# Grace Out Loud Ep. 1 — Who Is Jesus?

An episode of [🎙 Grace Out Loud](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6794405665), 3 Mar 2026, 18 min.

Audio: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/6y2b097ji5vnmquf/yt_video_8cKvbHsOluc.mp4

Who is Jesus — really? In Episode 1 of Grace Out Loud, Pastor Dom Bronico and Katie Gaus unpack faith beyond rules and into relationship.

## Transcript

[0:04] Wherever you go, \[music\]
[0:06] wherever you stay, don't you forget that
[0:08] love is always coming your way. No
[0:11] matter \[music\] how far, how broken you
[0:14] are, don't you forget that love is
[0:17] always coming your way. \[music\]
[0:20] >> What's up everybody? Welcome to Grace
[0:24] Out Loud.
[0:24] >> Let's go.
[0:25] >> Yes. Cheers.
[0:26] >> Grace Out Loud. a new podcast for
[0:28] conversations about faith that you don't
[0:30] hear on Sunday. Not here on Sunday.
[0:32] Katie Gauze, Don Bronico, and we are so
[0:36] excited that this is happening, right? I
[0:38] mean, I'm pumped.
[0:39] >> We've been This is something that's been
[0:40] on our hearts. This is a project that we
[0:42] have wanted to do. So, we are really
[0:43] pumped that it is finally happening.
[0:45] >> Yeah. Um, so, ever since I got here like
[0:48] five or so years ago, people have said,
[0:50] "We need to start a podcast." And every
[0:52] like every couple months, someone will
[0:54] be like, "We're doing it. We are
[0:56] starting the podcast and then
[0:57] >> but you have officially started. I'm
[0:59] excited.
[1:00] >> We did it. It was mostly because we have
[1:01] this amazing new studio space.
[1:03] >> It's really nice.
[1:03] >> We're here in Katie. It's very cozy.
[1:04] >> Katie's Corner and it's podcast world
[1:07] now and we are really excited to be
[1:08] doing this. But
[1:09] >> there's no coffee table yet. So,
[1:10] >> not yet. We got \[laughter\]
[1:12] >> We're We're going to be kicking our
[1:13] feet.
[1:13] >> We both wore our cool shoes today and we
[1:15] unintentionally matched. So, good. Good
[1:18] job. Great start. This is a good way to
[1:21] kick things off. But Dom, you know that
[1:23] hosting a podcast with me, inevitably
[1:25] the conversation about sports will be
[1:28] >> kind of woven into everything \[laughter\]
[1:29] and become a theme. But we did just see
[1:32] the Winter Olympics not too long ago. So
[1:34] that leads me to my icebreaker for you
[1:36] to kick things off today. And that is if
[1:38] you could be an Olympic athlete in any
[1:40] sport and this could be summer or
[1:42] winter. Okay.
[1:43] >> What would it be?
[1:44] >> That's a great question. I was actually
[1:46] just talking about this.
[1:47] >> Um it would be it would be luj is that
[1:49] that's the one you're just sliding
[1:50] right.
[1:50] >> Yes. So, I was talking to a young adult
[1:52] and we were like, "How does somebody
[1:54] determine that they're like, "Oh, I can
[1:56] do this."
[1:57] >> Yes.
[1:57] >> For my for my life.
[1:58] >> This is what I want. I'm 5 years old and
[2:00] I've decided.
[2:00] >> Well, we think that they just were
[2:02] really good at going down water slides.
[2:04] And everyone else got off and was like,
[2:06] "Oh, this is great." And they were like,
[2:07] "I can make money off of this." So, I
[2:09] think like
[2:10] >> do this for a living.
[2:10] >> I have to be able to be aerodynamic
[2:12] enough
[2:13] >> to shoot down that slide.
[2:15] >> You think you can get that that form,
[2:17] that water slide form?
[2:18] >> Yeah. What about you? I I'd go with
[2:20] Luch.
[2:20] >> Uh
[2:22] I don't know. I would want to pick
[2:23] something like really obscure.
[2:25] >> Okay.
[2:25] >> Like rhythm rhythmic gymnastics or
[2:29] something like really unique because I
[2:31] don't even know what that is. I mean
[2:32] because it would be such a deviation
[2:34] from who I really am. So that's why I
[2:35] would like if I could just choose one to
[2:37] be good at, I would pick that because
[2:38] normally I would pick a sport where I'm
[2:39] like hitting people and being really
[2:41] competitive and and really angry. So I
[2:44] feel like that would be a nice break.
[2:46] >> Yeah. It would be very soothing with my
[2:48] little ribbons and whatever, you know.
[2:50] >> Yeah. There you go. What would not be a
[2:51] nice break? This is the first time
[2:52] they've done it. Um it's like I I don't
[2:55] even know. It's like ski mountaineering.
[2:57] Me and Cindy were watching
[2:58] >> and you literally go uphill on skis.
[3:01] Like sprint uphill, have to dodge
[3:03] obstacles and then ski. It's like the
[3:06] most grueling thing I've ever heard.
[3:07] >> Yeah. They had the one where like you
[3:09] have to shoot the gun too while you're
[3:10] doing it and like lower your heart rate.
[3:11] Yeah. Olympic athletes are amazing. So
[3:13] we love that.
[3:14] >> Incredible.
[3:14] >> All right. What do you got for me?
[3:15] Anything? Yes. Um, so mine also has to
[3:18] do with sports. And since we're talking
[3:20] about Jesus today, my question for you
[3:22] is, um, it's also Olympics focused.
[3:25] >> Yes.
[3:25] >> What Olympic sport would Jesus
[3:27] participate in?
[3:28] >> Oh, that is excellent. Oh my goodness.
[3:32] Ooh, I was going to say like water
[3:34] skiing. \[laughter\] It's not
[3:36] >> He's kind of got a head start on that
[3:37] one. Water skiing.
[3:38] >> Water skiing is not an \[laughter\]
[3:40] Olympic sport. Um, okay. Well, swimming.
[3:42] >> Swimming. Yeah.
[3:43] >> Yeah, he'd be great. I think he'd be
[3:44] great at swimming. It's just a sprint
[3:45] for him at that point. There we go.
[3:47] >> He could just move the water and get get
[3:50] going.
[3:51] >> Absolutely.
[3:51] >> What do you What was What was on your
[3:53] mind for that one?
[3:54] >> Um I I think I would have to go with
[3:56] with swimming. Okay. He walk across. He
[3:58] could part the pool.
[4:00] >> Like something Jesus would be really
[4:02] good at curling.
[4:03] >> Oh yeah. \[laughter\]
[4:04] >> He'd be great at everything. He could do
[4:05] whatever he wants. So he would be the
[4:07] ultimate Olympic athlete. I love that.
[4:08] >> All right, Dom. All all things aside, we
[4:11] are excited to start this because we
[4:13] want to have conversations about faiths
[4:15] that don't always happen at church on
[4:18] Sundays that are unique, that are
[4:19] relevant to what's happening in people's
[4:21] lives, right now, every single day. But
[4:24] to kick things off, we want to kind of
[4:26] keep it real and our first series, we're
[4:28] going to do these in series, right? So,
[4:30] we don't even know how many episodes a
[4:31] series will necessarily be, but that's
[4:33] kind of our theme. This is our our start
[4:35] point. And so for our first series, we
[4:37] will be doing faith basics.
[4:40] >> There we go.
[4:40] >> And I was hesitant to say that we are
[4:42] keeping it simple with the faith basics
[4:45] because our very first question here,
[4:47] episode one, we are talking about a huge
[4:50] topic that we could spend days on. That
[4:53] is who is Jesus?
[4:55] >> People have like debated this for like
[4:58] ever since Jesus showed up on earth.
[5:00] They have have debated who is Jesus.
[5:02] >> Yeah. So simple topic to start
[5:04] >> but there's so many ways that you can
[5:06] take I mean you know I used my phone I I
[5:07] I used AI I was like who's Jesus what
[5:09] does Grock say
[5:10] >> and they go from a historical
[5:12] perspective you also go from the
[5:14] faith-based perspective but from a
[5:16] pastor perspective
[5:18] >> somebody comes up to you on the street
[5:19] and says who's Jesus what do you tell
[5:21] them
[5:22] >> oh that that's a good question and I'm
[5:23] interested in your response as well
[5:26] >> I mean like it's difficult because you
[5:28] have like your personal encounter with
[5:30] Jesus so like the first thing I would
[5:31] say is like Jesus is my Lord and Savior.
[5:34] Um, he is God. He's the person who saved
[5:37] my life.
[5:38] >> Um, who, you know, the reason I get up
[5:40] in the morning, right?
[5:41] >> Right.
[5:41] >> Um, so you have that.
[5:43] >> Um, but you also have like there there
[5:46] is like the historical person of Jesus,
[5:48] right? Um, I think for most people
[5:50] >> they they would probably think of that,
[5:52] right? Like Jesus was that dude in the
[5:53] Bible. Um, he did the water and wine.
[5:56] >> Be that dude.
[5:56] >> Yeah. Um,
[5:58] >> so it's challenging. Um, I think
[6:00] everybody has their own like encounter
[6:03] with Jesus.
[6:04] >> And so mine is obviously that he's God
[6:06] and he's my savior. Um, but I think for
[6:10] the average person, um, they they only
[6:12] know what other people have told them
[6:13] about Jesus. That's right. Yeah. So,
[6:15] what about you? What would what would
[6:16] you say?
[6:17] >> Yeah. I mean, I like I like thinking of
[6:19] it kind of two ways. First you think of
[6:21] the historical stuff and so you're
[6:23] immediately like okay well he is you
[6:25] know the son of god but like in the
[6:26] historical perspective he was an
[6:28] incredible figure who who who
[6:30] \[clears throat\] preached across you know
[6:33] so many places and just changed lives
[6:35] and made such an impact. But I think the
[6:38] other when I started thinking about this
[6:39] I also started thinking about it from
[6:40] the perspective of like how much your
[6:43] own background influences it right. So
[6:45] like for me I was born into a family
[6:47] that that had faith. So, who is Jesus?
[6:50] It was like day one introduced, right? I
[6:53] mean, you get baptized when you're a
[6:55] little kid. Um, so it's
[6:56] >> it's just one of those things that for
[6:58] me, I always just knew Jesus was my
[6:59] savior because that was what I was
[7:01] raised on. But I think then as you get
[7:03] older, who is Jesus becomes more
[7:06] personal.
[7:07] >> Yeah. If I guess if you were to think
[7:10] about it that way and someone was to
[7:11] kind of come up to you who really didn't
[7:13] have a faith background like what would
[7:14] be the best way to start that
[7:17] conversation like to ease someone into
[7:20] the concept of it because I think that's
[7:21] something that can be really
[7:22] overwhelming.
[7:23] >> Okay. I have a bit of a longer answer.
[7:24] Is that okay?
[7:24] >> That's great.
[7:25] >> Um so I was not raised in a Christian
[7:27] home.
[7:28] >> Yeah.
[7:28] >> So I kind of like only knew of Jesus
[7:32] associated with like rules. Uh-huh.
[7:34] >> Um, so for me like Jesus was like this
[7:36] religious figure and to and you you just
[7:39] followed rules and you earn your way
[7:41] into his good graces, right?
[7:43] >> Um, when I started going to youth group,
[7:45] um, that was like the opposite of what I
[7:48] experienced. My youth pastor started
[7:50] talking about this person of Jesus as
[7:51] like incredibly loving. Yeah.
[7:53] >> And that at at the first base, we are we
[7:57] are loved by Jesus.
[7:59] >> Like bottom line.
[8:00] >> Yeah. That's it. And after that, it's
[8:02] just about like this freedom that you
[8:05] experience from knowing that um lets you
[8:07] live the fullness of life, right? Like
[8:09] following Jesus helps us to be freed
[8:12] from all the things that that hold us
[8:13] back.
[8:14] >> Um and so that was like a complete
[8:17] gamecher for me
[8:19] >> um was was separating this this
[8:21] legalistic um if you do the right
[8:24] things, you are in Jesus's good graces.
[8:26] You've got it right. Check the boxes. to
[8:28] this person wants a relationship with
[8:30] you. Um, he loves you. He is the reason
[8:33] that you're here in the first place. And
[8:36] the life that he has for you is way
[8:38] better than this struggle, the life that
[8:41] you're living. Um, it's not it doesn't
[8:44] erase all of the struggle, but he kind
[8:46] of enters into it and you get to you get
[8:49] to experience him in the midst of that.
[8:51] >> Um, so that's probably what I would say.
[8:53] >> Yeah. I had this interesting experience
[8:55] recently where um it \[clears throat\]
[8:57] also involves Twitch. We were talking
[8:59] about Twitch before this.
[9:00] >> We were Thanks for the sub.
[9:02] >> Thank you for the sub. Uh like and
[9:03] follow
[9:04] >> chat. Thank you. Um
[9:06] >> but we were we were doing this thing,
[9:08] me, Josiah, and Victor, my friends, back
[9:10] in college. We would like to like watch
[9:12] each other play video games.
[9:14] >> And so we were watching Josiah stream
[9:16] this video game just for me and Victor.
[9:19] >> Um he's not a Twitch streamer. We just
[9:21] wanted to watch him. He wasn't here. And
[9:23] this random person popped into the
[9:25] Twitch stream. Just this random guy. At
[9:27] first it was funny. We were like,
[9:29] >> "Oh, that's like so that's so funny. I
[9:31] have no idea." It was three people, me,
[9:33] Victor, and Josiah, and this this other
[9:34] guy.
[9:35] >> And then Victor was like, "Hey, Dom,
[9:38] this guy is starting to ask really weird
[9:40] questions." And the guy started to ask
[9:42] like, "Um, I I don't have any goals in
[9:45] life. Like, I feel like I'm kind of like
[9:48] >> like I Yeah. It It was kind of sad.
[9:50] >> Yeah. and Josiah while streaming a video
[9:53] game started to say, um, well, listen,
[9:56] like I I think it's good to have goals
[9:59] and it's hard when you feel you don't
[10:01] have those. Um, but from my perspective,
[10:04] Jesus is this person who is my only
[10:08] goal. And it's not by achieving anything
[10:10] that I'm worthy. It's not by achieving
[10:12] goals that I'm worthy. It's just that he
[10:15] has he has dubbed me um worthy enough to
[10:18] to to to die for.
[10:21] >> And um and from there it it gives me
[10:24] worth in everything that I do.
[10:26] \[laughter\]
[10:26] >> And it was just bizarre cuz he was able
[10:28] to share that
[10:29] >> on a Twitch stream playing a video game
[10:30] >> just for you guys.
[10:31] >> Yeah. But it seemed to resonate with
[10:33] this random random guy. Um
[10:35] >> did he just like eventually did he
[10:36] eventually just like log out of your
[10:40] email and just Yeah. just it was it was
[10:42] very bizarre but this resonates with
[10:44] people right
[10:45] >> yeah well it also just shows you that
[10:47] you know you can find ways to be a good
[10:50] disciple of Jesus
[10:52] >> anywhere
[10:52] >> doing anything
[10:53] >> doing anything that's an incredible
[10:55] story
[10:55] >> you kind of started talking about the
[10:57] the rules earlier and and I resonate
[11:00] with that a lot raised Catholic and I am
[11:02] Catholic so hearing that it's like
[11:04] that's all we think about and talk about
[11:06] is that you have to constantly be
[11:08] checking boxes and doing these things
[11:09] for rules
[11:11] But when it comes down to the sin aspect
[11:13] of it, like Jesus,
[11:14] >> people have I I think people have a hard
[11:16] time understanding the fact that like he
[11:17] genuinely was perfect. He never sinned.
[11:19] >> Does that make it harder for people to
[11:22] relate to him and and understand who he
[11:25] is because he's seen as this
[11:29] >> perfect, you know, flawless figure? I
[11:32] think like I think it would um like in
[11:35] most cases when we think of like
[11:37] incredibly perfect people it it it rubs
[11:39] me the wrong way because I'm like
[11:40] >> we were just talking about athletes,
[11:41] right? And it's like wow they're so
[11:43] amazing at running
[11:45] like I would be dying if I was trying to
[11:47] run this marathon.
[11:48] >> Um I think it like I think it would um
[11:50] but I think that what separates Jesus um
[11:53] from like maybe just someone who's you
[11:55] know all about themselves is one he he's
[11:58] incredibly humble. um he wasn't perfect
[12:00] in the sense that he lorded it over
[12:02] people but like he washed his disciples
[12:04] feet and two he spent time with who
[12:08] society at the time called the absolute
[12:10] worst people.
[12:11] >> Yeah.
[12:11] >> Um or at least who who culture deemed
[12:14] like people unworthy to be around.
[12:16] >> Yeah.
[12:17] >> Um so in that way
[12:19] >> uh if if we think it's unapproachable
[12:22] Jesus does not think that we are
[12:23] unapproachable and he draws near to us.
[12:26] Yeah. What do you think? Does that is it
[12:27] hard to
[12:28] >> No, that's a great \[clears throat\]
[12:28] perspective. I love that you brought
[12:30] that up because again it is like that he
[12:32] would I mean first of all he humbled
[12:34] himself to the point of you know coming
[12:36] and being becoming human right being
[12:38] down there with us going through life
[12:40] being born you know in a in a terrible
[12:43] setup truthfully not not exactly the
[12:45] most ideal birthplace. Um so he already
[12:48] was just like setting the stage for you
[12:51] know I think an incredibly humanlike and
[12:53] relatable experience. I think that's
[12:56] great. And and yeah, \[clears throat\]
[12:57] he was willing to he was willing to show
[13:00] us that, you know, living by example,
[13:02] right? We always talk about, okay, do
[13:03] what you see your parents do, right?
[13:05] Well, looking at what Jesus did and
[13:06] seeing the example of the people he
[13:08] interacted with and the way he went
[13:09] about his ministry
[13:11] >> was pretty good.
[13:11] >> Yeah.
[13:12] >> So, I you had mentioned something when
[13:13] we were talking about
[13:15] >> just topics for this episode and what we
[13:16] wanted to talk about, but about the
[13:18] changing views of Jesus and you had seen
[13:20] something when everything's on fire.
[13:22] What what is tell me tell me that. Um, I
[13:24] read this really good book by Brian
[13:25] Xand, which I encourage you to read. Um,
[13:28] it it's
[13:28] >> We will share what we're reading on
[13:30] this, by the way. Oh, yeah. We will be
[13:31] bringing in all the books.
[13:32] >> I'll drop my Good Reads list
[13:33] >> and we'll \[laughter\] talk about And
[13:34] we'll talk about what shows we're
[13:35] watching that have nothing to do with
[13:37] Jesus, but they're still good.
[13:38] >> Yes, 100%. Um, so I read this really
[13:41] good book called When Everything's on
[13:42] Fire. Um, it's by Brian Xand. He's a
[13:45] pastor. I'm not I'm not sure where. Um,
[13:47] sorry, I I didn't research.
[13:49] >> A good book. Um but it talk it's kind of
[13:52] about um deconstruction
[13:54] >> and what I like about in that book is he
[13:57] talks about how you don't necessarily
[13:59] have to tear your faith down. He calls
[14:01] it like remodeling your house. So if we
[14:04] think of our beliefs as like this house
[14:06] we live in sometimes this one wing it's
[14:08] it's old. It needs work but it's still a
[14:12] a really good room. We just need to we
[14:14] need to build it up, right? Kind of like
[14:16] your studio. This studio looked very
[14:18] different. It looks really nice now.
[14:20] >> This is so different.
[14:21] >> You guys had to put a lot of work.
[14:22] >> Before and after. Yes, we did.
[14:24] >> Yeah, you should do a before and after.
[14:25] It was It was kind of scary down here.
[14:27] >> Um but but some rooms are are they're
[14:31] old. They have water damage. Uh and they
[14:34] they just need to be removed and they
[14:36] were harmful to us. Right.
[14:37] >> Right. And he kind of talks about like
[14:39] that with Jesus and how the interesting
[14:42] thing about Jesus is he has this way of
[14:45] like just
[14:47] going even when we don't realize it. Um
[14:51] he compared it to Alan in Narnia and
[14:53] like so good, right?
[14:55] >> So super incredibly random side note
[14:58] that when anyone says Narnia I have to
[15:01] bring up because this is I need to hear
[15:02] it.
[15:02] >> It's a really important part of my life.
[15:04] \[laughter\] I did musical theater forever
[15:06] growing up and
[15:07] >> I did not expect that.
[15:08] >> No. When I was in like 8th grade, I
[15:12] think we did Narnia the musical, which
[15:15] is a real The lion, the witch in the
[15:16] wardrobe, I should say.
[15:17] >> I didn't know there was a
[15:18] >> Yes. Yes. There's a Narnia. I don't
[15:20] think there there probably shouldn't be.
[15:22] It's not very good. But um I was Mr.
[15:25] Tumnness.
[15:26] >> Love it. \[laughter\]
[15:27] >> Literally dressed up. Yes. I like No,
[15:29] literally goat face painted on furry
[15:32] pants. I was. So anyway, I'm so sorry to
[15:34] derail us, but I had I don't think there
[15:37] I think every photo has been destroyed.
[15:39] >> It was that bad.
[15:40] >> You surgically removed it from the
[15:42] internet.
[15:42] >> I've I've tried to wash it from my mind
[15:44] cuz it was
[15:45] >> so funny. Oh my gosh,
[15:46] >> it was an interesting time.
[15:48] >> All right, we need to either find it or
[15:49] reenact it.
[15:50] >> Um, but like at the end of every Narnia
[15:52] movie, Asen just like leaves like and
[15:55] I'm like, where is he going? They just
[15:57] solved all the problems. Yeah.
[15:58] >> And uh Brian Xan kind of compares it to
[16:01] Jesus where sometimes we feel that God
[16:04] has left us, right? That this figure
[16:06] that we knew, we don't know where he is
[16:08] anymore. And it's not that God has left
[16:12] us, but that our idea of Jesus needs to
[16:15] change in order to to grow. And and
[16:18] that's how all of us grow, right?
[16:19] >> Um so I think that
[16:21] >> changing a changing view of or Jesus
[16:23] taking us to wherever he has for us
[16:25] next. I think that's good.
[16:26] >> Yeah. I love that. This has been so
[16:29] enjoyable just to be able to have honest
[16:31] conversations and to share stories and
[16:34] and and life experiences
[16:36] >> and find out that you did Narnia the
[16:39] musical.
[16:39] >> Embarrassing musicals.
[16:40] >> You're Mr. Tumness.
[16:41] >> Oh yeah. I've got some really
[16:42] embarrassing musical. We could we could
[16:44] spend a whole podcast talking about the
[16:46] musicals that I've been in and the weird
[16:47] characters that I got to play. Uh I even
[16:49] cut my hair once. Totally like boy
[16:52] haircut all in for Susicle. Okay.
[16:55] >> The musical. I was Jojo. That's for
[16:58] another day. We will save that one. But
[17:00] Don, this has been wonderful. This is so
[17:01] good because this is what we've wanted.
[17:03] We want to have these conversations that
[17:04] people can relate to. If you're out
[17:06] there and you're watching this, please
[17:08] continue to join us on this journey. Uh,
[17:10] grace out loud.
[17:11] >> Grace Out Loud.
[17:12] >> Grace Out Loud. I like to yell it
[17:13] because when I when I when I thought up
[17:15] this name and we talked about it, it was
[17:17] it's supposed to be a totally unfiltered
[17:19] and and open and loud sometimes
[17:22] conversation about all the greatest
[17:23] things that we want to share. uh you
[17:26] know about Jesus, about God, about our
[17:27] faith and that is started. It's
[17:30] officially it's officially happening. We
[17:32] made it. Tom, thank you for being here
[17:35] with me and thank everyone for joining
[17:36] us. We will see you for episode number
[17:39] two as we continue our series with the
[17:41] faith basics.
[17:43] \[music\]
[17:46] your way. Hey

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