January 17, 2025

Hello Grace Vineyard and Friends.

It’s time for my weekly update email, and I think I’m gonna keep this one pretty short.  Just want to give you a few things…

First, I just wanna say the first two Sundays of this year have been AWESOME.  We’re doing a series called “Enlarging Our Hearts”, as we focus on our call to global missions.  Last Sunday Sam Cerny was with us and shared a talk called “The Importance of All” from Matthew 28.  You can watch it right here on our Youtube channel:

Second, I want to give another reminder about renewing our individual commitments to missions this month.

We partner with the workers around the world to do the work of evangelism and disciple making.  We support those workers spiritually and practically by helping finance their work, sending teams to visit and join them in their work, praying for them consistently, encouraging them in regular communications, and inviting them to come in person and share their journey with us.  All of this is in fulfillment of the Great Commission of Jesus.  My dream is that every person who calls Grace Vineyard their home will have some connection to missions including a financial commitment. Even if it has to be very small, giving a monthly donation to missions points our hearts toward missions.  I know this is true because Jesus said that where our treasure is there our heart will also be.  I also know it’s true from a lifetime of experience (as I often tell you, I began supporting missions with monthly contributions when I was 17 years old, and I’ve never stopped, and I’ve never regretted it for a microsecond!).  So PLEASE, everyone of you who calls Grace Vineyard your home click on this link – 2025 Grace Missions Pledge Form – and let us know how you will be partnering with our missions ministry in 2025.  Please note that even if you were part of our missions ministry in 2024, we need you to fill out this form if you plan on renewing your commitment for 2025.  THANK YOU in advance for partnering in this vital ministry. Right now a Grace team is in Cambodia supporting Eddie and Bethany and ministering to the Cambodian people.  They are reporting some amazing ministry.  Here is a link to Brian’s journal with pictures. https://tinyurl.com/SliffesToCambodia.

International Potluck January 26

Third, I want to remind you that we will be completing our Missions Month with an International Potluck on January 26th right after church.  I bet all of you have something you make that is not from the U.S.  This Sunday please stop by the table in the lobby and sign up so we can know what you’ll be bringing.

IGY6 with Christian Twombly

I want to let you know that Christian Twombly will be bringing the message this Sunday.  The guys who were at the last men’s breakfast will know what “IGY6” means.  If you don’t know, you’ll just have to come to find out!  Christian opened up the scriptures in a really refreshing way for us men, and it was so good I asked him to share it with the entire congregation this Sunday.  I think we’re all going to be really inspired!

The Men’s Retreat Is On the Calendar!

Just one more thing — Men, I want to let you know that we are going to have a Men’s Retreat at Palomar Christian Conference Center on Palomar Mountain March 14-16.

Men, do me a favor and put this in your phone’s calendar right now – Men’s Retreat, March 14-16, 2025.  We’ve booked the coolest retreat center in San Diego.  The photo above is from Palomar Christian Conference Center’s webpage, and show’s somebody on the zip line.  There’s also skeet shooting with shot guns, horseback riding, hiking trails, rifle range, archery, paintball, and more.  And it’s in a beautiful mountain retreat.  If you’ve never been, check out their webpage at palomar.camp. And that’s just the location.  We’ll also have amazing times of worship, teaching, prayer….oh yeah, can’t forget that their food is the best.  Our men’s retreats at PCCC have always been awesome, and I’m so glad we’ll be returning in the Spring.  They having 2 styles of housing accommodations – dorm rooms and hotel style. We’ve been able to drop the prices  a bit, so now, the Dorm Rooms will cost $225, and the Hotel Style rooms will cost $280.  This will include all the food for the weekend too.  See Snake for more more information. You can contact him via text at ‪(760) 622-4572, email him at rertel777@gmail.com , or better yet, find him on Sunday morning.  And to make it easy to pay, our church office will let us pay monthly – if you pay $35/week starting this Sunday, you’ll be able to pay for the entire registration by the first week in March. (That’s 7 weeks, so you’d save $245 by the first week in March…you get the idea).  When you put money in the offering or give online, just put “Men’s Retreat” on the memo line of your check, or on the offering envelope, or in the online giving where you can specify what the payment is for.  This is going to be an AWESOME Spring!

And that’s it for this week’s update.

Have a great rest of your weekend!  If you can’t be with us in person on Sunday, 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.

And that’s it for me this week.  Our daughter Charissa is getting married this weekend and I have a lot of wonderful family activity to attend to!

Richest blessings to each of you, with lots of love,

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.