WEBVTT 00:00:12.230 --> 00:00:20.690 He ever felt like the dust on your life was the 00:00:20.690 --> 00:00:24.190 only honest thing left? Like maybe God knew your 00:00:24.190 --> 00:00:28.129 name, but only because someone told on you? Well, 00:00:28.190 --> 00:00:30.859 tonight's not a pep talk. It ain't a list of 00:00:30.859 --> 00:00:33.479 moral improvements or five easy steps to holiness. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.799 It's a story, a sacred one, about a woman caught 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:43.579 in the act and a God who didn't flinch. You're 00:00:43.579 --> 00:00:45.840 listening to The Semi -Seminarian, and this is 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.679 Write This Down, a gospel about a God who kneels. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:51.479 Tonight, we're stepping into John chapter 8, 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:53.439 but we're not just going to read it. We're going 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:58.520 to walk it barefoot, slow, right through the 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:03.280 dirt. Because sometimes the only way to hear 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.579 the gospel is to feel the ground Jesus knelt 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:08.819 on when everybody else was reaching for a stone 00:01:08.819 --> 00:01:12.200 to throw. And if this is the kind of storytelling 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:14.200 that hits you where you live, go ahead, like, 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:17.340 share, subscribe. Not because I need the algorithm 00:01:17.340 --> 00:01:19.859 to bless me, but because someone else might be 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:22.939 down in the dust tonight too, waiting to hear 00:01:22.939 --> 00:01:27.379 their name said in mercy. So come close. Don't 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:30.459 clean up. Don't flinch. We're not climbing any 00:01:30.459 --> 00:01:33.019 ladders here. We're building a porch. Let's go. 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:43.439 I'll see you on the other side. Last couple weeks, 00:01:43.579 --> 00:01:47.359 the last couple times at least, it started last 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:51.760 week at Bible study where it was a story that 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:54.819 I thought was kind of hard. The story about when 00:01:54.819 --> 00:01:59.269 Jesus, when people start leaving Jesus. That's 00:01:59.269 --> 00:02:01.989 one of those I classify as hard stories of the 00:02:01.989 --> 00:02:05.129 Bible, because when you read it, man, that doesn't 00:02:05.129 --> 00:02:10.050 fit with the rest of the story. And then we looked 00:02:10.050 --> 00:02:12.250 at the story on Sunday about Abraham and Isaac, 00:02:12.430 --> 00:02:17.330 and that's a hard story. And one of the things 00:02:17.330 --> 00:02:20.129 I discovered a couple weeks ago was, I feel like 00:02:20.129 --> 00:02:24.129 when we take that scripture and we actually treat 00:02:24.129 --> 00:02:26.870 it like a story that we can put ourselves in, 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:30.539 It seems to help us get more out of the story 00:02:30.539 --> 00:02:34.620 than just a regular sermon. And I think it's 00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:39.900 because hard stories in the Bible are hard because 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:44.340 we don't want to see ourselves in them. We don't 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:47.439 like the implications of what's happening in 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:49.520 the story, and we certainly don't want it to 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:53.099 apply to our lives. So we think of them as hard. 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:56.219 We don't want to see ourselves in those stories. 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:01.400 I think intentionally putting ourselves in the 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:05.780 story opens up this whole new lens on what that 00:03:05.780 --> 00:03:08.520 particular story is trying to teach us today, 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:11.039 not just a story about something that happened 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:14.219 2 ,000 years ago, but what impact does it have 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:16.360 on my life today? So I'm going to try and do 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:20.800 that again. If you are interested, tonight I'll 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:24.300 be looking at John 8. where we'll find the story. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.159 It's a very well -known story. But what I want 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:30.919 to share with you guys tonight isn't just a retelling 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:34.639 for your intellect, but rather an invitation 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:38.860 for your imagination. Because we're stepping 00:03:38.860 --> 00:03:41.740 into a sacred space tonight. A woman is caught, 00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:47.280 not in rumor, not in theory, but in the act. 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:53.340 She's dragged out, half -clothed, shamed. used 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:59.020 as bait for a theological trap. And Jesus, he 00:03:59.020 --> 00:04:03.340 stoops in the dirt with her. Now, before I say 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:05.759 anything else, before I continue with the story, 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:10.439 I want us to feel it. I want us to smell the 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:15.159 dust, hear the crowd. You might know this story. 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:19.000 Don't rush to the ending. Let's walk through 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:23.000 it slow together. Their sandals on the ground. 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:28.339 So now, with our hearts open, our imaginations 00:04:28.339 --> 00:04:31.660 awakened, let's step into the moment as it was 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:35.259 recorded. Not just to hear it, but to feel it. 00:04:35.699 --> 00:04:40.139 So listen closely to the words of John 8, verses 00:04:40.139 --> 00:04:44.939 3 -11. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees 00:04:44.939 --> 00:04:48.079 brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:50.480 her stand up before the group, and Jesus said 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.319 to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was caught in the 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:56.480 act of adultery, and the law of Moses has commanded 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:00.060 us to stone such women. Now what do you say? 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:03.899 They were using this question as a trap in order 00:05:03.899 --> 00:05:07.319 to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:09.500 down and started to write on the ground with 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:13.519 his finger. When they kept questioning him, He 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:15.740 straightened up and said to them, Let any of 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:19.560 you who is without sin be the first to throw 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:24.139 a stone at her. Again, he stooped down and wrote 00:05:24.139 --> 00:05:28.459 in the ground. At this, those who heard began 00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:31.160 to go away one at a time, the older ones first, 00:05:31.300 --> 00:05:34.220 until only Jesus was left with the woman still 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:37.699 standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked 00:05:37.699 --> 00:05:41.319 her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:45.480 you? No one, sir, she said. Then neither do I 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:49.500 condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now. Leave your 00:05:49.500 --> 00:05:52.939 life for sin. Thus ends the reading of the word. 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:57.959 That's a scene. A woman dragged and exposed. 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:02.300 A question loaded like a weapon. Silence. Pregnant 00:06:02.300 --> 00:06:06.839 with power. But now let's slow it down even more. 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:10.800 Let's stay in that courtyard a little longer. 00:06:11.209 --> 00:06:14.389 Let the dust cling to our feet. Because this 00:06:14.389 --> 00:06:18.589 is where imagination meets incarnation. This 00:06:18.589 --> 00:06:22.290 is where her story begins to sound a lot like 00:06:22.290 --> 00:06:29.550 ours. You wake up with gravel in your hair. You 00:06:29.550 --> 00:06:31.509 don't remember falling asleep. You don't remember 00:06:31.509 --> 00:06:35.050 the walk home. You barely remember the night 00:06:35.050 --> 00:06:38.769 and only fragments of his voice. The weight of 00:06:38.769 --> 00:06:44.259 his hands. The sound of your name. And now it's 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:49.779 morning. Your mouth tastes like ashes. The linen 00:06:49.779 --> 00:06:54.139 sheet tangled around your leg isn't yours. The 00:06:54.139 --> 00:06:56.339 man who whispered promises in the dark is now 00:06:56.339 --> 00:07:02.420 gone. Like they always are. Gone like the others. 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:08.029 Gone like the hope you had as a young girl. Gone 00:07:08.029 --> 00:07:12.009 like the dream that maybe, just maybe, someday 00:07:12.009 --> 00:07:17.209 someone would stay. You wrap the sheet around 00:07:17.209 --> 00:07:19.990 you and you sit up. Maybe if you move slowly 00:07:19.990 --> 00:07:24.790 enough, you can unshatter last night. But before 00:07:24.790 --> 00:07:29.120 you can stand, the door bursts open. Hands grab, 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:33.399 voices shout, religious men, their robes spotless, 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:37.319 their eyes already full of verdicts. You know 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:40.139 their faces. Some of them watched you grow up. 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:42.639 Some looked the other way when you were young 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.800 and hungry and survived however you could. Some 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:46.699 of them know your name, knew your father's name. 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:49.639 They don't ask what's happened. They don't ask 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:52.839 if you were a coerced. They don't even ask his 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:56.399 name. They say the word adultery like it stains 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:00.040 the air. like your name should be carved on a 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:04.120 tombstone. You try to cover your face, try to 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:06.240 keep the sheet wrapped tight, but they don't 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:09.959 care because you're just a lesson now, a prop 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:14.779 in a sermon they want to preach. They drag you 00:08:14.779 --> 00:08:17.800 through the streets, dirt on your knees, stone 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:21.100 under your heel. You wonder if this is how the 00:08:21.100 --> 00:08:23.519 dogs feel when they're stoned to death outside 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:27.970 the camp. You wonder if that's where they're 00:08:27.970 --> 00:08:31.810 taking you. You pass a woman carrying bread. 00:08:31.850 --> 00:08:35.409 She turns away. A child stares until his mother 00:08:35.409 --> 00:08:39.049 pulls him close. The shame crawls up your spine 00:08:39.049 --> 00:08:43.409 like heat. A man spits. Another man quotes the 00:08:43.409 --> 00:08:46.909 Torah. Not loud enough to accuse, but loud enough 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:51.090 to condemn. But instead of the back alley or 00:08:51.090 --> 00:08:55.809 the edge of town, they take you to a man. He's 00:08:55.809 --> 00:08:57.710 sitting in the temple courtyard. He's been teaching 00:08:57.710 --> 00:09:00.730 all morning, surrounded by a crowd. Ordinary 00:09:00.730 --> 00:09:05.590 folks, farmers, widows, teenagers. Some came 00:09:05.590 --> 00:09:07.789 to hear about the kingdom, some to be healed. 00:09:09.210 --> 00:09:12.009 Some just needed hope to cost less than a sacrifice. 00:09:12.470 --> 00:09:15.610 John chapter 8, 3 through 5. The teachers of 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:17.350 the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman 00:09:17.350 --> 00:09:20.090 caught in adultery. They made her stand before 00:09:20.090 --> 00:09:22.549 the group and said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman 00:09:22.549 --> 00:09:25.879 was caught in the act of adultery. in the law 00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:30.720 of Moses, commands us to stone such women. Now 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:35.360 what do you say? And they say it like a trap. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:40.179 Not for you. They've already made up their mind 00:09:40.179 --> 00:09:48.279 about you. For him. You? You're just bait. And 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:51.950 he says nothing. The crowd shifts uncertain. 00:09:52.309 --> 00:09:54.889 The men who brought you here puff their chests 00:09:54.889 --> 00:09:58.409 out a little bit like they've already won. Some 00:09:58.409 --> 00:10:01.309 in the crowd avert their eyes. Some watch him 00:10:01.309 --> 00:10:05.450 waiting for a reaction. But he doesn't move like 00:10:05.450 --> 00:10:08.210 other men. He doesn't posture. He doesn't protest. 00:10:08.490 --> 00:10:11.690 Verse 6, but Jesus bent down and started to ride 00:10:11.690 --> 00:10:15.710 on the ground with his finger. He doesn't look 00:10:15.710 --> 00:10:19.879 at you. He doesn't look at them. He just kneels. 00:10:20.779 --> 00:10:23.440 The sound of his robe brushing the dirt is louder 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.799 than you expect. It's the sound of someone choosing 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:31.179 not to fight. He writes in the dirt. His finger 00:10:31.179 --> 00:10:34.539 moves slow. Not like someone scribbling out of 00:10:34.539 --> 00:10:37.059 nervous habit, but rather someone inscribing 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:42.299 something meant to last. No one can see what 00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:45.600 he's writing. That doesn't stop the murmuring. 00:10:46.700 --> 00:10:49.340 You hear one of the Pharisees shift his weight 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:53.320 impatiently. Another adjusts his sash like that 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:56.240 might somehow strengthen his righteousness. You 00:10:56.240 --> 00:11:01.139 stay still, bare knees in the sand. Crowd now 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:05.259 seems impossibly large. All of them watching 00:11:05.259 --> 00:11:11.720 you, watching him. Wanting and waiting to see 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:16.360 just what kind of Messiah this might be. One 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:21.940 who draws swords, one who draws silence. And 00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:27.019 you, you just want to disappear. You just want 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:32.240 to become the dust he's writing in. Maybe, maybe 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:38.240 he's writing their names. Maybe their sins. Maybe 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:43.279 he's writing yours. Maybe he's reminding them 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:46.350 of what they have forgotten. That the dust they're 00:11:46.350 --> 00:11:49.509 standing on, that she's kneeling in, was once 00:11:49.509 --> 00:11:53.450 holy the moment God breathed on it. And it still 00:11:53.450 --> 00:11:57.870 is. Someone scoffs. Another one says your name 00:11:57.870 --> 00:12:00.730 with disgust. The older ones shift their weight 00:12:00.730 --> 00:12:03.129 like they're ready to throw their stones. The 00:12:03.129 --> 00:12:05.830 men start pressing him again, only louder this 00:12:05.830 --> 00:12:08.990 time, like they're trying to rile a judge to 00:12:08.990 --> 00:12:14.629 anger. Their words are sharp, measured. Practiced. 00:12:15.110 --> 00:12:18.690 The kind of certainty that never comes from grace, 00:12:18.769 --> 00:12:23.450 only from fear. They say Moses, they say law, 00:12:23.789 --> 00:12:28.549 they say God's command, but the word made flesh 00:12:28.549 --> 00:12:35.549 says nothing. He just breathes. And in the middle 00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:39.370 of their shouts and of their demands, he speaks. 00:12:40.330 --> 00:12:45.559 John 8, verse 7. When they kept on questioning 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:47.240 him, he straightened up and said to them, let 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:50.419 any of you who's without sin be the first to 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:54.220 throw a stone at her. And then he kneels again. 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:59.299 Still no eye contact. Still no raised voice. 00:13:00.860 --> 00:13:08.080 Just grace whispered in the dust. And then you 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:13.470 hear it before you see it. A rock. trying to 00:13:13.470 --> 00:13:17.909 burrow itself in the sand. And one by one, stones 00:13:17.909 --> 00:13:21.429 begin to hit the ground. Some fall slow, some 00:13:21.429 --> 00:13:25.490 fast. The oldest men go first. The younger ones 00:13:25.490 --> 00:13:29.230 take longer. Maybe some of them don't even know 00:13:29.230 --> 00:13:31.850 why they're letting go, only that something in 00:13:31.850 --> 00:13:36.649 this moment demands it. Something about that 00:13:36.649 --> 00:13:39.990 silence pulls the rage right out of their fists. 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:48.159 One stone rolls to stop at your feet, and you 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:52.519 don't dare touch it. Another clatters behind 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:56.059 you. Another lands behind the hem of your sheet. 00:13:56.419 --> 00:14:03.620 And then, for what felt like an eternity, nothing. 00:14:04.940 --> 00:14:10.919 No words, no footsteps, just the sound of judgment. 00:14:11.610 --> 00:14:16.350 Losing its grip. You don't look up, but you can 00:14:16.350 --> 00:14:21.250 feel them leave. The voices fade down the street. 00:14:21.870 --> 00:14:27.929 The verdicts disappear. But still you stay hunched 00:14:27.929 --> 00:14:32.429 over, bracing for what comes next. Because sometimes 00:14:32.429 --> 00:14:37.070 silence feels like a second kind of violence. 00:14:39.169 --> 00:14:45.250 And then... There's only one man left. He stands 00:14:45.250 --> 00:14:48.509 up. His shadow moves across the ground towards 00:14:48.509 --> 00:14:54.169 you. For a moment, you can't breathe. Not from 00:14:54.169 --> 00:14:59.470 fear, but from the weight of being seen. You 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:04.250 brace for his judgment. But his voice is different. 00:15:05.470 --> 00:15:12.940 Gentle. Sad. John chapter 8, 10 and 11. Jesus 00:15:12.940 --> 00:15:16.259 straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are 00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:21.279 they? Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:24.879 she said. Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:29.700 declared. Go now and leave the life of sin. And 00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:33.820 he says it to her like it's a blessing, like 00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:38.200 it's a promise, not a threat. Not a finger pointed, 00:15:38.299 --> 00:15:42.090 but a hand offered. The kind of hand that reaches 00:15:42.090 --> 00:15:46.529 into the dust and lifts you up. The kind that 00:15:46.529 --> 00:15:50.409 doesn't flinch at your story. The kind that doesn't 00:15:50.409 --> 00:15:54.690 recoil from your name. The kind that doesn't 00:15:54.690 --> 00:15:56.909 want to give you your dignity back because it 00:15:56.909 --> 00:16:00.750 never left. It's just waiting for someone to 00:16:00.750 --> 00:16:06.289 notice it. And maybe, just maybe, that someone 00:16:06.289 --> 00:16:10.679 was you. Maybe you don't even know how to stand 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:14.720 yet what you've been seeing. Not as a scandal, 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:20.039 not as a symbol, but as a soul. And somehow, 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:27.220 that's enough. Grace doesn't erase the past, 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:32.299 but it refuses to weaponize it. And in the dust, 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:36.340 beneath the weight of all... that we've done 00:16:36.340 --> 00:16:40.320 or all that we've failed to do, Jesus still kneels, 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:48.820 still writes, still waits. And maybe you've tried 00:16:48.820 --> 00:16:53.080 to change. And maybe you've begged God to fix 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:56.860 you in the dark. And maybe you've made promises 00:16:56.860 --> 00:17:01.200 you couldn't keep. sworn you'd never go back, 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:04.720 only to wake up in the same old ruins again. 00:17:04.819 --> 00:17:09.079 And maybe, maybe despite your best efforts, you 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:13.740 fall back into that same old place. It's still 00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:18.119 grace. It's still restoration. It's still Jesus 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:23.339 kneeling beside you, not flinching, not leaving, 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:29.390 not ashamed of you, not disappointed. Just waiting 00:17:29.390 --> 00:17:35.210 like he always has, not to condemn, but to restore. 00:17:38.349 --> 00:17:40.630 And maybe this is the first time in a long time 00:17:40.630 --> 00:17:42.910 you've heard someone say it quite like that. 00:17:45.289 --> 00:17:47.849 Maybe you've lived your whole life thinking God 00:17:47.849 --> 00:17:50.069 was holding his breath, watching, waiting for 00:17:50.069 --> 00:17:54.150 you to just mess up again. But he's not holding 00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:59.750 his breath. He's holding out his hand. And if 00:17:59.750 --> 00:18:04.410 you listen closely, friends, in the quiet, after 00:18:04.410 --> 00:18:08.650 the stones have dropped, you can hear the sound 00:18:08.650 --> 00:18:11.549 of grace clearing its throat, ready to speak 00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:17.869 your name again, gently, without judgment, without 00:18:17.869 --> 00:18:24.670 shame. Because you were never just a case to 00:18:24.670 --> 00:18:29.160 be argued. You were never just a category of 00:18:29.160 --> 00:18:34.299 sin. You were never just what you did. You were 00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:39.700 always a person, a soul worth saving, a daughter 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:43.119 worth defending, a name worth saying out loud 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:50.740 in the presence of mercy. So maybe, maybe, it's 00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:56.480 time to stop running. Maybe it's time to stop. 00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:59.500 cowering in the dirt waiting for a stone that's 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:03.720 never coming. And maybe it's time to stand back 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:08.859 up. Not because you're clean. Not because you're 00:19:08.859 --> 00:19:15.099 sure. Because grace called you by name. And it 00:19:15.099 --> 00:19:21.319 sounded just like love. Amen? Amen. Well, thanks, 00:19:21.339 --> 00:19:32.960 guys. And maybe you've been there, on your knees, 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:38.839 not in prayer, but in shame. Maybe grace sounded 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:41.059 like judgment for so long you forgot it could 00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:45.539 actually sound like love. But if tonight's story 00:19:45.539 --> 00:19:47.579 whispered anything true, it's this. You were 00:19:47.579 --> 00:19:52.000 never just what you did. You were never just 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.099 your worst moment, and you are still worth saying 00:19:55.099 --> 00:19:59.910 out loud in the presence of mercy. So, maybe 00:19:59.910 --> 00:20:02.130 it's time to let go of the stone in your own 00:20:02.130 --> 00:20:06.049 hand. Or, maybe it's time to stop bracing for 00:20:06.049 --> 00:20:09.390 the one you think is coming. Either way, he's 00:20:09.390 --> 00:20:11.869 still kneeling there beside you, still writing, 00:20:12.069 --> 00:20:17.529 still refusing to flinch. This is the gospel. 00:20:18.309 --> 00:20:22.150 The whole, dusty, scandalous, undeserved gospel. 00:20:22.250 --> 00:20:28.329 And it's got your name written all over it. If 00:20:28.329 --> 00:20:30.829 this episode made something sacred stir in you, 00:20:30.930 --> 00:20:33.230 drop a comment. Share it with someone who needs 00:20:33.230 --> 00:20:35.670 a little gospel without the guilt. Or hit subscribe 00:20:35.670 --> 00:20:38.009 so you don't miss the next one. I ain't here 00:20:38.009 --> 00:20:41.509 for your loyalty, but I am here after your liberation. 00:20:43.049 --> 00:20:45.390 Because this isn't a performance. It's a porch 00:20:45.390 --> 00:20:49.970 light. And I'll keep it on. As long as you need. 00:20:51.170 --> 00:20:54.309 Until next time, I'm Pastor Jim. And this has 00:20:54.309 --> 00:20:57.380 been the Semi -Seminarian. Grace and peace, y 00:20:57.380 --> 00:21:01.759 'all. And maybe just a little dust on our knees.