Mark 4: 30 to 32

A tiny seed growing to great stature! That is what we can all be! Through our actions we can be the wind that gusts upon the calm waters of the pond, stirring up a ripple effect for Christian good in our community.

The editorial notations in my Bible indicate that the book of Mark is one of action! Forty two times the Greek word for hurry up is used across Mark. This gospel is imploring us to hurry up! Make a difference for Jesus!

So let’s follow Mark’s example and let’s hurry up and grow our own faith. Let’s hurry up and get out there in the world and make a difference modeling the love that God has for us.

There are so many things that can grow as the mustard seed does. This podcast originated as an idea, a discussion among three Christians that I know of, and they hurried up and got busy!

In my own experience at the food pantry, local middle schoolers hurried up and collected bags and bags of canned goods that were donated. Well, all those cans upon arrival at the pantry had to be organized into flats and moved onto the shelves. We hurried up and got busy!

For some reason those students were focused on peas! With their own creativity, I am told that they created a “leaning tower of Peasahhh”! They hurried up and got busy, and we had plenty of peas on flats, on shelves to share with those in need, to share God’s love, as those students and their teachers did!

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, give us the energy and convection to hurry up as Mark urges us to model our lives after Jesus! Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Sam Barto.

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/.

While under house arrest in Rome, the apostle Paul had a visit from a man named Epaphras. Epaphras started the church in Colossae, a city in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), about 1,300 miles from Rome, and he sought Paul's council on a problem with his congregation.

The church was doing reasonably well, but the members were under tremendous strain. Many of them were raised in a society that worshiped the many Greek and Roman deities. Although they believed in Jesus, they viewed him as just another god. In addition, the Jewish converts in the church insisted that commitment to Jesus could not be complete until they began to follow the Torah and to observe Jewish customs such as circumcision, a special diet, and observance of Jewish holy days.

So Paul wrote a letter to the Colossian church. The letter opens with a prayer that first thanks God for the church and its people and then asks God for wisdom and understanding for the church.

Immediately after those prayers, we find today's scripture. This poetic passage expresses two essential points: First, Jesus is supreme over everything. Nothing created in nature or by man, invisible or visible, is superior to Jesus, including the gods they grew up worshiping. Second, Jesus is enough. No adherence to the Jewish law and no deeds or actions need to be added to God's gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

After that declaration, the rest of the book serves as a treatise on the life of a follower of Christ. The entire book is about Jesus's superiority and sufficiency and how that empowers his followers to live.

While we might not worship other gods, and we don't follow the Jewish law, if you're like me, you feel the strain of many things vying for your attention and maybe even your worship. It is easy to make Jesus just another thing that demands our time and devotion.

It is also easy to rationalize our work in the name of Jesus as being the completion or fulfillment of our Christian life or that somehow, we need to show God that we deserve our salvation.

When we feel the strain of this world, we should take a page from Paul's playbook. The very first thing he did for the church at Colossae was pray. The next thing he did was emphasize the truth that Jesus is above all else. He is superior to anything we can see or imagine. And he is sufficient. He is all we need, now and forever, in everything.

After we internalize that, we can live the life that God intended for us.

That's a solid strategy.

Father, thank you for the gift of Jesus. Constantly make us aware that his death and resurrection are complete, superior, and sufficient. May we rest in that and live the life you purchased for us with his blood. 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...

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/.