The demands of grace

Galatians 1 gives every evidence that the Apostle Paul wrote this letter while upset, concerned that the Galatian church was beginning to follow a false gospel. Paul shared his own story of conversion and called that experience of God calling him to change as a sign of God's grace. Pastor Phil Kniss pointed out that getting knocked to the ground and told to change your ways is not what we typically think of as "grace". But God's grace is always a combination of invitation and demand. The early church wrestled mightily to balance invitation and challenge. Having Gentiles and Jews come together to worship was unheard of ! there was a conflict between acceptance of all and a call to holiness. That same conflict is very present in the church today. Pastor Phil introduced us to an "Invitation/Challenge Matrix".