October 3, 2026
Hello Grace Vinyeard Family and Friends!
Is it just me, or does this NOT feel like Autumn? We are in October, but I’m definitely feeling like it’s still the summer. I just checked, and Autumn did begin on September 22nd. 😎 It’s warm, but it’s also another beautiful day her at Grace Vineyard — just moments ago we got to celebrate another wedding. Congratulations to Woody and Angie Martinez. I love seeing the way our Grace family comes together to transform our vintage theater into a wedding chapel and banquet hall when someone from our community is getting married.
As we enter October, and I’ve been praying about what we should be focusing on in the Word for this season, I felt we would do well to read through one of the Gospels. We’ve got 8 Sundays left before we enter Advent (Advent covers the 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas, and begins on November 29 this year), so we’re going to see if we can work our way through the Gospel of Mark over the next 8 Sundays. Mark has 16 chapters, so we’re going to have to move quickly, and we won’t be able to do a deep dive on every verse like some of us love to do, but I think we’ll be able to enjoy some great spiritual feasting over the next 8 weeks together. For now, if you can find the time, I’d suggest you read through chapters 1 and 2 of Mark before Sunday morning.
Men’s Breakfast and Women’s Walk Next Saturday
The ladies will meet at the Batiquitos Lagoon Nature Center (7380 Gabbiano Lane, Carlsbad) at 9am Saturday, October 10th. This is such a pretty walk around the lagoon. Please let Kathy Green know if you plan to attend 760.583.1779
The Men of Grace will be meeting next Saturday, October 10, at 8am for our monthly breakfast. After some delicious food and fellowship, we’ll spend some time worshiping the Lord together in song, and then Chaplain Jason DiPinto will bring challenging and inspirational word to help us continue to grow as men of God. Looking forward to seeing you there, guys.
2026 Women’s Retreat November 6-8
“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us your salvation.” — Psalm 85:6-7
Solitude Practice Monday Nights in October
Coming up this Monday, we start our “Solitude” study in the “Practicing The Way” series. A number of us went through the “Practicing The Way” materials this year, and now we are doing 4-week “Practice” groups that cover what have come to be known as “spiritual disciplines”. If you want to become good at anything in the natural realm, you need to practice it, often with some consistent discipline. Similarly if we want to grow as apprentices of Jesus, we can engage in various practices that help our spiritual muscle memory become more like Jesus. Our next “Practice” in the Practicing the Way Course will be the practice of Solitude. We’ll meet Monday nights beginning Monday, October 5th for 4 weeks, at Jeanie Isbell’s (3305 Belle Lane, Carlsbad) 6-8:30pm. We’ll gather at 6pm for a meal and the study will begin at 6:30. Workbooks are $15. Please text Kim Ohst for more information 760-519-4558. There will be a sign up table in the lobby. I’d love it if you checked out the Practicing the Way material at https://www.practicingtheway.org/.
C4C Golf Tournament and Banquet
We are excited to announce the Fourth Annual C4C Charity Golf Tournament coming up next Saturday, October 10! If you’re unfamiliar with “Convicted For Christ Ministries”, check out their webpage for more info right here: https://www.convicted4christ.org/. C4C was birthed out of our church family, and we love this partnership. If you golf, join in the fun and help raise support for the ministry by registering for the tournament right here: https://www.convicted4christ.org/4th-annual-golf-for-hope-fundraiser. If you don’t golf, No Problem — just come for the banquet portion. I have registered for it myself…just go to https://www.convicted4christ.org/4th-annual-golf-for-hope-fundraiser and click on “Dinner for One”.
Encounter 2026 at Frontwave Arena
For the last 5 years, churches all over North County have been gathering in November at the Oceanside Pier Amphitheater for a night of worship called Encounter, and honestly, they’ve been really awesome events. This year, the event is moving to Oceanside’s Frontwave Arena. Check out this promo video made with some of our local pastors:
Missions Trip to Malaysia
Our Malaysia Mission Team is leaving October 11-November 3rd. We have a 3-person team with Steve & Lisa Rogers and Mark Newell. We all want to support them as they represent Grace Vineyard bringing the good news of Jesus and the power of God’s Kingdom to Malaysia. We can support them in prayer, in the powerful simplicity of encouraging words, and in financial support. The budget for this trip is $4,000 per person; if you’d like to partner financially, you can make an online donation at gracevcf.org/donate-malaysia. We’ve made a lot of progress on raising support for the trip cost the last few weeks, but we have a ways to go and they will be leaving next Sunday, so please pray about making a donation!
I look forward to being with you all for worship tomorrow morning! If for some reason you are not able to join us in person, here’s the info you need for joining us online: 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.
I have one final note to bring you today about our benevolence fund.
Benevolence Fund Donations Needed
As I started typing this paragraph, I remembered the message that Abbey Tugaw brought our congregation back on July 19th of this year. She called the message “Giving” and brought us an understanding of God’s covenant promises around giving. In recent weeks, we’ve had quite a few requests from people needing financial assistance. We call those kinds of gifts “benevolence”, and we are all invited to make donations designated “benevolence offering” in addition to our regular tithing so we have funds available when those needs are brought to our attention. Our benevolence fund has been depleted, so I am encouraging you to think and pray about giving a benevolence offering this month in addition to your regular tithes. I love this Proverb: “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.” (Proverbs 19:17) If you would like to give an offering to our benevolence fund (or building fund, or missions fund, or anything else other than your tithe) just click the donation button at the end of this email, and when it gives you a place to leave a note, just type “benevolence” (or “building”, or “missions”, or whatever is fitting). If you’d like to watch Abbey’s sermon from July 19, you can catch it here: https://youtu.be/yHnYseovofU?si=bG08FkzgiMD-8vJU.
Blessings and love to each or 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.