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/.

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.

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 word of Christ is made up of the teachings of Jesus and the good news concerning his life, death, and resurrection. It is to be our guide for living as Jesus taught, our guide for living a life that reflects Jesus to those around us.

To know if I am following this instruction, I have to begin by asking myself, “What dwells in me richly?” In other words, what “lives” in me? What does the world see when it sees me?

We live in or dwell in our homes. We’ve got all our stuff there, all our possessions, and the family and things we love. We likely keep our dwelling place free of garbage and trash, especially when we expect people to come in and see our dwelling place. We may scurry around cleaning and straightening up when we expect someone to come by and see our home. We take out the garbage and dust and sweep the floors, making our dwelling place clean and orderly.

Perhaps we should ask, “Do I need to do some scurrying around and cleaning and straightening up for Jesus to dwell in me? Is the dwelling place of my life fit for Jesus? Do my thoughts, words, and deeds show the world that I am a dwelling place for Jesus? Have I centered my thinking on loving God and loving my neighbors? Or am I full of anger, bitterness, worry, turmoil, hurts, and fears? Have I swept out the garbage and dusted the corners of my mind to make plenty of room for Christ to dwell in me richly today? Or do I need a good Spring cleaning?”

Perhaps we should all take some time every morning to put our internal dwelling place in order, allowing Christ to have the first and best place to dwell. We should bow in prayer, sweeping out the debris of bad thoughts that accumulated in the corners of our minds yesterday. Then we should read some scripture, listen to some Psalms, or hymns to center our thoughts and invite Christ to come right in and dwell in us today. And we should not forget that word “admonish” in today’s scripture. We are to admonish or remind each other of our goal as Christians, as the Church, to let the word of Christ dwell in us, today and every day.

Dear Lord, help us, your children, to focus on the goal of allowing you to dwell richly in us, today and every day. Help us to let go of the woes of the world, to sweep away the angry thoughts and hateful feelings that have accumulated in the corners of our minds. Guide us today and dwell in us richly, centering us in your LOVE, so others will see the Word of Christ in us. And 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/.

One of my favorite hymns is “For the Beauty of the Earth”. It is found in most modern hymnals of all denominations. In the United Methodist Hymnal, it is page 92. Often, worship planners look at this hymn and suggest that the six verses are just too long for the congregation to sing. But, before we come to that conclusion, let's look at the text to see exactly what we would decide to leave out.

The words were written by Folliott S. Pierpoint, an English poet and hymn writer educated at Queen's College. He was 29 when he wrote these poetic words, which give us a wonderful vision of the many things for which we should be grateful.

Verse one reminds us to be thankful for the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, and for the love that surrounds us from our birth. God created this planet we call home and yes, loves us from our very birth!

Verse two reminds us to look at all creation... for the beauty of each hour of the day and the night, for hill and vale, tree and flower, for the beauty of the sun, moon, and stars... nature all around us.

Verse three tells us to stop and look and listen... for the joy of ear and eye - for the heart and mind’s delight - for the mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight.

Verse four emphasizes the joy of human love for brother, sister, parent, and child... for friends on earth and friends above - for ALL gentle thoughts and mild.

Verse five is a prayer for the universal church... lifting holy hands above... offering up on every shore her pure sacrifice of love.

And finally, verse six speaks to the most important gift for which we are grateful. For thyself, best gift Divine, to the world so freely given, for that great, great love of thine, peace on earth, and joy in heaven.

Each of the verses is followed by the refrain: “Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!”

Yes, six verses is long for the average hymn, but what would you omit? The reminders in every verse are the important things for which we should be offering our praise and thanksgiving every single day.

Each day our prayer should be exactly that... raising to the Lord our hymns of gratitude and songs of praise.

Lord, as we see the beauty and feel the love that surrounds us, may we be always mindful of and grateful for the many blessings you have given us. We pray for eyes, ears, and hearts that are open to receiving your love and blessings for us, and may we be always aware to share that love and those blessings with others. Amen.

This devotion was written 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/.

(The Message Version)

Each day delivered to my inbox is a quote. I enjoy reading them because of the wide range of people they draw from. I never know if the quote will be from some ancient like Aristotle, a contemporary but from a different faith tradition like the Dali Lama, or someone from pop culture. They are almost all thought provoking in some way. Recently the quote was from Oprah Winfrey. It was “No one is the worst thing then have ever done.”

This quote got me thinking about how we too often let the negatives of life define us. We let past negative events, actions and words color our perspectives on life for a day, for awhile and sometimes even a lifetime. It is hard to not let those negatives moments define us. I have heard people say, “I’ll never forgive them for...” or they say, “I don’t think I will ever get over....” They are letting the worst things that have happened define them or those around them. Oprah is right no one is the worst thing they have ever done or even the worst thing that has happened to them. Our faith talks about forgiveness and renewal.

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians offers such a perspective. Paul wanted his listeners, and that includes us today, to remember that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus we are free people. “We are free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!” The worst thing we have ever done, is forgiven. It doesn’t define us anymore. It also doesn’t define others. We have to give God the opportunity to work in their lives forgiving and transforming them as well. But it is hard to accept God’s forgiveness for our past and put it behind us. It is hard to forgive others and pray that God transforms them.

This forgiveness does come with a challenge. In accepting the free gift of forgiveness we are called to live as new people. Repentance means to change and go in a new direction. It means doing things in a new way as one freed from the past. It means living as one who strives to live as one abundantly free in Christ, which means to follow his words and teachings as much as we can.

So thank you Oprah for reminding me that I am not defined by my past misdeeds. You are not defined by your past deeds. God has forgiven me. God forgives you. I need to let my past go and live the new life God gives me. I will strive to also remember that God is at work in you creating something new as well.

Loving God, thank you for your gift of forgiveness. It is with gratitude we offer our misdeeds to you knowing that you forgive us and the penalties are erased. Remind us as well to see others as we see ourselves, flawed but growing and changing each day through your love and forgiveness. 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/.

I am a music appreciator, especially when people are singing to praise God. Recently I heard the choir at our church sing beautiful anthems accompanied by piano and organ. I heard our worship team sing praise songs some of which were converted from old favorite hymns now accompanied by guitar and drums. The children’s choir sang a beautiful song and “sang” it in American Sign Language at the same time. And I listened to a man sing a song of praise he wrote while in prison. As he poured out his heart in song, you could feel his experience of God’s grace as he praised God.

This expression of praising God through song can be found throughout scripture, another great reminder is found in the New Testament in one of Paul’s letters to the church at Ephesus.

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns to the Lord? I wish you were there to hear the Voices of Ephesian choir that sang at our church. Now we have a large sanctuary with a high ceiling, but this choir was filled with the Holy Spirit, and they sang with such power that it completely filled our sanctuary and each one of us who experienced it. Why do we sing praises to God? When you feel the depth of God’s love for you; when you know the God who created the heaven and earth also created you because God loves you and wants a relationship with you. Then you will want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and sing out to the Lord with all the power and passion you have.

Will you pray with me….Father God, through the stillness of our prayers we cry out to you. Through the power of our song, we praise you. Fill us with your Holy Spirit so we can praise you and sing to you with all that we have to offer. Amen.

This 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/.

How can you make a joyful noise when your heart is breaking?

In the fall of 2001, my mother came to visit us in Iowa. On April 4 of that year, my dad had tragically collapsed and died in her arms. She was inconsolable. This visit was the first time she had left home since his death. I cast around for something she would enjoy doing. She was a devout Christian and I remembered she had once asked if I knew where ‘The Little Brown Church in the Vale” was located in Iowa. It was the beloved song that prompted her:

“Oh, come to the church in the wildwood

Oh, come to the church in the vale

No spot is so near to my childhood

As the little brown church in the vale.”

The Little Brown Church in the Vale is located in Nashua, IA, about two hours from our home at the time in Cedar Rapids. It has a fascinating history, as it came about by a coincidence--- or a miracle. In 1856, a young music teacher named William Pitts happened to travel through the community. He walked down Cedar Street and noticed a beautiful wooded empty lot. The thought came to him that it would be the perfect setting for a church. Inspired, he wrote a poem titled “Church in the Wildwood.” Later, he set it to music. Pitts moved on, married and settled in Wisconsin. In the years following, the community actually built a church on the site with donated products and labor. When they were ready to paint the church, the least expensive paint available was brown. And so, it became a “little brown church in a vale.” In 1864 William Pitt moved back to the area to teach in a local academy and discovered the church on the site. He rushed home to his desk drawer and pulled out his song. Pitts had written a song for a church that didn’t exist until nearly a decade later. In the early years of the 1900s, the song was popularized by a traveling singing group and put the little brown church on the map. With the help of the song, which became famous, the little brown church has achieved the status of a perfect setting for a wedding. In the years since its beginning, over 76,000 weddings have taken place there.

That Fall day, when we arrived, the church site was sunny and peaceful. The church was open, and we went inside and sat in silence. My mom was very quiet, but tears rolled down her face. We walked back outside and ate a picnic lunch on the grounds. And then we sang the song together, “Oh come to the church in the wildwood, Oh come to the church in the vale. No spot is so dear to my childhood as the little brown church in the vale.” We made a joyful noise, and my mom was serene all the way back home. I will always be grateful to the little brown church in the vale.

Pray with me: Dear God, your presence can bring us joy in the most sorrowful times. You remind us that you are our parent and, whenever we enter into the gates of your courtyard, no matter the circumstances in our lives, we are thankful and blessed. Amen.

This devotion 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/.

In the broader passage from which this is excerpted, Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus about morality and behavior that reflects someone who is following Christ, discussing such heavy issues as sexual morality, greed, purity of the words we speak, and avoiding drunkenness. A person might think that singing together seems kind of frivolous or at least out of place by comparison. On the contrary, singing is an important way we connect with God. Saint Augustine is often attributed with the expression, “To sing is to pray twice.” When we sing rather than just saying the words of our prayers, we often connect more deeply with them. Music has great power to stir our emotions, activating parts of our brains and, I believe, our souls that aren’t as activated when speaking those words alone.

Science confirms this — singing is good for us. It lowers cortisol and blood pressure, and it releases endorphins and oxytocin, reducing stress levels. It’s good for our cognitive health both by focusing our brains through engaging in the activity itself and by quieting the “noise” of our minds. By engaging the lungs, it improves breathing, and by stimulating the vagus nerve, it might even improve digestion! Some studies even suggest that singers have a higher level of the antibody Immunoglobulin A, meaning that it could be good for our immune system. Others suggest it might help with pain management.

Notice, too, that Paul doesn’t say “sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs by yourself.” He specifically encourages us to sing together. When we sing with others, we intensify further that expression of Augustine’s — we not only pray twice, we share in an emotionally intensified prayer with others. This connects us in ways that are crucial to the communal aspect of our lives of faith.

And when we sing together, research bears out that pure magic happens. Our heartbeats actually start to sync to others’ with whom we are singing, and our sense of community increases by strengthening our social bonds. Studies have shown singing in groups to be helpful for those with mental illness, creating a sense of inclusion. It has been proven to increase self-confidence and to help us process and cope with emotions, too.

Of course, Paul didn’t have all this data when he wrote his letter. But the placement among these other behaviors seems conspicuous. It turns out that choosing good or “pure” words has physical effects on our bodies. Not engaging in sexual immorality or lots of drunkenness similarly does. Greed destroys our mental health. So, given all of this, it makes perfect sense that Paul placed singing together — an activity that can improve our lives individually and collectively — as an alternative to more harmful ones he’s cautioning against.

So friends, let’s sing.

Thank you God, for the songs we sing, the opportunity to sing them, and the people with whom we share them. May our songs praise you always. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Dwight Dockery.

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/.