Sacred Memories
The Gospel According to Dolly Series
What happens when the songs of Dolly Parton meet the stories of Jesus? You get a gospel full of heart. The Gospel According to Dolly is a worship series that brings together scripture and song to tell the good news in a new key. Dolly’s lyrics do more than entertain. They testify. They speak of heartbreak and healing, of heaven and home, of a Savior who never walks away. In her music, we hear echoes of the gospel. In the gospel, we find the kind of grace Dolly sings about. This series invites us to listen closely and see Jesus through the lens of faith, tenderness, and ordinary acts of love.
Sacred Memories
Reflection: “Can you remember a time you felt God’s love, maybe through a song, a person, or a quiet moment?”
I invite you to pause, think of something. Think of how you felt in that moment. What about it made you think of God’s love? Hold onto those reflections as we look at this narrative from John.
John 10:22–30 (CEB)
The time came for the Festival of Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter,
and Jesus was in the temple, walking in the covered porch named for Solomon. The Jewish opposition circled around him and asked, “How long will you test our patience? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered, “I have told you, but you don’t believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you don’t believe because you don’t belong to my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life. They will never die, and no one will snatch them from my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them from my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Every family has its lore. The stories told again and again become anchors for identity. Maybe it is the hymn someone sang when life was hard, or the story of giving away the last dollar and still having enough. These memories are spiritual. They help us understand the God who walks with us and point us to what it means to live faithfully.
That is what Dolly Parton sings about in “Sacred Memories.” She sings of old-fashioned gatherings and “glad memories that linger in my heart.” But she is not just reminiscing. She is also testifying about her faith. The faith she describes is not confined to church walls. It is formed in living rooms, shared in everyday acts of love. Sacred memory becomes sacred identity. It is the gospel, lived close to home.
Jesus says in John 10, “My sheep know my voice.” That kind of knowing is not based on memorized answers but on relationships. We come to know his voice because we have lived with it through peace and in pain, in silence and in song. Sacred memory helps us recognize him. And then comes the promise: “No one will snatch them from my hand.” We are known. We are held. We are secure, not because our faith never falters, but because his love never does.
And that kind of security changes how we live. When we know who we are and who we belong to, we can live boldly. We do not have to perform for acceptance or prove our worth. We are already held in love. That security frees us. It gives us the courage to speak up, to take risks, to forgive, to try again. It gives us the confidence to be gentle in a world that demands we be harsh.
This is what faith rooted in sacred memory does. It anchors us. It liberates us. It makes us more fully ourselves, not less. The gospel is not meant to weigh us down; it is meant to set us free. Free to love ourselves. Free to love others. Free to live lives that testify to grace.
So, how do we live as people who belong to the Shepherd? We live like people who know we are loved. We tell our stories. We create sacred memory for others through how we show up, how we forgive, and how we love. There is someone in your life who needs to hear why you believe and how it changes how you live. They need to hear the Gospel from your words and life.
You are known.
You are loved.
You are held.
That is your gospel.
And when we live like it is true, we become the sacred memory someone else needs and the evidence of the freedom Christ offers to all.
