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 tell you. She just didn’t think that was any reason not to sing.

My wife Carla has a demure, slightly southern speaking voice — soft, measured, the kind that makes you lean in a little. What I didn’t know when I married her was what happened to that voice when she opened her mouth to sing. She has the voice of an angel. Maybe three angels.

The first time I went to church with her, she was gracious enough to forego the choir and sit in the pew with me. When we stood for the first hymn, I found the page in my bulletin — and then this voice came out of the woman standing next to me. I nearly dropped my hymnal.

Two people I love. Two entirely different sets of gifts. Both making a joyful noise to the Lord.

Something happens to a voice on the way to God. It arrives in tune.

The psalm doesn’t say make a beautiful noise. It doesn’t say make a skilled noise, or a trained noise, or a noise that stays within the lines of the musical staff. It says make a joyful noise. The qualifier is about what’s in your heart, not what’s coming out of your throat.

My mother understood this in her bones. She wasn’t performing. She wasn’t auditioning. She was just responding to a God she loved, in the only voice she had. That was entirely sufficient.

Carla understands it too. Her voice is a genuine gift, and she uses it beautifully. But what moves God isn’t the three angels. It’s the same thing that moved him when my mother sang — the joyful, unself-conscious offering of whatever you have.

“All the earth,” the psalmist says. Not all the trained singers of the earth. Not the naturally gifted. All the earth. Which means the only real question is whether there’s any joy behind the noise.

If there is, you’re already doing it right.

Father, you don’t need our voices to be beautiful — just willing. Help us sing today as if what matters is the joy, not the pitch. 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: 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/.

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 earlier, Paul wrestles with a painfully familiar frustration. He knows what is right. He wants to do what is right. Yet he keeps falling short. Finally, at the end of Romans 7 he cries out, "I'm a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse?"

That is not the triumphant voice we hear at the end of Romans 8. It is the voice of someone who has reached the end of his own resources.

Maybe that's why Romans 8 feels so powerful. Paul doesn't write from a place of self-confidence. He doesn't claim he finally figured everything out. He isn't saying, "My faith is strong enough to hold onto God." Instead, he has become convinced that God is strong enough to hold onto him.

As Romans 8 unfolds, Paul works through every fear he can imagine: suffering, hardship, persecution, danger, even death itself. Then he reaches his conclusion: nothing that happens can undo what God has already done.

That is why Paul can say that neither death nor life, neither things present nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

He doesn't mean we will never struggle. Paul certainly did. The good news is that God's love is more persistent than our failures, our fears, and even our worst days.

Father, thank You that Your love does not depend on our ability to hold everything together. On some days, we are pretty sure we couldn't hold a paper clip together. Thank You for holding onto us even when we feel weak, uncertain, or overwhelmed. Remind us today that nothing can separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus. 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/.

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 visit recognized many specific pools and landmarks along its path. One such landmark was a natural dam consisting of large logs stacked one on top of the other and wedged between rocks on each bank, forming a natural waterfall. It had been around long enough to even acquire a name, Peg Leg Falls. The stream was maybe six feet across at this point. Again, a relatively small stream.

On one occasion following a major rain event, when I reached the point of Peg Leg Falls, I saw that it was no more. The force of the water rushing down the mountain in this otherwise small stream had dislodged the huge logs and washed them out of sight. I have seen other such rain events move large rocks and even change the course of a river.

I believe it is such an event that Amos is referring to in the scripture for today. The New English Translation reads "Justice must flow like torrents of water, righteous actions like a stream that never dries up." Amos, like other Old Testament prophets says that God has grown tired of his people's rote religious practices and, instead, wants to see justice roll down like a river. He wants to see righteous actions more than just ritual sacrifices and festivals.

When we see injustice in our time, there are so many obstacles to achieving real justice that we don't see a way to achieve any significant change. Each of us is just a drop of water that cannot change the course of the river in which we find ourselves. So how can we bring about such pivotal change? In John 14:11-12, Jesus says "Believe when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater things than these." How is this even possible? Well, consider that when Jesus died and was resurrected, it is believed that he had about 120 followers. Empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, a single sermon by Peter resulted in about 3,000 people being added to their number. It was a virtual torrent of faith in an unbelieving time.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit and echoing the voice of God in this world, we together can become a torrent of justice where injustice has become lodged in our path. We can become torrents of kindness and compassion in a world of sadness and defeat. We can become torrents of healing to the brokenness around us. We can become torrents of mercy where hardness has prevailed. We can become torrents of love where hate abounds. What we cannot change on our own, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can surely accomplish as we work and move together as the body of Christ in this world like a rolling river of grace. Let it be so.

Holy Father, empower us, direct us, use us as the body of Christ in this world to break down the barriers of injustice, of hate, of brokenness, of despair. Use us to change the course of rivers and bring about your Kingdom in this world. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Charlie Barton.

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/.

I have always enjoyed singing. Many times my singing is not to be heard by anyone but God. I learned a little bit about singing in grade school and what some of the symbols meant. I have learned to sing by repetition and by singing by someone who was right on key.

Singing in Eastern All State Chorus in Virginia while in high school was a wonderful experience. I still sing those songs but only for God. They give me great joy. A few years ago, I actually sang one of those songs as a solo at a Maundy Thursday service.

I believe singing is a vital part of worship. I know that there are those who feel close to God when they are hiking in the mountains or fishing on a Sunday. That may be true for them, but I prefer to sing in church, gathered with believers and those seeking God.

I recall songs we sang in Vacation Bible School like, Deep and Wide, This Little Light of Mine, and Joy, Joy, Joy. I suppose I could be classified as a traditionalist as far music and hymns go. Some of these hymns were written hundreds of years ago.

I finally got the courage to join a church choir after being told by someone close that I could not carry a tune. I thought I would break into tears when I sang in my first cantata. Before that I ran the church sound system for a few years. I felt a part of a cantata when helping the choir practice for the Easter or Christmas performance.

I enjoy many contemporary songs of worship. Some I learned on my Emmaus Walk. I understand the lyrics of contemporary songs are more meaningful to younger and some older people than those of traditional hymns. Some churches with one service have blended music with some traditional and some contemporary music. Regardless of your preference, sing with joy and for joy. My personal goal is:

I'm going to sing in the heavenly choir, Where I'll always be on key; And folks will gather around, Because they want to sing with me.

I will sing to the God I love, To the one who loves me too; I will sing the best I can, But I plan to sing from my pew.

Dear God, help us to enjoy music and singing. Help us to be more accepting of all singing to you as a meaningful form of worship. Amen.

This devotional 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 community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

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/.