Doable Discipleship
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The Urgency of Grace in a Worn-out World with David Zahl
August 19, 2025
“Why do some of us experience Christianity as a burden and others as a refuge? The answer, I am convinced, has to do with grace. Grace is the Big Relief at the heart of Christianity. When grace is down-played or qualified, faith turns into a project and then a burden. Project religion - the ancient human enterprise of proving ourselves morally and spiritually worthy of God’s love - is everywhere. When anchored to grace, however, Christianity remains good news. More than that, faith becomes a source of energy rather than a drain.” - an excerpt from The Big Relief
Today I’m excited to talk about one of my favorite books of the year. As I’ve mentioned a few times on this podcast, I’ve been on a bit of a grace kick lately. Grace was something I knew about, but honestly hadn’t spent a whole ton of time considering. It’s just the last few months though that I’ve really been sitting with grace and seeing just how beautiful, how important it is. So imagine my excitement when I saw a book about the urgency of grace in a worn-out world - right up my alley! And imagine how happy I was to start reading this book and seeing how good and funny it was. So today I’m thrilled to have on David Zahl, author of many books including The Big Relief. In this conversation, David and I talk about what makes grace stand out, the vertical and horizontal nature of grace, the difference between grace and mercy, how the church can be better beacons of grace, how to start living a grace first life today, and much more.
Doable Discipleship is a Saddleback Church podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. It premiered in 2017 and now offers more than 400 episodes. Episodes release every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app and on the Saddleback Church YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/saddleback).
Resources Related to This Episode:
https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Game-Plan-Developing-Strategy/dp/0830786740
Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doable-discipleship/id1240966935) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuwQZOLadbFCZCmZ1V)
Related Doable Discipleship Episodes:
Living with Hope in the Midst of Struggle with Alan Noble - https://youtu.be/99Nki49V0fI
Delighting in Jesus with Asheritah Ciuciu - https://youtu.be/nHFPW4QLc9s
Embracing Brokenness with Michael John Cusick - https://youtu.be/Wzky80I2lPw
Mysteries of Faith: Prayer - https://youtu.be/9rFBmBKiNxI
Mysteries of Faith: Union with Christ - https://youtu.be/U1MkOvTKvd0
Living Hope with Phil Wickham - https://youtu.be/1U_aetP2H0M
Longing for Joy with Alastair Sterne - https://youtu.be/HNXAl4wTmIc
Navigating the Bible: Genesis - https://youtu.be/ddhjMfOoasA
Today I’m excited to talk about one of my favorite books of the year. As I’ve mentioned a few times on this podcast, I’ve been on a bit of a grace kick lately. Grace was something I knew about, but honestly hadn’t spent a whole ton of time considering. It’s just the last few months though that I’ve really been sitting with grace and seeing just how beautiful, how important it is. So imagine my excitement when I saw a book about the urgency of grace in a worn-out world - right up my alley! And imagine how happy I was to start reading this book and seeing how good and funny it was. So today I’m thrilled to have on David Zahl, author of many books including The Big Relief. In this conversation, David and I talk about what makes grace stand out, the vertical and horizontal nature of grace, the difference between grace and mercy, how the church can be better beacons of grace, how to start living a grace first life today, and much more.
Doable Discipleship is a Saddleback Church podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. It premiered in 2017 and now offers more than 400 episodes. Episodes release every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app and on the Saddleback Church YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/saddleback).
Resources Related to This Episode:
https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Game-Plan-Developing-Strategy/dp/0830786740
Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doable-discipleship/id1240966935) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuwQZOLadbFCZCmZ1V)
Related Doable Discipleship Episodes:
Living with Hope in the Midst of Struggle with Alan Noble - https://youtu.be/99Nki49V0fI
Delighting in Jesus with Asheritah Ciuciu - https://youtu.be/nHFPW4QLc9s
Embracing Brokenness with Michael John Cusick - https://youtu.be/Wzky80I2lPw
Mysteries of Faith: Prayer - https://youtu.be/9rFBmBKiNxI
Mysteries of Faith: Union with Christ - https://youtu.be/U1MkOvTKvd0
Living Hope with Phil Wickham - https://youtu.be/1U_aetP2H0M
Longing for Joy with Alastair Sterne - https://youtu.be/HNXAl4wTmIc
Navigating the Bible: Genesis - https://youtu.be/ddhjMfOoasA
