May 11, 2025 • 30 mins
Mother Earth, Mother's Day: A Call to Sustainable Action, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: This Sweet Earth A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: Matthew 19.13-15.
Join us this Sunday at First Presbyterian, either online or in-person at 8:30 or 10am. We’re exploring how our choices today shape tomorrow’s possibilities. All are welcome, doubts and questions included.
Join us each Sunday, 10AM at bendfp.org, or 11AM KTVZ-CW Channel 612/12 in Bend. Subscribe/Follow, and click the bell for alerts.
At First Presbyterian, you will meet people at many different places theologically and spiritually. And we love it that way. We want to be a place where our diversity brings us together and where conversation takes us all deeper in our understanding of God.
We call this kind of faith “Spacious Christianity.” We don’t ask anyone to sign creeds or statements of belief. The life of faith is about a way of being in the world and a faith that shows itself in love.
Thank you for your support of the mission of the First Presbyterian Church of Bend. Visit https://bendfp.org/giving/ for more information.
Keywords:
Spacious Christianity, faith journey, diversity, sacred stories, radical love, memorial service, legacy, seventh generation principle, Mother’s Day, sustainable future, God’s creation, children’s welfare, environmental impact, community support, worship service., presbyterian, church, online worship, bend, oregon
Featuring:
Rev. Dr. Steven Koski, Rev. Sharon Edwards, Becca Ellis, Brave of Heart, Guests
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Whitney Higdon (00:40):
Welcome to worship At First Presbyterian
we, at First Presbyterian,practice a spacious
Christianity, which means nomatter where you are in your
faith journey, you belong andthere is space for you at the
table, there is space for yourdoubts and questions. We believe
doubts and questions are a giftthat invite us into deeper
conversations and a moreauthentic faith. We believe
(01:01):
diversity is a strength. Everystory is sacred and everybody
matters. We do our best to livethe spacious and radical love of
Jesus so that all might have achance to flourish in this
world. We are so glad to connectwith you in this way. We would
also love to worship with you inperson if you're ever in the
neighborhood on Sunday morningsat 830, or 10am and never
(01:23):
hesitate to reach out to us tolearn more about us or how we
might support You. I hope youenjoy this worship service.
Welcome.
Narrator (03:02):
We listen to how everything sings, the streams
(05:12):
and stones, leaves and branches,fish and fur covered once birds
leading the chorus. See how yourdesire to praise is echoed in
(05:35):
every living thing. How in quietmoments, the heart is moved to
gratitude for all of creation,for the lavish abundance of it
all, how nothing is earned, noachievements are needed. May you
(06:01):
simply show up with breath,blood and bones and your loving
attention to hymns eruptingeverywhere until you can no
longer tell where yours beginand nature's ends. You
Steven (06:55):
imagine beginning every day with the end in mind.
Imagine for a moment you'reattending your own memorial
service. Say you're 105 yearsold, and you're listening to
people talk about the impact ofyour life, the impact of your
life to those you love, theimpact of your life to to your
(07:17):
children, grandchildren, maybegreat grandchildren, the impact
of your life, to the community,to the most vulnerable and
marginalized in the world.
Imagine people talking about theimpact of the way you lived your
life on the planet, on God'sholy earth, deep down. What
would you most like to hearpeople say? I mean, not
(07:43):
necessarily what they'd saytoday, but ideally, what would
you love to hear people sayabout the the impact of of your
life and the way you cared forothers, the way you care for the
earth. Now ask yourself, are youliving your life today and the
(08:03):
way you want to be rememberedtomorrow? What do you want your
legacy to be? How will thedecisions you make today help
the children of tomorrowflourish? There's a beautiful
story in the Bible where whereJesus is teaching about a
(08:24):
different way of being in theworld. Mothers were sneaking
their children through thecrowd, hoping that Jesus would
heal and bless their children.
Now that the disciples thechildren were were a nuisance,
and they tried to shoo thechildren away so that Jesus
(08:44):
could continue talking about theserious business of building
God's kingdom here on earth. AndJesus says, and let the children
come to Me. Don't prevent thechildren from coming to me.
Don't allow anything to stand inthe way of the children coming
(09:06):
to me. God's kingdom belongs tochildren such as these, and then
Jesus places his hands on thechildren, blessing them, letting
them know their lives are aresacred and holy friends. That's
(09:27):
our job. That's our calling,that's that's our holy work as
Christ's hands, feet and andheart in the world, to heal and
bless the children to not allowanything to get in the way of of
God's children everywhere havinga chance to grow and flourish.
(09:54):
Will we be remembered for livingour lives in such a way that.
Giving the children of today andthe children of tomorrow a
chance to flourish. You know,whether we know it or not, the
choices we make today haveconsequences that that ripple
(10:19):
out for generations to come. TheIroquois are an indigenous tribe
that have gifted us with theseventh generation principle. A
seventh generation thinkingurges us to consider how, how
the decisions we make today willimpact future generations,
(10:42):
particularly those sevengenerations from now. The
Iroquois believe that we shouldnot simply make decisions for
ourselves, but every decision,every action, should benefit the
children who will inherit theearth after us, our land should
(11:06):
be how will this decision createa sustainable world and help the
children seven generations intothe future flourish? Chief
Seattle said, we don't inheritthe earth from our ancestors. We
are borrowing the Earth from ourchildren. I was pretty stressed
(11:32):
recently, and I went for a walkwith my dogs on the river trail,
and I sat on a rock listening tothe rhythms of the rushing
water. It really steadied myheartbeat. There was this just
beautiful stillness that calmedmy my anxious mind. I was
(11:54):
actually reminded of the of thewords of John O'Donoghue, who
wrote, When the mind isfestering with trouble or the
heart torn, we can find healingamong the silence of mountains
or fields or listen to thesimple, steady rhythm of waves.
(12:16):
The slowness and stillnessgradually takes us over our
breathing deepens our heartscall our hungers relent when
serenity is restored, he wrotenew perspectives open to us and
(12:36):
difficulty can Begin to seemlike an invitation to new
growth. Indeed, he said, thebeauty of nature is often the
wisest healing balm, for itgently relieves and releases the
caged mind sitting on that rockby the river I was filled with
(13:02):
such immense, immense gratitudefor the gift of that sacred
place, For the grace of God'sholy earth. And then I began to
think about extreme weather,about warmer than average
temperatures, earlier springs,record breaking heat in the
(13:25):
summer, raging wildfires,polluted rivers, rising sea
levels, wildlife migratingbecause they can't find food,
bees, Salmon, threatened treesand fields replaced by housing
developments and urban sprawl,and I began to wonder if the
(13:50):
children seven generations fromnow will get a chance to sit On
this rock by the river and behealed. What will we tell those
children seven generations fromnow? Will we tell them that,
(14:12):
that we knew things werechanging, but we did not think
of you? Do we tell them howbeautiful and healing the sacred
place was, and we're sorry it'sno longer there for you. Or do
we tell them? We stood up, wecried out, we protested, we
(14:36):
wrote laws, we passed laws, weprayed. We changed our behavior.
We started making decisions, notjust for ourselves and today,
but for you. We did all we couldto care for, preserve, protect
these God given resources foryou and. We did all we could to
(15:01):
help God's holy earth flourishso that you might have a chance
to flourish. Jesus said, Let thechildren be blessed and be
healed. Do not let anything getin the way of children having a
chance to grow up and flourish.
A pastor friend shared a storyof how she got water from the
(15:28):
river next to her church formore baptism, and just that
week, the local newspaper talkedabout how the river was
contaminated from toxins from anearby plant. So when she said
she was going to use water fromthe river and pour it on the
child's head for baptism, Imean, everybody was horrified.
(15:50):
Concern for the well being ofthe child was was justified.
What's interesting is not oneperson expressed any concern for
the rivers. Need for healing.
(16:10):
The baptism of the childcelebrates the gift of God's
love for the child. No onerecognized it was from God's
heart, God's love, God'sabundance, that they were graced
with the gift of that river, andthe life of the river was
(16:34):
threatened. The actions today ofputting toxins in that river not
only threaten the river butjeopardize the health and
flourishing of children todayand seven generations from now.
(16:56):
This weekend, we celebratingMother's Day. Mother's Day
actually started nearly 150years ago when Anna Jarvis, an
Appalachian mother, sheorganized a day to raise raise
awareness of children who weresuffering from poor health
conditions in her community. Shenoticed that children in her
(17:17):
community, they weren'tflourishing, and she believed,
rightly so, that mothers wouldget things done. So she called
the day mothers service day, andit became a yearly event
promoting the health andflourishing of children. Anna
(17:39):
Jarvis daughter launched acampaign asking politicians to
create a special day to honorthe selflessness, courage,
service of mothers. In 1914Woodrow Wilson signed a bill
recognizing Mother's Day as anational holiday. What a perfect
(18:03):
weekend to honor women devotedto the flourishing of children.
What a perfect weekend torecommit ourselves to the
flourishing of Mother Earth.
What a perfect weekend to thinkabout how our choices today have
consequences that ripple out,impacting the lives of children
(18:29):
for for generations to come.
What a perfect weekend to adoptthe spiritual practice of
seventh generation thinking,asking, How will my decisions
today create a sustainablefuture for the children seven
(18:54):
generations from now? You know,the common greeting of the
Maasai tribe in Africa iscasserian, cast casserian, I
think that's how it is.
Casserian, angry, or somethinglike that, which can be
translated. And how are thechildren? The Messiah? Before
(19:15):
talking about the weather, theirhealth, wealth, or any other
topic, they first ask oneanother about the welfare of the
children. They understand thatwe as a society are only well if
our children are well, how canour children possibly flourish
(19:43):
when the environment they livein is in peril? I mean, imagine
what might change if we greetedone other, if we greeted one
another and before we talkedabout the weather sport. Or
offered our opinion on politics,we actually asked one another,
how are the children? I mean,what might change if every
(20:11):
decision that was made byleaders was made through the
lens will this decision heal ourchildren's troubled spirits and
anxious minds? Will thisdecision move us closer to a
sustainable world, not just now,but seven generations from now
(20:38):
where our children and God'sholy earth flourish together.
You know, the most hopeful wordsin the Bible are actually the
very first words in Genesis. Onewe were taught that it says, In
the beginning, God created myprofessor who did a PhD in
(21:03):
Hebrew verbs, verbs, if you canimagine that, she said the
Hebrew, the original language,actually says something very
different. The original Hebrewsays In the beginning, God began
to create, and God continues tocreate. God's not finished with
(21:26):
us or the world, yet Godcontinues to create, restore,
renew, heal, creating a worldwhere God's children and God's
holy earth might flourishtogether, and we flourish when
we join God as partners in thatholy
(27:22):
Amen, Friends, how do you wantto be remembered? What is the
impact you desire your life tomake on others? The impact you
desire your life to make onGod's holy earth? Do you want to
be remembered as one who livedin a way that helped the
children of today and thechildren seven generations from
(27:44):
now flourish. Are you livingyour life today in the way you
want to be remembered tomorrow?
Go in the peace and the love ofChrist as God's partners in
continuing to create a worldwhere God's children and God's
holy earth might flourishtogether. Amen.
Whitney Higdon (28:16):
Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope
you enjoyed this worshipservice. If you would like to
make a donation helping makethese broadcasts possible or
support them many ways. First,Presbyterian seeks to serve our
community. You can make afinancial gift online at bend
fp.org, every week, we hear fromsomeone thanking us for the gift
(28:36):
of these broadcasts and what adifference they make. Your
support makes that possible. Ourchurch is committed to reach
beyond our walls, bringing hopewhere there is despair and love
where it is needed the most.
Your generous support helps usto be generous in love. Go to
our website, bend fp.org, andclick on the link. Give online.
Your support is reallyappreciated and makes a
(28:59):
difference in people's lives.
Thanks again. I hope to See younext week. You
Welcome to worship At First Presbyterian
we, at First Presbyterian,practice a spacious
Christianity, which means nomatter where you are in your
faith journey, you belong andthere is space for you at the
table, there is space for yourdoubts and questions. We believe
doubts and questions are a giftthat invite us into deeper
conversations and a moreauthentic faith. We believe
(01:01):
diversity is a strength. Everystory is sacred and everybody
matters. We do our best to livethe spacious and radical love of
Jesus so that all might have achance to flourish in this
world. We are so glad to connectwith you in this way. We would
also love to worship with you inperson if you're ever in the
neighborhood on Sunday morningsat 830, or 10am and never
(01:23):
hesitate to reach out to us tolearn more about us or how we
might support You. I hope youenjoy this worship service.
Welcome.
Narrator (03:02):
We listen to how everything sings, the streams
(05:12):
and stones, leaves and branches,fish and fur covered once birds
leading the chorus. See how yourdesire to praise is echoed in
(05:35):
every living thing. How in quietmoments, the heart is moved to
gratitude for all of creation,for the lavish abundance of it
all, how nothing is earned, noachievements are needed. May you
(06:01):
simply show up with breath,blood and bones and your loving
attention to hymns eruptingeverywhere until you can no
longer tell where yours beginand nature's ends. You
Steven (06:55):
imagine beginning every day with the end in mind.
Imagine for a moment you'reattending your own memorial
service. Say you're 105 yearsold, and you're listening to
people talk about the impact ofyour life, the impact of your
life to those you love, theimpact of your life to to your
(07:17):
children, grandchildren, maybegreat grandchildren, the impact
of your life, to the community,to the most vulnerable and
marginalized in the world.
Imagine people talking about theimpact of the way you lived your
life on the planet, on God'sholy earth, deep down. What
would you most like to hearpeople say? I mean, not
(07:43):
necessarily what they'd saytoday, but ideally, what would
you love to hear people sayabout the the impact of of your
life and the way you cared forothers, the way you care for the
earth. Now ask yourself, are youliving your life today and the
(08:03):
way you want to be rememberedtomorrow? What do you want your
legacy to be? How will thedecisions you make today help
the children of tomorrowflourish? There's a beautiful
story in the Bible where whereJesus is teaching about a
(08:24):
different way of being in theworld. Mothers were sneaking
their children through thecrowd, hoping that Jesus would
heal and bless their children.
Now that the disciples thechildren were were a nuisance,
and they tried to shoo thechildren away so that Jesus
(08:44):
could continue talking about theserious business of building
God's kingdom here on earth. AndJesus says, and let the children
come to Me. Don't prevent thechildren from coming to me.
Don't allow anything to stand inthe way of the children coming
(09:06):
to me. God's kingdom belongs tochildren such as these, and then
Jesus places his hands on thechildren, blessing them, letting
them know their lives are aresacred and holy friends. That's
(09:27):
our job. That's our calling,that's that's our holy work as
Christ's hands, feet and andheart in the world, to heal and
bless the children to not allowanything to get in the way of of
God's children everywhere havinga chance to grow and flourish.
(09:54):
Will we be remembered for livingour lives in such a way that.
Giving the children of today andthe children of tomorrow a
chance to flourish. You know,whether we know it or not, the
choices we make today haveconsequences that that ripple
(10:19):
out for generations to come. TheIroquois are an indigenous tribe
that have gifted us with theseventh generation principle. A
seventh generation thinkingurges us to consider how, how
the decisions we make today willimpact future generations,
(10:42):
particularly those sevengenerations from now. The
Iroquois believe that we shouldnot simply make decisions for
ourselves, but every decision,every action, should benefit the
children who will inherit theearth after us, our land should
(11:06):
be how will this decision createa sustainable world and help the
children seven generations intothe future flourish? Chief
Seattle said, we don't inheritthe earth from our ancestors. We
are borrowing the Earth from ourchildren. I was pretty stressed
(11:32):
recently, and I went for a walkwith my dogs on the river trail,
and I sat on a rock listening tothe rhythms of the rushing
water. It really steadied myheartbeat. There was this just
beautiful stillness that calmedmy my anxious mind. I was
(11:54):
actually reminded of the of thewords of John O'Donoghue, who
wrote, When the mind isfestering with trouble or the
heart torn, we can find healingamong the silence of mountains
or fields or listen to thesimple, steady rhythm of waves.
(12:16):
The slowness and stillnessgradually takes us over our
breathing deepens our heartscall our hungers relent when
serenity is restored, he wrotenew perspectives open to us and
(12:36):
difficulty can Begin to seemlike an invitation to new
growth. Indeed, he said, thebeauty of nature is often the
wisest healing balm, for itgently relieves and releases the
caged mind sitting on that rockby the river I was filled with
(13:02):
such immense, immense gratitudefor the gift of that sacred
place, For the grace of God'sholy earth. And then I began to
think about extreme weather,about warmer than average
temperatures, earlier springs,record breaking heat in the
(13:25):
summer, raging wildfires,polluted rivers, rising sea
levels, wildlife migratingbecause they can't find food,
bees, Salmon, threatened treesand fields replaced by housing
developments and urban sprawl,and I began to wonder if the
(13:50):
children seven generations fromnow will get a chance to sit On
this rock by the river and behealed. What will we tell those
children seven generations fromnow? Will we tell them that,
(14:12):
that we knew things werechanging, but we did not think
of you? Do we tell them howbeautiful and healing the sacred
place was, and we're sorry it'sno longer there for you. Or do
we tell them? We stood up, wecried out, we protested, we
(14:36):
wrote laws, we passed laws, weprayed. We changed our behavior.
We started making decisions, notjust for ourselves and today,
but for you. We did all we couldto care for, preserve, protect
these God given resources foryou and. We did all we could to
(15:01):
help God's holy earth flourishso that you might have a chance
to flourish. Jesus said, Let thechildren be blessed and be
healed. Do not let anything getin the way of children having a
chance to grow up and flourish.
A pastor friend shared a storyof how she got water from the
(15:28):
river next to her church formore baptism, and just that
week, the local newspaper talkedabout how the river was
contaminated from toxins from anearby plant. So when she said
she was going to use water fromthe river and pour it on the
child's head for baptism, Imean, everybody was horrified.
(15:50):
Concern for the well being ofthe child was was justified.
What's interesting is not oneperson expressed any concern for
the rivers. Need for healing.
(16:10):
The baptism of the childcelebrates the gift of God's
love for the child. No onerecognized it was from God's
heart, God's love, God'sabundance, that they were graced
with the gift of that river, andthe life of the river was
(16:34):
threatened. The actions today ofputting toxins in that river not
only threaten the river butjeopardize the health and
flourishing of children todayand seven generations from now.
(16:56):
This weekend, we celebratingMother's Day. Mother's Day
actually started nearly 150years ago when Anna Jarvis, an
Appalachian mother, sheorganized a day to raise raise
awareness of children who weresuffering from poor health
conditions in her community. Shenoticed that children in her
(17:17):
community, they weren'tflourishing, and she believed,
rightly so, that mothers wouldget things done. So she called
the day mothers service day, andit became a yearly event
promoting the health andflourishing of children. Anna
(17:39):
Jarvis daughter launched acampaign asking politicians to
create a special day to honorthe selflessness, courage,
service of mothers. In 1914Woodrow Wilson signed a bill
recognizing Mother's Day as anational holiday. What a perfect
(18:03):
weekend to honor women devotedto the flourishing of children.
What a perfect weekend torecommit ourselves to the
flourishing of Mother Earth.
What a perfect weekend to thinkabout how our choices today have
consequences that ripple out,impacting the lives of children
(18:29):
for for generations to come.
What a perfect weekend to adoptthe spiritual practice of
seventh generation thinking,asking, How will my decisions
today create a sustainablefuture for the children seven
(18:54):
generations from now? You know,the common greeting of the
Maasai tribe in Africa iscasserian, cast casserian, I
think that's how it is.
Casserian, angry, or somethinglike that, which can be
translated. And how are thechildren? The Messiah? Before
(19:15):
talking about the weather, theirhealth, wealth, or any other
topic, they first ask oneanother about the welfare of the
children. They understand thatwe as a society are only well if
our children are well, how canour children possibly flourish
(19:43):
when the environment they livein is in peril? I mean, imagine
what might change if we greetedone other, if we greeted one
another and before we talkedabout the weather sport. Or
offered our opinion on politics,we actually asked one another,
how are the children? I mean,what might change if every
(20:11):
decision that was made byleaders was made through the
lens will this decision heal ourchildren's troubled spirits and
anxious minds? Will thisdecision move us closer to a
sustainable world, not just now,but seven generations from now
(20:38):
where our children and God'sholy earth flourish together.
You know, the most hopeful wordsin the Bible are actually the
very first words in Genesis. Onewe were taught that it says, In
the beginning, God created myprofessor who did a PhD in
(21:03):
Hebrew verbs, verbs, if you canimagine that, she said the
Hebrew, the original language,actually says something very
different. The original Hebrewsays In the beginning, God began
to create, and God continues tocreate. God's not finished with
(21:26):
us or the world, yet Godcontinues to create, restore,
renew, heal, creating a worldwhere God's children and God's
holy earth might flourishtogether, and we flourish when
we join God as partners in thatholy
(27:22):
Amen, Friends, how do you wantto be remembered? What is the
impact you desire your life tomake on others? The impact you
desire your life to make onGod's holy earth? Do you want to
be remembered as one who livedin a way that helped the
children of today and thechildren seven generations from
(27:44):
now flourish. Are you livingyour life today in the way you
want to be remembered tomorrow?
Go in the peace and the love ofChrist as God's partners in
continuing to create a worldwhere God's children and God's
holy earth might flourishtogether. Amen.
Whitney Higdon (28:16):
Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope
you enjoyed this worshipservice. If you would like to
make a donation helping makethese broadcasts possible or
support them many ways. First,Presbyterian seeks to serve our
community. You can make afinancial gift online at bend
fp.org, every week, we hear fromsomeone thanking us for the gift
(28:36):
of these broadcasts and what adifference they make. Your
support makes that possible. Ourchurch is committed to reach
beyond our walls, bringing hopewhere there is despair and love
where it is needed the most.
Your generous support helps usto be generous in love. Go to
our website, bend fp.org, andclick on the link. Give online.
Your support is reallyappreciated and makes a
(28:59):
difference in people's lives.
Thanks again. I hope to See younext week. You
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