We have all heard it said that "talk is cheap." And so it is. Words flow easily from our lips, often without much thought about where they are going or what they will do when they get there. We talk constantly — to each other, at each other, sometimes simply into the air — and much of what we say costs us nothing at all.

The writer of Hebrews has something different in mind. In this passage, he invites us to think of our speech as something far more significant than idle chatter. He calls it a sacrifice — specifically, a sacrifice of praise. For ancient readers steeped in the Jewish tradition, the word sacrifice carried enormous weight. Sacrifice was costly. It required something of you. And here, the writer says, is your sacrifice: the fruit of your lips.

But notice the word that changes everything: continually. The writer does not say to offer this sacrifice on Sundays, or during our prayers, or in moments of particular devotion. He says continually — through all things, at all times. This is not an occasional offering. It is meant to be the ongoing texture of how we use our voices every single day.

That is a quiet but radical challenge. If our speech is meant to be a continual sacrifice of praise, then the question we must honestly ask ourselves is sometimes an uncomfortable one: Is what we are saying worthy of being an offering to God? Or are we simply filling the air with words that serve no one but ourselves?

The writer is careful about what makes speech a true sacrifice. He says it must be offered through Jesus and must openly profess his name. Talk that is channeled through Christ — that points toward him, that lifts others in his name — is the offering. Talk that does not do that, however plentiful, is simply noise.

And then verse 16 completes the thought in a way we might not expect. Do not forget to do good and to share with others, the writer says, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. The sacrifice of praise does not stay in the mouth. When our words are truly offered through Christ, they become action. They move us toward doing good, toward sharing what we have. Word and deed turn out to be the same sacrifice, simply expressed two different ways.

So perhaps we need to rethink that old saying. Talk is not cheap — or at least, it does not have to be. Offered through Christ, acknowledged in his name, expressed continually in how we speak to and about one another, our words can become something of genuine worth. They can become, in the truest sense, an offering to God.

Our Father, help us to take seriously the gift of speech you have given us. May the fruit of our lips be a worthy offering to you — offered continually, channeled through Christ, and made real in the way we treat one another. 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/.

As I have been thinking about this scripture over the last couple of weeks, I am reminded that my "star word" for 2026 is JOY. This word is to be a guiding, prayerful focus for the entire year. I was even gifted a bracelet that is engraved "Choose Joy". I really don't believe that was a coincidence. The word "joy" seems to be popping up in my daily life at an unusual pace. Being aware does help me see God's presence in my daily life and helps provide focus.

I remember, as a child, this was one of the first scriptures I was asked to memorize. We memorized a different scripture each day in Vacation Bible School that summer in the early 60s. I loved Vacation Bible School. My teachers were fun and loved us well. As young children, I can assure you we made a joyful noise, at the very least a loud, happy noise. We were delighted to be at church, to be in a loving environment with our friends. We learned Bible Stories, made crafts, played outside and we sang! I loved to sing. I'm sure our teachers were glad when the day was over, but I'm also sure they went home filled with joy. I imagine, much like us children, they went home singing or humming those fun Bible School songs. Those songs were our way of worshipping and being in the presence of God. Maybe we didn't really understand, but those songs really had an impact on us. With only a gentle nudge, I can still sing many of those songs we learned. I passed them along to my own children, grandchildren and now I'm singing them with my great grandson.

The joy those songs bring are filled with lots of emotions, feelings and a deep abiding gladness. When you sing those words of faith alone or in a group, you just can't erase the hope, the relationship, the gratitude you experience with God. We are to approach God with joy and gratitude, not obligation. He is waiting for us, waiting to hear love, delight, and joy. Our joy grows naturally and comes from God.

Sing with me….

"Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah…. Praise ye the Lord! Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah… Praise ye the Lord! Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah! Praise ye the Lord! Hallelujah! Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah! Praise ye the Lord! God is present. You are loved.

And if this song doesn't bring you hope. There is another even more precious song for us.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.

May you feel His deep abiding love today and every day. We are anchored in His love. Be filled with joy!

Gracious and Loving God. We are so thankful for your love, for your plan that includes our joy and happiness. May you hear our loud praises. And may others witness our cheerful hearts as we spread joy in this weary world. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, we joyfully pray. Amen.

This devotional was written by Lisa Blackwood.........

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/.

We have a screen room where we like to eat our meals when the weather allows. We have a number of trees surrounding our backyard and because of that we are blessed to listen to the songs of birds. We have an app that identifies what birds are singing. So, a ritual with our meal is for me to take out my phone as I say, "I wonder who is joining us?" We have our regulars, like the Carolina Wren and the Song Sparrow. Occasionally we have a special guest, like the red shoulder hawk. Listening to them makes this verse come alive, In those moments it feels as if all creation is making a joyful noise.

Listening to those birds also makes me think of the song "All Things Bright and Beautiful." In the first verse it talks about each little bird that sings and later how God made their tiny wings. The hymn ends with these words "God gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell how great is God almighty, who has made all things well."

Those words, and the beauty of creation, are reminders to us that God is all around us. That is a comforting and joyful word. But as the last verse of the hymn reminds us, this awareness is not just to hold in our hearts, but something we should share with others.

Birds sing all the time. It's what they do. We are called to sing as well. That doesn't mean we have to walk around singing at the top of our lungs, but you could. It is a call to find ways to share often how great is God, to add our voice to the joyful noise of creation. I have a friend who often says "God is Good. All the time!" Her words became even more compelling when she went through a very difficult time. Even though she was dealing with loss and health concerns she would still say, "God is good! All the time!" It felt as if she said it with even more conviction during these times. We all noticed her words, it was her song of praise.

So sing to the lord a new song. Break forth into joyous songs of praise. Let the world know God is here! And just like the birds, we have to sing about it. After all, it is what we are supposed to do!

Loving God, help us to pause today to listen, really listen to your creation. In the songs of the birds, the sound of the wind in the trees and more may we be reminded you are here. Help us by our words and actions to join in this song letting all know you are with us and love us. And may our song, perhaps help another to find the comfort and reassurance and maybe even faith that they need. 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/.

Of all the words in the English language, Joy is one of the most transformative. It can be sparked by moments in our lives but it also dwells deeply within us. Divinely rooted, Joy is a fruit of God's spirit and is always available no matter the challenges we face. Do you remember, as a young child, running just for the sheer joy of running? Jumping for the complete delight of jumping? Or, at any age, singing for the pure joy of singing? This kind of heart-centered rejoicing enriches our spirits and comes from a place of praise to God.

I like to engage in the activity of "Joy-Watching."

Listening to the songbirds in the mornings begins the "Joy-Watch" as the birds express pure happiness in being alive and in welcoming the daylight. Joyful moments happen as neighbors wave to each other, as people smile at each other in the grocery store, and as school kids giggle with each other. I equally enjoy catching sight of spontaneous hugs and listening for words of affirmation and love. Being at church offers an incredible opportunity for "Joy-Watching" as all ages engage in such connections and expressions.

Churches are full of smiles, encouraging words and uplifting moments. These can be noticed in the words of sermons and the messages of choir anthems and songs. Smiles show up as the younger children dash forward to their special time in the church service or spontaneously dance while the Praise band plays.

When heaviness, sadness or fear show up in my life I know that joy remains alongside these feelings and is impossible to completely extinguish. I can lean into the future knowing that praise and joy are constant companions, given by God. Always watching for new and unexpected ways that joy breaks into my life, I remain certain of its continued presence and I anticipate surprises.

Joy can be carried along anywhere we go and offered to others around us who may be needing encouragement during a difficult time. Whole-hearted rejoicing brings strength for the journey and can become an ongoing practice along the way. If all of us let God's joy move through us daily and also spread it freely through our words and actions, its power to transform would make an incredible difference. Making space for praise, joy and gratitude blesses everyone. These gifts are worth watching for.

Creator God, renew and restore your joy deeply within us. Give us such hearts of gratitude that we are able to share your blessings throughout each day. Uplift and transform us so that we can lift others around us. With grateful praise, Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Jenny 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/.

Recently someone spoke to me of home runs. He seemed to speak with amazement and wonder. But I wonder if it is really something to marvel at. Please bear with my labored sports metaphor.

Whether we contemplate the greatest hitters of all time or the average hitter, certain things are a given in the game. When we walk to the plate, many variables are out of our control and each attempt is a once in a lifetime situation. Whether it is a pitcher we have never faced or simply the uncertainty of what pitch will be thrown next, we struggle to predict what will come next. Even on days when we are on our home field where we have practiced and we are facing our best known opponents, we still don't control the wind, the brightness of the sun, or the noise and distraction of the crowd. And what about when the bat shatters?

Then there is the uncertainty of traveling to an unfamiliar ballpark. Every field has a different distance to the fence. Some ballparks are famous for unforgiving conditions like swirling winds. Fenway park even has the Green Monster at 37 feet 2 inches in height. No player, no matter how great or how many home runs he has hit in the past, controls whether he hits a homerun on a given pitch or even on a specific day. If a person could do that, then he or she would hit a home run at every at bat when the reality is that the best of the best get on base one out of three times. Home runs are so rare that the best of the best hit a homer one percent of the time.

As humans competing against humans, we don't control the field or the fence. We don't control the other players. We don't control the weather. So it all comes down to how we play the game.

I'm going to propose something a shocking. What if we play the game as if there is no fence? Instead of aiming for the fence, what if we listen to Jesus and realize the fence isn't the point of the game? What if we play the game so that every hit is a home run not because we view ourselves as the star, but because God guides our effort. What if we spend our time taking down the fence or at least placing it where the person we are facing can hit a home run too.

God's love is universal. It is infinite. It is a home run every time at bat. It knows no fence or boundary of any kind. I think I will live in a world where God built my ball field.

Let us go to the Lord in prayer, as the organ plays, as we step to the plate, may Your plan be what guides us. May we persevere when we strike out. May we give the glory to you, Lord, when we hit the proverbial home run. Teach us how to lower the fence for those that need our help. Let us all play ball together in the name of the one who built the ball park, 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.

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/.

It is no secret that as a species, we are environmental disasters. From oil spills to trash heaps to climate change to deforestation to air pollution… We sure miss the mark when it comes to caring for creation. We miss so many opportunities to do and to be better.

I think about our earlier generations, who lived more simply, preserving the earth. When my dad and his wife Cathie married, they chose to do so in an outdoor ceremony on a piece of family land in the mountains of Monroe County. That particular spot is what my family refers to as “the knob,” a small clearing on a hilltop in the woods of land that has been in my family for generations. My uncle is its current steward, and as such, he spoke at the beginning of the wedding ceremony, inviting us to consider that while this land has been in our family for quite a long time, it existed for thousands of years before that, barely touched by the Cherokee people who inhabited it. Just down the mountain from the knob is my uncle’s house, which my grandfather built in 1981. My uncle renovated it about twenty years ago, but from the outside, it looks pretty much the same as it has all my life. It’s a simple, small house with a couple of sheds and a big vegetable garden. Up the road from his house is where my great grandparents lived about a hundred years ago. There isn’t much else there. A family cemetery, a couple of small homes, a pond or two, a church… and the most incredible, untouched forest you’ve ever seen with a creek running right through the middle of it. It has rhododendrons and laurels for days! I remember as a boy sitting on the bank, petting the soft moss as I looked down to the creek. It all looks pretty much the same today as it did decades ago when I was a child.

However, up the mountain in the other direction from my great grandparents’ home is a large piece of land that was sold to developers. At the top of that mountain, they clear cut trees in order put in rental cabins about ten years ago or so. The result of this is that the view is amazing, I hear, if you can put up with constant gale-force winds that will nearly knock you over. The trees they removed previously had provided a barrier from the winds.

I share all of this not only because this nostalgic piece of heaven is so very important to me, but also because it demonstrates the problematic nature of humankind. We are so inclined to seeing opportunities without considering the full implications of the impact acting on these opportunities will have. We so often heed God’s call to work the land, but not as much to care for it. We can learn from our indigenous ancestors how to respect the land that has been put into our care, though. While I won’t say that we necessarily have to go as far as the Cherokee people did, making no noticeable impact at all, we also should not go as far as the developers, seeking to create a financial opportunity at the detriment of the land. Hopefully, we are able to find ways to be like my uncle, stewarding the resources and land as best we can, making little impact out of respect for the gift we have been given.

God of Creation, you gifted us this amazing earth, but with the great gift, we have great responsibility for its upkeep. We fall short. Help us to find ways to respect and preserve this land that we borrow from you for a short time. With gratitude for the abundance of ways you bless our lives, we pray in Christ’s name. 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/.

This is the beginning of The Lord’s Prayer as told in Matthew’s gospel. But the Common English Bible makes more of a point of God’s Kingdom being here and now. The request to God is “Bring in your kingdom.” Jesus makes the point that the kingdom of God or, as it is described in other places as the kingdom of heaven, is not simply something to look forward to at the end of our lives but something to live out every day.

Jesus does not describe the kingdom in terms of jeweled gates or golden streets. Rather, he speaks of it in terms of mustard seeds, buried treasure, lost coins, fishnets, a wedding feast, yeast, or a farmer spreading seeds. These are things his audiences lived with every day, not something they imagine in the future. The kingdom of God is here and now.

All this is not to say that heaven is not important; but Jesus’ focus, his teaching and miracles had more to do with meeting the needs of the daily lives of people and serving them in love.

In fact, Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 that the final exam for kingdom living is how we feed the poor, offer drink to the thirsty, show hospitality to the stranger, clothe and visit the needy and imprisoned, and care for the sick. These things have less to do with proper theology and more to do with how we live our lives and love our neighbors. This is how God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Let this be our fervent prayer.

Father God, bring in your Kingdom. Show us every day how to experience kingdom living by how we love and care for each other with Jesus as our ultimate example. It’s in his name we pray. 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/.