The Family Table

Dear LEFC Parents,

Here are some items to help feed the faith of your family this week:

The Gospel Project at Home

Today’s Bible Study is “Every Person Matters” (Volume 5: Unit 15: Session 4).

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

When the auditorium empties after worship, girls and boys (grades 3-7) 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 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.

Send Pastor Matt Your Kids’ Sports Schedules

I (Pastor Matt) love to drop in to see the kids of our church family play their sports, but I need to know when and where the games are. It’s hard to keep track of who is on what team. If you could send me your kids’ sports schedules at the beginning of each season, it will help me to make it to more games and spend some quality time with your family.

And for dessert…

When I (Pastor Matt) was in England during my sabbatical, Heather and I had the opportunity to visit The Kilns, the home of C.S. Lewis, in Oxford. As lifelong lovers of Lewis’ books, it was a great pleasure to walk through the house he shared with his brother Warne and, late in life, his wife Joy. How neat to see his actual desk where he sat to write books and letters!

Lewis was a teacher at Oxford University (and later Cambridge) who wrote books that explained and defended Christianity during and after the second World War. He also wrote academic books about Medieval literature. His book Mere Christianity convinced me of the truth of Christianity when I was a teenager. He even wrote science fiction!

But C.S. Lewis is most remembered for his children’s books about adventures in a magical land that young people from our world enter through a seemingly normal wardrobe. I hope that you have read all of the Chronicles of Narnia for yourself and that you’re sharing them with your kids.

Some people don’t realize it, but Lewis’ stories about Narnia are written to introduce Christian truth through the imagination (and they’re not just for kids!).

The Chronicles are not allegories, but they do lay the conceptual groundwork for readers to understand big concepts like salvation, faith, atonement, sanctification, and worship.

As kids learn about Aslan, they will better understand Jesus. That has certainly been my experience!

I’d recommend reading the books to and then with your kids and only show the movies (if ever) long after they have their own pictures dancing in their heads.

Focus on the Family did an excellent audio drama version that might be good introduction for your family, as well.

We have the whole set of books in the church library (and more from and about Lewis!).

We hope your family eats it right up.

Matt Mitchell, Pastor
Holly Crumrine, 2023 Family Ministries Coordinator