Does your worst moment have to define you?

In John 8:1–11, a woman caught in adultery is brought before Jesus. Publicly accused and facing condemnation, she encounters grace and truth: “Neither do I condemn you…go now and leave your life of sin.”

In “Come and See Grace,” Part 6 of our journey through the Gospel of John, we explore how Jesus responds to failure, why grace invites us to change, and what it means to extend that same grace to others.

The message closes by pointing to Jesus’ sacrifice - the love behind our opportunity for forgiveness and a new beginning.

Scripture: John 8:1–11

For reflection: Where do you need to receive grace, and who needs you to extend it?

Click here to donate to the program

Click here for more sermons

OC Church of Christ

00:00 Harvest Festival Welcome

00:22 Campus and Youth Ministry Updates

01:54 Jesus Meets Us with Grace and Truth

03:24 Moments We Wish We Could Forget

07:04 A Woman Faces Public Accusation

10:08 The Trap Behind the Accusation

12:35 “Neither Do I Condemn You”

16:32 Grace Invites a New Direction

19:05 Leaving the Old Life Behind

20:48 Jesus, the Light of the World

21:33 A King Takes His Daughter’s Punishment

24:22 Communion and Closing Prayer

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to

2

our Harvest Festival Sunday.

3

It's great to be together with you all.

4

Great to have our Spanish ministry

and our Korean ministry, amen.

5

And, uh, very encouraged also to have

many first-time guests here, uh, visiting

6

and be able to enjoy the festivities

after our service here together.

7

Amen.

8

Um, are the slides good?

9

We're good?

10

All right.

11

Well, uh, we're gonna continue

on in our series Come and See.

12

And, uh, for those that don't know

who I am, my name is Kyle Lounsberry.

13

Along with my wife, Jasmine, we lead

our campus ministry at OC Church, amen.

14

College students.

15

And, uh, you know, it's so much fun

working with college students because

16

they keep you on your toes, all right?

17

College students and teenagers, uh,

are full of energy, and they keep me

18

young, and they think I'm old now.

19

Isn't that crazy, guys?

20

Yeah.

21

They think I'm old, which is so funny.

22

They call me Unc', so I

don't know how that happened.

23

I guess you have two kids

and you just get old.

24

That's how life works.

25

Um, but I did wanna share some really

encouraging news from the campus ministry

26

and our youth ministry, and really wanna,

uh, lift up the congregation because

27

we've had the privilege and honor to be

able to hire four part-time interns for

28

our campus and youth ministries, amen.

29

Is these four right here, and

they're working, uh, for, to help our

30

bingo operation on Tuesday nights.

31

They're helping our college students.

32

They're helping, uh, our,

our teens and our youth.

33

And so we're really encouraged to

see how God's gonna use these awesome

34

individuals, uh, three of which were in

our summer internship program this summer.

35

And one, Kiana, came from Revive, which

is a mission team, uh, out in Eastern

36

Europe, and we're very encouraged

to be able to have them, uh, serving

37

the church and being able to bring

a youthful presence to our church.

38

Amen.

39

'Cause I'm old now, so we need more youth.

40

Amen?

41

Yes.

42

But as we, uh, transition into our time

of, uh, the lesson today, we're gonna

43

be having a, a communion lesson, so

we'll be taking communion following.

44

Uh, you know, we're gonna

talk here about grace.

45

All right.

46

All right?

47

Grace.

48

You know, when I, uh, read John

chapter 8, my favorite part of John

49

chapter 8, I must confess, is verse

31 to 33, and it's all about…

50

No, it's all about truth.

51

It's not about grace.

52

That part is all about truth, and I

love that part 'cause it convicts me.

53

It makes me feel like Jesus is the truth.

54

Amen.

55

But then as you really study out the

chapter and you see the first part of

56

what takes place, you realize, man, Jesus

was a perfect balance of grace and truth.

57

Amen.

58

And so today we're gonna focus in on, on

the grace aspect, but I believe he also

59

gives us a call to truth, uh, at the

end of the story we're gonna look at.

60

So if you guys can start turning

your Bibles to John chapter 8, verse

61

1 is where we're gonna pick up.

62

And, uh, we don't have the ability and

time to go through the whole chapter.

63

It's very rich.

64

I wanna encourage you to take some

time to study it out, uh, this week.

65

But we are gonna look at the

first part of John chapter 8.

66

And you know, last week Marcel spoke

about the one who satisfies your soul,

67

that we wanna come and see the one who

satisfies our soul, that there are so

68

many distractions and things in our

world that can't truly satisfy us the

69

way that Jesus Christ can truly satisfy.

70

But today I wanna start

off with a hypothetical.

71

All right?

72

Let me start off with a

hypothetical question for you guys.

73

Now, I want you to imagine for a

second that on our giant screens

74

up here today- That we, instead of

having our announcements and our

75

sermon slides and our, our lyrics,

what if we broadcasted on those

76

screens your most embarrassing moment?

77

Your most embarrassing moment, and we

put it up on the screen, whether it was

78

a picture or a video, and we watched it.

79

I want you to think

about that for a moment.

80

Not your best picture, not the

version of you that, that made it

81

onto your Instagram or your Facebook.

82

No, I want, I want the

worst, most embarrassing,

83

hilarious, or maybe sad photo.

84

Right?

85

I'm talking about the moment where

you're like, "Lord, I thought we

86

agreed we'd never bring this up.

87

This would never happen."

88

Anybody feeling a little nervous?

89

Yeah.

90

You know, I started scanning

some of your guys' Facebooks.

91

Ooh.

92

No, I'm just kidding.

93

I'm just kidding.

94

I'm just kidding.

95

But I got a few pictures of my own.

96

I'm gonna make…

97

I'm gonna embarrass

myself for a moment here.

98

All right?

99

I got a first picture here.

100

This past week I was in Germany- Oh.

101

… and I was repping the, the lederhosen.

102

Oh yeah.

103

This is a traditional Bavarian

outfit, and I felt like such a

104

goofball wearing that, walking around.

105

But here's the thing, I felt comforted,

'cause there was thousands of other

106

people wearing the same thing.

107

All right?

108

So I felt much better about myself.

109

Uh, let's see what else I got here.

110

Oh, there we go.

111

That was the first picture

I took with Jasmine.

112

I was, I think, 17, 16 years old there.

113

Oh.

114

Teens, be careful what

pictures you take now.

115

You'll be, uh, getting made fun of later.

116

So that was me as a wee little lad,

although I was still pretty tall there.

117

And then I got one I'm

really embarrassed to show.

118

All right?

119

And it's for a specific reason.

120

The picture itself, you don't really pay

attention, you'll be like, "Oh, whatever."

121

But look deeply at the picture and tell me

if you can find out what's going on here

122

I cannot believe I brought myself to wear

a Chicago Cubs shirt at a Dodger game

123

To my shame.

124

To my shame.

125

My wife is from Chicago.

126

We weren't married yet here.

127

I think we had just started

dating, so I was just trying to

128

put love deposits in the love bank.

129

That's all it was.

130

But I will never again, ever

again, wear a Chicago Cubs shirt.

131

Go Dodgers.

132

We're up 1-0.

133

Amen?

134

Amen.

135

Uh, why do I share this with you guys?

136

Well, we're gonna look at a story

today where we look at some, some,

137

a situation where somebody's worst

moment gets puts, put on display.

138

Now, when I asked you the question,

you know, your worst moment, your

139

most embarrassing moment, man, imagine

if we all here were just ridiculing

140

you, seeing your worst moment,

seeing that picture on the screen.

141

Imagine how you would feel.

142

You would probably feel terrible.

143

Now, not just an embarrassing

moment, but now think of the worst

144

decisions you've made in your life.

145

Think of some of the worst things you've

done, some of the things you regret.

146

We're, we've all made mistakes, right?

147

What would happen if the worst thing

about you or the worst thing you've done

148

was broadcasted in front of everyone?

149

Would people look at you differently?

150

Would people judge you?

151

Would people, you know, maybe

disown you, your family?

152

Would they understand or

would they reject you?

153

You know, there's a story in the

Bible where it's not a hypothetical,

154

and in John 8:1 we're gonna see

a woman whose worst moment is

155

broadcasted in front of everybody.

156

Let's look at John 8:1.

157

You guys with me?

158

Yes.

159

"But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

160

At dawn he appeared again

in the temple courts."

161

So anytime a chapter starts

with but, I always look at,

162

okay, what happened before.

163

Essentially in chapter seven it says

all the disciples went home, but then

164

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

165

"And at dawn he appeared again

in the temple courts, where all

166

the people gathered around him,

and he sat down to teach them.

167

The teachers of the law and the

Pharisees brought in a woman

168

caught in the, caught in adultery.

169

They made her stand before the group

and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman

170

was caught in the act of adultery.

171

In the Law of Moses, the, in the law

Moses commanded us to stone such women.

172

Now what do you say?'

173

They were using this question as a trap,

in order to have a basis for accusing him.

174

But Jesus bent down and started

writing, or started to write

175

on the ground with his finger.

176

When they kept on questioning him, he

straightened up and said to them, 'Let

177

any one of you who is without sin be

the first to throw a stone at her.'

178

Again he stooped down and

he wrote on the ground.

179

At this, those who heard began to go

away one at a time, the older ones

180

first, until only Jesus was left,

with the woman still standing there.

181

Jesus straightened up and asked

her, 'Woman, where are they?

182

Has no one condemned you?'

183

'No one, sir,' she said.

184

'Then neither do I condemn

you,' Jesus declared.

185

'Go now and leave your life of sin.'"

186

You know, Jesus is teaching here in

the temple courts, and it says the

187

Pharisees find a woman caught in

adultery, and they bring her to the

188

temple courts in front of everybody and

place her in front of Jesus and have her

189

standing there right in front of Jesus.

190

The Pharisees then say

191

In the law, Moses commanded

us to stone such women.

192

Now what do you say?

193

So this woman is brought to Jesus,

standing in front of Jesus, and the

194

Pharisees go, "We need to stone her.

195

We need to kill her."

196

That would be justice.

197

That would be right according to the law.

198

You know, I want you for just a moment

to think of yourself in this situation.

199

Imagine if you were, were brought in

front of Jesus, in front of this crowd,

200

in your worst moment, and everyone

around you, imagine this whole room is

201

chanting and screaming, "Let's kill him.

202

Let's kill her.

203

We're gonna stone her

204

Pretty intense, right?

205

You know, and as I started studying

this out and reading this, I, I really

206

wanted to figure out what, what did the

law that Moses commanded really say?

207

What, what did it really

say regarding the situation?

208

Are they just fibbing?

209

Are they twisting it, or did

it actually say something?

210

And what I found is in Deuteronomy 22:22,

it says, "If a man is found sleeping

211

with another man's wife, both the man who

slept with her and the woman must die.

212

You must purge the evil from Israel."

213

So what is the issue here in this

moment that the Pharisees are doing?

214

They have the woman, but not the man

215

They found the woman, but somehow,

some way, where's the man?

216

Where is he?

217

It takes two people to commit adultery.

218

And this is where I believe the

true intention of the Pharisees

219

starts to be revealed, right?

220

It says they were using

this question as a trap.

221

They were trying to trap Jesus.

222

They were saying,

"Jesus, look, we got her.

223

She was in sin.

224

She was committing adultery.

225

This is what the law says.

226

We must stone her."

227

And they were trying to just

put Jesus in a tough spot.

228

So this really isn't about the woman.

229

As I've really learned about

that, I was like, it's not

230

necessarily all about the woman.

231

They're just using her as a means

to get to Jesus, and that's sad.

232

That is evil.

233

And so Jesus is then put in this trap.

234

So if he ignores the

law, what's the problem?

235

The problem then is they have

an accusation against him.

236

But if he doesn't respect the Roman

authority and the Roman law, then

237

he can be in trouble with them.

238

They think they've trapped Jesus,

because if he calls for her death, the

239

Romans will come in and say, "Hold on,

you don't have authority to do that.

240

You have to go through us."

241

So what does he do?

242

He starts bending down, and I

always find this so interesting.

243

He gets on his knees, and he

starts writing in the dirt.

244

He starts writing or drawing or I…

245

Who knows what he's doing there?

246

We can only speculate.

247

My speculation, just to throw it out

there, this woman was caught in adultery,

248

and I think Jesus, being a pure man, was

on his knees trying not to look at her

249

You know, eventually Jesus then

stands up, and what does he say?

250

He says, "Let any one of you

who is without sin be the

251

first to throw a stone at her."

252

If you're without sin, you can do it

253

One by one, stones begin to drop.

254

They start walking away, and the

crowd gets smaller and smaller

255

until eventually she probably looks

around and it's just her and Jesus.

256

Just her and Jesus

257

You know, imagine being her.

258

Everyone leaves except one man.

259

Imagine what you'd be feeling.

260

Wow, I'm standing face to face with Jesus.

261

You've, you've been exposed, you've

been humiliated, you've been found out.

262

You're guilty.

263

You can't undo what you've already done

264

And now you're right there with Jesus.

265

What is Jesus gonna say?

266

And I love Jesus' response.

267

Jesus says, "Woman, where are they?

268

Has no one condemned you?"

269

"No one, sir," she said.

270

"Then neither do I condemn

you," Jesus declared.

271

You know, I love that moment

because that, to me, is grace.

272

That is that moment of grace.

273

Jesus met her with grace, met her

in that moment, in that moment

274

where she was probably f- so

fearful, so scared, so distraught.

275

Grace.

276

He saves her life.

277

Now think of the relief

she must be feeling.

278

The relief, the, the burden that's

taken away, the weight that's off her

279

chest to, to feel like, wow I deserve

death, and now I've received grace.

280

Brothers and sisters, what I wanna share

with you is your worst moment doesn't have

281

to define your relationship with Jesus.

282

I don't know where you're at today.

283

I don't know what you've done.

284

I know some of you, but I know that your

worst moment doesn't have to define you.

285

That's good.

286

Yes, indeed.

287

One of the things I, I was very

grateful for when, when actually

288

w- Jasmine and I were h- uh, being

interviewed to come to Orange County,

289

sitting, uh, with Steve and Charlie,

one of the things they shared is…

290

Or one of the things Steve

Stephenson shared was some people

291

are defined by their righteousness.

292

Other people are defined by

their response, their repentance.

293

Amen.

294

And that was in a time where I was

struggling with some things in my own

295

life, and he was helping me see that

you can be defined by your repentance,

296

how you change, how you respond.

297

You don't have to be defined

by what you did, who you were.

298

Isn't that exciting?

299

Yeah.

300

Isn't that encouraging?

301

Doesn't that relieve you to

know, wow, I've blown it.

302

I've messed up, but that

doesn't have to define me.

303

That's right.

304

I'm no longer defined that

way if I respond differently.

305

I don't have to be defined by the

ways that I've blown it, because

306

Jesus wants to give me grace.

307

Amen.

308

Jesus wants to give all of us grace.

309

He wants to offer this world grace.

310

He wants to offer Orange County grace.

311

That's right.

312

Are we gonna bring grace to Orange County?

313

Are we gonna be the ones that

bring these interactions, these

314

Jesus moments with people, or are

we gonna be like the Pharisees?

315

Are we gonna say, "Stone them"?

316

Are we gonna say, "They don't belong here.

317

They don't fit in here.

318

They're, they've done too much.

319

They've messed up too much"?

320

Or are we gonna allow people to be

defined by their relationship with Jesus?

321

Amen.

322

Jesus defines us.

323

Your identity is not what you've done.

324

Your identity is not your sexuality.

325

Your identity is not the

mistakes you've made.

326

Your identity is in Christ.

327

Amen?

328

Amen.

329

That is our identity, because of

the grace we've received from Jesus.

330

Amen?

331

Amen.

332

But brothers and sisters,

let's not confuse grace with

333

permission to stay the same.

334

We can't confuse grace

as just a free pass.

335

Now, it is a free gift.

336

Amen?

337

But Jesus doesn't say,

"Neither do I condemn you.

338

Go back to what you were doing."

339

No, he says, "Go now and

leave your life of sin.

340

Go change.

341

Go be different.

342

Don't, don't allow that sin to

pervade your life any longer.

343

Go be different because of this moment."

344

You see, I love the passage

that says, "Those who have been

345

forgiven little, love little.

346

But those who have been

forgiven much, love much."

347

Because when we're forgiven of much,

when we realize how much we've been

348

forgiven of, when we have those

grace moments with Jesus and we

349

realize, "Man, I don't deserve this,"

then we love much, then we change.

350

We're, we're grace driven.

351

We're inspired to live a different life.

352

It doesn't become rule following

in the church, because the

353

grace we received motivates us.

354

Amen.

355

Amen.

356

Grace gives this woman a new direction.

357

Grace gives you a new direction.

358

God's grace gives us a new direction.

359

If you're visiting with us

today, I wanna encourage you,

360

God's grace can transform you.

361

God's grace can give you

a whole new perspective on

362

life, a whole new worldview.

363

Studying the Bible with college

students has made me realize,

364

man, these young men and women,

they are passionate about things.

365

But how much more passionate can they be

if they experience the grace of Jesus?

366

If they experience how much God loves them

and wants to change them, that transforms

367

their perspective on life, and then they

begin to live lives devoted to Jesus.

368

I wanna encourage you, if you're visiting

today, grace gives you a new direction.

369

When you experience God's grace,

it can give you a new direction.

370

You know, she was identified by her sin.

371

This woman was caught in adultery.

372

That's shameful.

373

Imagine the shame.

374

The Bible doesn't even name her.

375

We don't even know what her name was.

376

She's an unnamed, sinful, adulterous

woman, yet Jesus provides her

377

with an opportunity to leave that

behind Jesus is offering each of

378

us today that same opportunity.

379

Amen?

380

Amen.

381

The same opportunity to leave it

behind and to live a new life.

382

And so here's the question I want

us to consider this morning: What do

383

you need to leave behind so that the

grace of Jesus can define you instead?

384

What do you need to leave behind?

385

What are you holding on to?

386

Maybe you've experienced the grace,

maybe, maybe you've been forgiven,

387

maybe you've even changed your entire

life, but there's some things you've

388

allowed to, to hang around and you're

no longer truly living in that new

389

direction that Jesus called you to.

390

What do you need to get open

about and be real about?

391

And if you're visiting with us today, I

wanna encourage you to come and see grace.

392

Come and see what it looks like.

393

Open the Bible and study with

somebody and learn how to become a

394

disciple of Jesus, to be baptized,

to repent, to build new relationships

395

and build God's kingdom together.

396

You don't have to have

everything figured out.

397

That's what I love about this moment,

is this woman was in her worst moment.

398

You can be in here today feeling

your worst, yet Jesus can

399

still give you a new direction.

400

Amen?

401

Amen.

402

And brothers and sisters, for

those who have been around, don't

403

receive grace from Jesus and then

turn around and pick up stones

404

Don't look at others and start judging.

405

Let's not, let's not have infighting.

406

Let's be gracious to one another.

407

Let's be graceful the

way Jesus is graceful.

408

But let's also call one another to

go and leave our life of sin, and

409

let's get in each other's lives

and ask, "Hey, how can we help each

410

other to really leave that behind?

411

How can we grow into who Jesus is calling

us to be so we can make an impact for

412

him while we're here on this earth?"

413

And I love that verse 12, I haven't

put it up there, but in verse 12 right

414

after this, Jesus then goes and he says,

"When Jesus spoke again to the people

415

he said, 'I am the light of the world.

416

Whoever follows me will never

walk in darkness but will

417

have the light of life.'"

418

God's grace leads us to the light of life.

419

The light of the world is Jesus, and let's

be the light of the world, OC Church.

420

Let's be the light of the

world in our communities.

421

How can you be the light of the world

on your campus, college students?

422

How can you be the light of

the world in the workplace?

423

How can you practically be the light

of the world and show grace like Jesus?

424

You know, I wanna close out this

morning as we get prepared for

425

communion by sharing with you guys,

uh, this really cool story and

426

analogy that connects really the

Gospel message and the idea of grace.

427

You may have heard it.

428

Um, if you haven't,

hopefully you enjoy it.

429

But I want us for a second to

imagine there's a king, all right?

430

And this king is a sovereign king.

431

He's, he's big, he's strong,

he's got a huge kingdom.

432

He, he's all-loving.

433

He's a loving king, and

he's a king that is so just.

434

He, he forgives, but he also

holds people accountable

435

You know, someone in his kingdom

had been caught stealing from him.

436

They were stealing from the

treasury, stealing lots of money.

437

And he puts out this decree and

he's like, "We need to f- we need

438

to figure out who's been stealing.

439

We need to catch that person.

440

We need to find them."

441

And eventually, they bring

the thief before the king.

442

And when the king looks down and he

sees who's been stealing from him,

443

he sees that it's his daughter.

444

His own daughter has

been stealing from him.

445

So what does he do?

446

He loves his daughter, but he also is just

447

He's put in a tough spot.

448

He can't just pretend like nothing

happened and, and blow it off and

449

just, "It's my daughter, it's okay."

450

No, she's guilty.

451

There's a punishment.

452

And so the day comes for her

punishment, and in that kingdom,

453

stealing is worthy of death

454

And right before the executioner

is about to kill the king's

455

daughter, the king yells, "Stop!"

456

Gets off his throne.

457

He walks down to his daughter,

looks at the executioner.

458

He lays on top of his daughter

and he says, "Kill me.

459

Kill me."

460

I get emotional every time I think of

it He takes the place of his daughter.

461

Church, that's grace.

462

Yeah.

463

That's grace, amen?

464

Amen.

465

Taking the place that we

deserve, the punishment we

466

deserve, the king was killed.

467

And as we reflect on that, as we

take communion, as we consider the m-

468

amount of grace God's given us, God's

grace paid the price for you and I.

469

Jesus paid the price, and it was only

made possible through Him dying on

470

the cross and resurrecting three days

later that we now have the opportunity

471

to experience grace with Him.

472

Amen.

473

And so let's go ahead and bow our heads.

474

Let's take communion, and

let's reflect on God's grace.

475

Father, thank you so much for this

morning, this time to be together.

476

We are so grateful for Your grace,

for Your mercy, for Your love.

477

Lord, when I, when I think about

my life, I, I don't deserve

478

the grace You've shown me.

479

My sin slaughtered Your Son, Jesus.

480

And God, I pray that You would humble each

of our hearts this morning as we reflect

481

on the cross, as we take communion, as we

take the blood and the bread, the body.

482

Lord, that You would soften our

hearts, inspire us, motivate us to

483

be grace-filled, to live grace full

lives, to have a life that is a new

484

direction because of Your grace.

485

And God, I pray that if we're struggling

with any specific sin in our life

486

that we need to be open and real about

to be able to be transformed by Your

487

grace, that we would take that step.

488

I pray for anyone visiting that,

that hasn't taken that step, that You

489

would connect somebody here today with

them, the right person to connect with

490

them to, to reveal You to them, God.

491

Please bless this congregation.

492

Bless this church.

493

Help us to be men and women full of grace.

494

We love You.

495

We thank You.

496

In Jesus' name, amen.