Songwriter Cafe

Last night I had the privilege of playing a songwriter's cafe for the "Annex" which is a group from a local church that meets each week at the local coffee shop. My friend Cam who hosts the event each week, invited me to come and play some music and share the thoughts and ideas behind some of my songs as a part of a recent series that they have been going through entitle "songs that make you think." This is the flyer for the series that appeared on their web site:













I love the "church? (we think so)." Even though this is an offshoot of the larger church, that meets in a coffee shop and not a sanctuary, that shares music and coffee and discussion rather that sermons, pulpits and choirs, I agree that it is church. I am reminded that church is people. The Greek word in the New Testament that would be translated church actually refers to people- those who are called out. The church is the collection of people who follow Jesus. We are the church whenever we gather together in the name of Jesus, whether that be in a traditional church building with steeple and sanctuary or a sports centre for Sunday worship. We are the church when we gather in the name of Jesus at a coffee shop or a home to discuss things of life and faith as we wrestle with living out our spirituality in this world. We are the church when we gather in the name of Jesus to serve those in need or to love our neighbour or to enjoy fellowship together. We, who are followers of Jesus, we are the church.
This is a great reminder as we enter this week in which we will remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and celebrate His resurrection on Sunday. Jesus did not die for a building or a program but for people, the people that God loves so much that he would send his Son and whom the Son loved so much that he would offer himself in our place. It began with two people, Adam and Eve, who walked intimately with their God. Their sin in the garden, among other things, meant that the relational intimacy that they shared with God was severed, an effect that would be shared by all subsequent people thereafter. Jesus offered himself and took on the consequences for sin that we deserved so that we might have peace with God, that we might be reconciled and brought back into relationship with God. People matter to God, we matter to God and the cross is an overwhelming proof of that fact.