Weekly Update 08-23-2025

August 23, 2025

Hello Grace Vineyard Family and Friends of Grace Vineyard,

It’s Saturday night in Oceanside, and it’s time for another Weekly Update. I’m back from Africa now.  We got home Thursday evening after around 40 hours of travel time!  Jet lag is real–I think I’m still somewhere near the Central Africa Time Zone. 🙂  We had a great trip, and I’ll share some highlights with you on Sunday morning for our Missions Moment. I look forward to being with you all again this Sunday.  Here’s some highlights for life at Grace Vineyard…

Guarding The Message of Grace

The last time I was with you on August 3rd, I brought what you might call a foundations message on the concept of being Born Again.  This week I’m bringing another foundations message on Guarding the Message of Grace.  Way back in the first century when the Gospel of the Kingdom began spreading to a non-Jewish (Gentile) audience, the apostles were constantly having to deal with opponents of the simple message of God’s Grace.  Some people were going around to the new Gentile Christians and telling them their salvation was sub-standard, and they needed to follow all the practices of the Jews to be really saved; practices like male circumcision, eating kosher food, observing the 7th day Sabbath, and more.  This is what prompted the book of Galatians, which was a letter that Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia to fight against this works-driven life in Christ.  The book of Romans also spells out salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus plus nothing else.  In Acts 15 we read about a big meeting with the Jerusalem apostles and elders to work out how to include the Gentiles in the church of Jesus.  They concluded that salvation for both Jews and Gentiles is by faith in Jesus apart from the works of the law. Peter was there, and he took a strong stance against requiring the Gentiles to follow Jewish customs in order to be saved.  Even to this day, people still come along with additions to the simple message of salvation by God’s Grace alone.  I felt it would be good for us to take a look at the message of Grace once again to guard against the attacks against this truth, so that’s what I’m planning for us this Sunday. Jesus+Nothing=Everything! If you’re not able to be with us in person,  you can join us online on Zoom with this link: Zoom Meeting ID  153 112 432, Passcode 684814.  You can also find our livestream on Facebook Live at facebook.com/gracevcf.

The Way of Jesus week 2

Last Sunday Jason DiPinto brought the 2nd message in “The Way of Jesus” series.  I LOVE to hear preaching on the Kingdom of God, and Jason did not disappoint!  Here’s the video of the sermon in case you missed it or just want to hear it again or share it with a friend:

Practicing the Way Men’s and Women’s Groups

Mom 2 Mom meeting Friday, September 26