The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Single > Dating > Engaged > Married
November 10, 2024
Dear LEFC Parents,
Here are some nourishing items to set the table for disciple-making in your family this week:
Gospel Mom on the Family Discipleship Podcast
The moms behind Risen Motherhood (last week’s TFT recommendation) have recently published a book called Gospel Mom: How to Make Biblical Decisions and Discover the Mom God Created You to Be and were interviewed about it on another of our most frequently recommended resources: The Family Discipleship Podcast.
Advent is Quickly Approaching!
The season of advent will be here soon, beginning on December 1st. Have you thought about what your family might do to celebrate this season? We encourage all families to spend special time together at home engaging in discussion, crafts, readings, etc. to prepare their hearts for the coming of Christ! Need ideas? One place to start could be the recommended resources by Risen Motherhood from last week’s dessert!
New Family Ministries Page
To keep The Family Table concise and relevant to you, we’ve created a brand new page on our website to house much of the content that is static or changes infrequently. There, you can now find all of the information about our nursery, Kids Bible Classes, Youth Group, how to contact Jordyn, and The Gospel Project at Home explainer. We will also post some of our Family Ministries news, updates, and events there. As an added benefit, this makes it easier to relay this information to friends and family who might want more information before visiting our church. Check out the new page here!
“Jacob Fled from Canaan” 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 “Jacob Fled from Canaan” (Volume 1: Unit 3: Session 2), and the devotional can be found at this link.
Scroll down to the bottom of this email for more information about how to access The Gospel Project at Home.
And for dessert…
This week’s recommendation for family discipleship is a YouTube playlist (and book) to help young people navigate life and love in the modern age.
Love is in bloom at Lanse Free Church! In 2024, as we’ve had 8 couples closely connected to congregation get engaged, and as of yesterday (congratulations to the Hoffmans!), 5 of them already get married.
How can parents of older teens prepare them for the complexities of relationships these days?
Pastor Ben Stuart, a speaker at the 2018 EFCA Challenge Conference, wrote a book that Pastor Matt has given to many seniors on Graduation Sunday: Single, Dating, Engaged, Married.
But before it was a book, it was a set of 6 sermons Pastor Ben preached at Passion City Church:
Pastor Ben is focused on giving young people wisdom for how to develop God-honoring relationship by emphasizing the Lord’s purposes for each of relational phases that the majority of Christian adults will pass through at some point in their lives.
The publisher describes the book this way:
“In a society where everyone is supposedly more connected, why do more people than ever feel so lonely? Even as marriage rates decline, studies show that most single adults still hope to get married. But how can we navigate life and love in this disconnected culture? Has social media eroded the institutions that brought us together—and the deeper emotional intimacy they provided?
Pastor and author Ben Stuart guides you in navigating the four stages of a relational life and embracing the intentions and truths God has established for each one. This updated edition includes an additional chapter on how to end dating relationships well.
As you embark on this journey, you will discover how to:
– Leverage singleness to make an impact for the kingdom of God
– Pursue dating with clarity and purity
– Break up in a healthy and respectful way
– Use the season of engagement wisely to prepare for marriage
– Maximize your life as a married couple for shared mission
– Continually seek God and His will throughout each stage”
Might this be a good book to give to your teen for Christmas? Or perhaps to share the YouTube playlist with them sooner and then talk about over pancakes on a Saturday?
– Watch a short introduction to the book from Ben Stuart
– Read a sample with the Table of Contents, Introduction, and First Chapter
We hope your family eats 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!