The Family Table

Dear LEFC Parents,

Blow out the candle on the cake! “The Family Table” officially turns 1 this weekend. The very first TFT email hit the inboxes of LEFC parents, guardians, care-givers, and other adults who want to make disciples of the next generation on October 30, 2022. Initially, we planned to experiment with this for 3 months, and after 12 we’re still going strong. Let us know how it’s been helpful to you and what we could do to improve it.

Praying While You Parent

Walt Mueller from the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding had an encouraging one minute thought this week on “Youth Culture Today” about the role of prayer in parenting. CPYU is a ministry we have recommended before at The Family Table.

Resisting Gossip on YouVersion

Do you or your teen use the YouVersion mobile app? CLC Ministries has produced a 7-day devotional based on Pastor Matt’s book, Resisting Gossip, for YouVersion users. This might be a good conversation starter for you and your teen.

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.)

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. Parents, if you would like to help host the discussion by providing the snack, see Holly Crumrine to get involved.

And for dessert…

Our recommendation for family discipleship this week is to utilize The Gospel Project At Home resources that we have included in each TFT email for the last year.

The Gospel Project is the world-class curriculum that we use for our Kids Bible Classes during the sermon time every Sunday. It takes our Little Learners and Bible Explorers through the entire story of the Bible over the course of three years while focusing on Jesus as the center of the big story. We’re going to start back at the beginning again in Genesis this coming December!

And in this TFT email every Sunday, we always include a link to a devotional that your family can use to reinforce the lesson of the week. If your student missed Kids Bible Class, they can catch up! It’s called “The Gospel Project at Home,” and this week’s lesson was “Ezra Read the Law” (Volume 6: Unit 18: Session 3). There is even a recap video of the Bible story, Scripture memory verses, a song to sing together, and prayer prompts and family activities that correspond to the lesson. Everything you need in one place (for free!) for a meaningful time for your family centered on God’s Word. We hope your family eats it right up!

On towards candle two. See you next Sunday at noon,

Matt Mitchell, Pastor
Holly Crumrine, 2023 Family Ministries Coordinator