the virtual sol cafe: Galatians

Hi everyone!

Here at the Sol Cafe, we've turned out attention to Galatians. On the 15th of May, we read Galatians 1 and 2 and then discussed what we heard and read.

We're going to be continuing that discussion in the coming weeks, including this Sunday, the 29th of May. Please read ahead if you can, but we will be reading the scripture out-loud during service to spark some more great discussion. Hope to see you there!

Here are some snippets of the ideas discussed on the 15th. (Please remember, these are just some of the questions and discussion that occurred during service on the 15th and are not meant to represent "the views of the Sol Cafe". At best, this is a representation of the kinds of discussion you can expect when you drop by!)

Galatians is about separation of culture and Christianity. Does this separation still exist today? People brought up the aboriginal cultures (that can coexist) and the history of missionaries in China.

The distinction of doing things as a response to God or doing them as a means to get to God. "If I do these things, the faith will follow" as opposed to "following the faith and the deeds will follow."

The letters suggest that we may not have to reject our entire previous life in order to become Christians, but are there things we do have to reject (from our old lifestyles) when we become Christians?

How do you decide what needs to be rejected or that you have to do? It's not how far you can push the limit, it's about how to love God. Asking yourself, "is it helping or hindering me in loving our neighbour?" God gives us a conscience so we can weight these things. Prayer. Sometimes we already know right versus wrong - we just have to listen? How can we judge whether it is God's voice or our own?

"The life of faith is supposed to be lived intentionally."

Is the conflict partly individuality versus conformity? Even in Galatians they are trying to get everyone to conform to a larger presence. The conflict allows us to accept Grace better. We'd be more open to the concept/gift of grace because of the struggle. We can never identify the exact item or line to be crossed between living and sinning. And as that realization becomes true, you turn to God and say, "Thank you for the cross." Be patient and accept Grace.

The idea of calling also came up. What am I called to do and where does God want me to answer that calling? That answer is different for everyone. How do you want me to witness? Where do you want me to witness? Tensions often arise when people feel that everyone should have the same calling. Everyone needs to adopt that which God has called THEM to do. God calls upon our natural talents to serve Him.

and the discussion continues soon...

1 comment(s):

On Sunday, May 29, 2005 10:31:00 PM, Alby said...: Hi all - despite the smaller group this evening, the discussion was fabulous (at least I thought so).

We sent through Chapter 3 of Galatians. I'm going to just post a few of the comments and discussion topics. I urge others who were there tonight to say more and to correct my summaries.

Galatians continues the discussion of laws versus "the promise". Comments were made about the simplicity of Jesus Christ in that you have to accept Him and accept God, essentially. Whereas the laws are a long list of what to dos and what not to dos.

There were analogies made to maps and music.

MAPS - where God is the destination and we must follow the road signs (much like the laws) to get us there. However, we are not on the journey BECAUSE of the road signs. We are looking for the road signs because we've decided we want to get to God.

MUSIC - The promise would be like being told that we will become great musicians. The laws represent all the practising (scales, chords, finger exercises) that we need to do in order to become the great musician. We do not do them for themselves, we do them to achieve greatness. Greatness is our promise to be with God.

We discussed the idea that "it's not about the destination. It's about the journey." And the modern concept that it's all about finding "who I am" and "what I should do with my life." It should be about who God is and what God has in store for me. The rest will follow from there. This was tied into the idea of humility and handing over control to God to build us into the person we are "meant to be".

The discussion also drifted to the idea of free will and whether "free will" is about saying yes or no to being with God. That every decision boils down to whether or not we walk with God.

We touched upon the idea of a person's calling again and how it might be very different and look very different than someone else's, but that is how God's calling is. That some of us might be meant to have millions and to give it all away. Others are "meant to" live in a million dollar house and their calling will be from there.

The struggle and the discussion continues to be about the difference between laws and the promise. About what we need to do to be closer to God.

The discussion continues to spawn great ideas and great new topics to think about. Read Galatians. Come and join us on Sundays!

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Here are some snippets of the ideas discussed on the 15th. (Please remember, these are just some of the questions and discussion that occurred during service on the 15th and are not meant to represent "the views of the Sol Cafe". At best, this is a representation of the kinds of discussion you can expect when you drop by!) Galatians is about separation of culture and Christianity. Does this separation still exist today? People brought up the aboriginal cultures (that can coexist) and the history of missionaries in China. The distinction of doing things as a response to God or doing them as a means to get to God. "If I do these things, the faith will follow" as opposed to "following the faith and the deeds will follow." The letters suggest that we may not have to reject our entire previous life in order to become Christians, but are there things we do have to reject (from our old lifestyles) when we become Christians? How do you decide what needs to be rejected or that you have to do? It's not how far you can push the limit, it's about how to love God. Asking yourself, "is it helping or hindering me in loving our neighbour?" God gives us a conscience so we can weight these things. Prayer. Sometimes we already know right versus wrong - we just have to listen? How can we judge whether it is God's voice or our own? "The life of faith is supposed to be lived intentionally." Is the conflict partly individuality versus conformity? Even in Galatians they are trying to get everyone to conform to a larger presence. The conflict allows us to accept Grace better. We'd be more open to the concept/gift of grace because of the struggle. We can never identify the exact item or line to be crossed between living and sinning. And as that realization becomes true, you turn to God and say, "Thank you for the cross." Be patient and accept Grace. The idea of calling also came up. What am I called to do and where does God want me to answer that calling? That answer is different for everyone. How do you want me to witness? Where do you want me to witness? Tensions often arise when people feel that everyone should have the same calling. Everyone needs to adopt that which God has called THEM to do. God calls upon our natural talents to serve Him. and the discussion continues soon... 1 comment(s): On Sunday, May 29, 2005 10:31:00 PM, Alby said... Hi all - despite the smaller group this evening, the discussion was fabulous (at least I thought so). We sent through Chapter 3 of Galatians. I'm going to just post a few of the comments and discussion topics. I urge others who were there tonight to say more and to correct my summaries. Galatians continues the discussion of laws versus "the promise". Comments were made about the simplicity of Jesus Christ in that you have to accept Him and accept God, essentially. Whereas the laws are a long list of what to dos and what not to dos. There were analogies made to maps and music. MAPS - where God is the destination and we must follow the road signs (much like the laws) to get us there. However, we are not on the journey BECAUSE of the road signs. We are looking for the road signs because we've decided we want to get to God. MUSIC - The promise would be like being told that we will become great musicians. The laws represent all the practising (scales, chords, finger exercises) that we need to do in order to become the great musician. We do not do them for themselves, we do them to achieve greatness. Greatness is our promise to be with God. We discussed the idea that "it's not about the destination. It's about the journey." And the modern concept that it's all about finding "who I am" and "what I should do with my life." It should be about who God is and what God has in store for me. The rest will follow from there. This was tied into the idea of humility and handing over control to God to build us into the person we are "meant to be". The discussion also drifted to the idea of free will and whether "free will" is about saying yes or no to being with God. That every decision boils down to whether or not we walk with God. We touched upon the idea of a person's calling again and how it might be very different and look very different than someone else's, but that is how God's calling is. That some of us might be meant to have millions and to give it all away. Others are "meant to" live in a million dollar house and their calling will be from there. The struggle and the discussion continues to be about the difference between laws and the promise. About what we need to do to be closer to God. The discussion continues to spawn great ideas and great new topics to think about. Read Galatians. Come and join us on Sundays! Post a Comment Links to this post: <$BlogBacklinkTitle$> <$BlogBacklinkSnippet$> posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$> Create a Link [back to blog main page]