The Wake-Up Call

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P.S. Behold, Advent!

Have someone on your heart who would be blessed by journeying with you through the Behold Advent series? Use our Buy One, Sow One offer to make it happen: 1. Visit seedbed.com/behold 2. Add two copies of Behold to your cart. 3. Enter promo code BOSO at checkout to get the second book on us! (Note: Offer applies exclusively to orders containing exactly two copies.) 

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The episode centers on Romans 12 and the idea of keeping “the cart behind the horse.” J. D. Walt explains that the many practical commands in the chapter—serving, giving, encouraging, showing mercy, practicing hospitality, and living at peace—can’t be sustained by effort alone. They flow from the earlier call to offer ourselves to God and allow our minds to be renewed. The central aim is “real love”: sincere, unselfish love shaped by Jesus rather than performance, manipulation, or self-interest.

The reflection closes in prayer, inviting the Holy Spirit to form that kind of love in daily life. It then turns to the hymn “The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” with a conversation about how faith means walking one another home. J. D. encourages listeners to invite someone else into the Advent series, sharing a book and the daily practice of waking up to Jesus together.

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Sing along with us! ► https://seedbed.com/hymnal/

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Get the Wake-Up Call in your email each day ► https://seedbed.com/wakeupcall ⛪️ Are you a pastor? We'd love to connect ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/to/dymjFhUB Join the Field Team and help us sow the Wake-Up Call into new hearts ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/fieldteam Join the conversation: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seedbedwakeupcall/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewakeupcall/ Listen to the podcast: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wake-up-call/id1040184070 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7t5qb5dpC7n0yxdyNsTKzTsi=e87495c982f145f6

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P.S. Behold, Advent!

Have someone on your heart who would be blessed by journeying with you through the Behold Advent series? Use our Buy One, Sow One offer to make it happen: 1. Visit seedbed.com/behold 2. Add two copies of Behold to your cart. 3. Enter promo code BOSO at checkout to get the second book on us! (Note: Offer applies exclusively to orders containing exactly two copies.) 

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J. D. Walt reflects on Romans 12:2, arguing that lasting transformation begins with a renewed mind rather than self-improvement or emotional effort alone. He connects the daily prayer of consecration—heart, mind, eyes, and body—to a life increasingly centered on Christ and oriented toward loving others. Transformation, he says, is fundamentally receptive: showing up before God ready to receive grace, not striving to earn it. He encourages listeners to identify people whose lives embody that spacious, compelling love and to pursue the same kind of faithful presence.

The episode then becomes a warm conversation with J. D.’s father about worship, singing, and the influence parents have through the example of following Jesus. Together they sing “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” and “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” emphasizing that worship is about sincerity rather than musical perfection. They close by encouraging listeners to invite someone to join them during Advent, framing discipleship as the simple, ongoing practice of following Jesus in a way others can see and be drawn toward.

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Sing along with us! ► https://seedbed.com/hymnal/

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Get the Wake-Up Call in your email each day ► https://seedbed.com/wakeupcall ⛪️ Are you a pastor? We'd love to connect ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/to/dymjFhUB Join the Field Team and help us sow the Wake-Up Call into new hearts ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/fieldteam Join the conversation: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seedbedwakeupcall/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewakeupcall/ Listen to the podcast: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wake-up-call/id1040184070 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7t5qb5dpC7n0yxdyNsTKzTsi=e87495c982f145f6

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Have someone on your heart who would be blessed by journeying with you through the Behold Advent series? Use our Buy One, Sow One offer to make it happen: 1. Visit seedbed.com/behold 2. Add two copies of Behold to your cart. 3. Enter promo code BOSO at checkout to get the second book on us! (Note: Offer applies exclusively to orders containing exactly two copies.)

P.P.S. To Date or Not to Date . . . That Is the Question Take a moment and let us know your preference: Should I say the date again or keep our videos evergreen? Take the survey here: https://seedbed.typeform.com/DatesWUC?typeform-source=www.google.com.

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J. D. Walt reflects on returning to date-specific introductions for the daily Wake-Up Call, inviting listeners to weigh in through a short survey. He then opens Romans 12:1—his “Jesus Manifesto”—to explore what it means to offer our bodies together as “a living sacrifice.” He emphasizes that God’s people are one family, not isolated individuals, and that this kind of transformed life is possible only when lived continually in view of God’s mercy.

The episode closes in prayer and turns the central idea into a personal reflection: keeping God’s mercy as a forward-facing vision rather than something left in the past. J. D. and his father sing “Be Thou My Vision,” invite listeners to share hymn requests, and encourage the audience to share the Wake-Up Call with others. J. D. also introduces an Advent reader called Behold, offering a buy-one, share-one invitation as a way to help more people join the daily practice.

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Sing along with us! ► https://seedbed.com/hymnal/

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Get the Wake-Up Call in your email each day ► https://seedbed.com/wakeupcall ⛪️ Are you a pastor? We'd love to connect ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/to/dymjFhUB Join the Field Team and help us sow the Wake-Up Call into new hearts ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/fieldteam Join the conversation: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seedbedwakeupcall/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewakeupcall/ Listen to the podcast: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wake-up-call/id1040184070 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7t5qb5dpC7n0yxdyNsTKzTsi=e87495c982f145f6

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P.S. Behold, Advent! 

Have someone on your heart who would be blessed by journeying with you through the Behold Advent series? Use our Buy One, Sow One offer to make it happen:
1. Visit seedbed.com/behold
2. Add two copies of Behold to your cart.
3. Enter promo code BOSO at checkout to get the second book on us!
(Note: Offer applies exclusively to orders containing exactly two copies.)

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J. D. Walt reflects on the purpose of daily worship and the power of doxology—praise directed wholly toward God. Drawing on Romans 11 and memories of singing the Gloria Patri and Doxology in church, he describes praise as “lighting a fire in the sky”: a practice that forms people to look beyond themselves and carry worship into ordinary life. He invites listeners to cultivate that same spirit throughout the week, not just on Sundays, through prayer, reflection, and spontaneous praise.

Later, J. D. is joined by his father, David, and together they sing a medley of familiar worship songs, reinforcing the message that singing can be part of everyday faith. J. D. then shares an invitation for the upcoming Advent season: listeners can participate in a “buy one, sow one” offer for Behold, an Advent reader by Shelby Shutt, purchasing one copy and sharing another with someone who may need encouragement and a renewed focus on Jesus.

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Sing along with us! ► https://seedbed.com/hymnal/

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Get the Wake-Up Call in your email each day ► https://seedbed.com/wakeupcall ⛪️ Are you a pastor? We'd love to connect ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/to/dymjFhUB Join the Field Team and help us sow the Wake-Up Call into new hearts ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/fieldteam Join the conversation: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seedbedwakeupcall/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewakeupcall/ Listen to the podcast: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wake-up-call/id1040184070 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7t5qb5dpC7n0yxdyNsTKzTsi=e87495c982f145f6

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P.S. Behold, Advent!  Advent is the season of preparation and expectation leading up to Christmas. This year Shelbi Shutt will be walking us through the season of Advent. Shelbi is an amazing witness to Jesus and has an incredible story to share with us.  Beginning December 1, Shelbi will be leading us on the Wake-Up Call. It's a great time to start planning and extending the invitation to others to join in. Check it out and order your copy of Behold here: https://seedbed.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=109381&action=edit&classic-editor

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This devotional explores why God’s mercy is better than human fairness. Drawing from Romans 11 and Jesus’s parable of the vineyard workers, J. D. Walt argues that grace cannot be earned through birthright, good behavior, effort, or religious credentials. God’s kingdom is built on gift rather than entitlement: no one has a claim on God, yet everyone is invited to receive mercy through faith in Jesus.

J. D. then connects that theme to the older brother in the prodigal son story, showing how resentment often reveals an entitlement mindset. He contrasts the “economy” of fairness with the deeper reality of grace: people deserve neither mercy nor restoration, but Jesus meets humanity’s debt and offers new life. The episode closes with an invitation to respond humbly, lean into God’s love, share the Advent journey with others, and live out that grace in the world.

CHAPTERS:
00:04 Awakening to Christ's Presence
01:27 Understanding God's Mercy and Fairness
06:19 The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
11:38 The Prodigal Son: A Lesson in Grace 18:39 The Debt We Could Not Pay
19:30 Invitation to Transformation

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Sing along with us! ► https://seedbed.com/hymnal/

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Get the Wake-Up Call in your email each day ► https://seedbed.com/wakeupcall ⛪️ Are you a pastor? We'd love to connect ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/to/dymjFhUB Join the Field Team and help us sow the Wake-Up Call into new hearts ► https://seedbed.typeform.com/fieldteam Join the conversation: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seedbedwakeupcall/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewakeupcall/ Listen to the podcast: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wake-up-call/id1040184070 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7t5qb5dpC7n0yxdyNsTKzTsi=e87495c982f145f6