Gratitude

On Sunday, November 16, starting around 4 pm, the sol cafe will be gathering at Cafe Dabar (10816 Whyte Ave) to discuss gratitude.

Our verses this week from the Revised Common Lectionary are as follows:

Proper 28 (33) November 16, 2008

Judges 4:1-7 or Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18

Psalm 123 or Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12

I Thessalonians 5:1-11

Matthew 25:14-30

Hope you can join us!

Christians and Politics

On Sunday, November 9, starting around 4 pm, the sol cafe will be gathering at Cafe Dabar (10816 Whyte Ave) to discuss Christians and Politics, guided by sol cafe regular Andrew W. Especially given recent events on the world stage, the discussion should be most interesting.

In addition, our verses this week from the Revised Common Lectionary are as follows:

Proper 27 (32) November 9, 2008

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 or Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16 & Amos 5:18-24

Psalm 78:1-7 or Wisdom of Solomon 6:17-20 & Psalm 70

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

Matthew 25:1-13

Hope you can join us!

Casual Sunday

On Sunday, October 26, at around 4 pm, the sol cafe will be gathering at Cafe Dabar (10816 Whyte Ave) for an evening moved by the Spirit. We will start it off by reading our week's verses from the Revised Common Lectionary, a shared calendar of Bible readings:

Deuteronomy 34:1-12 or Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 or Psalm 1

I Thessalonians 2:1-8

Matthew 22:34-46

Or maybe we will be moved in a different direction altogether. Just come with an open heart and an open mind and a spirit of worship and the evening will most certainly turn out the way it should. Hope to see you there!

Render unto Caesar ...

On Sunday, October 19, the sol cafe will be gathering at Cafe Dabar (10816 Whyte Ave) starting around 4ish. We will be scratching our heads as we try to unpack Jesus' words from Matthew 22:21

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.

What exactly does this mean—doesn't everything belong to God? Come join in the discussion as we examine this statement in light of a number of different interpretations from the Quakers, Mennonites, and even Christian Anarchists. Hopefully everyone comes prepared for a discussion not of Income Tax, but of how we as Christians are to respond to the authorities unto which we are subjected and to the ultimate authority—God himself. Come for a coffee and let God feed your soul.

The verses for this week from the Revised Common Lectionary are...

Exodus 33:12-23 or Isaiah 45:1-7

Psalm 99 or Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)

I Thessalonians 1:1-10

Matthew 22:15-22

A heads-up that there will be no gathering on Thanksgiving

As has become something of a "tradition" at the sol cafe (which means we can always challenge it and change it if anyone wants!), the sol cafe will not be having any official gathering on Thanksgiving Sunday, October 12. Many of our regulars end up away for the long weekend or at other gatherings Sunday evening, so we just call it "distributed worship" and ask people to remember to say a prayer for the sol cafe and its regulars wherever they are.

We'll be back on Sunday, October 19 -- watch the website for details!

A Service Service on Sunday October 5, 2008

On Sunday, October 5, starting at 4 pm, the sol cafe will be gathering for what we call a "service service" -- our church taking our weekly gathering time and using it for worship through action. We try to do this once a month, or as the need arises, helping out with whomever happens to need help. We've cleaned toys at the children's cancer ward at the Stollery Children's Hospital, cooked dinner at Ronald McDonald House, even sorted Lego at the World of Science.

This service service will bring us back to the Salvation Army's downtown depot to sort food donations in preparation for distribution around our city, as well as any other duties that need doing. The depot is located at 9620-101A Ave (the entry door is on 101A Ave). Please let us know if you're planning on attending so that we can watch for you and/or provide you with a cell number contact in case we've already moved further into the building.

As well, we will have someone at our usual location, Cafe Dabar, at 4 pm to catch any stragglers who just drop in or who need transportation downtown. Please also let us know if you'll be meeting at the cafe so that we don't leave without you!

Hope to see you there!

Our verses for this week from the Revised Common Lectionary are as follows:

Proper 22 (27) October 5, 2008	Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 or Isaiah 5:1-7	Psalm 19 or Psalm 80:7-15	Philippians 3:4b-14	Matthew 21:33-46

Sunday September 28

From the very beginning, the sol cafe has had as a goal to remove some of the obstacles that might otherwise keep someone from coming to church... short of getting rid of God and the Bible altogether (although you're more than welcome to bring that perspective to our discussion, but that's a different post altogether!).

One of those "obstacles" or stereotypes was the idea that, from televangelists to the neighbourhood congregation, church always meant being asked for money. As a result, the sol cafe's approach to giving has tended to be understated... so much so that we don't even address it at all?

On Sunday, September 28, starting around 4 pm at Cafe Dabar (10816 Whyte Ave), sol cafe regular Dave W will be sharing some thoughts about giving and tithing. And since our little church really has no expenses, we're not bringing up this topic because we want to ask you for money! In that somewhat more open and unpressured context, we'd like to discuss some of the things someone who calls themselves Christian might want to consider on the topic.

Our verses from the Revised Common Lectionary are as follows:

Proper 21 (26) September 28, 2008

Exodus 17:1-7 or Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 or Psalm 25:1-9

Philippians 2:1-13

Matthew 21:23-32

Given our topic this week, check out the Philippians verse in particular!

Hope you can join us!

a sol cafe gathering, Sunday September 21

On Sunday, September 21, the sol cafe will be gathering at Cafe Dabar (10816 Whyte Ave) starting around 4ish. One of our newer regulars, Andrew W., will be sharing on a topic as yet to be determined -- we will try to have more details before Sunday, but even if not, we hope you can join us and see what God has in store for the evening!

The verses for this week from the Revised Common Lectionary are...

Exodus 16:2-15 or Jonah 3:10-4:11

Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 or Psalm 145:1-8

Philippians 1:21-30

Matthew 20:1-16

a sol cafe gathering, Sunday September 14

Greetings all and apologies for the late posting!

On Sunday, September 14, the sol cafe will be meeting at Cafe Dabar (10816 Whyte Ave), starting around 4 pm. We're expecting less than our usual numbers as we have a number of regulars with a Chinese cultural background (or spousal influence!) who will be celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival (think Chinese Thanksgiving) with family. As a result, the plan is to have a simple time of prayer, read this week's verses from the Revised Common Lectionary (see below), and see where God wants us to go.

Hope to see you there!

This week's RCL verses are:

Exodus 14:19-31 or Genesis 50:15-21

Psalm 114 or Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21 or Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

Sunday September 7

On Sunday, September 7, the sol cafe will be meeting at 4 pm at Rob and Amanda's for an evening of fellowship and prayer. Please e-mail us for directions if you need them (we're not trying to be secretive, just sensitive to privacy issues in the big ol' interweb!). Among other things, we will be looking to pray for direction for the new year for our little church. It's been a busy summer and a few changes have taken place which could bring new challenges and opportunities for us, including a change in ownership of the cafe where we've been meeting for the last five years.

We're also going to be looking at what we might want to do to celebrate the sol cafe's tenth anniversary! That's right, ten years God has been blessing this little crew and we're thinking we ought to thank him, all the while looking to find out what he wants us to do for the next ten.

Hope you'll be able to join us!