The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Teaching Kids about Marriage
August 11, 2024
Dear LEFC Parents,
Here are some great items to set the table for disciple-making in your family in the week ahead:
New Youth Meeting
Before our full launch this September, our Youth Group is going to meet TONIGHT at 7:00 for a kick-off. We’ll have games, a short service project, and Bible study. Youth Group is designed for LEFC students and their friends in 7th grade and up (including recent graduates). Looking forward to meeting everyone tonight – and remember your Bibles!
Praying for Our Malawi Mission Team
Our team is winging their way home from Malawi! We have been praying for the team in Africa this last week serving alongside our ReachGlobal Missionaries Fred and Cindy Cressman of Community Impact in Lilongwe, Malawi. All 3 of the members of the team are parents of LEFC kids whose families have sent them far away for over a week. This is a great opportunity to teach our children about trusting God, missions ministry, and the gospel at work in the world. Please continue to pray for both the team members and their families as they re-enter life back home.
The team will be sharing about their experience on Sunday during worship. Make sure to come hear what they saw, heard, did, and learned!
Director of Family Ministry Update
The LEFC Elders have announced that they are presenting Jordyn Skacel to the congregation to be our very first Director of Family Ministry. Jordyn has been a part of the West Branch Community for her whole life and is a graduate of Penn State University. For the last seven years, she has been serving as a missionary with Cru, along with her husband Abe, making disciples for Jesus at PSU. She is the mother of Spurgeon, Wilson, and a baby due in December.
Jordyn has been volunteering as a leader on the Family Ministries Team since November of 2023. Jordyn would love to talk with you about her vision for future ministry to children, youth, and parents. The congregation will be making a decision together on Sunday after worship. We’re excited for this development as we’ve been praying and working towards this new position for nearly two years.
LEFC Fall Retreat
Join your LEFC church family for a weekend getaway on October 18-20! The Family Ministries Team is excited to invite you to our Fall Retreat, where we will hear teaching and grow spiritually, build community, experience rich fellowship, share meals, and have lots of fun! All ages are encouraged to attend and will have a place to engage during age-specific breakouts. You’ll have opportunities to play games, eat a s’more around the campfire, chat with old friends and get to know new ones!
The camp is just one hour away and transportation can be provided if needed. The cost is $25 for an individual and $50 for couples and families, which covers housing, food, and activities for the weekend. We’ll even be back in time for church on Sunday! See Jordyn Skacel, Holly Crumrine, or Vicky Albert with questions. Registration information is online or on the table in the foyer.
Thank You for Coming to Family Bible Week
What a great time we had as a whole church family at “Breaker Rock Beach!” We are so grateful for all of the people who made our time together a big success last month. Check out the FBW 2024 photo circle or the recap video to remember some of the highlights!
The Gospel Project at Home
Today’s Bible Study is “Jesus Is Worthy of Worship” (Volume 12: Unit 36: 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!
Due to the Special Meeting after service, there will be no Snack and Yack on Sunday, August 18th. We will resume our tasty treats and interactive discussions on August 25th.
And for dessert…
Our recommendation for family discipleship this week is a children’s book that introduces God’s great idea of marriage to little ones.
My (Pastor Matt’s) son Peter got married yesterday! He’s our first child to take the plunge, and we couldn’t be happier for him and for Macy. It was a great privilege to officiate and to lead them through their pre-marital preparations. Of course, we told Peter that we’ve been doing his pre-marital counseling for 21 years!
And while funny, it’s really true. We have been teaching our kids about God’s design for marriage for their whole lives. It’s important to start building in categories when they are young.
Jani Ortlund has written a clear little children’s book to help parents do that. A Child’s First Book About Marriage: God’s Way is Always Best talks about marriage in simple terms and engaging pictures that most any young child could grasp.
The publisher describes it this way:
“The world’s view of marriage can often be very different to what the Bible says. But who is right, and who should we listen to? From a very young age, children are confronted with and can be confused by these conflicts. This hardback, illustrated title helps to explain the beauties of God’s plan for marriage to children of any age, introducing them to a different, counter–cultural way of viewing these aspects of life and faith.”
Ortlund also has a really helpful article at The Gospel Coalition full of terrific tips for teaching kids about marriage.
– Watch the author read the entire book.
– Read a sample.
A Child’s First Book About Marriage is in the church library.
We hope your family eats it right up!
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!