The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: There’s an App for That
March 10, 2024
Dear LEFC Parents,
This is the season when we think more deeply on the sacrifice Jesus made for us and the victorious power of His resurrection. What are you planning to do this month to lead your family deeper into the mystery of the gospel?
Here are some items to set the table for disciple-making in your family in the week ahead:
One Full Year of Snack and Yack!
Praise God! Last Sunday marked a full year for “Snack and Yack,” our sermon talk-back time with church leaders. When the auditorium empties after worship, girls and boys (grades 3ish-7ish) who listened to the sermon (remember to have them 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. Praise the Lord for a full year of offering this fun and interactive ministry for young people at a key age for listening and learning.
Wild Game Dinner on Saturday
Our LEFC Wild Game Dinner with outdoorsman Joel Zaborowski will be this coming Saturday, March 16th. Are you and your kids coming? See Andy Dobash or Jenni English for last minute tickets.
Always Making Disciples (Of Our Kids) – Stay Sharp Resources
Stay Sharp, our district theology conference, was held last month, and all of the recordings and other resources are already available at the host church website. The theme this year was “Always Making Disciples,” reminding us our ongoing mission as Jesus’ followers. Two of our LEFC dads (Curtis Quick and Joe Quick) went and found it helpful for their own family discipleship efforts.
Week 7 of “Chasing Love” – Bible Study for Teens
We’re coming down the homestretch in our class for youth, Chasing Love: Sex, Love, and Relationships in a Confused Culture (Sunday evenings at 7:00 in the upstairs Youth Room). “Chasing Love” is led by Keith and Heather Hurley and Joan Page. Other parents are always welcome and invited to participate, too. Tonight’s lesson is about LGBTQ Issues.
Egg Hunt on March 30th
The Family Ministries Team is organizing an Easter egg hunt on March 30th at 10:00am on our LEFC campus. In addition to the hunt, we’ll be organizing indoor crafts and activities to enjoy. Children ages 0-12 are invited to participate. Registration will begin at 9:30am. Pre-registration will be available for children who are attenders of LEFC. Donations of plastic eggs, candy, and prizes are needed, as well as volunteers. See Jordyn Skacel, Holly Crumrine, or Vicky Albert with questions, to pre-register, or to get involved!
The Gospel Project at Home
Today’s Bible Study is “The Church Handled a Problem ” (Volume 10: Unit 31: Session 2). Ask your kids what they learned in Kids Bible Class this morning and/or do the family devotional you can find at this link.
And for dessert…
Our recommendation for family discipleship this week is a small book for teens about a big issue–social media.
Christian ethicist Jason Thacker wrote A Student’s Guide to Social Media as “an introduction to the wild world of social media that is changing each and every day, including changing you in very distinct ways as you use it” (pg. 14). It’s in the same helpful series as the book on gaming we recommended a couple of weeks ago.
Eight short accessible chapters (and three helpful appendices) delve into key questions that every single user of social media should have answers for before they ever log on. That includes your teen…and it includes your teen’s parent, as well!
The chapter on TikTok is especially timely.
The publisher describes the book this way:
“The internet is a tool box, not a toy box. Social media platforms are some of the tools we can use for building one another up. This is a guide on handing these tools, carefully.
Social media is a tool that can be good. It can connect us with friends and family with an immediacy that previous generations could only wonder at. But it can also be used unwisely. Whether it’s harsh words, regrettable posts, or excessive scrolling, we should think about how God wants us to engage with social media.”
Sample Chapter: How Am I Really Using Social Media?
Pastor Matt thinks that students should have to read this book (or something a lot like it) before they are allowed to have a social media account of their own. He has A Student’s Guide to Social Media in his pastoral library and would love to loan it to you or your teen.
We hope you eat 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!