Weekly Update 04-26-2025

April 26, 2025

Good morning, Grace Vineyard family and friends of Grace.

Loving Well!  Occasionally someone will ask me what my vision is for our church, and we have in the past crafted sentences and “mottos” and vision/mission statements (you can see them here at gracevcf.org/about, if you’re interested).  But lately I’ve found myself unofficially saying that my personal vision and mission for my life and for our Grace Vineyard family is just 2 words: love well.  And isn’t that basically what Jesus said was what was really important – love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, AND love your neighbor as yourself….all the law and the prophets hang on these 2 commands?  It’s easy to remember, isn’t it, “Love Well!”  2 words that encapsulate what we hope to become.

We’ve just had 3 great worship gatherings focused on the events of Easter Weekend – Good Friday Reflection Service, Palm Sunday, and Resurrection Sunday.  Our hearts’ focus has been so wonderfully centered on Jesus’ great, saving work on the cross and the inauguration of the renewal of all things with His resurrection, that we may have forgotten that we are still in the middle of an equipping series on Sunday mornings called “God’s Empowering Presence”.

We began exploring Gifts of The Spirit 2 sessions ago, and I’m going to pick up where we left off when we meet again together tomorrow.  For today I’m reminding myself  of this overarching truth – the gifts of the Spirit have this same goal in mind: loving well.  All of the expressions of God’s Empowering Presence within us empower and equip us to love and worship God (“worship in Spirit and truth”), and to love in very impactful ways everyone around us.  No wonder the Bible urges us to earnestly desire spiritual gifts.  I hope you’ll be with us at 9:30 tomorrow morning, but if you can’t be here in person, 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.

I’ve got 3 media sources for you this week.  First, the Youtube and the Podcast for last Sunday’s sermon right here:

And just yesterday I discovered for the first time an old video of John Wimber talking about healing ministry on a Christian television talk show from 1988.  It’s a really great long form interview that I’d love for you all to hear.  You’ll recognize the values that we still talk about in Vineyard churches today.  I love how John emphasizes the need to continually be in the Word, obey the Word, and put into practice the call of the Great Commission (which includes healing the sick).  Check it out right here:

 

As always, there’s a lot going on in the life of our church family in the coming days. Here’s some of the details you’ll need to know:

Steve & David Leave For Asia on Monday!

Steve Rogers and David Yoder will be leaving for Malaysia and Indonesia on April 28th through May 20th.   We will be praying for them in the service on Sunday morning.  Here’s a short summary of the plans of their trip…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 still have some money to raise to cover the cost of the trip (which I think is $4,000).  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.

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.

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

Women’s Clothing and Shoes Collection

For the month of April, we are collecting gently used women’s clothing (all sizes) and shoes (especially professional shoes with low heels) for the ladies of the Family Recovery Center, so this is the last Sunday of our collection.  Bring your donations and place them in the labelled basket in the lobby.  Please call Kim Ohst for more information at 760.519.4558.

Clothing Sorting Saturday, May 3rd 10:30-12:30

We are looking for volunteers to help sort the clothing we’ve been gathering for the FRC ladies.  Please let Kim Ohst know if you can help 760-519-4558.

Family Recovery Center Dinner (FRC) Saturday May 10th

We will be decorating and serving a blessing dinner at the FRC, a residential drug treatment program for moms.  We need men to help walk the ladies to dinner and people to bring Italian themed food: pasta dishes, bread, salad.  We did this dinner last year and it was loved by the ladies, I hope you’ll join us.  Set up for the dinner at the FRC (1100 Sportfisher Dr., Oceanside) at 1pm.  Food delivered by 3:30.  Dinner will be served at 4pm.  For more information, see the sign up table in the lobby or call Kim Ohst 760-519-4558.

 

I think that pretty much covers everything we need to know for now.  Don’t forget that we’re in need of funds to repair our GRACE sign and to replace the broken A/C system in our youth room.  Our goal is $4,000 for the A/C and $12,000 for the sign.  We are so blessed to own our building in downtown Oceanside, the jewel of San Diego.  But with the blessing comes responsibility, and it belongs to all of us who call Grace Vineyard home, so I hope you will consider partnering with us this week – just mention “building fund” when you make your donation.  And if you believe in the principal of tithing, this is a good time of the year to review your tithing and see if you have been giving everything you intended to. I say that only because I recently did that and I discovered that I had accidentally missed a couple of weeks when I intended to give but got distracted (and that really impacts what we do together when a few of us make the same mistake I made!)
I love being in this Grace Vineyard family with you!  I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll see you in the morning.
with love and blessings,

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.