We are excited to hear from some of you how you saw a start in God healing people through hospitality!
This weeks vide blog is about sharing the One we care most about! Be inspired!!
Hey our friend
Its amazing, we have a real summer with lots of heat. Ok San Francisco weather didn’t change, but we are on a sharing trip in Pennsylvania!! We are hosting different events and share at different churches during our time there about how they can love their neighbor and inspire others to do it too. Pray with us that many people are encouraged and inspired!
We will return to San Francisco August 1st.
Don’t forget this week to share the One you care most about with a neighbor!!
Have a blessed week
Markus and Jen
We talked about many things hospitality can do and one last one is it can bring healing. Over the years we had so many deep conversations over dinner that brought healing to people. Sometimes it is the simple act of actually sitting around a table together with other people that brought healing from loneliness and isolation that that person experienced for years. It amazes me how much a little meal can change a person’s life. When you invite someone into your life and you create a safe place for them, they will be open and God can start to bring healing from hurt and lies the enemy placed into their lives. John 21:15-19 shares the story of Jesus and Peter after Peter denied him 3 times. It was right after a meal that Jesus asked him if he loves him. That conversation brought up hurt and shame in Peter because of breaking his promise to Jesus that he would never deny him. But Jesus rebuilds the trust with a few simple questions over a meal. So that time that just started as a meal set up Peter to become the man Jesus would build his church on. So a simple conversation can destroy lies and bring healing.
One of the things many people are longing for is a place of belonging, a family. When you provide hospitality in your home you invite your neighbors into family. I remember a thanksgiving meal at our house where we went around the table and had everyone share what they were thankful for and the answer was pretty much the same for everyone that came; the feeling of family around this table. When you open up your home and invite neighbors in it is different than if you go out to a restaurant, You invite people into your home and your family. So hosting a dinner can change the perspective someone has about family. Some people might have never had a loving family, but now experience being loved. Some people might have never received an invitation to a home, but now they are sitting at the table eating dinner together. In Psalms it talks about that God will put the lonely into families and we can all have a part in that by offering hospitality. But its not just a great thing for the neighbor that joins you, its also a blessing for you. Our lives are so enriched by neighbors being family to us too. Home doesn’t end at our fence anymore but it spills over into many other houses around us!
This week we want to write about how hospitality can create a safe place for people to be open. Many times in our today’s society we talk bad about other people if they are not around. Proverbs 11.13 says that a gossip betrays a confidence but a trustworthy person keeps a secret. When you host dinners or brunches or other events at your home, make sure to stir the conversation away from the gossip of others. It might be hard first and feel awkward, but it then creates a safe place. People see your heart and see that you don’t talk bad about others so if they want to share something with you, they can because you won’t slander them either. So you created a safe place for everyone to be open and real. And that is true for yourself as well. You now have the opportunity to share as well because you also feel safe.
Last week we talked about hospitality and challenged you to invite a neighbor over for dinner. How did it go?
How was your week? Hopefully filled with sun and wonderful times with Father God!! This week we celebrated the graduation of our winter DTS. It was so wonderful to hear their stories how they changed lives on their outreach to refugee camps in Greece and homes for refugees in Italy. Its amazing how you can show the love of God just by showing up. We were also blessed by all the work they did in North Beach during the first 3 month of the school. They were truly a blessing. Please pray for them as they move into their next steps God is calling them to.