The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Super Average Tweenage Fun
July 6, 2025
Dear LEFC Families,
How has your family been growing closer to Jesus together lately? Maybe you’ve begun family devotions together around the dinner table, started praying together before bedtime, or dug into an engaging read-aloud Bible storybook. You may have started discussions about Kids Bible Class lessons, listened to our LEFC Family Worship playlist to sing together, or spent time in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ here at LEFC. Feel stuck in a rut or need something to spark spiritual growth in your home? Consider checking out one of the offerings below!
Family Bible Week : THIS WEEK!
Coming at you tomorrow is Family Bible Week! We’ll gather nightly for dinner, singing, age-specific classes and activities, and a whole lot of great conversation, learning and fellowship.
Kids will enjoy age-appropriate activities to engage them in “Discovering the Bigness of God in the Smallest of Things”. For the second year, there is a parent class, too! Last year, parents had a great time learning and chatting about discipling their kids and growing closer to Jesus as a family. As much as we encourage you to bring your kids to Family Bible Week, we encourage you to come, too! It’s not often that you get to spend an hour every evening of the week in fellowship with other parents learning and growing together in your walk with Jesus. We think you’ll find it encouraging and nourishing. Plan now to join us Monday through Thursday. Register your child in advance to save time at check-in and invite a friend to come along for one of the most exciting weeks of the summer at LEFC!
Babies, Babies, Babies!
We’ve welcomed 5 new babies into our church family over the past several weeks! That’s a lot of babies! We invite you to pray for these families as they settle into their new family dynamic, care for their newborns, and start the journey of discipling these new little hearts. You might also consider dropping a card in the mail to encourage them!
Touch a Truck at the Good News Cruise
The Good News Cruise will be held on August 16th, and we’ll once again be incorporating Touch a Truck for the kids. If you’d like to bring a vehicle for kids to check out, or could arrange for one, please see Jordyn Skacel. Plan to join us for the fun!
Save the Date Reminder for Fall Retreat
The date for this year’s fall retreat has been set! Save the date for September 19-21 to join us back at Seven Mountains Scout Camp for a weekend of fun, faith-building, and fellowship for the whole family. Last year was loads of fun, and you won’t want to miss it this year!
“David Defeated Goliath” 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 “David Defeated Goliath” (Volume 4: Unit 11: Session 1), 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 a seriously silly podcast for tweens.
Everybody loves a good joke, but pre-adolescent kids, especially boys, often love terrible jokes, too!
I (Pastor Matt) recently discovered the Average Boy Podcast from Focus on the Family, and it’s a hoot.
Christian comedian Bob Smiley appears as a character he calls “A-B” or “Average Boy” and is teamed with Jesse Florea, the editor of Clubhouse magazine to fill a half hour of goofy stories, puns, groaners, and other back-and-forth fun.
The first time I heard it, I immediately thought of several boys I just knew would love the silliness and started telling them all about it.
Average Boy is good clean fun but also useful in helping pre-teens grow in their faith as followers of Jesus Christ. A-B and Jesse weave Christian teaching into each hilarious episode. On their website, they describe the show this way:
“Kids 8 to 12 years old can laugh together and learn about God with this Christian podcast for families. Hosted by Focus on the Family Clubhouse magazine editor Jesse Florea and Christian comedian Bob Smiley, each episode is packed with faith-building fun and family entertainment. This family podcast is about forgiveness, God’s love, prayer, respect, self-control, setting goals, volunteering, and finding your worth in Christ.”
I have listened to several of the 103 episodes, and it’s great fun. I think he calls himself “Average Boy” because the problems he faces are every-day problems of average kids. Every episode ends with the silly tag line like, “Don’t just be average. Be super-average!”
But the truth is that if a boy or girl does the things that the Average Boy Podcast teaches, they will be anything but average. No joke!
More From Average Boy:
– Parents’ Page
– Articles in Clubhouse Magazine
– Devotions and Discussion Questions for the First 52 Episodes
– Average Boy Books!
We hope our families eat it right up!
Jordyn Skacel, Director of Family Ministry
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
---
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!