Life Groups 2

Team World Vision 2

Serving 3

Welcome Aboard 4

Inside this issue:

Spring 2015

Our 2015 theme is “Take it to the next level”. We will continue to be intentional in regards to living out our vision statement, “Becoming a loving community, inviting and chal-lenging people to move towards Christ”, by challenging ourselves to become more like Christ.

“He is the one we proclaim, ad-monishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may pre-sent everyone fully mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).

According to the Apostle Paul, the goal of our faith journey is to be-come fully mature in Christ. In other words, to become like Christ.

Taking any activity to the next lev-el requires us to invest time in that particular activity. In his talk titled Compounding Minutes, Pastor Andy Stanley says, “There is a cumulative value to investing small amounts of time over a long period of time.” So, if I go to the gym once and work out for 4 hours it will have little or no ef-fect on my health. But, if I work out 30 minutes a day, the cumulative effect would dramatically benefit my health.

Years ago, Gatorade ran a series of commercials using the slogan, “Like Mike, if I could be like Mike.” They chose Michael Jordan because, he was the best basketball player in the world. His fierce competitive drive, meticulous attention to the details of his game, and his fanatical desire to improve as a player made him the

best. He was constantly striving to take his game to the next level.

Our current sermon series is called, “Look at the Book”. We know there is value to investing small amounts of time reading the Bible over a long period of time. In order for us to take our faith to the next level, we need to rely on the trans-forming power of the Holy Spirit.

One of the ways we become more like Christ is by reading Scripture and applying what it says to our dai-ly lives. Some of us might be doing that really well, taking your faith to the next level might involve transi-tioning from being a reader/doer of the word to a teacher of the word. God might be calling you to spend time helping others understand and apply the Bible to their lives.

For others, the Bible might be col-lecting dust on a shelf somewhere at home. Well, today is a new day and I encourage you to dust it off and commit to start reading your Bible 15 minutes a day and try to apply what it says to your life.

It is our prayer our sermon series will encourage all of us to read and apply the Bible to our daily lives in order to take our faith to the next level.

On the journey together,

Pastor Dave Fukuyama

Save the Date

Good Friday Service

Friday April 3

6 PM

Easter Sunday

Sunday April 5

10 AM

Town Hall Meeting

Sunday April 19

11:45 AM

Sundays

Adult Bible Class

9:00 AM

Japanese Language

Service

9:30 AM

Worship Service,

Jr. High Sunday

School,

Kid’s Church

& Sunday School for

High School

10:00 AM

“All Scripture is breathed out by God”

2 Timothy 3:16 English Standard Version

TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

(L-R) Team World Vision

Bake Sale; new Mission

Valley FMC members;

Children’s Ministry field

trip to Kid Space.

Later this year we are going to change the

name of our “small groups” to “life groups”. Our goal is to grow true community within our church. Our hope for the church, ex-pressed through our vision statement, is “Becoming a loving community, inviting and challenging people to move towards Christ.” So what is this “loving community”?

We have all been brought together because of Jesus. Romans 12 tells us that we are all members of one body, the “body of Christ”. And Psalm 133 exclaims how “good and pleasant it is” when we live together in unity.

If we have anything in common, we should first have Christ. Our identity as Christ fol-lowers unifies us and brings us together as a church. Ok, so it’s good that we are unified by our beliefs, but do we really live together? I be-lieve this is the piece missing from so many of our lives. Whether we live close to others in church, or far away, are we living togeth-er? Are we involved in the lives of others? Or do we simply gather once or twice a week for church or other events?

We are told to “bear one another’s bur-dens” (Hebrews 10), to “comfort one another” (Galatians 6), and to “spur one another towards love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10). We should be involved in the lives of other church members just as body parts are connected together in one body.

This year, as we strive to take our relationships with God “to the next level”, ask yourself if you are living a life connected in community. Do you depend on others for support and encouragement? And do they depend on you? Life groups are a great way to get connected to others in the church and begin learning what it means to live together in a “loving community” focused on Christ.

Small Groups to the Next Level by Pastor Phil Sakanashi

Wednesday Night Life Group

Running to the Next Level

Thursday Night Life Group

Nelson Liu, Steve Garcia, and Mako Seto

Joy Garcia and Junko Kimura

Thank you Mission Val-ley for your prayers and support! MoVe (walk/run ministry) had five mem-bers run for Team World Vision in record temper-ature heat at the 2015 LA Marathon! Team World Vision raised money to provide clean water to children and communities in Africa. MoVe was able to raise over $7,400 providing fresh water to approximately 150 chil-dren for life!

God has blessed Mission Valley with individuals who are taking their relationship with Christ to the next level by SERVING. You will hear testimonies from Sheri Lee and her family seeking ways to glorify God’s Kingdom and Bob Hirose our Lead Usher sharing his joys on serving at Mission Valley! If you are interested or have any questions regard-ing serving at Mission Valley, please contact Mako Seto (makoto@missionvalleyfmc.org).

We, at Mission Valley, are so blessed to have such spirit-filled people in our ministry groups. They all have serv-ant's heart to serve and keep the church running smooth-ly by caring for the congregation and helping us towards “Becoming a loving community, inviting and challenging people to move toward Christ.” This is the reason why serving is so important.

In our Welcome Ministry, Diane Reynolds, Mako Seto, Matt Kimura and I have been blessed by the number of willing hearts who have joined our ministry. Almost eve-ryone we asked has joined us, and our group has gone from 10 to over 25 joyfully dedicated members. Some of them even serve every Sunday!

I believe we all look forward with happiness and joy each Sunday in greeting and caring for the congregation. I have the opportunity to talk with old friends and get to meet new ones, too. Our job is to welcome and integrate people into our church, and get their contact information so our church can better serve them. In serving, God has shown us how to be His representatives of love, concern and comfort for His flock. We in turn, are continually be-coming more Christ-like and more sensitive, not only to the congregation, but to the members of our ministry.

It all started when Mission Valley’s theme was “take it to the next level.” During Pastor Phil’s sermon, I felt God tugging my heart to “push” my family to do just that. I passed a note to all my family members saying “we need to all help and serve once a month. Think of some ways how you would want to assist by the end of service or I will choose for you!” Immediately after service in the car, my husband Andrew told me Pastor Dave asked him if he would be on the Board of Trustees as Facilities Mainte-nance. Andrew’s response was so positive, I could tell he was very honored to take this position. Alyssa and Austin decided they would be a part of the greeter’s ministry. Arin and I plan to serve in Sunday School once a month.

I’m most thankful for Pastor Dave for his patience as he sees our family go through our seasons of life. He never pushed us for immediate results or gave us ultimatums. He just kept loving us through everything. It must be hard for him as Senior Pastor when our family is always absent on Sundays due to basketball tournaments or league games, but he always encouraged us to be minis-ters of Christ wherever we are at. Thank you Mission Valley for challenging our family to “take it to the next level.”

Welcome Team

The Lee Family

Serving to the Next Level

Bob Hirose serving at Work Day, beautifying

the Welcome Area

(L-R) Austin, Andrew, Arin, Sheri, and Alyssa

1201 S San Gabriel Blvd

San Gabriel, CA 91776-3116

626.285.6788

email: office@missionvalleyfmc.org

website: www.missionvalleyfmc.org

NONPROFIT

ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

SAN GABRIEL, CA

PERMIT NO. 42

“Becoming a loving community

inviting and challenging people

to move towards Christ.”

Welcome Aboard

by Chet Yoshizaki, MV Board Chairman

Imagine our church, as a huge “Tall Ship”. From a landlubber’s perspective, it has a patchwork of sails both large and small, that could represent the ministries and programs we have here at Mis-sion Valley. The

winds that give power to move this ship is God Himself. The rudder, small in comparison to the ship, is the Official Board. Small in numbers (seven members), it is a body elected by the members of the church to guide our operations. It sets forth direction, policies, manages the re-sources both in financial and human capital, and prayerfully supports ministries and church staff.

Aside from the business decisions that keep us afloat, we are taking it to the next level by engag-ing and aligning our efforts to ensure we stay on course. This year we will focus more on providing support and guidance to our programs and minis-tries so that we all move closer toward Christ. Over the last year, we have been experiencing momentum that has resulted in both spiritual and numerical growth. Exciting times are on the hori-zon!

On February 21, 2015, the Board members at-tended an all-day retreat. We used this time to

embrace the biblical calling, responsibilities, and character traits of church leaders. We were re-minded of our core mission as believers in Christ and our charge to instill these core values in all that we do.

With Pastor Dave at the helm, we work by his side, ensuring we stay the course and it is the rudder that needs to make the adjustments as necessary. It is our prayer, this will be accom-plished as we strive to move deeper in our own growth and relationship to Jesus.

In our monthly meetings, we will set aside time to prayerfully praise His blessings and seek His guidance. Taking it to the next level is seeing and experiencing the transformation in our lives, in our everyday walk.

Welcome aboard and get ready for the ride of your life!

You may view the monthly agendas and ap-proved meeting minutes on the church web site www.http://missionvalleyfmc.org/#/resources/board-information.