Tag Archives: liebe

Peter

Over the last few months we looked at different people from the bible from time to time. Today we want to write about Peter, the friend of Jesus.

Peter used to be a fisherman before Jesus called him to be a disciple. A fisherman was a normal job but when Jesus called him to be a disciple that was a huge honor and upgrade for him. So first of all Jesus honored Peter by offering him that position. During their time together Peter grew in his faith also through stepping out in it and failing. One time he walked on the water, but then second guessed himself and what Jesus said, and began to sink, but Jesus pulled him out. But after all he took a step of faith in that situation and that takes a lot of courage. Later on he called Jesus the son of God which earned him credit from Jesus and also showed how he hears clearly from God. But just one chapter later he gets rebuked by Jesus because he did not listen to God. Again Peter was a normal guy with issues like all of us.

When we come towards the end of Jesus life Jesus told Peter how he would deny him in front of the people before the rooster would crow, but Peter strongly disagreed. But Jesus was right as soon as he was caught Peter denied him. But that moment changed something in Peters life. He broke down crying. Probably he realized even more that without trusting in Gods ability and not his own he would be lost. After Jesus rose from the dead, him and Peter had a conversation, in which Jesus spoke out his full trust in Peter. He said it 3 times that he trusts him and that he would build his Community (in the Jewish bible its called community not church) on him. Jesus rebuilds something in Peter by speaking out his full support to him not based on Peters achievements but based on how Jesus believed in him.

When we read further in the New Testament we see how that word came true and how he build his church on him. When we look at the church today we notice that all of us in the church are a bit like Peter ourselves. We are not perfect people; we have our problems and issues like Peter. But God still decided to choose us to build his Kingdom. He chooses imperfect people to bring change to an imperfect world. He takes us by the hand and walks with us like Jesus walked with Peter. He believes in us and wants to help us grow and succeed. So let us all take the hand of Jesus and let him guide us in our journey.

Hey our friend

What’s new in your life? Are you enjoying your summer?

Last week i (Markus) celebrated my 41st birthday and it was awesome!! Jen took me a to toy train museum the sunday before. On the day off, we went on a hike with the encouragment group and i got blessed with some amazing picninc food. At night we went out for a meat dinner which was amazing!! I made a little album if you want to see some pictures click on this link:

We also had some wonderful times with our neighbor friends. God really blessed us with friends that just live across the street! Its amazing!! Let him gift you with the same thing! Trust me its a blessing!!

Let the example of Peter show you in all our strength and weaknesses, in all our failures and successes, God wants to work with us!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Love your Neighbor use the in between time

We hope the small acts of kindness helped you to connect more!! Don’t forget the starfish !!

Love your neighbor use the in between timeThis weeks blog is another video blog with the topic use your in between time. We hope you feel encouraged!!

Hey our friend

We hope your week was great! We had a great neighbor brunch and also small group at our house. Its always nice to get together with other believers. Its also always really nice to see family from Germany. This coming week we will travel with them which will be a blast!

Try this week to coordinate with a neighbor to commute to work together!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Love your Neighbor – Testimonies

Love your neighborTestimoniesHow were you able to take care of your neighbors last week? We are sure however you did it you were a blessing!!

This week we just want to share 2 stories with you about how much of a blessing it is to love your neighbor and how much it changes lives. A few days ago I got a free ride from Lyft and I used it to go into the woods to go for a hike. On the way there I encouraged the driver and I found out we live really close to each other. So I invited him to our game night the day after. He was moved by the invite and came. He had a great time getting to know the other neighbors that came and played his first bingo game. Each guest brought a small silly gift as a prize for the bingo game. So when it was his turn to win he picked one of the prices and it included a fortune cookie. He opened it and everyone asked what it said because he seemed really moved. He didn’t want to share first but then he did. It said today you will find what you were looking for. Then he said he was looking for family and he felt like family with all of us and it was something he wanted for a long time. All of us around the table were moved by it too. And it was a simple invite.

For Thanksgiving, we hosted a big meal at our house and invited our neighbor friends. Many people came and our apartment was full. We had friends from all over the neighborhood and all the different places we are connected to. We also had the full age range as well as all different walks of life from rich to poor. During the dinner time, Jen asked everyone to share about what they are thankful for. The common answer was this moment with people, sitting around this table and talking and spending time together. Someone said it was the first meal at a table with a family since home 3 years ago, another said they would have eaten at a restaurant but his mom convinced him to go and he gave us a hug later with tears in his eyes saying thank you so much. And again it was a simple open home.

We hope those 2 stories inspire you to invite your neighbors over and become friends with them. We all need a place to belong so let us create those places!!

Hey our friend

We hope your week was great!! We got back from our writing trip last week on Tuesday and it was a successful time. God really inspired us during the time. When we got back we had a neighborhood watch meeting and also a wonderful brunch. It was awesome!! We feel so blessed by all of our neighbor friends around us and our heart is to inspire others to love their neighbors too. So let’s do it!! This will also be the last week before our DTS Students leave for Outreach. Please keep them in your prayers!!

Thank you for all your prayers. You guys are a blessing to us!!

Have a wonderful week!!

Markus and Jen

Forgiveness Part 1 Forgive Others

Forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.

Vergebung Teil 1The Verse above is one of the last things Jesus said while being on this earth. He puts a lot of value into forgiveness. Why? Here are 2 reasons: One for others and one for you. This week I want to look at the one for others.

Have you heard of Jim Elliot? The story of Jim Elliot and his wife is a story of the power of forgiveness. He went to bring the gospel to a tribe in Ecuador. While doing that he was killed by the tribe leaving behind his wife and child. Now the wife had 2 choices: Either she could live her life in hate and become bitter at the people who killed her husband or she could forgive. She choose the second, but not just that, she actually kept going with what her husband started bringing the gospel to that tribe. Out of that many people in the tribe became Christians. They saw the teachings of Jesus in action and saw the results and love it produced.

Now look at Jesus. He had all those people right in front of him that nailed him on the cross. They nailed him on the cross for speaking the truth and being innocent. But how does he react?  Right in that moment he chooses to forgive. He lives by what he preached. He lived his message. By forgiving others he gives them the opportunity to be free. He opens the door for them to turn around and change and come back into relationship. He releases judgement from his hands into the fathers hand. Also when Jesus shared on forgiveness he gave it as a command. If we don’t forgive God will not forgive us. Did he say that to guilt us into forgiveness? No he said it because he knows the power it has and how it can change us and others.

Ask yourself those questions:

  1. Who are some of the people in your life you have to forgive (people who hurt you, bullies, false friends etc.)?
  2. Bring them in Prayer before God and forgive them!
  3. Ask God if there is anything you did in that situation that requires to ask for forgiveness? If you did go up to that person and ask them personally for forgiveness.

Hello friend

We hope you had wonderful Easter week. We celebrated with friends from our building. It was so special to celebrate this day together. We also went to a local mess in which we had the opportunity to meet more people from our community. Our times at the coffee shop were also fruitful with great conversations. It always reminds me of Jesus and the apostles and how they went to were the people were instead of waiting for the people to come to them.

We want to invite you to partner with God and us to bring community to people and through that Gods love in a way they never experienced it before. Right now we are in need of $1.300 more on a monthly base to cover all our cost. Pray about joining our team in this way! You can do it with any amount you would like. Find out more on how by clicking on this link. If you personally cant join us in this way could you share it with family and friends who might be interested in joining. Thank you for your help. Thank you to each one of you who is already part of our team. You are a true blessing!

Don’t forget Forgiveness!

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

This is a movie trailer to the movie they made about jim elliots life

The power of testimony

The power of testimonyI will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name Most High.

Psalm 9.1-2

When I was praying about what to write in this weeks blog, God pointed me to the first 2 verses of Psalm 9. These are some things that stuck out to me.

David talks about how he will tell of the marvelous things God has done. Despite the hard circumstances he wrote the Psalm in, he chooses to look at all the good God has done in his life and through writing the Psalm sharing it with many others. In a way he encourages us to remember and speak about the goodness of God to others even if we go through a hard time. He also encourages us to praise God and worship Him even if we don’t feel like it. Why would he say that? I think he says it because he knows that when we take our focus off our problems and praise the one that has all the solutions our perspective shifts. And we can see that in verse 2. He is talking about that he will be filled with joy because of God. Now remember his circumstance: He committed adultery and cause of that the son that was born out of that situation died. David just lost a child. Every person that I know that lost a child, said that it was the hardest thing they ever had to go through in their life. So you see it was not something easy that you could just forget.  But David knew to get out of this hard time, he had to look at Father God and remember that He is with him.

I want to encourage all of us this week to share some of the great things God has done in our lives with people around us. Share about hard seasons, in which He has walked you through. It will open the door for greater encouragement and also hope for the people you share with as well as bringing a greater level of hope to yourself. Every person on this planet is in need of a father who is with them!

Hey our friend

How was your week? We hope amazing. 2 of the highlights of our week was the game night at our house and Jens cousin coming for a visit. It was wonderful to see people come together and play games and just connect with each other. It was wonderful. When you create a space for community and invite people into it, it will happen. We see that at everything we are doing.

God is so amazing, this year our cost went up with increase in rent, health insurance and other living costs in San Francisco, but since the beginning of the year we have already seen a big increase in monthly support. Right now we are still in need of $1.300 to cover our total monthly cost. Thank you to each one of you who is already part of our team. If you are not, but you would like to join our financial support team, find out more by clicking on this link. Thank you for considering us.

Share your God story with someone in your life.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen