March 29, 2025
Hello Grace Vineyard Family and Friends of Grace Vineyard,
It’s another beautiful day in Oceanside…have you been outside today?! We are so blessed to be able to live here. I hope you’ve had a good week, and are ready to finish off our last Sunday in March as we roll into April this coming week. Tomorrow is Sunday, and when we get together I’m planning to spend some more time learning about “God’s Empowering Presence”. We’re going to begin exploring the gifts of the Spirit tomorrow.
There are at least 4 different places where the Bible gives a list of gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to followers of Jesus. The most well-known is 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 where the Apostle Paul lists 9 different spiritual gifts. But just a little while later at 1 Corinthians 12:28-30 he gives another but different list. in Romans 12:3-8 he gives yet another list, this time mentions 7 spiritual gifts. Then in Ephesians 4:11 Paul gives a list of spiritually empowered ministry gifts for equipping the church in the works of ministry. Peter also mentions some spiritual gifts in 1 Peter 4:10-11. It seems apparent that none of these are meant to be “the definitive list of spiritual gifts”, but rather teaching about the ways the Holy Spirit makes Himself known (manifests Himself) and continues Jesus’ ministry of words and works by giving special empowered gifts of grace to us. Given that there are all these places where the Bible talks about spiritual gifts, you can see that there’s a lot of material for us to learn from. I’m looking forward to getting into it with you tomorrow morning. If you can’t come in person on Sunday morning, 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.
Last week we talked about the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us together as one, as an answer to the prayer of Jesus. If you’d like to hear that talk, you can watch right here on our YouTube channel:
Or listen on our GraceTalks.org podcast right here:
Here are some happenings that I want to make you aware of:
National Day of Prayer is May 1st.
Our May 1 Oceanside National Day of Prayer event, from 6:00 – 7:15 pm, will be at the El Corazon Senior Center courtyard. We’ll gather with Christians from all over Oceanside, and be led in prayer by a number of local pastors (including yours truly). I think those of you that were with us last year will agree that it is a really great event. I hope you’ll try to join us.
Vineyard National Conference West June 16-20
People from the Vineyard churches all over the United States are getting together this summer for our national conference. There will be a conference on the West side of the country in Denver, Colorado on June 16-20, and there will be one on the East side in Cincinatti, Ohio July 14-17. I am planning on going to the Denver conference, and I’d love it if a bunch of you joined me. There is great programming for the kids too. For all the info, check out it out at https://conference.vineyardusa.org/
Breath of Heaven Golf Tournament Fund Raiser
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: Golfing for our Breath of Heaven children at Bear Creek Golf Club – Murrieta, CA
Come May 1, 2025 at 1PM for our Golf Tournament at the exclusive, members-only Bear Creek Golf Course!
Registration is OPEN TODAY! Join us for this special fundraiser benefiting Breath of Heaven Children’s Ministries, supporting orphans in Lusaka, Zambia.
Pricing Options:
Individual Golfer: $199
Foursome Package: $755 (Save $41!)
Dinner-Only: $55
Don’t miss this perfect opportunity to enjoy a spring day on this prestigious PGA course while making a meaningful difference in children’s lives!
Questions Contact Tom LaManna at 951-296-7530 or tom.lamanna@bofheaven.org
Steve Rogers’ Mission Trip to Indonesia
Steve Rogers will be joined by David Yoder for a missions trip to Malaysia and Indonesia April 28th to May 19th. The leader of Vineyard Missions-Asia has asked Steve to do a ground breaking trip for Vineyard Missions in Malaysia — what an honor! This is like reading the book of Acts — Steve and David will be breaking fresh ground walking the streets in prayer, meeting everyone they can, seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance for divine appointments. We need to be praying for the team starting NOW. In Indonesia they will meet up with a couple of young Christians that Steve has been discipling online since his last trip there. They are graduating from the Vineyard Institute in Bekasi, Indonesia, and have invited Steve to come to the graduation. These 2 have asked Steve to come to their home towns to meet their families and friends and pray together about starting Churches there. Prayer is essential for all of this work! In addition, there is a practical way we can join in this missions trip: they need to raise $4,000 by April 15th. To donate either bring an offering to church and write “Steve’s Mission’s Fund on the check memo line or the offering envelope, OR click on this link: Steve’s Missions Fund.
Speaking of Missions Trips – I’m beginning to make plans for a trip back to Zambia this coming summer (probably around the 1st 2 weeks of August). If you are interested in joining me, let’s talk!
Easter Meal at the North County Lighthouse
On April 12th we will be serving the unsheltered community at The North County Lighthouse (San Diego Rescue Mission in Oceanside, also known as a the Navigation Center). It is from 3:00-6:30pm on Saturday, April 12. We need people to help with Easter Egg Hunt, making Easter Baskets for the kids, and providing drinks, desserts, and salads (the rest of the meal will be provided by SDRM). Venita will have a sign up table in the lobby this Sunday morning. Please contact Venita for more info at 760-573-4429. You can find out more about the North County Light house at https://www.sdrescue.org/what-we-do/oceanside/
Speaking of Easter, we will tell you more soon, but we are planning on having a Good Friday service on April 18th in the evening. For now, mark you calendars!
And that’s all for now.
With blessings and 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.