Grace for All

Thank you for joining us for today's Grace for All podcast. On Saturdays, we pause for a few moments to look back on our week and to review the scriptures that we have used in our podcast. We encourage you, after listening to this episode, to go back and listen to the episodes you missed, or to review the ones that were particularly meaningful for you. We trust that the thoughts that we have share...

Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. I have a closet full of clothe...

Romans 12:9-10 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. A few years ago, while I was still serving churches, my district superintendent had an idea. Instead of the one annual meeting to train incoming chairs of local church committees, why not have several smaller events around the district? He be...

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. I freely admit that I prefer reading the New Testament over the Old Testament. I know it is important to understand the history of the Old Testament, as it prepares the way for us to experience the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of...

Zechariah 7:9-10 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgment, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress, the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in you hearts against one another. The prophet Zechariah is mentioned in passing in Ezra 5:1. Both he and the prophet Haggai were part of the generation that returned to the land of their ancestors after th...

Amos 5:23-24 (NIV) Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! The prophet Amos probably lived about 8 centuries before the birth of Christ. In this passage, Amos is speaking to the people of Israel and Judah, and he is prophesying about the anger of God toward his chosen people, p...

Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When I was a teenager, my oldest brother was already married. I was the “last” child at home and I must admit I was drawn to my two brothers and what they thought and how they lived. My oldest brother was delighted one Christmas to receive a tee-shirt that said, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins.” I thought, at tha...

You are listening to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by the people of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. This is Scripture Saturday, a time when we pause and reflect on the scriptures we have read throughout the week. If you missed any of our devotionals on these passages, you can find them on our website at 1stChurch.org or wherever you get your podcasts. No...

“So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?” Deuteronomy 10:12 (NRSV) Her name was Sam. At least, that's what she told people here, because her real name — Xiomara — made people uncomfortable. They'd try it once, mangle it, and look relieved when she smiled and said, "Sam is fine." She arrived in 2004, with two suitcases, a worn-out dictionary, and the same dream every person wh...

But let justice roll on as a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 This is a powerful demand from God for unstoppable fairness and care for the vulnerable, warning that empty religious rituals are meaningless without moral integrity. By definition, Justice is a fundamental and ethical principle based on equity, fairness and the rule of law. It ensures that individuals rec...

With what should I approach the Lord and bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings, with year-old calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with many torrents of oil? Should I give my oldest child for my crime; the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit? He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you: to do...

Psalm 30:11-12 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. She was diagnosed with colon cancer and a huge obstructive mass removed from her colon. Further testing revealed spread to the lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are the transport system in our b...

Psalm 103:1-2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits. Bless is an action verb. It is not passive and should not be. For those who do not remember the grammar lesson inherent in that statement, being passive subverts who is the actor and who is the object. In other words, it is a mistake to hide who is...

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. When we hear the word "gift," most of us think of talent — the ability to play an instrument, to paint a picture, to speak before a crowd. These are real gifts, and we should not dismiss them. But Peter has something broader in mind, and if we read hi...

You are listening to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by the people of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. This is Scripture Saturday, a time when we pause and reflect on the scriptures we have read throughout the week. If you missed any of our devotionals on these passages, you can find them on our website at 1stChurch.org or wherever you get your podcasts. No...

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. I was fortunate to spend the last nine years of my career in education as a Literacy Specialist in the district office of Williamson County Schools in Franklin, TN. We also lived in Franklin, not far from an entrance onto I-65. I was often asked to atte...

Isaiah 55: 8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. In my household, it is no secret that I envy my husband. Specifically, I envy his easygoing nature, his ability to accept things that are outside of his control. Over the years I...

Philippians 4:11-13 (NRSVUE) Not that I am referring to being in need, for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. When I was a chil...

Psalm 146:2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. About twenty years ago, I was surprised when I received a call from my pastor, as Jim very rarely called me. “It’s mama,” he said. My heart sank. Suddenly, his sweet mother, who had always been so full of life, was gone. Jim was pastor of the little United Methodist church in Tarboro, NC, but a fe...

Matthew 6:34, NIV Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. I tend to worry a lot. I tend to worry about things that haven’t even happened. I worry about how I am going to play in my next baseball game, for example, or about what people will think of me, even people I haven’t met yet! We don’t need to worry about that stuf...

Psalm 98:4 (NRSV) “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.” My mother couldn’t sing a lick. That never stopped her. She sang in church every Sunday — loud, joyful, enthusiastically off-key. And she sang the same way around the house whenever the spirit moved her. She couldn’t have carried a tune in a bucket, as she would have been the first to...

Welcome to the Saturday episode of the Grace for All podcast. Thank you for joining us today. Saturday is a special time when we take a few moments to review the scriptures that we have cited in the episodes this week. If you missed any of those episodes, you might want to consider listening to them today. And even if you heard them all, there may be one that you might want to listen to again. We...

Romans 8:38-39 (CEB) I'm convinced that nothing can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created. Romans 8:38-39 is one of the most beloved passages in Scripture, but I think we lose some of its power when we read it by itself. Just one chapter ea...

Luke 24:28–32 (NIV) As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recogni...

Amos 5:24 (NIV) "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" I love fly fishing. And, related to that, I love water and especially mountain streams. One of my favorite streams in the Smokies has been Road Prong, a relatively small stream that runs from near the road to Kuowhi down to the Chimney Tops trailhead. I fished this stream many times and with each vis...