Some years ago I was invited to attend an awards banquet by a friend who was being honored for his research at the university. I learned that he was internationally known for his work in the field of cattle nutrition. While I enjoyed the evening when it came to the speeches I was clueless. They were talking about his work using terms and concepts that I did not understand. The powerpoint they showed meant nothing to me. I enjoyed the pictures but the content, not so much. However, those in the know were thoroughly captivated by what they saw.

I thought about that experience when I read this passage from I Peter. We who are followers of Christ, what Peter calls God's people, know and are moved by the story of Jesus life, death and resurrection. For other's the message can be a stumbling block.

When I hear the story of Jesus I find in it the narrative of the way God has mercy on us, loves us and forgives us. It motivates me to strive harder to live as a person of the light. It is hard for me to understand how others can hear the same story and find it dull or pointless.

We who hear the story in faith praise God for God's wonderful deeds. Those who do not hear the story in faith laugh and stumble.

The writer of I Peter reminds us that the difference between Christians and non-Christians is not that we see different things but that we see the same things differently. Just like me at that awards banquet. I saw the same things as others did. What was meaningful for them had little meaning for me. They were in the know.

This means that we have to realize that we can't expect those who are not actively involved in the life of faith to understand where we are coming from. The things that move us and shape our lives do not necessarily have any meaning or even a frame of reference for them. So talking to them about our faith might not be very effective.

What does work is to meet them where they are. To invite them into a relationship with Christians and let God do the rest.

So invite them to help with service projects being done by the church. Support them when they are struggling, and answer their questions when they have them. Love them with a Christ like love so they can experience, just a little what it means to be "God's people."

These things will help them to open their hearts to the good news. And when they do then the stone which they earlier rejected can become for them the chief corner stone of their life of faith.

Loving God, we give thanks for all the ways you have blessed us. Help us to share that love and grace in meaningful ways with others. Help us to love those who do not love you as we do. We pray that they can also become your people and be filled with your mercy. 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/.

This wonderful encounter occurs at the end of John chapter 21 with the resurrected Christ speaking directly to his disciple Simon Peter. Three times, Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" Three times, Peter responds with "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." The same question three times and the same answer three times.

You can feel the emotion in Peter's response; he sounds frustrated, but I also sense an almost desperate conviction of "you know I love you…why won't you believe me?" After each exchange Jesus tells Peter, "Feed my sheep." Although this can sound very directive, when I read the scripture, it feels like Jesus says it softly, but in a manner that emanates the deep love Jesus has for Peter. Jesus had Peter's attention. Jesus wanted Peter to embrace the role of being the Shepherd, the one who would accept leadership for sharing the Good News. To "feed" the people.

A number of years ago, I went to my church on a Sunday morning, it is a Methodist church, and the pastor preached on this same scripture where Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" and then said three times, "Feed my sheep." After church, while my wife fixed lunch, I turned on the television to a local Baptist church (they had a pastor I really admired), and he was preaching on the same scripture. An interesting coincidence. That evening, I attended a Presbyterian church service with a bunch of college kids I was working with, and the pastor preached the same scripture, the same three questions, with the same three responses.

I no longer thought it was just a coincidence. I know I can be dense sometimes, but after hearing this passage preached three times by three different pastors on the same day…I said, OK Lord, you know I love you…you have my attention. In the ensuing years, I embraced a more active role in the ministries placed before me. If Jesus can use an ordinary fisherman in ministry, He can also use you and me to feed the sheep, to love our neighbors, to share the good news.

Lord, you know we love you; you have our attention. Let us see that a coincidence might really be an opportunity to share some good news, to feed your sheep. Amen.

Today's devotion was written and read by Owen Ragland.

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'm reading C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity again - third or fourth time through, I've lost count. You'd think a book I've read that many times wouldn't surprise me anymore. But yesterday, I hit Book 3, Chapter 1, and something clicked that I'd completely missed before.

Lewis uses this landlord-tenant analogy to explain our relationship with God, and it stopped me cold. We walk around thinking we own our lives - our time, our bodies, our choices, our futures. But Lewis points out that's fundamentally wrong. God made us. Christ redeemed us. We're not owners. We're stewards. We're tenants living in someone else's property.

That "a-ha" moment sent me straight to Paul's letter to the Corinthians, where he says almost the exact same thing: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price."

When Paul wrote those words, he used agorazō - Greek marketplace language, the same word for purchasing goods or redeeming slaves. He's being deliberately blunt: your life has changed ownership. You no longer belong to yourself.

Once you see it Lewis's way - as tenants, not owners - Christian morality suddenly makes more sense. Lewis says Christian morality has three parts: how you treat yourself, how you treat others, and your relationship with God. Those aren't arbitrary rules. They're the natural responsibilities of tenancy. Don't ruin the Landlord's property. Treat the other tenants well. Remember, you're accountable to the Owner who's moved in with you.

Here's what really got me: we're being shaped to be the kind of tenants who can actually live with the Landlord forever. That's sanctifying grace in action - God transforming us to match our actual identity as His beloved property.

And the beautiful part? That fulfilling life starts now. The moment you put your faith in Christ's redeeming gift, the renovation begins. You don't have to wait until heaven to experience the joy of living in alignment with God. Yes, we're going to change residences at some point - Scripture promises perfected bodies fitted for our permanent home. But the landlord-tenant relationship isn't something that only pays off later. It's already paying dividends right here in the temporary housing.

When you understand it this way, the whole Christian life shifts. It's not primarily about what you can't do - a long list of religious restrictions. It's about God fitting you to live with Him, starting today. Every transformation, every refinement - it's preparation for the permanent home, yes, but it's also making your current residence more livable, more joyful, more aligned with how life was meant to be lived. He's renovating you to experience the fullness of joy in His presence - and that renovation makes life better now, not just later.

The cross makes this deeply personal. Christ didn't just pay some abstract cosmic debt. He bought you. He looked at the price tag on your life and said, "Worth it."

So when Paul says "honor God with your bodies," he's saying: live like you understand whose you are. Live like someone who's been purchased at an incredible cost. Live like a tenant who's learning to be family with the Landlord.

Because that's exactly what you are.

Father, help us live as people who understand we belong to You. Thank You for paying the price to redeem us. Transform us into the kind of people who can fully live in Your presence, now and forever. 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/.

The story of Nicodemus has always intrigued me. He is a Pharisee, a member of the group that often questions and harasses Jesus. He is also an educated and thoughtful man. He appears three times in the book of John, but the first time he comes in the evening in stealth, in the dark, to testify that he believes Jesus comes from God. Yet Nicodemus testifies in a private place where no one except Jesus will hear him. And Jesus teaches Nicodemus a lesson. He states that "you must be born again."

Nicodemus, fearing to recognize Jesus' power in public and mired in the reality of this world, takes Jesus' statement literally. He questions how a grown man can emerge again from his mother's womb. Jesus appears to lose patience with him and reminds him that the rebirth is of the spirit, not the flesh. The reader does not know how this encounter ends, but senses that Nicodemus left chastised.

I can identify with Nicodemus. I am a person who likes to blend in with the people around me. It takes a lot for me even to disagree with others' opinions. I am rarely a verbal witness for Jesus in my life. Yet I am intrigued and in love with the promise that Jesus brings to this world of human frailty.

Nicodemus appears two more times in the book of John. When the Pharisees are determined to condemn Jesus as a false prophet, he speaks up. "Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?" (John 7:51). Nicodemus has found his voice. He dares to speak against the prevailing condemnation of his Pharisee companions.

After Jesus' crucifixion, Nicodemus accompanies Joseph of Arimathea to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. He helps prepare Jesus' body for burial with a mixture of spices and oils. Nicodemus has discovered the life of the spirit. In anointing the body of Jesus, he has been born again. May we all be reborn with the water and the spirit in this season of rebirth all around us.

Dear Lord, thank you for the examples you give us of people just like us, hesitant and guarded, who can discover the life of the spirit. Help us to embrace this life as well, and to go forth and proclaim your vision to the world. Amen

This devotional was written by Laura Derr and read by Judy Wilson.

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.

Now, 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/.

Luke places two stories side by side that we don't always connect. But Luke is a careful storyteller, and he almost never places things randomly. When two scenes sit side by side, it's usually because they interpret each other.

First, we see in Luke 10 the parable of the Good Samaritan in verses 25 through 37. It's a familiar story: A man is beaten and left for dead. The "right" people pass by. The Samaritan stops, shows mercy, and takes action. Jesus ends with a clear command: "Go and do likewise."

Then, almost immediately, we step into a home. Martha busies herself preparing food, doing exactly what her culture expects of her, what a good host should do. Mary, on the other hand, sits at Jesus' feet, listening. That may sound peaceful to us, but in that moment, it was unexpected, even a little disruptive. Put yourself in the same place as Martha and tell me you wouldn't be a little irritated.

Martha finally speaks up, and Jesus responds: "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part."

Jesus doesn't rebuke Martha for serving. He names the actual problem: her worry. Her distraction. Maybe the same problem the priest and the Levite had, focused on their upcoming duties in the temple instead of the need and opportunity right in front of them.

Put these two stories together, and a fuller picture begins to emerge.

In one, love moves outward. It gets its hands dirty. It shows up for a neighbor in need.

In the other, love becomes attentive. It listens. It stays present.

Faithful living holds both. Love rightly ordered means knowing when to act and when to attend, when to serve and when to sit.

It's possible to do all the "right" things and still miss what matters most.

And sometimes, the most faithful thing we can do is stop long enough to listen.

Lord, quiet the worries that pull our attention in too many directions, and help us to see what truly matters in each moment. Give us wisdom to know when to act and when to be still, and the grace to love you and others with a rightly ordered heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.

This devotion 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/.

Not everyone comes to Jesus the same way. Matthew, the tax collector, was sitting at his booth when Jesus walked by and said two words — "Follow me" — and Matthew got up and left everything behind. No questions. No conditions. Something in Matthew recognized something in Jesus, and that was enough. It happened in an instant.

Nathanael's story is different, and the Gospel writer John seems to want us to notice that. When Philip tells Nathanael that they have found the Messiah — Jesus of Nazareth — Nathanael's response is immediate and honest: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" He is not a cynical man. He is a careful one. He has his doubts, and he says so plainly. But then Philip says something that changes everything. He doesn't argue. He doesn't push. He simply says, "Come and see." And Nathanael does just that.

That decision to go — to put his skepticism to the test rather than clinging to it — is the most important thing Nathanael does in this story. He moves. He leaves his prayers under the fig tree and takes action. A cynic stays home. A cynic has already decided. Nathanael hasn't decided anything yet, and that honesty, that willingness to be proven wrong, is precisely what Jesus sees in him as he approaches.

Jesus names it before Nathanael even opens his mouth. "Here is a true Israelite," he says, "in whom there is no deceit." That is a remarkable thing to say. The name Israel belongs to Jacob, and Jacob was a man whose greatest failing was deception — he deceived his brother, his father, and others throughout his life. Jesus looks at Nathanael and says: here is someone who has none of that. Here is someone who deals in truth, even when the truth might challenge what he already believes.

And Nathanael's reward for that integrity is extraordinary. Jesus promises him that he will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. This is the image from Jacob's dream in Genesis — the ladder between heaven and earth. Jesus is telling Nathanael that the connection between God and humanity that Jacob only glimpsed in a dream, Nathanael will see with his own eyes. Because he was willing to come and see, he will see everything.

Most of us are more like Nathanael than we are like Matthew. We have our questions. We have our doubts. That is not a failing. What Jesus asks of us is not the absence of doubt but the willingness to move toward him anyway — to come and see, to be honest enough to risk being wrong. And what we discover, as Nathanael discovered, is that Jesus already knows us. He saw us before we came to him. And he has greater things in store for us than we can yet imagine.

Our Father, give us the honesty to name our doubts and the courage to move toward you anyway. Thank you for seeing us as we are and for meeting us where we are. Help us always to be willing to come and see. Amen.

This devotion was written 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/.

It must have been dark in that place of tombs when Mary Magdalene went very early on that Sunday morning and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. Simon Peter and the other disciple, who also came very early, had already gone home. But Mary stayed outside the tomb crying. She thought someone had taken his body. She wanted to know where he had been taken.

Not knowing who they were, she told this to the two angels who were seated inside the tomb. But finding no answer, she turned to go. That's when she saw Jesus standing there outside the tomb – but she didn't recognize him.

He asked why she was crying. Thinking he was the gardener, she assumed he had carried Jesus' body away. She said, if you have moved him, tell me where you have put him, so I can get him. At this point, Jesus spoke and called her name – "Mary"!

She recognized him then and called out in surprise – Rabboni! Teacher!

He told her in verse 18, to go and tell his brothers, the other disciples, that he was returning to the Father, my God and your God. And she did just that!

His first witness! A woman who had lived a sinful lifestyle. She had been forgiven much. She was loved and accepted by Jesus! We, too, are forgiven much, no matter our sins or lifestyles. We just need to call his name – Rabboni, Teacher, Jesus, Lord – help me! Forgive me! Show me the way I should go! I believe!

Thank You, God, that You forgive our sins and love us. Thank You for coming to live among us and for teaching us by your example. Help us to walk in your footsteps, to forgive others as you forgive us. And help us to spread this good news to the world, by telling ALL your brothers and sisters! In Jesus' name we pray…Amen!

This devotional 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: 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/.