The Family Table

Trunk or Treat Help Needed

LEFC is once again hoping to participate in Trunk or Treat at West Branch this year on October 28th. Our church has enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the community in this unique way. We are still in need of some more volunteers to hand out glow sticks to the kids at the event. Are you available that evening to help? Email the church office at [email protected].

Operation Christmas Child

Our church is once again participating in Operation Christmas Child. Shoeboxes have arrived and can be found in the foyer. They will need to be returned to the church by Sunday November 8th. Each box costs $10 to ship. Pick up a shoebox today to fill with your family for a child this Christmas, or consider sponsoring one or more boxes. Donations should be marked “shoeboxes.” See Mary Beth Moslak if you have questions.

Praise God for Fall Retreat!

Praise God for the wonderful weekend that was had last week at our Fall Retreat! Numerous families and individuals gathered for a weekend of teaching, fellowship, and fun surrounded by the beautiful fall colors. Thank you to all who attended with us! Keep an eye out for the recap video coming soon!
This Week’s Challenge: Hard Work

If you attended the retreat last weekend, you heard Pastor Matt talk about the topic of hard work. For adults, this might mean occupational work or work in the home. For kids it might primarily mean schooling. We can teach our children to work well even at young ages. This instills in them a character of responsibility, even though their work right now might not be in a career.

This week’s challenge is to take a step in teaching your child to be a responsible, diligent worker by assigning them one task to help out with around the house. This will look different for different ages. For the youngest of kids, it may be as simple as having them take their plate to the counter after dinner or pick a few toys up at the end of the day. For an older child, maybe it’s helping to rake leaves, drying dishes after you wash, or having them fold their laundry. Pitching in around the house helps give kids that sense of purpose, being needed, and contributing to the family. They’ll be watching you, too, as a role model for hard work!

“Jesus Brings Life” 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 “Jesus Raised Lazarus” (Volume 9: Unit 26: 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 super-short booklet that effectively warns us all against laziness.

Last weekend at the Fall Retreat, our families learned about hard work and true rest. On Saturday morning, I (Pastor Matt) contended that the true enemy of faithful work was not rest(!) but laziness, and we studied a number of the Proverbs about the “sluggard” (a.k.a. “the slacker” (CSB) or “Lazybones” (NLT). God uses this sadly comic character to lampoon laziness, showing us how foolish it really is and how blessed and wise it is to be diligent instead.

At the retreat, I recommended a little booklet (just 39 very short pages punctuated with many funny graphics that kids will enjoy) by Bible teacher Alistair Begg on the topic. In Crazy Lazy, Begg takes readers through those sluggard Proverbs and shows the ridiculousness and danger of living the slacker lifestyle.

The publishers describe Crazy Lazy:

“Laziness is often seen as a bit of a joke – the stereotypical student who thinks each day has one 9 o’clock; the prolific procrastinator; or just the ordinary person quick to make excuses when a hard job comes along. We are all too comfortable with laziness, too sleepy ourselves to notice the dangers a lifestyle like this brings.

In Crazy Lazy, a book short enough even for the laziest of readers, Alistair Begg urges us to take laziness seriously. He delves into the book of Proverbs to warn us of the devastating effect it has on ourselves, our relationships with others and our relationship with God.

This book exposes laziness as a sin, and challenges us to tackle it head on, while encouraging us that a life lived today can be so much more fulfilling than one constantly postponed until tomorrow.”

I’d be glad to loan you my copy. I can see parents reading it with their kids (in 1 night or 4) and/or kids (grades 4 and up) reading it on their own to good effect. Keep the hard-work conversation going!

We hope your family eats it right up.

Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor

P.S. If you want the flipside of Crazy Lazy, especially for your boys, don’t forget Created for Work that we recommended last month!