October 7, 2022

Hello Grace Vineyard and friends.  It’s time for my weekly newsletter-email.  This time I’ll start with some reminders of things we are doing together this weekend:

Men’s Breakfast is Tomorrow

We’ll be at Ty’s Burgerhouse, 515 Mission Ave, at 8am for great food, fellowship, worship, and and inspirational message. I’m excited for you to meet my friend Jeff Ross at this breakfast.  Jeff works with Urban Youth Collaborative and is absolutely on fire for Jesus as he empowers Christian youth in middle school and high school to run student-led ministries on their campuses.  He’s all about making disciples of today’s youth, and it comes from his amazing story of encountering Jesus in a very dark place.  You are going to love his excitement and his amazing story.  Join us Saturday morning at 8am!

Ladies Hosp Grove Walk

Saturday is also our day for another Ladies walk/hike. Meet at the Hosp Grove playground off Jefferson at 9 am. Please call Kathy Green at 760-583-1779 and confirm if you plan to attend!

Retreat Work Day Saturday

After the ladies walk/hike,  All the ladies who’d like to help with retreat preparations are welcome at the Ohst home (4965 Calle Sobrado, Oceanside 92056) from 11am-3pm.   We’ll be making decorations, centerpieces and name tags.  You can call/text Kim for more details 760.519.4558.

Sidewalk Worship

We’re going to take our worship to the front of the Regal theater tomorrow afternoon. We’ll meet in the lobby at Grace Vineyard at 2:30pm. We’ll pray for a bit and then walk over to the Regal theater courtyard where we’ll worship and connect with people that are in the area.   If you haven’t done so already, please let Susan Franke know that you’re coming so that she can make sure to have lyrics ready for you so you can sing along with the worship. You can call/text her at 760-419-2273.

Sunday Morning

This Sunday I plan on completing our journey through 2 Timothy.  I was so impressed last Sunday when I polled the congregation for things you have learned, and you guys got an A+!  In the closing words of this important letter, Paul, by word and by example, teaches us how to finish well.   His words have become quite well known: “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).  As we hear these final instructions about how to guard the treasure that has been entrusted to us, I’m hoping we will learn some tools we can apply to our lives so that we too will be able to say that – we have fought the good fight, we have finished the race, we have kept the faith.

Do any of you still say, “Thank God It’s Friday”?  This has been one of those difficult weeks, and I suppose when some folks say “TGIF” they mean, “Thank God the week’s finally over.”  I’m not thinking that in this case.  In fact, I try to start out every day with words of thanksgiving that say, “The Lord made this day, therefore I will rejoice and be exceedingly glad in it, cuz the Lord has made it a good day.”   Nevertheless, this has been a difficult week. Most of you know by now that on Tuesday our dear brother, our assistant pastor,  Steve Rogers lost both his mother and his sister on the same day.  I’m still stunned.  I’m reminded of Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 –

“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot…
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance…”

This is a time to mourn, but it’s also a time to share the comfort of our Father in heaven, who in fact is called “The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) Our mourning is mixed with the sweetness of His comfort and Presence, and I suppose that makes it bittersweet.  The Lord walks with us through our darkest valleys, and in times like these, our spiritual family, the body of Christ, walks with us as well.  For all of us, I think we do well to remember our part in that verse from 2 Corinthians — “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  May each of us overflow to those around us with the fullness of grace that we ourselves have experienced from the hand of God.

If you’re reading this, Steve and Lisa, We Love You!  And we are carrying you in our prayers.

I look forward to being with you, my family, this coming Sunday morning as we worship together, learn together, pray together, and encourage each other in the journey God has for us.  For the convenience of those who cannot make it in person, here’s the info you need to join us online via zoom:  Zoom Meeting ID  153 112 432, Passcode 684814.

With love and blessings to each of you,

Ron Ohst