March 9, 2025 • 30 mins
Terrible and Beautiful, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: Finding Hope in Hard Places A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: Luke 4.1-2.
Feeling stuck? Wondering if there’s more to life? Join us this Sunday as we explore Lent – a journey of renewal, letting go, and rediscovering your true self. Whether online or in-person, come as you are and let’s dive into a message of hope and transformation.
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:
Lent, reflection, renewal, Easter, spiritual work, resurrection, wilderness, Holy Spirit, addiction, pacifiers, inner spring cleaning, silence, technology, purpose, freedom., presbyterian, church, online worship, bend, oregon
Featuring:
Rev. Dr. Steven Koski, Becca Ellis, Brave of Heart, Guests
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:20):
Music.
Whitney Higdon (00:37):
Welcome to worship at First Presbyterian we
at first, Presbyterian practicea spacious Christianity, which
means, no matter where you arein your faith journey, you
belong, and there is space foryou at the table, there is space
for your doubts and questions.
We believe doubts and questionsare a gift that invite us into
deeper conversations and a moreauthentic faith. We believe
diversity is a strength. Everystory is sacred and everybody
(01:01):
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
hesitate to reach out to us tolearn more about us or how we
(01:22):
might support You. I hope youenjoy this worship service.
Welcome you.
Steven (03:26):
still. You. Life is heartbreaking. The challenge is
(05:18):
to face life's heartbreakswithout becoming broken. The
challenge is to face the hardthings in life without hardening
our hearts. Here's a blessingand a prayer from Kate bowler
for keeping our hearts soft wheneverything is broken. Blessed
are you who see it all now, thebeautiful, terrible truth that
(05:45):
our world, our lives, seemirreparably broken and you can't
unsee it, the intractableproblems, the person who wonders
if any of this is worth it, all,the loneliness and despair and
fear, Blessed are you whoglimpse reality and don't turn
(06:11):
away? This kind of scene comesat a steep cost, and it's a cost
that you may not have paidintentionally, but here you are
seeing things clearly. Blessedare you who have worked hard to
(06:35):
keep your heart soft? You wholive with courage, fixing what
is within your reach, prayingabout what is not, and loving
Still, despite difference,despite despair, despite all the
(06:55):
reasons to shut it down. May youexperience deeper capacity and
glimpses of hope as you continueto see the world as it is,
terrible, beautiful, fragile,amen,
(10:18):
This weekend begins the journeyof Lent, a season of reflection
and renewal, preparing us toexperience the joy of Easter.
When you wake up on April 20,Easter morning, how will you be
different? Will yourrelationship with God be
stronger? Will you have morepeace? Will you have a greater
(10:39):
capacity to love others, arenewed sense of purpose. Will
you have found the courage toshow up in the world, standing
up for what is right and justand good, and what are your
plans over the next 40 daysduring the season of Lent, to
(10:59):
prepare for that. What needs todie so that on Easter you
experience the resurrection ofsomething new. What's the
spiritual work that you need todo? So that God can do? What God
does? I know some of you mightbe wondering, well, what the
(11:20):
heck is lent anyway? It's notsomething you find in your belly
button or the dryer. That'sthat's Lent. Lent is something
else you actually won't findlent in the Bible. So I thought
I'd begin the season of Lent,helping us understand why we
need a season of Lent. Theearliest followers of Jesus
(11:44):
actually expected Jesus toreturn imminently, and when he
didn't, they stopped expectingmuch from God or themselves.
Barbara brown Taylor said theythey hung a cross on the wall,
and little by little, Christiansbecame devoted to their own
comfort, instead of their cause.
They began to rely on themselvesinstead of God. They decided
(12:08):
there was there was nocontradiction between being
comfortable and being Christian.
And before long, you couldn'tpick them out from the
population at large, they nolonger distinguish themselves
for for their bold love of oneanother, their their bold love
(12:31):
for the marginalized andexcluded. They were no longer
getting arrested for championingthe poor. They blended in. Jesus
had told them, You are light forall the world. But their light
dimmed. They settled for smalllives. They decided to be nice
(12:56):
instead of holy and Barbarabrown Taylor says God moaned out
loud, and someone suggested it'stime to call Christians back to
their senses, and the Bibleoffered some clues about how to
do that. I mean, Israel spent 40years in the wilderness learning
(13:17):
to learning to trust God. Elijahspent 40 days in the wilderness
before hearing the still smallvoice of God. Moses spent 40
days listening to God give thelaw. And then there's the story
of Jesus, who spent 40 days inthe wilderness being tempted to
(13:38):
rely on himself instead of God.
So there must be something tothis, this 40 days thing. So in
the fifth century, the churchcreated the season of Lent as
kind of a pilgrimage of thesoul. Now the word Lent means
spring to to spring forth. Nowwe have a tendency to clean our
(14:06):
house in the spring from thedust and the clutter that
accumulates over the winter. Weopen the windows and let the
fresh air in the churchrecognized the need for a
spiritual cleansing, andsuggested 40 days to cleanse the
system, to face those thingsthat really no longer serve us,
(14:31):
to face those things that thatdim the light within us so Lent
is the season to tell the truthabout our lives. Now. The hope
of the season is to get someclarity about about who we
really are, what life is, isreally about, and and where we
(14:54):
might be settling for. Less thanwhat God intends for us. The
season of Lent begins with astory from Luke's Gospel, where
Jesus spends 40 days in thewilderness tempted by the devil.
Now in the time of Jesus, thedevil actually wasn't the
(15:16):
embodiment of evil. The devilwas a literary device who played
the role of the deceiver. Now weall have our demons that we
wrestle with. You know, thosedemons that tempt us to betray
our better selves? I want tofocus on how the story begins.
(15:40):
It's kind of strange. It saysJesus full of the Holy Spirit. I
mean, he had just been baptized,returned from the River Jordan,
and was led by the Spirit intothe wilderness, where for 40
days he was tested by the devil.
(16:04):
Now it's kind of troubling tothink that the spirit would lead
Jesus into the wilderness. Imean, we often think of God's
Spirit as gentle, calming,reassuring, you know, the
Comforter, yet sometimes thespirit discomforts, shakes
things up, rearranges, thespiritual furniture, confronts
(16:28):
us with those things that wewould rather not face. I mean,
left to myself. I actuallyprefer to stay in my comfort
zones. I like to deceive myself,to see myself into thinking,
Yeah, I'm in control. I'd reallyprefer not to be led into the
wilderness to face those hardtruths. Could it possibly be the
(16:55):
spirit, the nudge of the spirit,that wants to push us out of our
comfort zones. Could it be thatit's the spirit that nudges us
into the wilderness ofadmitting, you know, we really
can't do life on our own, and weneed help. Could it possibly be
(17:19):
the spirit that encourages us tobe, to be honest, to be honest
about those habits and behaviorsthat really don't serve our best
selves. Might the spirit be thatrestless feeling we try to
ignore, trying to tell us thatthat we're settling for lives
(17:44):
that are not big enough for oursouls. Barbara brown Taylor says
the wilderness. The wildernessis that place where we're forced
to face life without our usualpacifiers. You know, the
pacifiers that we that we use tonumb our discomfort, to numb our
(18:05):
pain. I'm convinced that 99% ofus, if not 100% of us, are are
addicted to something, maybepainkillers, alcohol, or maybe
it's food shopping. Maybe it'sbeing right busyness, the need
(18:26):
to be in control Facebook or oursmartphones. Maybe it's blaming
others or the need to take careof others. The simplest
definition of an addiction isanything that we use to fill the
empty place inside of us thatbelongs to God alone, that
(18:53):
hollowness we sometimes feel isnot necessarily a sign of
something gone wrong. It's theholy of holies inside of us, the
uncluttered throne room reservedfor God's grace. Nothing on
earth can fill it. But thatdoesn't stop us from trying.
(19:19):
Whenever we feel we're startingto feel too empty inside,
scared, uncomfortable, we stickour pacifiers into our mouths
and suck for all that we'reworth. But pacifiers do not save
us or nourish us, but at leastthey plug the hole for a time,
(19:43):
to allow the Spirit to lead usinto the wilderness, is to be
willing to set aside our usualpacifiers to get some clarity
about who we really are, whatour. Lives are really about, you
(20:04):
know, I know people who arechoosing to shut off all apps on
their smartphones for Lent andonly use their phones for
essential calls.
Can you imagine? Do you rememberwhen red lights, red stop
lights, actually would give youa moment to sit and to think and
to breathe, not anymore, notwith your cell phone right there
(20:28):
in your lap begging you to checksocial media. Imagine if you
dared to sit in silence for 20minutes every day, during Lent
without noise, withoutdistractions. Silence is God's
first language. You might besurprised what you hear. Now, I
(20:51):
know people who are choosing togive up watching television or
give up chocolate or eatingwhile they're standing up. You
know, of course, none of thesethings would impress people who
spend their whole lives tryingto figure out where their next
meal is going to come from. Butin a culture of plenty and
excess, I'm actually reallyimpressed with anyone who
(21:13):
decides to try to make itwithout anesthesia, to give up
whatever technology, whateverhabits, whatever substances they
use to keep themselves fromfeeling what they've been trying
to avoid feeling. Now, I've saidpreviously and repeatedly that
(21:35):
we're living in a time when it'sabsolutely vital to stay
tethered to our very best self,the very best in us. This means
the kind of inner springcleaning that will cleanse us
from all that is false, andcleanse us from all of those
(21:57):
things that that don't serve us,that don't serve our true self.
If you are willing to let theSpirit lead you into the
wilderness during this season ofLent, I encourage you to try two
things. Choose to give up onething for Lent, choose to give
(22:21):
up that one thing that issucking the life out of you so
that you might be filled withGod, with life, with love, with
joy again, and only You knowwhat that one thing is. And
secondly, choose to takesomething on for Lent. Take
(22:46):
something on that will be, thatwill be life. Giving something
on that might, might reawakenyour heart and your soul and and
your sense of purpose in life.
We have 40 days in front of usto find out what life is like
without our usual pacifiers, andmaybe even learn what led us to
(23:08):
use them in the first place 40days, to lose our appetite for
those things that Don't reallyserve us and can't save us, and
here's the thing, we can counton, the spirit that leads us
into the wilderness will alsolead us out again, renewed,
(23:31):
restored, raised to new life. Itwon't be easy, it might even be
kind of terrible, but we justmight wake up on Easter morning
with a sense of freedom and Joywe didn't think possible. May it
(23:53):
be so youFriends as we begin the journey
(27:45):
of Lent together, what is thespiritual work that you need to
do to allow God to do? What Goddoes? I really encourage you to
give up, to give up or to fastfrom from one thing, one thing
that sucks the life out of you,the one thing that you know
doesn't serve your best self.
(28:08):
And I also encourage you tochoose or take on or add one
thing that just might reawaken asense of joy and purpose. Please
send me an email. Let me knowwhat you choose. Let me know how
I can best pray for you duringthis season of Lent. Skosky at
bend fp.org, go into peace andthe love of Christ, and May the
(28:36):
love that you bring into thisworld bring peace to others, may
it be so.
Whitney Higdon (28:44):
Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope
you enjoyed this worshipservice. If you would like to
make a donation helping makethese podcasts 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
(29:05):
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
(29:28):
difference in people's lives.
Thanks again. I hope to see younext week. You
Music.
Whitney Higdon (00:37):
Welcome to worship at First Presbyterian we
at first, Presbyterian practicea spacious Christianity, which
means, no matter where you arein your faith journey, you
belong, and there is space foryou at the table, there is space
for your doubts and questions.
We believe doubts and questionsare a gift that invite us into
deeper conversations and a moreauthentic faith. We believe
diversity is a strength. Everystory is sacred and everybody
(01:01):
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
hesitate to reach out to us tolearn more about us or how we
(01:22):
might support You. I hope youenjoy this worship service.
Welcome you.
Steven (03:26):
still. You. Life is heartbreaking. The challenge is
(05:18):
to face life's heartbreakswithout becoming broken. The
challenge is to face the hardthings in life without hardening
our hearts. Here's a blessingand a prayer from Kate bowler
for keeping our hearts soft wheneverything is broken. Blessed
are you who see it all now, thebeautiful, terrible truth that
(05:45):
our world, our lives, seemirreparably broken and you can't
unsee it, the intractableproblems, the person who wonders
if any of this is worth it, all,the loneliness and despair and
fear, Blessed are you whoglimpse reality and don't turn
(06:11):
away? This kind of scene comesat a steep cost, and it's a cost
that you may not have paidintentionally, but here you are
seeing things clearly. Blessedare you who have worked hard to
(06:35):
keep your heart soft? You wholive with courage, fixing what
is within your reach, prayingabout what is not, and loving
Still, despite difference,despite despair, despite all the
(06:55):
reasons to shut it down. May youexperience deeper capacity and
glimpses of hope as you continueto see the world as it is,
terrible, beautiful, fragile,amen,
(10:18):
This weekend begins the journeyof Lent, a season of reflection
and renewal, preparing us toexperience the joy of Easter.
When you wake up on April 20,Easter morning, how will you be
different? Will yourrelationship with God be
stronger? Will you have morepeace? Will you have a greater
(10:39):
capacity to love others, arenewed sense of purpose. Will
you have found the courage toshow up in the world, standing
up for what is right and justand good, and what are your
plans over the next 40 daysduring the season of Lent, to
(10:59):
prepare for that. What needs todie so that on Easter you
experience the resurrection ofsomething new. What's the
spiritual work that you need todo? So that God can do? What God
does? I know some of you mightbe wondering, well, what the
(11:20):
heck is lent anyway? It's notsomething you find in your belly
button or the dryer. That'sthat's Lent. Lent is something
else you actually won't findlent in the Bible. So I thought
I'd begin the season of Lent,helping us understand why we
need a season of Lent. Theearliest followers of Jesus
(11:44):
actually expected Jesus toreturn imminently, and when he
didn't, they stopped expectingmuch from God or themselves.
Barbara brown Taylor said theythey hung a cross on the wall,
and little by little, Christiansbecame devoted to their own
comfort, instead of their cause.
They began to rely on themselvesinstead of God. They decided
(12:08):
there was there was nocontradiction between being
comfortable and being Christian.
And before long, you couldn'tpick them out from the
population at large, they nolonger distinguish themselves
for for their bold love of oneanother, their their bold love
(12:31):
for the marginalized andexcluded. They were no longer
getting arrested for championingthe poor. They blended in. Jesus
had told them, You are light forall the world. But their light
dimmed. They settled for smalllives. They decided to be nice
(12:56):
instead of holy and Barbarabrown Taylor says God moaned out
loud, and someone suggested it'stime to call Christians back to
their senses, and the Bibleoffered some clues about how to
do that. I mean, Israel spent 40years in the wilderness learning
(13:17):
to learning to trust God. Elijahspent 40 days in the wilderness
before hearing the still smallvoice of God. Moses spent 40
days listening to God give thelaw. And then there's the story
of Jesus, who spent 40 days inthe wilderness being tempted to
(13:38):
rely on himself instead of God.
So there must be something tothis, this 40 days thing. So in
the fifth century, the churchcreated the season of Lent as
kind of a pilgrimage of thesoul. Now the word Lent means
spring to to spring forth. Nowwe have a tendency to clean our
(14:06):
house in the spring from thedust and the clutter that
accumulates over the winter. Weopen the windows and let the
fresh air in the churchrecognized the need for a
spiritual cleansing, andsuggested 40 days to cleanse the
system, to face those thingsthat really no longer serve us,
(14:31):
to face those things that thatdim the light within us so Lent
is the season to tell the truthabout our lives. Now. The hope
of the season is to get someclarity about about who we
really are, what life is, isreally about, and and where we
(14:54):
might be settling for. Less thanwhat God intends for us. The
season of Lent begins with astory from Luke's Gospel, where
Jesus spends 40 days in thewilderness tempted by the devil.
Now in the time of Jesus, thedevil actually wasn't the
(15:16):
embodiment of evil. The devilwas a literary device who played
the role of the deceiver. Now weall have our demons that we
wrestle with. You know, thosedemons that tempt us to betray
our better selves? I want tofocus on how the story begins.
(15:40):
It's kind of strange. It saysJesus full of the Holy Spirit. I
mean, he had just been baptized,returned from the River Jordan,
and was led by the Spirit intothe wilderness, where for 40
days he was tested by the devil.
(16:04):
Now it's kind of troubling tothink that the spirit would lead
Jesus into the wilderness. Imean, we often think of God's
Spirit as gentle, calming,reassuring, you know, the
Comforter, yet sometimes thespirit discomforts, shakes
things up, rearranges, thespiritual furniture, confronts
(16:28):
us with those things that wewould rather not face. I mean,
left to myself. I actuallyprefer to stay in my comfort
zones. I like to deceive myself,to see myself into thinking,
Yeah, I'm in control. I'd reallyprefer not to be led into the
wilderness to face those hardtruths. Could it possibly be the
(16:55):
spirit, the nudge of the spirit,that wants to push us out of our
comfort zones. Could it be thatit's the spirit that nudges us
into the wilderness ofadmitting, you know, we really
can't do life on our own, and weneed help. Could it possibly be
(17:19):
the spirit that encourages us tobe, to be honest, to be honest
about those habits and behaviorsthat really don't serve our best
selves. Might the spirit be thatrestless feeling we try to
ignore, trying to tell us thatthat we're settling for lives
(17:44):
that are not big enough for oursouls. Barbara brown Taylor says
the wilderness. The wildernessis that place where we're forced
to face life without our usualpacifiers. You know, the
pacifiers that we that we use tonumb our discomfort, to numb our
(18:05):
pain. I'm convinced that 99% ofus, if not 100% of us, are are
addicted to something, maybepainkillers, alcohol, or maybe
it's food shopping. Maybe it'sbeing right busyness, the need
(18:26):
to be in control Facebook or oursmartphones. Maybe it's blaming
others or the need to take careof others. The simplest
definition of an addiction isanything that we use to fill the
empty place inside of us thatbelongs to God alone, that
(18:53):
hollowness we sometimes feel isnot necessarily a sign of
something gone wrong. It's theholy of holies inside of us, the
uncluttered throne room reservedfor God's grace. Nothing on
earth can fill it. But thatdoesn't stop us from trying.
(19:19):
Whenever we feel we're startingto feel too empty inside,
scared, uncomfortable, we stickour pacifiers into our mouths
and suck for all that we'reworth. But pacifiers do not save
us or nourish us, but at leastthey plug the hole for a time,
(19:43):
to allow the Spirit to lead usinto the wilderness, is to be
willing to set aside our usualpacifiers to get some clarity
about who we really are, whatour. Lives are really about, you
(20:04):
know, I know people who arechoosing to shut off all apps on
their smartphones for Lent andonly use their phones for
essential calls.
Can you imagine? Do you rememberwhen red lights, red stop
lights, actually would give youa moment to sit and to think and
to breathe, not anymore, notwith your cell phone right there
(20:28):
in your lap begging you to checksocial media. Imagine if you
dared to sit in silence for 20minutes every day, during Lent
without noise, withoutdistractions. Silence is God's
first language. You might besurprised what you hear. Now, I
(20:51):
know people who are choosing togive up watching television or
give up chocolate or eatingwhile they're standing up. You
know, of course, none of thesethings would impress people who
spend their whole lives tryingto figure out where their next
meal is going to come from. Butin a culture of plenty and
excess, I'm actually reallyimpressed with anyone who
(21:13):
decides to try to make itwithout anesthesia, to give up
whatever technology, whateverhabits, whatever substances they
use to keep themselves fromfeeling what they've been trying
to avoid feeling. Now, I've saidpreviously and repeatedly that
(21:35):
we're living in a time when it'sabsolutely vital to stay
tethered to our very best self,the very best in us. This means
the kind of inner springcleaning that will cleanse us
from all that is false, andcleanse us from all of those
(21:57):
things that that don't serve us,that don't serve our true self.
If you are willing to let theSpirit lead you into the
wilderness during this season ofLent, I encourage you to try two
things. Choose to give up onething for Lent, choose to give
(22:21):
up that one thing that issucking the life out of you so
that you might be filled withGod, with life, with love, with
joy again, and only You knowwhat that one thing is. And
secondly, choose to takesomething on for Lent. Take
(22:46):
something on that will be, thatwill be life. Giving something
on that might, might reawakenyour heart and your soul and and
your sense of purpose in life.
We have 40 days in front of usto find out what life is like
without our usual pacifiers, andmaybe even learn what led us to
(23:08):
use them in the first place 40days, to lose our appetite for
those things that Don't reallyserve us and can't save us, and
here's the thing, we can counton, the spirit that leads us
into the wilderness will alsolead us out again, renewed,
(23:31):
restored, raised to new life. Itwon't be easy, it might even be
kind of terrible, but we justmight wake up on Easter morning
with a sense of freedom and Joywe didn't think possible. May it
(23:53):
be so youFriends as we begin the journey
(27:45):
of Lent together, what is thespiritual work that you need to
do to allow God to do? What Goddoes? I really encourage you to
give up, to give up or to fastfrom from one thing, one thing
that sucks the life out of you,the one thing that you know
doesn't serve your best self.
(28:08):
And I also encourage you tochoose or take on or add one
thing that just might reawaken asense of joy and purpose. Please
send me an email. Let me knowwhat you choose. Let me know how
I can best pray for you duringthis season of Lent. Skosky at
bend fp.org, go into peace andthe love of Christ, and May the
(28:36):
love that you bring into thisworld bring peace to others, may
it be so.
Whitney Higdon (28:44):
Thank you so much for joining us, and we hope
you enjoyed this worshipservice. If you would like to
make a donation helping makethese podcasts 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
(29:05):
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
(29:28):
difference in people's lives.
Thanks again. I hope to see younext week. You
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