Grace for All

Philippians 4:6Do 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 attend meetings, trainings, and conferences in either Nashville or Murfreesboro, both a 30-40 drive via I-65 under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, the circumstances were rarely normal. The problem was not getting onto the Interstate – the problem was making progress once on the Interstate. Many mornings, although I left well before 7:00 a.m. to make an 8:00 a.m. meeting, I found myself at a complete stop while emergency vehicles raced by, going either north or south, and I, along with hundreds of other busy commuters and travelers, sat stewing in my vehicle, worrying about being late for this or that very important (at least in my mind) appointment.One day I was apologizing to the person leading the meeting (when I finally got there, about 20 minutes late) and explaining the circumstances. She could see I was frustrated and still aggravated about my tardy arrival. Instead of commiserating with me and sharing her traffic horror stories, she surprised me by saying, “What I do when I’m held up in traffic like that is pray for those involved in the accident and the first responders caring for them.” Pray? I was frustrated, worried about missing the meeting, and anxious for traffic to start moving! I was not in the mood to pray!However, the more I thought about it, I realized that my anger, anxiety, and frustration were doing nothing to help the situation. I realized that however my day had been altered, it was nothing compared to the serious injuries, or worse, of the victims, and that the first responders were endangering themselves trying to help those who had been in the accident. I felt ashamed of myself for making a horrible situation for others all about me and my misplaced values. Yes, my work was important, but nothing is more important than a human being’s life.From that day forward, I have practiced what she taught me. When I find myself caught in a traffic delay, I pray for those involved in the accident, for God’s comfort and reassurance for them and their loved ones, and for the first responders, that they will be able to use their knowledge and training to help those victims and remain safe themselves. I thank God that there are those willing to help in tragic and difficult circumstances. Yes, I may still be late for my intended destination, but I am calm instead of anxious and focused on others instead of myself. And I thank God for my safe arrival, too.As this verse teaches us, in every situation, present your requests to God.Our prayer today:Heavenly Father,Thank you for the reminder that our human feelings and failings can best be managed by talking with you about them. Help us stay focused on others rather than ourselves and let us do whatever we can to serve those individuals who are in distress. Thank you for the angels among us who risk their own lives every day to save the lives of others. Amen.This devotional was written by Pat Scruggs and read by Sally Stovall. Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org. First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

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 child in Sunday School, I received a mechanical pencil as a prize for memorizing a lot of verses of Scripture. I treasured that pencil and carried it for years. In my mind’s eye, I can still see the print on its barrel, quoting Philippians 4:13 in the King James Version: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The Common English Bible translation sounds a little darker: “I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.”But I love the implications of the broader passage—not just enduring difficulty, but “content with whatever I have.” Forty years or so after Paul wrote to the Philippians, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus observed that it is not what happens to us but what we think about what happens to us that determines our experience. Paul learned contentment by keeping his attention on Jesus.I confess that I don’t always choose to think about things in a way that brings contentment, but Paul shows me the way, and when I remember his words to the Philippians in good times or challenging times, I find contentment too.Would you pray with me?Father, thank you for the strength and the joy that comes through Jesus. When we face celebrations and when we face challenges, may we remember to give thanks for that gift and experience the same contentment in all our circumstances. In Jesus’ name, Amen.This devotional was written and read by Donn King. Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org. First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Matthew 6:34, NIVTherefore, 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 stuff, because tomorrow is not promised. All we can count on is today. That makes me think of another verse, Galatians 6:9: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Basically, this means that we have to be patient and not worry about what is happening in the future. Instead, we must rely on God, and keep doing the right thing in the present. If the thing we want doesn’t happen, it’s either not the right thing or not the right time. The Lord will create a path for each of us, and sometimes failing is part of the plan that will make you who you are supposed to be. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you wanted them to. When that happens, it’s hard to understand, and easy to worry. Two years ago, I didn’t make my middle school baseball team, and then I got cut from the team I was on. Even though that was really hard at the time, now I can look back and see how it helped me become the player I am today—a better player. It taught me to keep working and not give up. It taught me to have faith in God, who helped me through. And faith is better than worry any day. Prayer:Dear Lord, please help me to not worry about tomorrow, and instead live in the present, and trust in You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. This devotional was written and read by Ryan Smith.Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org. First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

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 hope that each of these scriptures and podcasts will bring you a full measure of joy, peace, and love.Now, let's listen to the scriptures that have been on our hearts this week.Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

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 recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"We know this story. We read it at Easter, and we focus — rightly — on the extraordinary moment at the table when the two disciples finally recognize the risen Christ. But I want to stop before we get to the table, and look carefully at what happens at the edge of the village, because something remarkable occurs there too.Think about what these two people were carrying as they came within sight of home. They had spent the previous days in shock and grief, watching everything they had believed about Jesus of Nazareth come crashing down with his death on the cross. That morning there had been confusing reports from the women about an empty tomb, reports they clearly were not sure what to make of. They had been walking all day. They were exhausted, uncertain, perhaps a little skeptical about everything they were hearing. The stranger who had joined them on the road was remarkably well-spoken and knew the scriptures deeply, but he did not appear to be in any distress. He was not begging. He was not obviously in need. As they reached the village, he showed every sign of continuing on his way.The easy thing — the understandable thing — would have been to wish him well at the crossroads and go inside and close the door. But they did not do that. The Greek word Luke uses for what they did next is parebiasanto — to constrain, to press, to urge so strongly that the other person can hardly refuse. They didn't offer a polite, open-ended invitation. They insisted. Stay with us. It is nearly evening. The day is almost over. Come in.That same Greek word appears only one other time in the New Testament. In Acts 16, after Paul and his companions have shared the gospel with a gathering of women by the river at Philippi, a woman named Lydia — a merchant, a person of some means — responds with immediate faith and is baptized along with her household. And then, Luke tells us, she urged Paul and his companions to come and stay at her house. She would not take no for an answer. Two episodes, separated by years and miles, bound together by the same pressing, insistent, open-handed hospitality.Cleopas and his companion had no idea who they were inviting in. They thought they were extending a kindness to a fellow traveler who had somehow missed the news about Jesus of Nazareth. And that is precisely the point. Their hospitality was not offered because they recognized Christ. It was offered because something — those burning hearts they had not yet learned to identify — moved them past politeness and past the exhaustion of a long and difficult day, and made them open the door to a stranger.Their kindness was rewarded far beyond anything they could have imagined. The stranger they welcomed in broke bread with them, and in that breaking their eyes were opened. The risen Christ had been walking with them all afternoon, and they had not known it. They knew it now. We are all, on any given day, closer to that kind of encounter than we realize. The question is whether, when we come within sight of home, tired and uncertain and ready to close the door, we will hear that still, small prompting and say to the stranger beside us — stay with us. Come in.PrayerOur Father, give us the grace to practice the hospitality that Cleopas and his companion showed on the road to Emmaus — not the hospitality of convenience, but the kind that insists, that opens the door even when the day is almost over. May we welcome the stranger as they did, and may our eyes be opened as theirs were. Amen.This devotion was written by Jim Stovall. Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Acts 16:23-25They threw them (Paul and Silas) into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.Paul and Silas had just entered a new field of ministry in Macedonia. They were in the town of Philippi where they made their first convert in Europe, a woman named Lydia. They spent some time there and a slave girl, who had a spirit of divination and made great amounts of money for her owners through fortune telling starts following Paul and Silas around saying, "These men are slaves of the Most High God." She did this for many days until Paul had enough. He said to the spirit, "Come out of her." It did and the girl's owners realizing that she would no longer make them money brought Paul and Silas before the judges. As our scripture shares the judges, after giving them a severe beating, threw them into prison. The jailer, just to be safe, put them in the maximum security section.Think about Paul and Silas. They were trying to do what God wanted. They had entered into Macedonia, at God's command. They shared the gospel and made converts. They even healed a girl, though we are not sure she wanted to be healed. Now they had been beaten, were in prison and did not know what the next day might bring. Possibly they would be executed. And what did they do. They worshiped God and sang songs of praise to God. I don't know about you, but if I had been in their place I don't know that this would have been my response. More likely it would have found me having a supreme pity party and blaming God for the fix I was in.This story reminds me of one from our Methodist history. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was on the way to America as a missionary in Georgia. His brother Charles was with him. Also on board was a large group of German Moravians. A terrible storm broke out. The English on board were crying and trembling. In the midst of the storm, John hears the Moravians quietly singing hymns to God. Afterward, John asked, "Were you not afraid that you would die?" The Moravian pastor said, "Thankfully, no, we were not afraid. For we know whether we live or die, we are with God." This assurance so challenged John's understanding of faith that some years later, he would see it as one of the pivotal pieces in his life that led him to his own heart-warming experience, which we now see as the beginning of Methodism.Both of these stories make me ask, "How do I respond when life is difficult, challenging, and downright unfair?" The easy response is to become angry, bitter, and perhaps depressed. These stories share a different path. We can, in difficult times, trust in God's presence. We have the knowledge and assurance that God is with us. We may not know the future, but we know that God holds that future. That knowledge should help us to trust in the dark times, and perhaps even sing songs of praise.For Paul and Silas, an earthquake broke their chains. The jailer, in finding they didn't escape, was converted with his household. They were released the next day and went on their missionary journey. For John Wesley, that storm caused him to continue working on deepening his trust and assurance in God's grace. For us, storms are times of testing. Others are watching. Will they see fear and anger, or hear us singing about the goodness of God, even in times such as this?PrayerLoving God, it is comforting to remember that when life is challenging, you are with us. Help us to have such faith in you that we can trust and not fear. Help us to find the assurance we need so that no matter what, we can lift our voices in praise for your love and care. In Jesus name we pray. AMENThis devotional was written and read by Bill Green.Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Psalm 100:1-2Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing. As I sit and write this, I am looking out of the windows as the sun rises in the sky. Birds come and go from tree to lawn to tree. Baby bunnies hop across the yard. Although the trees are still, the clouds are moving quickly across the sky. The dew glistens on the grass as the sunlight reaches past the shadow of a tree. I listen as well. I hear birds. There is an occasional jet as it passes overhead. The traffic has not yet started. It is still a quiet moment outside and in my heart. Soon I will rise and begin the rest of my day. There will be noise and work and worry. There will be decisions and distractions. There will be people I meet who are filled with joy and filled with grief. I have sat here long enough that a cloud has covered the sun, and the glimmer on the dew is gone. It makes me wonder not what I will see but what others will see when they look at me. Will they see a glimmer and shine like a bright sun on the morning dew, or will they see a shadow dark and wait for it to pass?It makes me wonder what noise I will make during the day. Do I hear the sounds I make, or am I deaf to my own cadence and cry? Do I sing God’s praises as I interact? Do my footsteps plod along or tap a dance of joy?Is my presence in a given moment something that allows for God’s praise? Do I bring the joy of creation in my heart? If I am in the LORD’s presence every moment, let me sing so that others may hear the joy. May my steps ring true. When I meet others throughout each day, may my noise bring harmony, not discord. May the light of my actions and words be a song to the LORD that others see and hear.And when I walk in silence with those who wonder where light has gone, may the sound of my steps guide them through darkness because the light of our LORD is being praised. May we hear the songs of praise in the birds and the breeze.Please join me in prayer. LORD, may the noise we make be a joyful celebration of you and all you have given us. Even when we lose sight of the light, may we hear. When noise and distraction steal our focus, may we sing in our hearts with praise and thanksgiving that you are there with us always, Amen.This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Susan Daves.Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org. First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Psalm 98:1 & 4O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.We have a screen room where we like to eat our meals when the weather allows. We have a number of trees surrounding our backyard and because of that we are blessed to listen to the songs of birds. We have an app that identifies what birds are singing. So, a ritual with our meal is for me to take out my phone as I say, "I wonder who is joining us?" We have our regulars, like the Carolina Wren and the Song Sparrow. Occasionally we have a special guest, like the red shoulder hawk. Listening to them makes this verse come alive, In those moments it feels as if all creation is making a joyful noise.Listening to those birds also makes me think of the song "All Things Bright and Beautiful." In the first verse it talks about each little bird that sings and later how God made their tiny wings. The hymn ends with these words "God gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell how great is God almighty, who has made all things well."Those words, and the beauty of creation, are reminders to us that God is all around us. That is a comforting and joyful word. But as the last verse of the hymn reminds us, this awareness is not just to hold in our hearts, but something we should share with others.Birds sing all the time. It's what they do. We are called to sing as well. That doesn't mean we have to walk around singing at the top of our lungs, but you could. It is a call to find ways to share often how great is God, to add our voice to the joyful noise of creation. I have a friend who often says "God is Good. All the time!" Her words became even more compelling when she went through a very difficult time. Even though she was dealing with loss and health concerns she would still say, "God is good! All the time!" It felt as if she said it with even more conviction during these times. We all noticed her words, it was her song of praise.So sing to the lord a new song. Break forth into joyous songs of praise. Let the world know God is here! And just like the birds, we have to sing about it. After all, it is what we are supposed to do!PrayerLoving God, help us to pause today to listen, really listen to your creation. In the songs of the birds, the sound of the wind in the trees and more may we be reminded you are here. Help us by our words and actions to join in this song letting all know you are with us and love us. And may our song, perhaps help another to find the comfort and reassurance and maybe even faith that they need. AMEN.This devotional was written and read by Bill Green.Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.