Hi, friends. I am Annie F. Downs. Let's read the Gospels. We often say you don't have to be in the Gospels every day to be changed, but every day you are in the Gospels will change you. And that is true. I'm so glad you're here with us today.

The Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament in the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the stories of Jesus Christ's life on earth, the friendships, the parables, the sacrifices, the meals, the miracles.

So each month we read all four books, and today how it's going to work is I'm going to read three chapters to you. You can listen or read along in your own Bible or online, and then I'll pray. And that's it.

Today is June 18th, day 18, and I'll be reading John chapters eight through 10. And this month I'm reading from the NRSV.

Okay, because the start of this story is the very last sentence of chapter seven, I'm going to read that to you first. This is John seven verse 53, and then we will go right into John eight.

Then each of them went home while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives early in the morning, he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and making her stand before all of them. They said to him,

teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?

They said this to test him so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus spent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.

And once again, he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

Jesus straightened up and said to her, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, no answer.

And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go your way. And from now on, do not sin again.

Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Then the Pharisees said to him, you are testifying on your own behalf. Your testimony is not valid.

Jesus answered, even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going.

But you do not know where I come from or where I'm going. You judge by human standards. I judge no one.

Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.

In your law, it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.

Then they said to him, where is your Father? Jesus answered, you know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.

He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come.

Again, he said to them, I am going away and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin.

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