Seab

reez

eVol. XLVI, No. 12

DECEMBER 2016

Volume XLVI, No. 12Venice Free Methodist Church

Do we need saving? If we are in peril, lost or in danger, yes, we would need saving. We would need saving also if we were incapable of saving ourselves. There are times when we know we are in peril and there are times when we do not. I remember a video of a father who saw a sled headed for his young daughter who was oblivious to the danger. He quickly ran to her and picked her up saving her from being hit be the sled. The young daughter did not know she was in harm’s way and did not realize she needed saving.

Many people are lost and do not know it. And there are also many people who do know they are lost but will not ask for help. The proverbial lost husband who refuses to admit he is lost and will not ask for directions reminds me of this.

Do we need saving? Yes, if we are lost or in peril. Would we ask for help if we knew we needed saving? Maybe so, maybe not. The Bible says, “My people have been lost sheep…They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.” (Jeremiah 50:6)

Of what did the prophet Jeremiah write? Jeremiah wrote about a spiritual condition. The people were dis-connected from the one true living God. They wandered from god to god because they were lost.

Has God saved you? If you do not know you are wandering about or have not asked Him to save you, you are in peril. Are you the young daughter who was oblivious to the danger? Are you the man driving who will not admit he is lost? If you are either, then you need saving.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. He came to be with us to save we who are lost. A mean-ingful celebration of Christmas starts with the admission that we need saving. When we turn to Him, we can be saved. Do you need saving? Will you turn to Jesus? “The Son of Man (Jesus) came to seek and save what was lost.” Luke 19:10

Pastor Jim MiyabeSincerely,

Youth Thanksgiving at the Kuwata’s, Nov. 19.Youth serving at L.A. Regional Food Bank, Nov. 19.

ZOE Walk 2016, Nov. 5.Staff celebrating Pastor Jims birthday.

Dearest congratulations to Ryan & Ingrid (nee Supit) Uyehara who were united in marriage on October 1. May God bless you as you begin mar-ried life!

Our best to Jeff, Teresa & Alex Craig who have moved to Minnesota. We are thankful for God’s provisions for a new job, at the same time we will miss you!

Our congratulations to Quynh & Clara (nee Mar-tinez) Tran who were united in marriage on No-vember 1! God bless you as you begin married life together.

We are sending a short-term team to minister in Baja on December 27-January 1. Our 21 member group will join others on the 60 member team. Serv-ing will be Erik, Linda, Grant & Faith Akutagawa, Karl, Evelyn, Bekah & Rory Baker, Anna Holy-field, Ken, Diane & Amy Koshimizu, Wyatt Mat-suda, Craig Morioka, Corey & Nicole Sayama, Matthew Weber, David, Jodi, Kai & Jane Yokota. Thanks to all who supported them by eating at The Humble Potato in October. $285.20 was donated to the team.

Thanks to all who walked and/or donated to the ZOE Walk on November 5. $1,536.00 was donated from our church! May God use each dollar to help chil-dren in danger of being trafficked or who are already caught in trafficking.

Youth Ministries served at the L.A. Regional Food Bank on November 19. Venice Church ambas-sadors included Hannah Chang, Dianne & Brid-get Dempsey, Hannah Lee, Wyatt Matsuda, Drew Oda, Sarah Robertson, Corey & Terri Sayama, Binh Vo and Matthew Weber.

Youth enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner on November 19. Thanks to Todd & Emiko Kuwata who hosted and parents who supported with potluck dishes.

We joined Samaritan’s Purse in their Operation Christmas Child program to send Christmas gift boxes to children throughout the world. 238 boxes were collected! Thanks to all who helped, donated, packed & shipped the boxes. We were well led by Linda Akutagawa, Pam Magnuson, Michelle Stultz & Willy Weber!

Youth Ministry enjoyed a Scavenger Hunt in Playa Vista on November 27. Thanks to the Holyfield family for hosting them afterwards!

MOPS ladies enjoyed a Jewelry Exchange on No-vember 27. Thanks to Suzanne Miyabe who host-ed the event. Thanks to everyone who ate at Cali-fornia Pizza Kitchen on November 14 to raise MOPS child care funds. $232.78 was donated.

“Christmas Chaos” was held on Dec. 4. Three classic Christmas cartoons were shown in a Christ-mas movie marathon. Featuring Mickey, Charlie Brown and the Grinch. Congratulations to each person who sat through all three of them!

THIS MONTH

AWANA CLUB MINISTRY: December 2, 9 & 16 AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, from 2 Timothy 2:15) meets on Friday nights at 7 p.m. Help your children build a foundation in Christ!

YOUTH FELLOWSHIP EVENTS: December 2, 3, 10, 18, 20 & 24 Fellowship nights and other events are fun & inspira-tional. Make sure your youth is a part of this faith

building experience. For more details of all youth events email youth@venicechurch.org.

THE “GOD SPOT” MARRIAGE FELLOWSHIP: December 3 Saturday is the next session to support couples committed to marriage. We are following Family-Life’s “The Art of Marriage–Getting to the Heart of God’s Design”. For potluck info and to RSVP, con-tact VeniceCouples@gmail.com. Childcare provid-ed. Time: 6:30 p.m.

QUARTERLY LEADERSHIP MEETING: December 11 We’ll present the new theme for 2017 and present an update on plans for the new house. We will also be praying and discussing lessons learned this year in our respective ministries and our ministry visions for next year. 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at church. MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers): December 12 Hey, mom! Do you crave a break & real conversa-tion with other women? Then MOPS is for you. 9:30 a.m. to noon. Please RSVP to venicemops@ya-hoo.com to reserve your childcare spots today!

CONVALESCENT HOME MINISTRY: December 18 Once a month we minister to the residents at Santa Monica Convalescent Hospital at 2 p.m. Want to part icipate? Contact Wayne Ginoza at 310-963-4681 or wayne.ginoza@gmail.com.

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE: December 24 This year we will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at the VENICE JAPANESE COMMUNITY CENTER starting at 7:00 p.m.

CHRISTMAS SUNDAY SERVICE: December 25 This year Christmas Day falls on Sunday. We want you to spend the early morning with your family. We will have ONE worship service at 10:15 a.m. IN OUR CHAPEL.

ADVANCE NOTICE

CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS: Jan-uary 22 & 29 Our Annual Society meetings will held on two con-secutive Sundays. On January 22 we will discuss the Vision of the Church and hold election of leader-ship. On January 29, we will present the 2016 Fi-nancial Report and the 2017 Budget. All are wel-come to attend. Voting is for the right of members only.

YOUTH MID-WINTER RETREAT: February 17–20, 2017 Plan to have your middle & high school student(s) attend the PCJC event, “RELEVANT”. It is a high-l ight! Registrat ion is open. Contact youth@venicechurch.org or register at pcjcfm.org.

FAMILY CAMP: July 16–21, 2017 Are you doing some long range planning? Remem-ber to include our Annual Family Camp at Redwood Christian Park in your plans. You will be blessed!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRAYER FOR CHURCH AND COMMUNITY A time of prayer for God’s Spirit to be released in our church and community is being held on the 1st Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the home of Jim & Suzanne Miyabe. Everyone is invited.

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PLEASE PRAY FOR... ...those who are serving on short-term mis-sions: Sara Kwon (U. of Tenn. with Inter-Varsity); Rob, Denise & Cori Anne Tang

(Thailand with ZOE Ministries). ...those military personnel serving our coun-

try--Keaton Frey and Andrew Sumida (Navy), Julie Akiyama and Robert Sugai

(Army).

THIS MONTH

ADVANCED NOTICE

News Briefs

Announcements

CULVER-PALMS MEALS-ON-WHEELS Volunteer drivers are needed to deliver meals to home of people who are incapacitated due to age or disability on the Westside. Call 310/559-0666 if you would like to help.

WESTCHESTER PLAYA VILLAGE WPV assists seniors with activities like grocery shopping, a ride to and from appointments home visits, etc. Volunteers are sought to make a differ-ence in their lives. Call the church office for info.

FELLOWSHIP LUNCHEON SUNDAY Every 1st Sunday of the month is Fellowship Luncheon Sunday. Please join us after the 2nd worship service for a wonderful time of fellowship and for a delicious meal prepared by members of the Hospitality Ministry.

SUNDAY MORNING SCHEDULE Our two English worship services start at 8:45 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. English language Sunday school is held at 8:45 a.m. & 10:15 a.m. (Call the church office for more info on Sunday Youth & Children’s Ministry schedules or visit our website at

venicechurch.org.) The Japanese language Sunday school is at 10:30 a.m. and their worship service starts at 11:45 a.m. Visit their website at venicechurchjp.jimdo.com for more info.

MISS A WORSHIP SERVICE? Did you miss a worship service because you were ill or out of town? You can hear the messages or order a CD from our website at venicechurch.org. You can also access this newsletter (the “Seabreeze”) at our website and much, much more! (Please let Michelle Stultz in the church office know if you access the Seabreeze off the web and don’t need one mailed to your home.)

SEABREEZE FORMATTING We are in need of a person to format this publica-tion each month. If you have a desire to share the ministry of our church with our church family and community contact the church office.

IN SYMPATHY

Our condolences to the family of Mrs. Christine Kubo Loh who passed away on November 1. May

God’s comfort be close to the Loh and Kubo fami-lies.

Our condolences to the family of Mr. Masanaga Okumura who passed away on November 24. May God’s comfort be close to wife, Frances, and the entire family.

MEMORIAL OFFERINGS

In Memory of Mr. Henry J. Kubo – Mrs. Kiku Kubo

In Memory of Mr. Tatsuo Miyake – Mr. Jimmy Fukuhara

In Memory of Mrs. Elma Shafer – Mrs. Michelle Stultz

In Memory of Mr. Henry “Tak” Yamada – Mrs. Emiko Yamada

✢IN SYMPATHY

MEMORIAL OFFERINGS

DecemberYOUTHEvents • AWANA dates for this month are Dec 2, 9, and 16 • Dec 2 (Fri) 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM - Baking with Sarah. Come

spend time after AWANA baking with Sarah • Dec 3 (Sat) 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM - Baja Missions Team

meeting at Journey SB. 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Baked Blessings in the COTTAGE, followed by a game night.

• Dec 10 (Sat) 7:00 PM to 9:30 - Youth Group and ParenTEEN • Dec 17 (Sat) 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM - Baja Missions Team meeting

at Journey SB • Dec 18 (Sun) 4:30 PM to 9 PM Christmas Caroling and PULSE

Christmas Party and white elephant gift exchange • Dec 20 (Tues) 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM - Ice Skating outing at

Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo • Dec 24 (Sat) 12 PM - Help set up the VJCC for our Christmas

Eve Service! 7:30 PM - Christmas Eve Service at the VJCC • Dec 25 (Sun) CHRISTMAS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS! Only ONE

service at 10:15 AM. No Sunday School • Dec 27 (Tues) to Jan 1 (Sun) - Baja Missions Team to Mexico

Follow us on Instagram: veniceyouth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/veniceyouth/ Email: youth@venicechurch.org

Youth serving at L.A. Regional Food Bank, Nov. 19.

Operation Christmas Child packing par-ty, Nov. 13.

SeabreezeVENICE - SANTA MONICA FREE METHODIST CHURCH 4871 CENTINELA AVENUE LOS ANGELES, CA 90066

TEMP - RETURN SERVICE REQUESTEDSTAFF E-MAIL ADDRESSES & PHONE NUMBERS:Pastor Jim Miyabe pastorjim@venicechurch.org (310-822-8094)

Pastor Nathan Cherney (Assistant Pastor): pastornathan@venicechurch.org (909-230-3777)

Pastor Yongsu Park (Japanese language): parksaka@yahoo.co.jp (310-822-8094)

Linda Akutagawa (Youth Director): Youth@venicechurch.org (310-962-3529)

Ryan Grannucci (Youth Worker): ryangranucci@yahoo.com (310-415-3642)

Ken Koshimizu (Children’s Ministry Asst. Dir.): kkoshimizu@verizon.net (310-367-0388)

Emiko Kuwata (Infant/Toddler Director): emkuwata@gmail.com (310-418-7791)

Mariah Maxwell (Music Director): music@vernicechurch.org (301-908-9046)

Michelle Stultz (Office Administrator): office@venicechurch.org (310-822-8094)

Jodi Yokota (Church Administrator): twotimothy212@yahoo.com (310-822-8094)

Venice Free Methodist Church

Main Office: 310-822-8094 email: office@venicechurch.orgFax: 310-821-5474 http://www.venicechurch.org

NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE

PAID SANTA MONICA,

CA PERMIT NO. 214

CHECK OUT OUR CHURCH WEBSITE: We’ve got a new online location at:

http://www.venicechurch.org It has our news and events!  This newsletter, “Seabreeze,” is also here.  Let us know if you receive the Seabreeze off the web and

don’t need one mailed to your home.  Also, Pastor Jim’s sermons are available there via Podcast or through its media player.