{"podcast":{"title":"Grace for All","slug":"grace-for-all-6595211","podcast_index_feed_id":6595211,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/graceforall/","website_url":"https://1stchurch.org","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/2428ce1f-9c22-4f5a-acd7-88e0a40ad9bf/Grace-for-All-3000.jpg","author":"Jim Stovall, Greta Smith, First United Methodist Church, Maryville, TN","episode_count":300,"summary":"\"Grace for All\" is a daily devotional podcast from the laity of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. Each episode presents scripture and a brief reflection, written and recorded by members of our church. These short episodes are meant to inspire you and support your journey of understanding and faith. We believe the central message of Jesus is one of grace. Grace for all human beings. Grace for All is a podcast ministry of First United Methodist Church, Maryville, TN","last_synced_at":"2026-07-17T16:20:38.196226+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/grace-for-all-6595211"},"episode":{"title":"The Person in Front of You","slug":"the-person-in-front-of-you","published_at":"2026-04-29T04:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/grace-for-all-6595211/the-person-in-front-of-you","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/grace-for-all-6595211","url":"https://graceforall.captivate.fm/episode/the-person-in-front-of-you","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/d9962db5-d57c-4bff-9e92-5543c8ee4f08.mp3","summary":"Acts 9:3-6 (NIV) As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, \"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?\" \"Who are you, Lord?\" Saul asked. \"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,\" he replied. \"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.\" Saul of Tarsus was not a villain. He was a serious man, a learned man, a man of deep conviction who believed with everything in him that he was doing the right thing. He was a Pharisee, trained in the finest traditions of Jewish law and scholarship, and he had concluded that the followers of Jesus of Nazareth posed a dangerous threat to the faith he loved. He had watched Stephen stoned to death and had approved of it. He had gone from house to house, dragging men and women off to prison. He was, by his own later account, zealous beyond his peers. What Saul could not see — what his very certainty prevented him from seeing — were the people in front of him. They were not people to him. They were a problem to be solved, an error to be corrected, a threat to be eliminated. His theological precision, his clarity about right and wrong, had somehow drained the humanity out of every face he encountered. He knew what they represented. He did not see who they were. And then the light. And then the voice. And the voice does not say what we might expect. Jesus does not tell Saul that his theology is wrong, or that he has misread the scriptures, or that he has violated the law. He says something far more personal, and far more devastating: \"Why are you persecuting me?\" Not my people. Not my followers. Me. Every person Saul had dragged from their home, every family he had broken apart, every man and woman he had delivered to sufferi…","meta_description":"Acts 9:3-6 (NIV) As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":438,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/grace-for-all-6595211/episodes/the-person-in-front-of-you/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/grace-for-all-6595211/the-person-in-front-of-you.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}