Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week. Ours was great here in San Francisco and we finally got back in the total swing of things. On Saturday we were invited to a book release party of a friend from the neighborhood. It was a great opporturnity to get connected with more people that live here.

It is also exciting to see all the people again and minister. Please pray for us and our students that the children, adults, and any person we get in contact with will see Jesus in us. Please pray that for all Christians around the world.

Why is Christian Community important?

“I love Jesus but I hate the church.” A phrase that I heard many times over the years from different people.

I think that this is a paradox. How can you hate something that Jesus called into life through Peter? I don’t think that would a good idea. But let’s look at the facts why a church/ Christian community is so important.

First of all a church is a place of discipleship. I wrote about this 2 weeks ago so click on this link to see more what it was about.

Another important point is that when you are in a Christian community you have people that truly care about you and also deeply know you. They hopefully see all sides of you. Sometimes it is hard for us to see what we are gifted in, but by being a part of a community others sometimes see clearer. When I think back, I saw many times how fellow YWAM’ers called out gifting’s they saw in me and after I knew them I was able to grow in them. Now God can use me in a different capacity than before. That is true for each one of us.

But it is also true for wrong things in our life. When you drive a car and you look in the side mirror, there is always a blind spot in which you can’t see. There are often things that we do because of wrong things we learned in the past (read last week’s blog on that topic). But in a community where we have a loving relationship with each other, people can call those things out in us and we are able to see them and work on them. They can also keep us accountable in the process to keep us moving forward.

The church is also a place of Refreshment. Spending time with other Christians and hearing how God is working in their life is a really life giving thing and it encourages us in our heart. It is also great to share about challenges we face in sharing our faith. Through that we can learn from each other.

So when you look at Church you see the need of it. I want to encourage you to read the book of acts, to see how church worked in that time. So get involved in your church community.

Have a blessed week

Markus and  Jen