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/.

The creek had been buried by overgrown brush and debris for fifty years until the neighborhood coalition worked to “daylight” it. Now children gather at its restored banks, learning the names of native plants from elders who remember when fish were plentiful. “This creek carries stories,” explains Rita, who helped lead the restoration. “When we heal the water, we heal the connections between people and place.”

The psalmist imagines nature itself celebrating divine shalom – rivers clapping, mountains singing. To modern ears, this might sound like mere poetry. But what if these ancient words point toward a deeper truth: that environmental healing and social shalom flow together like converging streams?

In this restored creek, we glimpse such possibility. Where careless neglect once constrained life, native plants now filter runoff. Where once-divided neighborhoods now share garden paths. Where children once saw only an eyesore, they now watch water fowl swim in clear water. This is creation care – not just preserving what remains but restoring what was lost. Not just sustainability, but regeneration.

As climate challenges mount, such small acts of restoration matter more than ever. They remind us that peace with creation isn’t achieved through grand gestures alone, but through countless local acts of attention and love. Every creek restored, every garden planted, every community gathered around healing places joins the ancient song of clapping rivers and singing mountains praising God.

Dear Lord, show us places and people who need to be restore. Show us the acts of environmental healing that we could do today. Amen.

This devotional was written by Chuck Warnock and read 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/.

When I look around, when I listen to the myriad voices speaking most fervently–and most loudly–in our world today, I confess that I do not see hope in abundance. What I see, what I hear, looks and sounds a lot more like decay–the earth depleted, the social fabric torn, a people demoralized. And where, pray tell, is hope? Who is holding it? Who is offering it?

In this moment of history, hope eludes us, doesn’t it?

The apostle Paul probably knew a thing or two about the elusive nature of hope. By the time he writes this letter to the Romans, he has traveled for years as a missionary, been imprisoned for his preaching, and dealt with all kinds of conflict within the early church. Here, he spells out his theology of hope. Listen to the contrasting language in this passage: suffering, waits, frustration, slavery, decay, and groaning compared with coming glory, breathless anticipation, set free, glorious freedom, and first crop of the harvest. Paul contrasts what is seen with what is unseen, what is temporary with what is eternal. What is seen is suffering and frustration, but suffering and frustration serve the hope of what is unseen–freedom, glory, and adoption into God’s family, into “the glorious freedom of God’s children.” Paul emphasizes the importance of hope in gospel theology when he says, “Who hopes for what they already see? But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.”

The hope of creation is that present sufferings are always the labor pains of being birthed into new life in the Spirit, and that they are incomparable to the glorious freedom that is found in Christ. But we are not only passive participants in this transformation. Elsewhere in Romans, Paul tells the church that we participate in this birth process when we choose not to conform to the patterns of the world, but instead to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In other words, we have to be willing to be changed, willing to do the hard work of hope, and that involves waiting, and trusting, and praying, and sometimes groaning in pain and despair.

God of hope, you have called us to be in the world, but not of the world, and Lord, honestly, sometimes that is so very hard. We get weary, and discouraged, and it becomes so difficult to wait with patience, to hope for what we cannot and do not see. In these moments, give us your strength. Give us your eyes. Help us to see with hope, that we might strengthen and encourage one another. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United...

I am sure we have all been in this situation. You had a dream, a plan that you wanted to accomplish, and then you hear a resounding “NO!” For a variety of reasons you come to realize that this dream will never happen. What has been your response at these moments in your life?

If I am honest I have to admit to feeling disappointment and even anger. I am angry about all the reasons why this plan will not proceed, about the people who have blocked its fulfillment, and, even worse, I admit that at times I have been angry with God. In frustration, I have prayed something like this: “God, you know why I think this plan is important, why I think it will be good for me and others. Why have you said “no?!”

Even though these responses are normal, King David shows us a different path. This is the last speech we have recorded from David. His life is coming to an end and soon his son Solomon would succeed him as king. David had seen many successes as king, but he still had unfulfilled plans. Chief among them, David wanted to build a temple to help the people worship God. To this plan, he was told no by God. How did David respond?

Instead of being angry David first focused on the future. He collected materials for the temple and had plans drawn up. The temple would get built even if David was gone. But even more, David focused his attention on celebrating God who had been and would continue to be with the people. David celebrates the goodness, the power, and glory of God. I believe this was David’s focus because he wanted the people to feel safe and secure in this time of change. David was about to die; Solomon was to soon reign. But ultimately God was in charge.

Hearing no, being in times of transition, is a scary and upsetting time. Instead of being angry or frustrated with life and perhaps with God, David’s prayer reminds us to be still, to find within ourselves the strength to accept what is instead of lamenting what might have been. Focusing on God who is always with us, who is great, and whose Glory fills our lives reminds us that God, not us, is in charge. In that knowledge we sometimes find that that plan we wanted to occur was better not happening because God had something better in store. And if the plan is good but we, like David, come to understand that we wont be a part of its fulfillment, we can do all we can to nurture it, even if we might never see the results.

Loving God, it is sometimes so hard to hear your “no” to our plans, to our dream, to our prayers. In those times help us to remember that you are with us, your love and your power surrounds us. Help us to accept the “no” and turn our lives to the future, knowing you are with us and will be with us in these times of change. AMEN.

This devotional was written by Bill Green and read 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:...

In the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, the author is given a number of visions. Chapter Four has a vision of heaven revealing the heavenly creatures who are praising and worshipping God and I particularly like verse 11 from the Common English Version where it describes the twenty-four elders crying out...

Isn’t it fitting that the Bible begins with God creating the world and everything in it and then concludes with a praise of God for his creative nature. I love watching the sun rise and sun set and have been blessed to witness them in many different places around the world. Each one reminds me of God’s creative power and daily renewal. God did not just create and quit, God continues to create, and we should praise God for it. I celebrate God’s creative nature today, May 13th, every year as I remember the birth of our first child, a son. For a number of reasons, we were so thankful and grateful for this gift, and it is right that we praise and honor God.

But have you ever thought about why God created our son, why he created you? The verse gives us the answer when it says it was by God’s will. In several other Bible translations, it says that it pleased God or was by God’s pleasure to create. How awesome to realize that God was pleased when creating you. Should we not remember this on a daily basis and thank God for not just creating and loving us, but for the creation of those around us.

Will you join me in this prayer: Lord God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power. Thank you for creating us and loving us and teaching us to love all your creations both people and the world. Amen.

My name is Owen Ragland, if these words today caused you to celebrate the creation of someone special in your life, please consider reaching out to them and letting them know you thank God for creating them.

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/.

On April 8, 1964, my life changed. I was two months from graduation from college in june, ready for a summer job with Virginia Tech extension, preparing for marriage in august and starting graduate school in September.

While studying between classes, a secretary said i needed to call home. I was told my father had been killed in a sawmill accident on the farm. I drove the 250 miles home, wondering all the way how this could have happened and wondering what the future held. We lived on a 200-acre farm with about one half of it in a managed forest, the other in cropland and pasture. My mother was a typical farm wife and mother to my two younger sisters who were still in high school and an older sister who was a teacher.

There was no receiving of friends in those days except many came by our home and said to let them know if they could do anything. The neighboring farmers came and plowed the fields and planted the corn, soybeans and peanuts. My uncle whose place was next to ours farmed our place that year and rented it years after. I graduated, worked at my summer job and farmed in the evenings. I married in august and started graduate school in September.

For at least two years, I could not get out of my mind what had happened. In particular, I could not understand how God could have allowed or caused this accident to happen when i was facing several major decisions in my life. I had been baptized at age twelve, and been active in church, royal ambassadors and such. However, it seemed all of that had in no way prepared me for the grief and decisions i had to make then and in the future.

I continued graduate school but came home on every opportunity to fix things that were not working at home, mostly plumbing. Yet, I still could not get out of my mind why the accident happened at all and why at that critical time in my life. Should I have stayed at home and farmed? My fiancé had already accepted a teaching job. I am sure some of the neighbors thought I took the easy way out by going to graduate school. At least i did not have to hear it.

I came upon a poem.

That seemed to help me move on, looking more toward the future. Later, in 1996, the man who bought the sawmill said my dad had installed the transmission in backwards which led to the accident. That seemed to answer my question of how it could have happed. It also brought closure. God wastes no opportunity to use our experiences for his glory. That experience has helped me comfort and better relate to those who suffer tragic losses.

Dear God, help us to learn from the past, but focus on the future and how we can be and do more to serve you. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Emmit Rawls.

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...

This short passage is enigmatic and raises more questions than it answer. How do we interpret these words of Jesus and his exchange with his disciple John? I confess that I do not have many answers and will continue thinking about this scripture for a while.

One thing seems to be clear. John and his colleagues want to stop people from exercising the authority of Jesus. Their actions and attitudes are based on the fact that the people who are doing these things are not a part of their group. They want to maintain the power of Jesus exclusively.

But Jesus does not have that attitude at all. While those who are with him all the time are special to him and he treats them as such, he understands that his mission on earth is much broader than these twelve men. Jesus is not challenged when others outside his circle speak and act in his name. He see value in those efforts and confident in their outcomes.

How often do we get caught up on our groups and seek to devalue and even prevent the good works of other people? Like little children, we want what we think is ours, and we don’t want others to have it. We forget that the good things we have and the opportunities to do good some from God, and we should always consider them gift. And we should remember that God gives to others as He does to us.

Our Father, help us to be more open to the good works that others may do and to never forget that your gifts are freely given. We have no special privilege and ownership in your kingdom. Amen.

This devotion was written by Jim Stovall 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/.

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.

We invite you to listen and receive Grace. Welcome and thank you for joining us.

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/.