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Love your neighbor Part 15 Don’t hold a grudge

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love your neighbor part 15In this blog series we want to show you that it is actually really easy to make an impact where you live. We hope you start to see that more by reading this series!

One of the last things Jesus did on the cross was forgiving the people that put him there. It is very interesting to think that Jesus put such a value on demonstrating the need of not holding a grudge. And when you think about it you realize that whatever anyone did to you, it probably doesn’t come close to this moment in Luke 23.34.

But why did Jesus focus so much on this Point? If you want relationships and friendships to work, you can’t hold things against each other. It is important to let go of things. If you always have in the back of your head the comment that was made about how your house is not as clean or your garden isn’t weeded well enough, you will not be able to go deeper in relationship. The most loving thing to you and your neighbor at this point is to forgive and move forward. Relationships can bring up things that are hurtful, and that is also true for relationships with neighbors.

Also remember, sometimes you have to forgive a lot till you see change. Jesus said to forgive 7 times 70 (Matthew 18.22). That pretty much means always!

To have true relationship we can’t keep holding a grudge!

  1. Ask God what grudges you are holding against neighbors or people in your life!
  2. Forgive them for that and have a new beginning.
  3. See how your relationship and the way you see that person will improve!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a great week. Last week we were teaching our students and a friend from our church here on how to love the neighborhood they are living in and to bring hope through the gospel. Pray that God will use the teaching to let it go deeper into their hearts so they start doing it.

Jen and I also had a wonderful week together as well. We started to study the bible specifically on the life of Jesus together to learn new things about him. It will be a wonderful time!

First of all thank you to all who support us in our work here! You are a huge blessing to us! May god bless you richly!

Here a request! Over the last few months we lost about $287 in monthly support through changes of circumstances in peoples lives. So at this point we need about $1560 more in monthly support to be fully funded. We want to ask for your help in sharing with people you know that have a heart for missions and would be interested in joining our support team. Of course if you are not a part of it you are welcome to join as well! When you click on this link you find out more how to do that. Thank you for all your help in this area.

Remember this week to forgive people that you hold a grudge against!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

P.s. We just wanted to share this beautiful song with you! Enjoy

https://youtu.be/xX15hq2VxdQ

Love your neighbor Part 14 Be Interdependent 2

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love your neighbor part 14In this blog series we want to show you that it is actually really easy to make an impact where you live. We hope you start to see that more by reading this series!

In the second week of our series I touched a little bit on that topic, but today I want to go a little bit deeper into it because it is such a key!

One of the values of America is independence. But is that always a good thing? When we are too independent we end up separating ourselves from others. We miss the opportunity for relationship. I think a better way to live would be to be more interdependent. Being interdependent opens the door for vulnerability. It says I can’t or don’t have it all and I need you.

How could that look like? Here an example:  If a neighbor has all the tools you can go over and borrow the tool you need from him. But then the other way around if your neighbor doesn’t know how to use some of his tools you can help him out in either way doing the task for him, or teaching him how to use it. That is easy to do, but it takes a step in saying I need you. When you take those steps it opens the door for a deeper relationship. But you also have to be careful how you approach things like that. Don’t go over and show off in how amazing you are by having all those tools or in how you know how to use them all. No those things have to come out of humility.

The step of saying I need you is a step of saying I invite you more into my life.

  1. Are you ready to take that step with your neighbors?
  2. Are you ready to be open and show your needs but also give the things you have?
  3. Go for it!

Hey our friend

Marine Headlands HikeWe hope you had a fantastic week. Jen and I were able to spend a day hiking which was amazing. Every Sunday a city bus is heading towards Marine Headlands, an area across the Golden gate bridge which is all nature. The funny thing that happened was that we brought the bus fare for the way there, but we left one of our wallets at home which had the fare for the way back. So what did we do? We hiked about 12 miles back into the city across the Golden Gate bridge. It was a wonderful time.

We also had another wonderful neighbor brunch and a game night at our house. A lot of people came, which some of them we haven’t seen for a long time. It was really good to reconnect. Our DTS Students are doing well as well which is awesome to see. Please keep them in your prayers!

First of all Thank you to all who support us in our work here! You are a huge blessing to us! May god bless you richly!

But here a request! Over the last few months we lost about $287 in monthly support through changes of circumstances in peoples lives. So at this point we need about $1560 more in monthly support to be fully funded. We want to ask for your help in sharing with people you know that have a heart for missions and would be interested in joining our support team. Of course if you are not a part of it you are welcome to join as well! When you click on this link you find out more how to do that. Thank you for all your help in this area.

Remember this week to take a step into being more vulnerable and open. It will change your life!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Love your neighbor Part 11 Be real

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love your neighbor part 11In this blog series we want to show you that it is actually really easy to make an impact where you live. We hope you start to see that more by reading this series!

Last week we wrote about a book called Bo’s Café and how it talked about relationships. Another aspect it touches is how to have true friendships in which you can show your true face and you are still loved and accepted. The book shares the story of a man who had some real issues in his life and he ends up meeting a guy and a group of other people who keep loving and accepting him, but also help him to grow.

So how do you translate this into relationships with neighbors? Very easy. Just be who you really are. Don’t put on a fake mask. If you have a hard day or go through a struggle be real about it, because over time that opens the door for them to do the same. Also share about wonderful things happening and also just normal life, that shows that you are a real person in good and bad. It cuts down on expectations for people that if they become a Christian they have to be perfect and that would not be reality. Also being real opens the door for true love. How can you truly love people or how can they truly love you if they just know the fake mask. Look at Jesus, he showed how he felt anger (kicking out the merchants in the temple), grief (when Lazarus died) etc. What did it do for Him and his ministry? It opened the door for people to be real as well and it opened up a deeper relationship (see disciples).

Of course there is also a caution with that. You don’t share your deepest secrets with someone you just met. Of course it needs to come out of the level of relationship that exists. Jesus showed it well with his disciples, he shared the deepest things with them, but not necessarily with the 5000 people crowd.

Chew on those questions:

  1. What holds me back from being real?
  2. How can I be more real with my neighbors and people in my life?

Hey our friend

We hope you had a fantastic week. Jen and I were working this week a lot on admin stuff. It is important to do that to keep the ministry running. Jen is also hosting the bookclub this coming Monday so she was doing some cleaing for that as well.

But that is all ministry. Whatever you do to further the kingdom is ministry. So don’t look at certain jobs as more or as less important. Each one is equally needed.

Remember that this week when you do your job that God called you to!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Love your neighbor Part 10 Be there for each other

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Love your neighbor Part 10In this blog series we want to show you that it is actually really easy to make an impact where you live. We hope you start to see that more by reading this series!

I just finished reading a book that a friend recommended to us called Bo’s Café (click on the link to find it on amazon) since it goes along with what we are doing as a ministry in SF. It is a Novel that tells a story of real friendships and how you walk alongside with each other in good and bad times. I believe that this is a key to greater relationships with your neighbors as well. But how do we do that?

I think one of the key things is just to be available and being there for people. That could look different in different circumstances. Sometimes it means to celebrate with them the birth of a child or a birthday, other times it might be grieving with them through the loss of a loved one or a job. The key phrase is be there for each other. But the same is true the other way around. When you go through good or bad seasons in your life you should also be at a place with them that you could easily walk over and know that they will be there for you.

But how do you establish a relationship like that? Read more about that in our next blog!

But for this week ask yourself these questions:

  1. What do I actually know about how my neighbors are doing?
  2. What effort do I take to find out how they are doing?
  3. Do I know my neighbors birthdays and make sure to remember that day?

Take an action to move towards that!

 Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week and started well into this new month! Our work here in San Francisco is going well. Soon the students for the fall DTS are joining us to work with the boys and girls club here in North Beach. Pray that God will use them to be a blessing to the children in the Club. Our heart for their time here is, to see the students get excited about reaching their own neighborhoods back home with the tools they learn here.

Last weekend we had a wonderful neighbor brunch which is always a great way to connect with neighbors and get to know them more. We love our community here!

Remember this week that one part of life is about giving and taking!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

https://youtu.be/J4VqGsSc8MI

Love your neighbor Part 9 Do things together

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Yosemite 2015Love your neighbor Part 9In this blog series we want to show you that it is actually really easy to make an impact where you live. We hope you start to see that more by reading this series!

One thing that is really fun and a good way to get to know your new friends even better is to do things together. You might ask now what do you mean with that? So as an example: Every year we have different fairs and parades in our city. We mostly go to the ones in our neighborhood. So instead of going by ourselves we just invite our neighbors to join us. Its that simple.

The great thing about this is, that somebody else sets everything up for you and all you have to do is show up. I think that is pretty awesome and easy. With times like that you actually get to know each other better since you are removed from all the usual environments you are normally in. That opens the door for a new way of learning new things about each other. Another great thing with that is, that you might get to know some friends of your neighbors too.

We believe being invited by someone always makes you feel more special and shows you that you are wanted.

One thing that is really important in this is to keep inviting your new friends. Don’t quit inviting them just because they couldn’t make it a few times. Keep inviting even if it takes a while for people to come.

  1. Brainstorm and think about events that you could invite your neighbors to.
  2. Invite them and keep inviting them even if they cant make it the first time!

Hey our friend

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We hope your week was fantastic!! Jen and I took a short 3 day vacation to Yosemite National Park. It was amazing. If you click here you can see some more pictures.

For the next few weeks our life will be a bit busier since we have a block party coming up at the 20th of September and Jen is greatly involved in the planning process. Pray for Gods strength and guidance for her. Last years block party was a lot of fun and it was a great way neighbors got to meet each other.

Think about ways how neighbors could meet each other in your community!

Remember that God wants to use you in your area of influence!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen