Weekly Update 10-25-2025

October 25, 2025

Hello Grace Vineyard Family and Friends of Grace!

It’s Saturday afternoon and time for this week’s Weekly Update.  So Let’s get started…

How Washing Each Other’s Feet Helps Us Get Real

3 weeks ago we began exploring the biblical ideas behind our Grace Vineyard identity statement, that we began calling “The 3 R’s of Grace” that we state like this:

Real God

God is alive! When we meet He shows up, and we experience Him through His Word, His Spirit and each other.

“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.”
– Matthew 18:20 NASB

Real People

Come as you are. We grow by getting real with God and others in genuine, caring relationships.

“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
– Acts 2:46-47

Restoring Lives

Give it away. We freely share the truth, love and power of Jesus to heal and restore broken lives.

“For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you…”
– 2 Corinthians 5:19-20

The 2nd week (last week) we focused on God’s Part and Our Part as it relates to the “Real God” principle, and this week I plan on focusing on the “Real People” aspect.

As I’ve been praying, I felt like the Holy Spirit urged me to read the “Upper Room Discourse” that starts in John 13.  The first thing that happens there is Jesus’ washing of the apostles’ feet at the last supper.  He says a couple of interesting things about what he did.  The first is in a conversation with Peter, where Peter tells Jesus in no uncertain terms that it’s not gonna happen.  Jesus responds, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”  Peter then goes all in and says, “Then Lord, not just my feet, but my hands and head as well!”  Then Jesus says this very interesting thing:  “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean.”   It sounds like Jesus is saying something like He has really cleansed us when we put our faith in Him, but our “feet”, so to speak, get dirty as we walk through this world, and they’re gonna need regular cleaning. Finally, Jesus tells them all that from now on He wants them to wash each other’s feet.  The whole thing is full of symbolism, and as I’ve contemplated what it might mean for us to “wash each other’s feet”, I’ve felt like taking this posture of helping wash off the grime that gets on us while we live in this present evil age is an important key for how to live out the “Real People” aspect of the Three R’s of Grace.  That’s what I think we are supposed to explore together tomorrow morning. If you can’t be there in person, the next best thing is to join us on line. Here’s the info for that:  you can 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.

Here’s the sermon video from last week to get us all on the same page as we head in to tomorrow:

Women’s Retreat Is Almost Here!

Our 2025 Women’s Retreat is in just a couple weeks on November 14-16 in Pine Valley.  Our guest speaker is Blair Fabry and our theme this year is “When Trees Walk – Lessons in Spiritual Sight”, from Mark 8:22-26.  There will be a sign up table in the lobby with all the info you need to get registered. Please stop by this Sunday, or contact Kim Ohst at text/call: 760-519-4558, email:kimohst@gmail.com.  Private bath lodges are $270, shared bathroom lodges are $250 and dorm rooms are $215.  There are a limited number of Private Bath Lodges available.  You can pay online or place money/checks in the offering, or even pay at the Retreat Info table on Sunday morning.  When paying online or in the offering, please note that the payment is for the retreat.  In order to reserve the appropriate room, please email and let Kim know what kind of room you are reserving when you make a payment.  Kim will confirm with you if that type of room is available.  $50 deposit will hold the room.  You can see more info about the retreat by clicking here.

We are fundraising for Scholarships for the women’s retreat so that money is not an issue for anyone who would like to go.  So, tomorrow after church we are having another Make and Bake Sale.  Baked Goods and Craft Items will be available, so bring your dollars or your credit cards and support our women!  I hope you also realize you could just make a donation for Women’s Retreat Scholarships.  If you wanted to do that using the donate button at the bottom of this Weekly Update, just put “Women’s Retreat Scholarship” in the part where that ask if you’d like to include a note with your donation.

Help Serve a Meal In the Park for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is about 4 weeks from now.  We’re going to be joining Convicted For Christ ministries to put on a Thanksgiving Dinner with all the fixings in Fireside Park on Friday of Thanksgiving week for our unsheltered neighbors.  That means we’ll need Turkeys, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, rolls, pies, etc, and especially we’ll need people who can help serve the meal.  It will be at 2PM on Friday, November 28th, at Fireside Park in Oceanside.  Michael and Brandi will be in the lobby on Sunday to help you get all signed up for what you’ll be bringing.

Operation Shoebox

We are in Operation Christmas Child season! If you don’t know much about this, please take a moment to click on this link: samaritanspurse.org/occ  We’re creating Christmas Gift Shoeboxes for boys and girls all over the world.  There’s a table in the lobby at church with all the info you’ll need, including boxes.  Check it out!

And I think that’s all I wanted to tell you about this week.  I look forward to worshiping with you all tomorrow morning!

With love and blessings,

Ron Ohst