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November 8, 2025
Hello Grace Vineyard Family and Friends,
Wow! This day and this week have gotten have really gotten ahead of me. I’m not sure if that sentence even makes sense, but what I mean to say is that it’s already 5:30PM on Saturday and I think I’m still working on Thursday’s tasks. 🙂 Ever have a week like that? Anyway, I love to connect with you all every week with our “Weekly Update”, so I’m gonna jump in here and send one off to you all. Here’s what’s on my mind tonight…
Return From Exile (the journey to Advent)
I’m gonna guess that this title might be a little enigmatic for most of you. It’s the title for the message I’m working on for tomorrow morning, so let me explain where this came from. You might guess that I pray often for direction from the Lord about the Bible teachings He would like us to study and learn together week by week on our Sunday mornings. I’ve been thinking and praying about what we’ll do together for Advent, which is the four Sundays leading up to Christmas that begins on November 30th this year. And as I’ve been thinking and praying about Advent (remember, the word “advent” means “the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event”, so during the season of Advent we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about the arrival of Jesus the Messiah), I’ve been thinking about the backstory to Advent. Jesus’ birth doesn’t just show up out of nowhere; His birth is the next step in a long Biblical story. And as I have been studying about the Biblical narrative leading up to the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, I have been doing a lot of studying on the very major Biblical theme of “exile and return”. In one sense, the entire history of humanity, from the Bible’s perspective, is a story of exile from the garden of Eden and the long journey of returning home to the “garden” in the new heaven and earth that has been promised at Jesus’ 2nd coming. It’s the story from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament has quite a few more stories of exile and return such as the long exile of the children of Israel in Egypt and their return to the Promised Land in Exodus. And of course there’s the long story of Judah’s exile into Babylon and their return after 70 years. Jesus is sometimes portrayed as a new Moses leading God’s people into a new Promised Land. It was the perspective of the 1st century Jews that they were still in exile, in some sense – they were under pagan rule with the Roman occupation, and most of the prophetic promises for what would happen after their Babylonian exile still hadn’t come true. To quote from one Biblical scholar (Nicholas Piotrowski) who has written extensively about this theme:
Sure, while some people did come home with Ezra, the prophets of Israel forecasted a day when the exile would end with a new Davidic king (Isa. 9:1–7; Mic. 5:1–4) and a glorious new temple (Isa. 2:1–5; Mic. 4:1‒13). Equally, there will be a great end-times atonement at the end of exile (Isa. 40:1‒2; 52:13‒53:12) and a resurrection (Isa. 25:6‒8; Isa. 26:19; Ezek. 37:1‒14). Thus, the OT prophetic vision for the end of the exile is (at least) a regathering of Israel’s scattered people, the re-enthronement of the house of David, a new glorious, world-wide temple, an end-all atonement, and a bodily resurrection. All of this amounts to “a great light [for] those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness” (Isa. 9:2).
With that background the opening chapters of Matthew simply leap off the page! Jesus is the son of David (Matt. 1:1) “after the deportation” (Matt. 1:12). He is the king of the Jews (Matt. 2:2). His ministry is called “a great light” for “the people dwelling in darkness” (Matt. 4:16). He gathers up his people (Matt. 4:18‒22, 25; cf. also Matt. 14:19‒20), and his death is a new covenant atoning sacrifice (Matt. 26:26‒28). John even calls him “the temple” (John 2:21), and Paul says that Jesus’s followers—through union with him—are the new temple spreading throughout the world (Eph. 2:17‒22). All this stacks up to present Jesus’s life, death and resurrection, and ongoing life of the church as the true end of exile!
Hopefully that gives you an idea about this theme, and how I might have come up with the title “Return from Exile (the journey to Advent)”. It is a major Biblical theme that we really haven’t explored much together, so I’m looking forward to what the Lord might have in store for us.
People often look to the Weekly Update for links to last week’s sermon on our GraceTalks.org podcast or our YouTube channel, so here you go. We were finishing off 4 week’s of teaching on “The Three R’s of Grace” with a message on the 3rd ‘R’ — Restoring Broken Lives. Enjoy!
And here’s the info for joining us online if you can’t be with us in person for worship tomorrow morning: you can join us online on Zoom with this link Zoom Meeting ID 153 112 432, Passcode 684814 and you can also find our livestream on Facebook Live at facebook.com/gracevcf.
Open Call for Grace Vineyard’s 2025 Christmas Eve Production
Speaking of Advent, check out this important message from Ammee Huzil for a brand new Christmas Eve Production:
WHAT:
“A New Star” is a traditional telling of the nativity story through the “not-so-traditional” eyes of two stars. It’s a play (interspersed with music) and I am looking for actors and actresses (all ages) and support for set design, stage hands, costume, and sound and light production. If this makes you excited, and you would like to be involved — auditions will be the first two weeks of November.
TIME COMMITMENT:
We’ll have an open reading with those who are interested, and there will be rehearsing once a week up until Christmas Eve, you must be available for at least 60% of readings and rehearsals. I will also need stagehands, creative people, and sound support.
Please EMAIL Amy Huzil, Worship Director at: ammeepearl@gmail.com for information and audition/reading information.
I cannot wait to see how we can make this season special and create something beautiful together!
Operation Shoebox
Also with Advent in mind, we are in Operation Christmas Child season! If you don’t know much about this, please take a moment to click on this link: samaritanspurse.org/occ We’re creating Christmas Gift Shoeboxes for boys and girls all over the world. There’s a table in the lobby at church with all the info you’ll need, including boxes. Check it out!
Help Serve a Meal In the Park for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is about 2 1/2 weeks from now. We’re going to be joining Convicted For Christ ministries to put on a Thanksgiving Dinner with all the fixings in Fireside Park on Friday of Thanksgiving week for our unsheltered neighbors. That means we’ll need Turkeys, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, rolls, pies, etc, and especially we’ll need people who can help serve the meal. It will be at 2PM on Friday, November 28th, at Fireside Park in Oceanside. Michael and Brandi will be in the lobby on Sunday to help you get all signed up for what you’ll be bringing.
Prayer After Church This Sunday
Everybody is invited to stay after church for a few minutes or up to an hour as we pray together. This week a group will be specifically praying for the Women’s Retreat, and we’ll also be praying for all the areas of focus you see listed in this graphic – our missionaries, church leaders, ministries, youth, Oceanside, etc. Prayer is so important. The Bible makes a very simple statement about prayer — “you have not because you ask not”. It’s an invitation to simply ask God for all the things we want and need! And God is pleased to partner with us in this way. Join us right after church.
Women’s Retreat – Last Call for Registrations
Our 2025 Women’s Retreat is next week on November 14-16 in Pine Valley. We are still taking last minute registrations, but NOW IS THE TIME! Our guest speaker is Blair Fabry and our theme this year is “When Trees Walk – Lessons in Spiritual Sight”, from Mark 8:22-26. There will be a sign up table in the lobby with all the info you need to get registered. Please stop by this Sunday, or contact Kim Ohst at text/call: 760-519-4558, email:kimohst@gmail.com. Private bath lodges are $270, shared bathroom lodges are $250 and dorm rooms are $215. There are a limited number of Private Bath Lodges available. You can pay online or place money/checks in the offering, or even pay at the Retreat Info table on Sunday morning. When paying online or in the offering, please note that the payment is for the retreat. In order to reserve the appropriate room, please email and let Kim know what kind of room you are reserving when you make a payment. Kim will confirm with you if that type of room is available. $50 deposit will hold the room. You can see more info about the retreat by clicking here.
Mom 2 Mom is November 21
Are you a mom in need of support from other moms? Or are you a mom who has been there and wants to lend your support to others? Then you are welcome to Mom 2 Mom, a peer to peer and mentoring group designed to uplift, enrich, share and connect moms. We’ll gather Friday, November 21st 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- please let Sheri know how many kids/what ages. To find out more, call Sheri Winter at 760.208.8403.
And that’s it for this week’s update.
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. If you’re giving to a specific fund (like benevolence or missions), just be sure to say that when you are given an option to add a note with your donation.