The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Impress Them
April 7, 2024
Dear LEFC Parents,
It’s been a full week since Resurrection Sunday, but Jesus is still risen indeed!
Throughout the decades, the church has often celebrated the truth of the resurrection for the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost (often called “Eastertide”). That’s not a bad idea! What can your family do together this month to draw hope from the fact that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead?
More Parenting with Hope
The most recent episode of Gospelbound featured an new interview with Melissa Kruger about the book we recommended in last week’s edition of The Family Table. Fifty-five free minutes of insight and hope.
Y is for Yes!
The Tiny Theologians Podcast has nearly reached the end of their alphabetic adventure in God’s attributes! This week’s episode is titled, “Y is for Yes,” as TJ and Tory go on a fun scavenger hunt to discover how all of God’s promises come true in Jesus. Is your little one tuning in?
Teens and Sports Gambling
Walt Mueller of the Center for Parent Youth Understanding shares 60 minutes of sobering statistics and biblical wisdom about how should help our teens not be sucked into sports gambling.
The Gospel Project at Home
Today’s Bible Study is “Peter Performed Miracles” (Volume 10: Unit 32: Session 1). 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 3ish-7ish) 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.
And for dessert…
Our recommendation for family discipleship this week is a two-year-old sermon from Pastor Matt which provided the foundation for our church’s newest focus on the crucial role of parents in passing the faith to the next generation.
In “Impress Them on Your Children,” Pastor Matt took the LEFC family through Deuteronomy 6 and tried to exhort and encourage all of the parents that they were called to be the “resident theologians” in their homes.
Pastor Matt opened by saying, “Our Lord has given Christian parents the great privilege of being the primary discipling influence in their children’s lives.” And he gave out lots of recommendations and suggestions about how it might look for their families in 2022. Six months later, we launched The Family Table to provide these kind of recommendations every single week!
How much has changed for your family since 2022? We have many new families at LEFC since then.
In this sermon, Pastor Matt kept repeating the sentence, “You can do this!” and it’s just as true in 2024 as it was in 2022.
Give it a (re?)listen.
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
Holly Crumrine, Family Table Editor
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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!