Waking Up to Grace

Can Christianity become just another system of rules, even for people who believe they're saved by grace? We can know that Christ has reconciled us to God and still live under the exhausting pressure of wondering whether we've loved enough, given enough, or done enough.

In this conversation, we explore religion vs. Christianity through Paul's words in Galatians 5 and the difference between living from salvation and trying to attain what Christ has already accomplished. We consider how legalism hides in the everyday in-betweens, why guilt and accusation distort our discernment, and how destructive behavior can rob us of the peace and joy we're meant to experience in Christ.

Grace doesn't make our choices unimportant. It gives us the freedom to learn, grow, bear fruit, and move forward without constantly questioning our acceptance before God. We're not simply waiting for salvation someday. We're called to enjoy life in His kingdom now.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/religion-vs-christianity/

What happens when following Jesus becomes another set of rules?

In this conversation, we return to the Sermon on the Mount and consider what Jesus meant when He said to be perfect. His words reveal the heart of God, but when we turn them into another checklist, we can find ourselves caught in fear, self-righteousness, and endless striving.

We explore the difference between law and grace, what it means to value the words of Jesus without turning them into a new system of righteousness, and how our acceptance in Christ changes our understanding of obedience.

Grace doesn't mean God is indifferent to sin or how we treat one another. We also consider Paul's treatment of the Corinthian church, the Spirit's work in our lives, and how we can help one another without falling into judgment and rule-keeping.

When we trust God's grace, we can begin to let go of the pressure to measure ourselves and others, finding peace in the relationship we already have with our Father.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/law-vs-grace-following-jesus/

What does living in God’s presence look like in everyday life?

We have already passed from death to life. Life in the kingdom includes going to work, enjoying our families, helping our neighbors, and recognizing the Father’s grace in the ordinary moments of our day.

Lenny, Jack, and Melissa reflect on this present relationship with God through Scripture and personal experiences. Melissa’s encounter with a squirrel becomes a reminder that the Father remains present even when the visible reminder disappears. Jack looks back on a dangerous moment at work and recognizes grace that he could not see at the time.

We also explore practicing righteousness, discernment as a God-given filter, and how suffering helps us experience grace more deeply. Our value has already been given in Christ. As we learn to see life through grace, that settled identity shapes our thoughts, conversations, and responses.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/living-in-gods-presence/

What does it mean to experience the peace that surpasses all understanding when life seems to be falling apart? Can we trust Christ even when we cannot feel His presence?

Beginning with Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Lenny, Jack, and Melissa explore fear, anxiety, self-righteousness, and our tendency to hold on to the very worries we are told to surrender.

Jack shares his experience of facing a life-threatening illness without any feeling of God's presence. Together, we consider how faith enables us to trust what Christ has accomplished rather than allowing our emotions or circumstances to determine what we believe.

Christ's peace isn't something we manufacture. It comes from His grace and His constant presence in our lives.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/peace-that-surpasses-all-understanding/

What is biblical discernment, and how is it different from simply having an opinion about what is right or wrong?

In this conversation, we look at discernment through the freedom of grace. Romans 12, Philippians, and Hebrews describe a renewed mind that learns to recognize what is good and true. That kind of discernment does not grow from religious rules or from comparing ourselves with other Christians. It grows as we know our Father, understand grace more clearly, and learn to recognize what does and does not fit with the truth of Christ.

We also consider what discernment looks like within the church. Believers will not always see everything the same way, and genuine fellowship gives people room to share what they believe, work through disagreement, correct harmful teaching or behavior, and build one another up without turning the church into an institution that controls everyone’s life.

Grace does not make truth subjective. It gives us freedom to seek truth together while trusting the Spirit of God to work in His people.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/biblical-discernment/

What is grace teaching? Is it enough for a church to say that salvation is by grace, or should grace shape the way we understand the entire Christian life?

In this conversation, we begin with a simple definition of grace and then look at three teachings that raise harder questions: tithing drawn from the Law of Moses, the idea that Christians move in and out of fellowship with God, and a pastor-centered church model that leaves little room for believers to share what they are seeing in Scripture.

The larger issue is whether Law and grace can be mixed without changing the message itself. Paul did not treat that mixture casually in Galatians. Grace is not merely enough to get us saved and then hand us back to a system of religious obligation. It reaches into our relationship with God, our relationships with one another, and the way we understand life together in Christ.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/what-is-grace-teaching/

What does it mean that we are one body with many members? Christian gathering was never meant to reduce most believers to an audience while one person does all the speaking.

In this conversation, we discuss why every member of Christ’s body is indispensable, how ordinary believers build one another up through honest participation, and why sharing life together does not require a degree, a platform, or a prepared lesson. We also consider transparency, maturity, correction without legalism, and how valuing our relationship with the Father teaches us to value one another.

Read the companion study and continue the conversation:

https://wakinguptograce.com/one-body-many-members/

Leaving church can create a strange tension. You may recognize that the structure you have known is no longer helping you participate meaningfully in the body of Christ, yet still feel as though walking away means you are doing something wrong.

In this conversation, Lenny, Melissa, Jack, and Len talk openly about leaving religious obligation behind, the isolation that can follow, and why the answer is not abandoning Christian fellowship. They reflect on church becoming something we watch rather than something every member participates in, the fear that can come with freedom, and the need for open doors where believers can gather, ask honest questions, share life, and grow together in grace.

Leaving church does not mean leaving Christ or His body. Sometimes it means beginning to rediscover what belonging to one another can actually look like.

Read the companion reflection:
https://wakinguptograce.com/leaving-church-without-leaving-the-body-of-christ/

Join the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/join-the-conversation/

Are spiritual gifts for today? Paul wrote that prophecy would pass away, tongues would cease, and knowledge would pass away, but that faith, hope, and love would remain.

In this episode, we work through 1 Corinthians 12–13 and Ephesians 4 to consider why miraculous spiritual gifts were given to the first-century church and what Paul meant by moving from partial knowledge and childhood toward maturity. We explore the view that signs, wonders, prophecy, healing, and tongues belonged to the period in which the body of Christ was being established and brought to maturity.

We also examine modern claims about spiritual gifts, why Scripture describes the gifts as manifestations of the Spirit rather than personality types or natural talents, and why experiences should be tested against Scripture rather than becoming the standard by which Scripture is interpreted.

The discussion ultimately brings us back to what Paul says remains: faith, hope, and love, with love being the greatest. The mature body of Christ is not left empty-handed. Every member has a place, every member matters, and the life of the church is expressed through believers caring for and building up one another in love.

Read the companion Bible study and join the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/are-spiritual-gifts-for-today-1-corinthians-13-8-13/

How did the early church worship? When Christians gathered in the New Testament, was the meeting centered around a worship service led from the front, or around believers participating together for the building up of the body?

In this conversation, we look at 1 Corinthians 14:26–40, where Paul describes a gathering in which each person could bring a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation, with everything governed by one purpose: building one another up. We also consider Colossians 3, Acts 2, the churches that met in homes, the role of gifted teachers, and why mutual participation does not mean disorder or the absence of leadership.

Along the way, we ask a larger question: what is the purpose of church when believers gather together?

Read the companion study and join the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/how-did-the-early-church-worship/