October 28, 2023
Greetings, Grace Vineyard and Friends of Grace Vineyard.
It’s Saturday afternoon and time for me to get my weekly email out to you. I’ve got just a few things to mention this week.
First, thanks for all your prayers and support these past months for the Daughters of Destiny Women’s Retreat held last weekend. The women had an incredible time. It takes a lot of time and effort to put one of these weekends together, but it sounds like it was well worth it. The women were blessed, encouraged, built up, and inspired. I look forward to hearing more stories from you all!
Beach Baptism November 5th
Secondly, I’m excited to let you know that we are having a baptism at the beach after church next Sunday, November 5th. We’ll try to do it at 12 noon, and we’ll be meeting North of the Pier at the cement picnic table. After the baptism we’ll all enjoy some barbecued hamburgers and a picnic lunch. We’ll buy and grill the burgers and everyone else is invited to bring side dishes to share. Tomorrow morning we’ll hear more details in church. I’ve heard there are are 9 new Christians wanting to make a public profession of their faith as they enter the waters. This is a big deal, so I hope all of us who are able will be there to welcome them in to the family!!
The Wisdom of Compassion
And the last thing I wanted to tell you about is what we’ll be talking about in my message tomorrow morning. The book of Proverbs in the Bible is a collection of wise sayings brought together to impart wisdom, especially to people who were in positions of leadership, but applicable to all people. I’m going to take us through many Proverbs and many other scriptures to learn about the Wisdom of Compassion for the poor, a topic mentioned many times in this book of wisdom. Jesus began His public ministry with these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” When Paul brought his gospel to the apostles in Jerusalem, he said that they validated his message and his ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles, and they asked only one thing of him: that he would remember the poor (see Galatians 2:10). God’s big heart and concern for the poor, oppressed, and needy of our world is described over and over again from the Old to the New Testaments. Wise people know God’s heart of Compassion and make it their own. I hope we will all be encouraged and inspired as we open the Word together. I hope to see you at 9:30, but if for some reason you can’t join us in person, you can join us online via zoom with this info: Zoom Meeting ID 153 112 432, Passcode 684814. You may also join us on Facebook Live at facebook.com/gracevcf.
Enjoy the rest of your Saturday. I’m gonna go watch my son play rugby against USC! Should be a fun afternoon. See you in the morning.
With love and blessings to each of you,
Ron Ohst
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