The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Is My Hamster In Heaven?
March 19, 2023
Dear LEFC Parents,
Here is what’s coming up:
Baptism Class for Kids
Pastor Matt is going to be starting up a baptism class for LEFC children this coming Thursday (3/23) at 6:30pm. Students will find out what baptism means (and doesn’t mean!) in the life of a follower of Jesus. This class is the first step towards getting baptized at church. He’d love to have your kid (ages 8-???) take part even if they are not yet ready for the actual baptism yet. It’s a great way to learn. You are invited to participate in the class with your kids, too. This is a family ministry!
Snack and Yack
Next Sunday, Snack and Yack becomes “The Lunch Bunch.” Our S&Y young people (approximately grades 3-7) are invited to go through the lunch line first and eat theirs in Pastor Matt’s office while they discuss the sermon. Don’t forget to grab a handout for them to fill out during church.
The Gospel Project at Home
Today’s Bible Study is “God Made a Covenant with David” (Volume 3, Unit 11, Session 3). Ask your kids what they learned about that in children’s church this morning and/or do the family devotional you can find at this link.
Worldview Training for Youth
Youth group meets again tonight at 7pm! Send (or bring) your teen for a game, lesson, and hang-out time with Keith Hurley, his team, and some other teens.
And for Dessert…
Our family discipleship resource of the week is a simple chart to help parents answer those tricky questions that kids are famous for asking. “Mum, is my hamster in heaven?” “Dad, why doesn’t God stop wars?” We are so glad they are asking questions like that, but we often gulp when they come.
Pastor Matt ran across this short post about a simple approach to answering these questions while scrolling on Twitter and thought it was really helpful.
Check out “Four simple steps to approaching questions your child asks” from British ministry Parenting for Faith. They also have a short video that explains the chart in more depth.
We hope your family eats it 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!