March 22, 2025
Hello Grace Vineyard Family and Friends,
It is Saturday night, about 8:15 PM as I type right now, so I am pretty late sending out my weekly greetings. I hope you had a nice Saturday. Today our son was in Oregon with his rugby team from MiraCosta Community College playing in a Rugby 7s tournament. We stayed in California, but were able to watch all the games with the miracle of Live Streaming. If you didn’t know, 7s is a fast version of Rugby with only 7 players on each team (regular rugby has 15), and 7 minutes for each half with a 1 minute half time, so the matches go FAST. The MiraCosta Spartans played great, but there was one team that was even greater and they took 1st place with the Spartans in 2nd. It was a fun day. Now how’s Ron gonna tie this into his email? Glad you asked. 😉 In Rugby, like any team sport, there are individual players, each with specific skills and roles, but there is one team. And the entire team either wins together or loses together; it’s never the case that some players win while other players lose. And winning teams have an incredible ability to play in sync with each other, anticipating each other’s moves, being one in heart and one in mind and one in strategy. It’s an analogy very similar to the one the Bible uses to describe Jesus’ Church – one body, many members. Tomorrow will be our 6th time talking about God’s Empowering Presence, a phrase to describe the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Probably the two most common works of the Holy Spirit that people talk about are producing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (that is, Christlike character with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control — see Galatians 5:22-23) and empowering us with spiritual gifts (such as prophecy, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, speaking in tongues, healing, faith, miraculous powers, and more). But there’s a 3rd work that is also really important, and doesn’t seem to get talked about very much. That work of the Holy Spirit is the work of making us one. 
And it’s super important. Jesus famously prayed for you and me and all the other followers of Jesus, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21). In Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians, which is in great part an appeal for unity and a rebuke against division, Paul mentions this work of the Holy Spirit – “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” And that’s what I plan to talk about with you tomorrow when we talk once again about God’s Empowering Presence.
If you can’t come in person on Sunday morning, here’s the link for the Zoom channel: Zoom Meeting ID 153 112 432, Passcode 684814, and here’s where you would go for the Facebook Live channel: facebook.com/gracevcf.
Last Saturday at this time I was on Palomar Mountain with the Men of Grace at our men’s retreat. It was awesome! I kept thinking over and over what quality people we have in our congregation. And the teaching. So good! Matt Evans, Kent Franke, Steve Pittman, and Snake Ertel all brought great messages to help us win the battles over many issues that men commonly wrestle with. While we were up there, the folks that stayed in Oceanside experienced a special treat with Kathy Green’s Message, “The Redemptive Power of God – What’s Your Story?” You can listen to it on our GraceTalks.org podcast right here:
or on our YouTube channel right here:
Mom 2 Mom on Friday, March 28
I am super stoked about the new ministry that Sheri Winters is launching this coming Friday! Are you a mom in need of support from other moms? Or are you a mom who has been there and want to lend your support to others? Then you are welcome to attend the kickoff of Mom 2 Mom, a peer to peer and mentoring group designed to uplift, enrich, share and connect moms. We’ll gather for our first meeting March 28th at 6pm at Grace Vineyard on the terrace for a program that will include sharing a meal, connecting, inspiration and resources. Childcare will be provided. To find out more, call Sheri Winter at 760-208-8403.
New Spanish Ministry, Mondays at 7PM
After years of prayer, a new Spanish Ministry has launched at Grace Vineyard. If you speak Spanish please come. If you know someone who speaks Spanish, please tell them about it. Chris and Paola Marquez and a great team have begun meeting on Monday Nights at 7pm in the Upper Room (that’s our Youth room at 104 N. Freeman Street). There’s worship, kids ministry is just getting launched, Bible Study, prayer, and fellowship. And whether or not you speak Spanish, please pray for this ministry to flourish!
Okay. That’s all for now. It’s almost 9pm so I need to send this out!
With love and blessings to each of you,
Ron Ohst
Tithes and Offerings Online
THANKS for taking ownership in the life and ministry of Grace Vineyard! And thanks to all of you who are stepping into a lifestyle of generosity with your tithes and offerings. It really does take all of us doing our part with the income God has entrusted to us for His church. If you’d like to give your tithe or offering online, click the donate button below.