Grace for All

We often hear about staying on the “straight and narrow road” that leads to eternal life. In C.S. Lewis’ book “The Last Battle” (the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia series), if my memory is correct, the lion Aslan, who represents Christ, becomes the leader of people from all over Narnia. They unite together as they proceed toward the final goal. This started me thinking about the way of life, or the road, that leads to eternal life.

I began to picture a multilane highway with many signs along the sides and exits and entrances. The different lanes were occupied by people that looked different from me, were moving at different speeds, and of different traditions, but all trying their best to follow the example of Jesus. The signs along the side of the highway advertised things that looked inviting and enticing, and each exit would lead to a multitude of these distractions. However, every exit also had an entrance ramp by which one could get back on the highway.

We don’t think of highways as being narrow but in the scheme of all the different directions available to us, they are not wide. There are many people around us that look different, talk differently, act differently, and worship differently but like us (on our best days) they, too, are trying to live life as Jesus taught. Rather than trying to cut them off or scream at them for being in the “wrong” lane, shouldn’t we be looking to them for mutual support as we travel along this highway that leads us all to the destination that we desire?

God help me this day to see others as you see them and treat them as Jesus would. So that we can support each other as we strive to be the people that you created us to be.

Today’s devotional was written by Alvin Jenkins 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: [email protected].

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/.

Most of us know Psalm 23 by heart. The Lord is my Shepherd. Green pastures. Quiet waters. We even boldly declare that we walk "through the valley of the shadow of death" without hesitation, because we have repeated this statement so often that it's almost become automatic.

And then all of a sudden, it becomes a psalm about dinner.

We usually move right through this passage to get to the next one, about dwelling "in the house of the Lord forever." But notice where the dinner table is. Not somewhere safely away from enemies. Not after enemies have been defeated. In the presence of them.

This psalm is identified as a "psalm of David." We do not know for sure when he wrote this psalm or which enemies he meant. Nor do we know whether it represents a particular point in David's life. Maybe it was the time he hid in the wilderness while Saul pursued him. Maybe it was when his son Absalom drove him from his own home. We'll never know for sure. What we do know is who "you" refers to in this psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. You guide me. You restore me. Now, you are preparing a table. He is certainly not writing about being fed by strangers. He is writing about being served by God himself.

In David's world, a table meant something specific. To sit as someone's guest, at their table, anointed and fed, meant coming under that host's protection. For as long as the meal lasted, you were untouchable by whatever or whoever was outside the tent. So when David writes this, he's describing a claim: the enemy is right there, but it doesn't matter because God is his host. It is his table. He set it himself, and he decides what happens at it.

A thousand years later, God sets a table again. This time in person.

It is the night before the crucifixion. Jesus — who had already told his followers, "I am the good shepherd" — takes bread, breaks it, and shares it. Then he takes a cup and passes it around the room. That room includes Judas, who is well on his way to betraying Jesus. He's been paid, and his mind is made up. He is at the table, close enough to share the same plate with Jesus.

The enemy is not outside the room. He is sitting at the table. Even so, the shepherd prepares the meal for both him and others.

This is not a coincidence of imagery. This is the same host David wrote about, delivering in the flesh what he described over a thousand years earlier in a psalm: the table is spread before the enemy leaves the room, not afterward.

That table continues to be spread, and the host is the same shepherd that served David. Death and sin continue to operate within the world today. And there is still a table.

David wrote that his cup overflowed. He couldn't have known that centuries later, another cup would be poured out at another table — not overflowing for the one who drank it, but emptied out for the sake of everyone else in the room, and for us.

Father, thank you for the table you set for us, even when trouble is still in the room. Help us trust you instead of the enemy in front of us. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Cliff McCartney.

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: [email protected].

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/.

People who focus on worldly goods plant and reap a harvest focused on what is best for themselves and their gain. This means that in each interaction they fight for every seed and every inch of ground. Their life is a competition, a battle, a quest. We are taught that this is the way of the world.

Being raised in this culture, one might think that focusing on what the other person wants instead of oneself is somehow weak or a loss of what we might need ourselves. While not completely wrong this is incomplete and frankly exhausting. Both approaches and outcomes are incomplete and therefore lead to conflict. One leads to external conflict and the other internal.

People who focus on the Good News that Jesus has shared with us focus on God’s view. Reflecting on what others need does not mean we give everything away depriving ourselves. It does not mean that we are weak. Focusing on God’s kingdom includes providing for all which includes us as well. Those that can hold this in their heart are at peace. It is a source of wealth to be harvested. It is a rock on which one can stand. It is a path that provides peace to yourself and those around you. It is a harvest so vast that it is not just about food or money. It is a source so deep and so secure that it is beyond measure and comprehension.

A peacemaker is one who feels no reason to do battle. It is not cowardice or fear. It is humility and confidence that the love of God does and will guide all. The harvest of being at one with God is peace for yourself and all those you encounter.

People think that if an opponent strikes and they do not strike back that they will lose. They think there is a vacuum that needs to be filled. They think that they must act, protect, and fill the void. But just because a dog barks does not mean we must bite. If God is all then there is no void. If God is with me and in me then I am filled. If this is my confidence, my rock and foundation then what do I have to lose? It is not my job to attack, and I do not need to defend myself against other’s beliefs. I do not need more.

Peace comes from knowing God is with us. Making peace comes from sharing the love of God with others and knowing that our basket is never empty. Our well will not run dry.

Please pray with me today. Father, with you at my side and in my heart, let me know peace and be at one with you always. As I stand on your stone may no waves cause me to fear that I may lose my footing. With the peace of knowing that you provide all, may I share this harvest with each person I encounter, Amen.

This devotion 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: [email protected].

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: [email protected].

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/.

I grew up in rural central Kentucky in the 1950s. My father yearned to be a full-time farmer but was never able to purchase enough land to support us. Still, we had a large garden of lettuce, onions, radishes, tomatoes, corn, carrots, green beans, and potatoes. We children helped with planting, hoeing, harvesting, preserving, and of course, eating the bounty of this garden. During the long summer months, my mother watched the skies and prayed for rain. I do not remember any summer when we did not have enough rain, even though it did not always come when we wished. But we never went hungry, and we enjoyed the bounty of the garden deep into the winter months as we emptied the canning jars. The harvest was always plentiful.

The United Methodist Social Principles speak directly on our relationship to God’s creation, stating “We affirm that all creation belongs to God and is a manifestation of God’s goodness and providential care. Human beings, nonhuman animals, plants, and other… beings participate in the community of creation, and their flourishing depends on the care of all God’s creation. Rather than treating creation as if it were placed here solely for humanity’s use and consumption, we are called to practice responsible stewardship and to live in right relationship with the Creator and with the whole of God’s creation.”

Recently a farmer in central Kentucky died. His name was Wendell Berry. Wendell Berry dedicated his life to agrarian principles. He owned a small farm and lovingly tended it for seven decades. He believed in the bond between humans and the land, and he advocated for this bond all his life in poetry, essays, and novels. In his essay titled A Native Hill, Berry wrote,

“There appears to be a law that when creatures have reached the level of consciousness, as men have, they must become conscious of the creation; they must learn how they fit into it and what its needs are and what it requires of them, or else pay a terrible penalty: the spirit of the creation will go out of them, and they will become destructive; the very earth will depart from them and go where they cannot follow.”

Like Wendell Berry, all round us in the world today we see the destructive tendencies of mankind. We experience the searing heat of summers and wildfires; we suffer the floods and devastation of storms. Yet we ignore the climate policies we need to enact and we ignore the humans who experience famine. We must return to a relationship with God that includes reverence for our created world.

Dear God, turn our hearts toward your creation. Help us see that the harvest is plentiful if we work in concert with you to care for the beautiful world you gave us. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Laura Derr.

Social Principles: Community of All Creation

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2020/2024

Preface

The great lesson that our blessed Lord inculcates here…is that God is in all things, and that we are to see the Creator in the glass of every creature; that we should use and look upon nothing as separate from God…who pervades and actuates the whole created frame, and is, in a true sense, the soul of the universe (John Wesley, “Upon Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount").

We affirm that all creation belongs to God and is a manifestation of God’s goodness and providential care. Human beings, nonhuman animals, plants, and other sentient and non-sentient beings participate in the community of creation, and their flourishing depends on the care of all God’s creation. Rather than treating creation as if it were placed here solely for humanity’s use and consumption, we are called to practice responsible stewardship and to live in right relationship with the Creator and with the whole of God’s creation (Gen. 1:26–31; Matt. 6:26–30; Rom. 8:22–24). We are also called to honor the role of every part of creation in healing the whole; thus, we praise God with the whole of creation (Ps. 148) and recognize that we are part of complex ecosystems, all valued by God.

We affirm our sacred calling to be responsible stewards and to lovingly tend all that God has wrought. We recognize the inherent worth of God’s creation, celebrate earth’s abundance and diversity, and, along with the entirety of the cosmos, give praise to its Creator. We recognize we are interconnected members of complex ecosystems, intricate webs of life, all of which have their origins in God’s gracious act of creation.

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: [email protected].

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/.

There is a deep longing in every heart to know that life matters. We can fill our days with work, family, goals, responsibilities, and accomplishments, yet still find ourselves asking, “What is the point of it all?” Purpose answers that question. Purpose is more than success, more than achievement, and more than staying busy. Purpose is the God-given reason we exist, the anchor that gives meaning to our days and direction to our steps.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God is not careless with our lives. He declares, “I know the plans I have for you.” These words were first spoken to people living in exile, far from home and surrounded by uncertainty. God’s promise did not mean their situation would change instantly, but it did mean their story was not over. Even in a difficult season, God was still present, still working, and still leading them toward hope and a future.

That truth speaks to us today. We may not always understand the season we are in. We may feel delayed, distracted, disappointed, or unsure of what comes next. But purpose begins with trust: trusting that God sees what we cannot see, knows what we do not know, and is shaping our lives for something greater than ourselves. His plans are not random. They are plans of welfare, peace, hope, and future.

Purpose is discovered when we stop asking only, “What do I want?” and begin asking, “Lord, what did You create me to do?” God created us in His image, designed us for relationship with Him, and placed gifts, experiences, passions, and influence within us so that we might glorify Him and serve others. A life of purpose is not centered on self; it is poured out in love. It shows up in how we lead, encourage, give, forgive, serve, and make a positive difference in the lives around us.

Sometimes we think purpose must be grand or dramatic, but often it is lived faithfully in ordinary places. Purpose can be found in loving your family well, encouraging a friend, serving your church, mentoring someone, giving generously, leading with integrity, or choosing kindness when no one is watching. When surrendered to Christ, even simple acts become sacred because they become part of God’s larger plan.

The journey of purpose also requires patience. Jeremiah 29:11 teaches us that God’s future is full of hope, but His timing is not always immediate. We are called to seek Him, commit our work to Him, and walk faithfully one step at a time. Purpose grows as our relationship with Christ deepens. As we follow Him, our priorities shift. We begin to value people more than applause, service more than status, and significance more than success.

Reflection: Where is God asking you to trust His plan instead of forcing your own? What gifts, relationships, or opportunities has He placed in your life that you can use to serve others?

Prayer: Lord, thank You for creating me with purpose. Help me trust Your plans, even when I cannot see the full path ahead. Teach me to seek You first, serve others faithfully, and live each day in a way that reflects Your love. Guide my steps toward the future and hope You have prepared. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Jonathan Gibson.

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: [email protected].

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/.

Colleen Barrett was an American business executive who served as president of Southwest Airlines. There is a quote attributed to her: “Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun.” We cannot control many things in our lives. But the one thing, she is saying that we do have control over, is our attitude.

An author writes about his friend, a woman in her late 60s who needed to find work because life circumstances had left her in need of money. The only job she could get was with the city grounds crew. She mowed parks. She plants flowers. She digs weeds. In the summer, her step counter regularly logs more than 100.000 steps, over 40 miles, each week. It is a physically strenuous job. One that she did not choose. The author asked her one day about work, expecting to hear a litany of complaints. Instead, what he heard was how she loves her job, being outdoors, in God’s creation. She celebrates that she is strong and fit, not like most of her friends her age. She had a choice as to how to view her life, and she celebrates the blessings that her work has brought her.

If we can control our attitude, which I believe we can, how do we do it? Paul in the letter to the Philippians gives us one clue. If we focus on the good, the pure, the pleasing things instead of the negative, we will have a much more positive outlook on life. Think of the woman who had to go back to work late in life. Where did she put her focus? On all the positive things related to her job, not the negative.

I know how hard this is to do when life presents overwhelming challenges. It is so easy to let your mind stray towards all the negatives and to dwell on all the what-ifs that are not hopeful. I think it is human nature to do this. It takes conscious effort to keep focused on the positives. This attitude is not denying the hard things in life it is just not giving them any power. Also, it is an awareness that no matter how much we might fret about these negative and hard things, we don’t have much, if any, power to change them. All we control is our attitude.

So what about you? Where do you focus your mind and your energy? Is it on the negative, the scary what-ifs, and the ways life has been unfair? Or do you focus on the positive, the good, the joyful things of life? Your answer makes all the difference in how you approach life.

Don’t we all want to be like Colleen Barrett and say about our lives, “I choose fun”? We could just as easily say we are dwelling on the blessing of God and letting God take care of the rest.

Let us pray: Gracious God, we are so blessed each and every day. No matter what we have had to deal with or are facing today or what might come tomorrow we know you are here filling our lives with goodness and hope. Help us to dwell on this, especially during the hard times life brings us. AMEN.

This podcast 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: [email protected].

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/.

Bonnie Ware spent a number of years as a palliative care nurse. She cared for the dying. Over the course of that time she heard a great many patients express regrets, and she began to catalog them. Some were particular to an individual, but many of them she heard from a lot of patients. She listed the ones she heard most frequently, and from that list and her experiences she wrote a book, “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.” Here are a couple of them.

The most frequent regret she heard was: I wish I had had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others wanted for me. In other words, I wish I had listened to my heart and followed my own dreams rather than trying to meet the expectations of others.

Number two was: I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. Every male patient who expressed regret said this. They were saying I wish I had spent more time with the people I love.

As I reflected on the most common regrets people have as they near the end of life, what strikes me is that all of them,at the base, have to do with relationships. Jesus told us that what is most important is our relationship with God, with others, and with ourselves. We call this the Great Commandment.

In contrast with those who ended up with a life of regrets, listen to the Apostle Paul. He says, “The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight (that is, I’ve given my life to what matters), I have finished the race (my life is ending), I have remained faithful.” No regrets!

It’s not too late for you and me to turn our regrets into resolutions.

I Resolve: to live an authentic life, not one someone else wants for me but one true to who I really am.

I Resolve: to put relationships first: my relationship with my Creator and my Savior, with central people in my life, and to engage everyone with kindness and helpfulness. So there are no regrets!

O Holy One, I have this one life to live. Help me not to waste it, but to make your priorities mine, and finish my race with faithfulness. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Herb Sadler.

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: [email protected].

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/.

This verse promises God’s future restoration, comfort, and abundant provision for His people, after a time of hardship. God will remain faithful.

Some days we may feel the weight of the world pressing down on our shoulders. Some days the news is full of wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters, fires destroying whole neighborhoods, floods wiping out villages, destroying natural resources, washing away homes, cars, and people, leaving trails of destruction and rescuers digging for survivors. It’s just too much!

No wonder we feel overwhelmed by the scope and volume of the loss and pain that we have no control over. The loss and pain that we pray God to stop. On days like that we need the reminder from this verse – the reminder that God is still with us, and he has promised future restoration, comfort, and abundant provision for His people after the hardship.

In prayer we can drop the weight of the world into God’s hands and recall his promises, while trusting Him through the pain and loss. But it takes much more than our prayer. It takes our actions, our determination, our generosity – resources God has given us to help others in times of great pain.

While trusting God for his ultimate provision, we must serve as His hands and feet. We must generously donate to rescue organizations, aid agencies, and those in need. We can help our neighbors who are in need locally, by generously giving to food banks, homeless shelters, and family support agencies. We can serve generously as God’s hands and feet.

After comforts and provisions are returned to the suffering ones, we can shout for joy with them, as together we rejoice in the bounty of the Lord and thank Him joyfully!

Let’s pray together now…

Dear generous, loving God, please hold close in your Great LOVE all those in harms way, rescue and comfort them and light a fire in the hearts of those of us who are blessed with safety, security, and resources – a fire of generosity and comfort for our brothers and sisters the world over, who need our help. Use us as your hands and feet to help your people through and beyond their hardship, leading us all to rejoice in your bounty.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Today’s devotion was written and read by Bernice Howard.

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: [email protected].

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/.

My favorite photographic subject is fall color. I am blessed to live near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the most beautiful displays of fall color on the planet. During leaf season, I love to get in the car, drive around the park, and let the photography come to me. A few years ago, on one of these drives, I pulled off at a turnout with a stunning view of the Chimney Tops, bare granite rising out of a range built almost entirely of forest. Below the peaks, that forest was on fire with red and orange, and I made a few frames I was happy with. Keepers.

Before I moved on, I remembered something I learned from photographer Jay Maisel. He said, "If the light is great in front of you, turn around and see what it's doing behind you."

I turned around. The sun was low behind the trees, and golden sunlight was pouring through the sugar maples and yellow birches along the road, lighting each leaf from behind so it glowed against the dark trunks. It took my breath. The pictures I made in the next few minutes were better than anything else I got that day.

In John chapter 4, the disciples had come to get something too. They were walking with Jesus, north from Judea to Galilee, and the road took them through Samaria. Around noon they stopped at Jacob's well, outside the town of Sychar. Jesus was tired from the walk and sat down to rest by the well while the disciples went into town to buy food.

While they were gone, a woman met Jesus at the well, and her conversation with him changed her life. She hurried home with a message: "Come and see." Now the townspeople were coming out across the fields toward him. The disciples returned from the town with food, but Jesus looked past them at the road.

"Rabbi, eat," they said. Jesus answered, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." The disciples looked at one another. "Has anyone brought him something to eat?" Then Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." And he turned their attention from the bread in their hands to the grain in the fields.

"There are yet four months, then comes the harvest" sounds like a farmer's saying, a way of telling each other it isn't time yet. Jesus doesn't argue with the calendar. He says, "Look."

The word John uses is idou. It isn't a word for quiet observation. It grabs you by the sleeve and points: Look here! It's the same thing Jay Maisel says. Turn around! You might be missing it!

Then Jesus says it twice more: lift up your eyes, and see. The fields are ripe. The disciples had their backs to the harvest. It was coming across the field toward them, ready, while they held out bread and talked about four months from now. Jesus grabbed them by the shoulders and turned them around to see what mattered more.

Those trees behind me were glowing the whole time I was shooting the Chimney Tops. The best harvest of the afternoon was behind me, waiting for me to notice. I didn't see it until I heard Maisel’s words in my head, turned around, and saw something better.

Lord of the harvest, turn us around. Lift our eyes from what we want, and let us see the people you are bringing up the road. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Cliff McCartney.

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: [email protected].

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/.