Tag Archives: hoffnung

Be a light

14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5.14-16

Recently we drove back to the city after dark. But even it was dark outside through all the lights in the city you could see perfectly. Jesus gives us an example about that that I really love in Matthew 5.14-16. Jesus compares us to a city on a hill that shines light and through that can’t be hidden.

What does he mean with that? He is talking about that we are the ones who let the light of our faith shine through everything we do. People can see in us the love of Jesus through the way we live and how we treat others and also how we share the good news. Our faith should not be a hidden thing, but it should shine all the time. It should shine in our work in our homes in our neighborhoods in our areas of our hobbies and all other areas of our life. When we shine the light of Jesus through us it attracts people and they want to know more. I saw this many times in my life, when I showed people how special they are how much more they were interested in what I had to say. They saw that I genuinely cared about them and saw through that Jesus shine through.

I believe that is true for you too!! I am sure you are bringing hope to people and shine the light of Jesus! I want to encourage you to be intentional this week to do that with people around you!! Let the light of Jesus shine through you to your neighbors at home, at work and maybe in the sport group.

Hey our friend

We hope you had an awesome week!! We had a normal week here in San Francisco with dinners small groups, meetups and many other. We also went to a workshop of a group who plants little house churches to learn about their approach on sharing the gospel. It was an encouraging time!! Jen and I also had personally a wonderful week since we had a short vaca for our anniversary which was a lot of fun. We are so thankful that God opened the door for that!

We wish you a wonderful new week and let the light of Jesus shine through you to your neighbors!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Outlook

I give thanks to Adonai with all my heart
I will tell about all your wonderful deeds
I will be glad and exult in you
I will sing praises to your name Elyon.
Psalm 9. 1-2

Recently I was reading Psalm 9 and I love especially the beginning part. David shows us here the right outlook and perspective. In the moment he thanks God for things he did in his life and then also tells about his wonderful deeds his outlook is changing. It is moving away from maybe an outlook or perspective of fear or something else he is facing to God who has all the answers. While writing most of the Psalms David is going through some challenges in life. But instead of just looking what he can see with his eyes, he is looking at the things he cannot see. He is speaking courage to himself by reminding himself that he is on the side of the Most High!

So outlook is very important. Whatever hard time you might face in life it’s important that you are not just looking at the things you can see but choose to thank God and remind yourself of the amazing things he did in your life and the life of others. You can watch how your courage is rising and your perspective will shift. Your focus falls more on God and your relationship with him and not so much on the issue. And in that moment God can then give you courage to face whatever you need to face.

So the great thing is when you tell neighbors about the wonderful deeds of God in your life that opens up conversation and gives opportunity to share the good news. So start to give him thanks right now and start talking about the wonderful deeds!!

Hey our friend

We hope your week was wonderful!! We had our quarterly meeting with bay area ministries which was encouraging. It really helps when you spend time with others and hear their victories and struggles. That is why God always meant for us to be in a community. Even from our first day on earth he placed us in our family community. Let’s bring our neighbors into a loving community and let them see how God can move through it!! On that note we also had our wonderful neighbor brunch which was super encouraging. We love everyone who comes and they all became a community to us and to each other. So it makes a difference!!

So don’t forget starting today to thank God for the community you have or the one He wants to build through you and build up your courage!!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Lion Power

Be excited this Blog is about a lot of power and strength!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a fantastic week! Jen loves art and that’s why she started teaching art classes at the boys and girls club like this week. Through the program she had the opportunity to build deeper relationships with the kids and could encourage them as well as answer questions that they had about God. A great opportunity to use the gifts has given her. God also gave you many gifting’s to change the world. What are yours and how can you use them to change the world?

We also had many opportunities to deepen friendships and through that show and share more about our faith and our relationships with Father God. The best way to share the gospel is through genuine and meaningful relationships with neighbors and people we are seeing regularly. Use the chance to share the good news of the gospel so that it can be life changing for them too!!

We wish you a blessed week and don’t forget the lion power that is with you!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Focus your life Wrapping up

Focus your life wrapping upToday will be the last blog in our series Focus your life and we will wrap it up with a video Blog! Be encouraged and don’t forget to focus your life!!

Set a goal by when you want to focus your life and then work towards it!! Follow the steps from the last 6 weeks and start moving!! You can do it! I can tell you one thing when we let God focus our life and we walk in it, the world will change!!

Hey our friend

How was your week? We hope fantastic. Life in SF is going well. Our work with the different organisations has been a huge blessing. The Kids at the boys and girls are blessed through the time we spend and also through the art Jen makes with them. The elderly at the Italian center see Gods love for them in a new way by how we serve and love on them. Its easy to do and each one of us can do it. Find a spot in your community that you can serve a few hours a week and be a blessing. Jen and I are doing well too. We had a wonderful time this fall in Germany seeing family and friends. It was amazing!

So don’t forget this and the coming weeks to focus your life!!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Focus your life Part 6 be perseverant

Focus your life Part 6For the next few weeks we want to look at an important topic “how to Focus our life”. Being focused helps us to achieve the things God called us to do, so it’s really important to step into that. But it’s not easy with everything that always goes on. Last week we talked about prayer and how it is the key for focusing our life and we learned from Jesus life in that. This week its about perseverance.

“Wow I just got back to my hometown and wanted to do miracles there but people didn’t believe so I couldn’t do anything. That was so hard and sad at the same time,” Jesus said. “But this will not discourage me, I will keep going. There are many more people to focus on and I cant just quit because of a few people that didn’t believe that God came to earth and became human.” I would imagine something like this or similar went through the head of Jesus when he faced rejection in his town. But its amazing to see the perseverance in his life that helped him overcome all the obstacles and through that the world is not the same today. The same is true for all the disciples who changed the world. They faced many situations in which it was really hard and they felt like giving up, but they didn’t, they kept the focus!

I remember when I first came to the city to do my school and arrived in the rough part of town I felt like turning around and quitting. But I decided to persevere instead, and out of that God used me now for 15 years as a man whos shares his love with the people of San Francisco. Was it hard at times? For sure and I didn’t feel only once giving up. But I knew what God had spoken so I followed his words and persevered with His help.

So when you face challenges in focusing your life, you are in good company. Most people face challenges, but its important what you do in them. Are you moving forward and keep trusting God despite the circumstances? Are you willing to say I keep course and persevere even if my focus will not show results during my lifetime? This is what God is asking us to do! Trust and focus on him and let him focus your life and then keep persevering in it. But what do it do if hard times hit? The one thing that really helps is to have a clear word from God to look back to. Also surround yourself with encouragers that want to help you moving forward and can pray with you for solutions in things you are stuck.  But the main thing is when you are discouraged, look at the greatest encourager Jesus and ask Him to help you! You can do it like all the other people did!! God wants to use your focused life to change the world!!

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week!! We are back in San Francisco and we start to adjust back. We were able to connect with many friends and neighbors since we are back just by our daily morning run. Its so wonderful seeing everyone again. This weekend we also had our neighbor brunch which was a lot of fun again! So wherever you are let God shine his light through you into the areas you live and work in and into all the people you get in touch with!!

So don’t give up and stay perseverant in focusing your life!!

God bless you

Markus and Jen