Grace for All

Psalm 98:7-8 (NIV) Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy. I love the imagery of this Psalm. It includes three of my favorite things in nature: the ocean, the rivers, and the mountains. I have often heard people ask others which they prefer, the seaside or the mountains. How could we pos...

1 Corinthians 10:24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Several years ago, I was heading up a USAID project in Southern Africa and I found myself in Mozambique at an agricultural experiment station. The grant I had contained little room for unplanned expenses. But with that...

John 5:6-8 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" Sir, the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." This encounter between Jesus and...

Hello, and welcome to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. I’m Grace Jonas, the reader and writer of today’s devotional, which I’ve entitled “Let Heaven and Nature Sing”. Thank you so much for joining me today! Psalm 96:11-12 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea resound, an...

John 1:45-51 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, Joseph's son, from Nazareth." Nathanael responded, "Can anything from Nazareth be good?" Philip said, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, "Here is a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit." Nathanael asked him, "How do you kno...

Matthew 9:9 "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he rose and followed him." We learn later that this tax collector, was none other than the great disciple, Matthew, who wrote that book of the Bible. But the first thing we need to know as we seek a lesson in today's scripture is how unloved, maybe even hated the tax collectors w...

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...

Genesis 11:1-7 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name...

John 9:25 (CEB) The man answered, "I don't know whether he's a sinner. Here's what I do know: I was blind and now I see." John 9:25 contains one of the simplest and bravest testimonies in Scripture. The man who had been born blind stood before religious authorities who wanted him to deny what had happened to him. They had already decided what was acceptable to believe. They already had the "correc...

1 Peter 2:4-5 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may procl...

John 21:17 The third time he said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep." This wonderful encounter occurs at the end of John chapter 21 with the resurrected Christ speaking directly to his disciple Simon Peter. Three times, Jesus...

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV) "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." I'm reading C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity again - third or fourth time through, I've lost count. You'd think a book I've read that many times wouldn't surprise me anymore. But yesterd...

John 3:1-12 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." "How can someone...

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...

Luke 10:38-42 While Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his message. By contrast, Martha was preoccupied with getting everything ready for their meal. So Martha came to him and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to prepare the t...

John 1:47-50 (NIV) When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel." Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw y...

John 20:16 "Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). It must have been dark in that place of tombs when Mary Magdalene went very early on that Sunday morning and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. Simon Peter and the other disciple, who also came very early, had already gone home. But Mary staye...

Genesis 1:2 The Spirit of God moving over the surface of the water. Revelation 22:17 Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. There was a natural spring on our small farm where I grew up. It was always one of my favorite places to hang out. It was fascinating to watch the clear, pure water bubble up through the sand. My father decided to enlarge...

Matthew 9:9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he rose and followed him. As a tax collector, Matthew most likely had a fairly lucrative business. And yet, at the request of Jesus, he left his tax booth and followed. Similarly, Peter went ashore, laid down his nets, and followed Jesus when summoned. And their liv...

Leviticus 19:18 (NRSV) You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Picture a lawyer — sharp, well-trained, an expert in the Torah — approaching Jesus with what he thinks is a test question. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He probably expected Jesus to wade into the theological debate...

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...

John 20:27-28 Then He said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt, but believe." Thomas answered Him, "My Lord and my God!" Believe, Believe, Believe! Search engine results show that word used 98 times in John alone! The other Gospels of Mark show nine uses of believe, 14 in Matthew and nine in Luke. Jesus continues in verse 29 in...

Matthew 6:30-34 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and...

Acts 9:3-6 (NIV) As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." Saul of Tarsus was not a villain. He was a...

1 Kings 19:19–21 (NIV) "So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. 'Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,' he said, 'and then I will come with you.' 'Go back,' Elijah replied. 'What have I don...