The Family Table
Feeding the Faith of LEFC Families
TFT: Worry and Denial Are Not Safety Skills
March 26, 2023
Dear LEFC Parents,
Here’s what you need to know:
Last Class for Youth
Tonight is the last class for this season of worldview training for our youth. Send (or bring) your teen for one last game, lesson, and hang-out time with Keith Hurley, his team, and some other teens at 7:00. Be praying for Keith and other leaders as they dream up further discipleship ministry opportunities for students in the future.
Snack and Yack – CONTINUES!
Good news: Snack and Yack will continue on into the future! Pastor Matt and the other Elders will keep inviting the upper-elementary and middle-school kids to discuss the sermon each week in Pastor Matt’s office after worship. We’re really glad that this has was a popular weekly event this month with the kids in that age bracket (approximately grades 3-7), and we’re looking forward to all the great conversations while munching on tasty snacks in the days to come. Remind your kids to grab a handout for them to fill out during the message each Sunday. Parents are always welcome to join in, too.
The Gospel Project at Home
Today’s Bible Study is “David Sinned and Was Forgiven” (Volume 3, Unit 11, Session 4). Ask your kids what they learned in children’s church this morning and/or do the family devotional you can find at this link.
And for Dessert…
Our family discipleship resource of the week is a book about shielding our homes and equipping our kids with safety skills.
Pastor Matt has been reading Safeguards by Julie Lowe of CCEF and finding it very insightful.
In an early chapter, the author says, “Worry and denial are not safety skills.”
She writes, “Young people are growing up in an increasing godless world, while also in deep need for wisdom and discernment to navigate it. More than ever, they need to know how to traverse the dangers around them.
We should not be afraid to talk with confidence and with hope to our children about such things. To take seriously the need to equip our kids to live in this world and not be of it, we must talk about the hard things. They must know we have something helpful to say, and we must instill in them the resources to do so. If we teach them well, doing so will not raise fearful kids, but competent kids.”
Check on a sample of Safeguards, including the full table of contents at WTSBooks or watch the introductory video. The chapters are short, readable, and full of confident and realistic wisdom. You are welcome to borrow Pastor Matt’s copy.
We hope your family eats it up.
Matt Mitchell, Pastor
Holly Crumrine, 2023 Family Ministries Coordinator
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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!