Proof in my library I would love to loan to you.
We hope our families eat it right up!
Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
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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!