October 31, 2026
Hello Grace Vineyard Family and Friends!
Who doesn’t love an extra hour of sleep?!
I gotta admit, I’m generally not a big fan of daylight savings time…until we get to “fall back”. I do love an extra hour of sleep at the end of October ever year. Just thought I’d mention it here so none of us forget. Enjoy that extra sleep!
Calling All Women – Don’t let money stop you from coming to the Retreat!
We really want all our women to be able to come to our Revival at the Well retreat. The retreat team has praying and planning and crafting and working many hours to put on a spectacular weekend for you. It’s possible that some of our ladies want to come, but are hitting a financial speed bump — if that’s you, please call/text/email Kim Ohst right away, and we can probably come up with a way to get you there. Her contact info is 760-519-4558/kimohst@gmail.com. We are now right at the finish line. The Retreat is next Week! Please take a moment to register right now by going to https://gracevcf.org/revival-at-the-well-retreat/ You can also register tomorrow at church.
A little more about the retreat: All women are invited to retreat to the mountains at the beautiful Palomar Christian Conference Center, and enjoy worship, teaching, creativity, rest and restoration, featuring worship with Ammee and the ladies of Grace, and teaching with Sommer Crayton. Sommer is a licensed minister, Christian coach, and founder of Set Apart Society — a women’s discipleship ministry devoted to helping women grow deeper in Christ — Sommer has a heart for biblical teaching, spiritual renewal, and authentic transformation. She encourages women to encounter God, embrace His truth, and live set apart for His purpose. The registration fee is $230, which includes lodging and all your meals for the weekend.
Lessons From Planting Seeds and Reaping Harvests
I hope you are all being encouraged and inspired as we learn from the Gospel of Mark week by week. I know I am. Last Sunday we started in the 4th chapter of Mark where we listened to Jesus teach us in parables. This week we’ll continue with 2 more parables that make use of the image of planting seeds and reaping harvests, so I’m simply calling this one “Lessons from Planting Seeds and Reaping Harvests”. As I’ve been reading and studying the topic, I was reminded of an old and really fun song by Keith Green called “He’ll Take Care of the Rest”. In one part, Keith sings, “Just keep doing your best, and pray that’s blessed, and Jesus takes care of the rest…” If you don’t know the song, enjoy a quick listen right here:
The message of the song is basically about trusting God with what you can’t control and doing what you’ve been called to do. I think that is one of the lessons of Jesus’ parable about the Growing Seed in Mark 4: 26-29. Jesus says, “a man scattered seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows….”. It’s a lesson that takes the pressure and responsibility to make things happen off of me, and lets me rest in God’s generosity and faithfulness.
We’ll also take a broader look at some of the other places in the Bible where the Holy Spirit uses this metaphor of planting seeds and reaping harvests to teach some important lessons to us. I hope to see you all in the morning, but if 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.
If you’d like to catch last week’s talk from the first part of Mark 4, here it is on our Gracetalks.org podcast and our Grace Vineyard Youtube Channel:
Next Sunday is Encounter Worship Night!
Encounter Night is coming up soon on Sunday, November 8. I’d love to see a bunch of us from Grace Vineyard show up for this multi-church worship and prayer event at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside. The event is free, including parking, but you need to reserve tickets in advance. Click here to Get your tickets before it fills up! Bring the whole family and come early to enjoy dinner from Tanner’s Prime Burgers and other great food options available at the arena. Doors open at 5pm and the event begins at 6pm.
Our friends at Convicted for Christ Ministries are putting on a Complete Thanksgiving Meal with Turkey and all the fixings the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 27, at 1:30 PM. We Need Your Help to Make Thanksgiving Special! Convicted 4 Christ Ministries is inviting our church family and members of the community to come together as we prepare to serve a wonderful Thanksgiving meal to our friends in the park. Thanksgiving is about more than sharing a meal. It’s about sharing love, kindness, fellowship, and reminding people that they are not forgotten. We want our friends to know that they are valued, that they belong, and that they are part of our community. We are asking for volunteers to sign up to contribute food, help prepare the meal, or lend a helping hand during the event. Look for a table in the lobby after church to sign up. This is going to be AWESOME!
Operation Christmas Child
Have you ever heard about Operation Christmas Child? The Samaritan’s Purse project Operation Christmas Child collects shoebox gifts filled with fun toys, school supplies and personal care items—and delivers them to children in need around the world to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way. For many of these children, the gift filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received.
Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, has collected and delivered more than 244 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 175 countries and territories.
In 2025, Samaritan’s Purse collected 12.2 million shoebox gifts globally.
It’s an amazing and incredibly fruitful program, and we are joining Christians from all over the U.S. to pack these gift shoeboxes. You can pick up your Operation Christmas Child Shoebox in the lobby this week where you can find all the info you need. You can also find tons more information at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
Enjoy the rest of your evening, and I’ll see you in the morning! It’s going to be great to be together again!
Blessings to each of you,
Ron Ohst
P.S.
During this time of year, requests for financial help generally increase, and our Benevolence Fund is pretty much empty. Your generosity during this season is appreciated and essential! If you are able (not under compulsion or pressure, but out of your ability and your generous heart), please click on the donate button at the bottom of this page.
Here’s a fitting blessing from the apostle Paul who was making a plea for financial gifts to help the poor in his day:
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. (2 Corinthins 9:10-12)
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.