August 31, 2025 • 30 mins
The One Who Watches and Waits, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: Beloved. Belonging. Delightful. A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: Luke 15.
Wondering if you’re truly loved? This Sunday, hear a powerful message about a God who never stops hoping for you. Whether you’ve wandered far or feel stuck, you belong. Join us online or in-person
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.
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Keywords:
father, younger son, son, jesus, sons, god, spacious, image, home, story, servants, theology, love, begins, squandered, called, parables, imagine, people, world, 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 (00:00):
You you. Welcome to worship at
(00:41):
First Presbyterian we, at FirstPresbyterian, practice a
spacious Christianity, whichmeans no matter where you are in
your faith journey, you belongspace for you at the table,
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
(01:04):
matters. We doin this world. We are so glad to
connect with you in thisworship with you in person if
you're ever in the neighborhoodon Sunday mornings at 830, or
10am and never hesitate to reachenjoy this worship service.
(01:29):
Welcome.
Unknown (01:45):
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all
the works thy hands have made, Isee the stars, I hear the
rolling thunder Thy powerthroughout the universe display
Music (02:18):
when through the wounds and forest glades I wander and
hear the birds sing sweetly whenI look down from lofty mountain
(02:38):
grandeur and see the blue andfeel the gentles. Then sings, my
soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,How Great Thou Art, How great
(03:02):
thou Art. Then sings my soul, mySavior God, to Thee, How great
thouArt. When Christ shall come, we
shall shout of acclamation andlead me home with joy should
(03:26):
fill my heart, then I shall gowith humble adoration and then
proclaim My God, How great thouArt. Then sings my soul, my
(03:47):
Savior God, to Thee, How GreatThou Art, How great thou Art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior,God, to Thee.
Unknown (04:20):
How great God.
(04:47):
I rest in you, O God, I am inyour safe keeping body and soul
held in peace. I. My heart criesout to you, My God, all that
upsets me. You see all thatdisturbs me. You understand only
(05:14):
here in your presence, am Ifully known. I am wrapped in
grace. I rest in you, O God, Iam in your safe, keeping body
and soul held in peace. I try torelax, but anger rattles me. I
(05:44):
try to relax, but my feelingsniggle at me.
Be still, be silent. Put yourtrust in the Lord. I rest in
you, O God, I am in your safekeeping body and soul held in
(06:10):
peace in the stillness the lightof your face shines. My heart
turns to thankfulness and isglad I have more than enough.
You, Lord, are more than enough.
I lie down to sleep, safe andsound. I rest in you, O God, I
(06:39):
am in your safe, keeping bodyand soul held in peace.
Be still and rest. You are heldin peace. You
Steven (07:24):
I was summoned to the principal's office in fifth
grade for bullying anotherstudent. You know, I was kind of
a people pleaser, and ratherthan stand up for what I knew
was wrong, stand up for the onebeing bullied, I went along with
the crowd and participated inteasing this student on my way
to the principal's office, my myshoulders were slumped, wearing
(07:45):
this, this heavy, heavy coat ofguilt and shame. You know, I saw
the principal as the greatenforcer who was to be feared,
and it was about to cast me intothe pit of eternal disapproval.
I was shocked to experience avery different principle than
the one I expected. The pictureI had in my mind. He said to me,
(08:08):
I remember it so vividly. Hesaid, Steven, you're so much
better than this behavior. Thisbehavior does not does not
reflect who you really are. Thisis not your best self. Don't
listen to peer pressure. Listento that voice inside that will
(08:30):
always call you to somethingbetter. Wow. I mean, I was
shocked. I feared the principle,and I thought, I really thought
I was going to be sentenced toperpetual guilt and shame. It
turned out I was being summonedto a larger and more loving life
(08:56):
reflecting who I really am. Am,if your theology, if your
theology sentences you to guiltand shame, and if your theology
doesn't summon you to a largerand more loving life reflective
(09:18):
of who you really are, it's timeto change your theology. If your
image of God shrinks your spiritbinds you in fear, it's time for
a new image of God. What is yourimage of God. You know, we don't
(09:42):
often think about this, but I'dlike you to think about that,
because the image or the notionof God we hold profoundly
influences whether we know it ornot, influences how we see
ourselves and how we relate toothers in the world. You know,
when people tell me, and theytell me this a lot, they just
(10:03):
tell me, you know, I don'tbelieve in God. I always say,
tell me about the God you don'tbelieve in, because the chances
are I don't believe in that Godeither. I profoundly believe the
purpose of Jesus's life was notto change an angry and
(10:27):
judgmental God's mind about ussinful and unworthy humans. I
profoundly believe the purposeof Jesus' life was to change our
mind about God, to change theimage we hold of God, to
(10:49):
introduce to us a God ofspacious, radical, unconditional
love, knowing this would thenchange how we understand
ourselves and how we loveothers. Jesus said there was a
(11:11):
man who had two sons, theyounger one said to his father,
Father, give me my share of theestate. So he divided his
property between them. Not longafter that, the younger son,
said Son, the younger son setoff for a distant country, and
(11:31):
there he he squandered hiswealth in wild living after he
had spent everything, there wasa severe famine in the whole
country, and he began to be inneed. So he went and hired
himself out to a citizen of thatcountry who sent him to his
(11:52):
fields. A Jewish man here senthim to his fields to feed pigs.
He longed to fill his stomachwith the pods that the pigs were
eating, but no one gave himanything. When he came to his
senses, he said, How many of myfather's hired servants have
(12:16):
food to spare? And here, here Iam starving to death. I will go
back to my father and say tohim, Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you,and I am no longer worthy to be
called your son. Make me likeone of your hired servants. So
he got up and went to hisfather, but while he was still a
(12:41):
long way off, his father saw himand was filled with compassion
for me. He ran to his son. Hethrew his arms around him,
kissed him, and said, Welcomehome. The son said, Father, I
have sinned against heaven andagainst you. I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.
But the father said to hisservants, quick, quick, quick,
(13:01):
Bring the best robe. Put it onhim. Put a ring on his finger,
sandals on his feet, bring thefatted calf. Let's have a feast
and celebrate. For the son ofmine was dead and is alive
again. He was lost and is found.
So they began to celebrate.
Meanwhile, the older brother,the older brother was in the
(13:27):
field. When he came near thehouse, he heard music and
dancing. He called one of theservants and asked, what's going
on? Your brother has come home?
The servant replied, and yourfather has killed the fatted
calf because he has him backsafe and sound. The older
brother became angry, refused togo in. His father went out and
(13:54):
pleaded with him, but heanswered his father. Look, look,
all these years I've beenslaving for you and never, never
disobeyed your orders, yet younever gave me even a young goat
so I could celebrate with myfriends. But when this son of
(14:16):
yours, who has squandered yourproperty with prostitutes, comes
home. You kill the fatted calffor him, my son, the father
said, My son, you are alwayswith me, and everything I have
(14:41):
is yours. We had to celebrateand be glad because this brother
of yours was dead and is alive.
He was lost and is found. Yeah,okay, so there's a father with
two sons. The younger son says,give me my share of the estate
(15:08):
now, now in the patriarchalfirst century, where respect for
elders, especially the father,was was everything this son
could not have said anythingmore offensive to those who were
listening to Jesus. The youngerson wandered away, squandered it
all, and eventually realizesthat even his father's servants
(15:37):
have it better than he does. Sohe decides to return home. You
know, I can imagine his youngerson. I can imagine him
rehearsing his apology along theway, hoping to at least, at
least be treated as one of hisfather's servants. Notice he has
no expectations of restoration.
(16:01):
If I could just be one of theservants. And the father sees
him in the distance, becausefrom sunrise to sunset, he has
never stopped waiting, neverstopped looking, never stopped
hoping for the day when his sonwould return home and putting
all dignity aside and like afool, hiking up his robe, his
(16:23):
father just races down the roadto greet his son, and before his
son could even open his mouth toapologize, the apology he had
been rehearsing, asking forforgiveness, the father throws
his arms around him and says,Welcome home. The father doesn't
(16:44):
say like I probably say, I toldyou so, prove to me you're
sorry. Tell me why I shouldforgive you. Assure me that
you've changed and that you'reworthy of my forgiveness, that
you've learned your lessons andyou'll never leave again. Note.
(17:08):
There is nothing in the father'sresponse that leads to guilt or
shame. The son actually tries totell his father that he's not
worthy. I'm not worthy to beyour son. But the father isn't
even listening,calling for the best robe, the
ring sandals, all signs of theson's worth and belonging,
(17:30):
saying, let's celebrate my son,who is lost is now found. Now
the older brother is less thanpleased and says, I love this. I
can I can hear, I can hear theresentment that son of yours,
not my brother, but withdisgust, that son of yours has
(17:53):
squandered all your money andyou give him a feast, he's not
deserving of your love, and hereI am. The older son feels
separated from his fatherbecause of his good deeds. The
(18:13):
younger son leaves home and heassumes his selfish behavior has
separated him and made himunworthy of His Father's love.
The older son stays home andassumes his good deeds, his good
(18:37):
deeds should should earn hisfather's favor, favor, but he
never experiences the joy of HisFather's love. Both sons, like
so many of us, both sons, holdan image of their father as
(18:58):
judging, keeping score, keepingtrack, and you either have
points deducted or you havepoints added. Both sons assume
the Father's love is determinedand dependent by their actions,
(19:20):
good or bad, and Jesus. Jesusturns this idea completely
upside down. The father runs togreet his younger son, and
before he even opens his mouthto apologize, embraces and
(19:40):
kisses him, essentially sayingto him, Welcome home, but know
that in my heart, you never leftyou. You were always, have
always been, will always behome. Me in my love. You can
never be separated from my love.
(20:07):
Now to the older son who said tohis father, you never gave me a
party, the father says, you arealways with me, and I am always
with you. Everything Iinterested in centering prayer,
(20:31):
that's probably the definitionof centering prayer, right there
is understanding that sentencethat just may be my favorite
verse in the entire Bible, theone verse that changes
absolutely everythingwith you. Everything I have is
(20:56):
yours. At the heart of thisstory is the unbelievable good
news that that both sons alreadybelong in God's love, what they
are both desperately searchingfor is already theirs. A
(21:20):
transactional faith,image of a God of conditional
love. Says, you know, if youjust do this, then God will love
you, accept you, save you. Somuch of our love for one another
(21:45):
is transactional. There arerules to follow expectations, to
fulfill criteria to be met inorder to be acceptable. Imagine
if we didn't stop to judge orask if someone was worthy or
deserving of our love. Imagineif we knock down all those
(22:08):
barriers that keep people awayfrom the hospitality of God's
welcome, the barriers that keeppeople from knowing themselves
as God's beloved. Imagine if wejust loved, loved with the
spacious and radical love ofJesus, the kind of love that
might lead people to complainwho we invite to our tables. If
(22:36):
we love like that, we might havejust found a theology worth
keeping when we know ourselvesall ready to be at home In God's
(22:56):
love, we can then become thewelcome mat of healing and
many in this world Need and arelonging for. May it be so.
(26:29):
friends, may we dream of a worldinfused with a wider love than
we can imagine? May we widen ourhearts, look with compassion,
not turn a blind eye to thesuffering of others. May we
learn to walk this path thatJesus has called us to, where
(26:50):
our theology is more than justso.
and our actionscommunicate our faith in ways
our words never could. May wecontinually question the lines
we draw and ask what God'sspacious love really looks like.
(27:12):
May we find ourselves at home inGod's love that we might be
welcome Matt, inviting peopleinto the healing and grace so
many long for and so many needand may we work towards the
(27:33):
flourishing of all breaking downthe structures that divide us
and reclaim the table as a placewhere all are welcome, all are
seen, all are affirmed, all areheard, all are loved. Go in
(27:58):
peace and may the spacious andradical love you extend the
world bring peace to others, mayit be so.
Whitney Higdon (28:13):
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 the many ways. First,Presbyterian seeks to serve our
community. You can make afinancial gift online@bendfp.org
every week, we hear from someonethanking us for the gift of
(28:33):
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, bendfp.org, andclick on the link. Give online.
Your support is reallyappreciated and makes a
(28:56):
difference in people's lives.
Thanks again. I hope to See younext Week. You
Unknown (29:20):
you you.
You you. Welcome to worship at
(00:41):
First Presbyterian we, at FirstPresbyterian, practice a
spacious Christianity, whichmeans no matter where you are in
your faith journey, you belongspace for you at the table,
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
(01:04):
matters. We doin this world. We are so glad to
connect with you in thisworship with you in person if
you're ever in the neighborhoodon Sunday mornings at 830, or
10am and never hesitate to reachenjoy this worship service.
(01:29):
Welcome.
Unknown (01:45):
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all
the works thy hands have made, Isee the stars, I hear the
rolling thunder Thy powerthroughout the universe display
Music (02:18):
when through the wounds and forest glades I wander and
hear the birds sing sweetly whenI look down from lofty mountain
(02:38):
grandeur and see the blue andfeel the gentles. Then sings, my
soul, my Savior, God, to Thee,How Great Thou Art, How great
(03:02):
thou Art. Then sings my soul, mySavior God, to Thee, How great
thouArt. When Christ shall come, we
shall shout of acclamation andlead me home with joy should
(03:26):
fill my heart, then I shall gowith humble adoration and then
proclaim My God, How great thouArt. Then sings my soul, my
(03:47):
Savior God, to Thee, How GreatThou Art, How great thou Art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior,God, to Thee.
Unknown (04:20):
How great God.
(04:47):
I rest in you, O God, I am inyour safe keeping body and soul
held in peace. I. My heart criesout to you, My God, all that
upsets me. You see all thatdisturbs me. You understand only
(05:14):
here in your presence, am Ifully known. I am wrapped in
grace. I rest in you, O God, Iam in your safe, keeping body
and soul held in peace. I try torelax, but anger rattles me. I
(05:44):
try to relax, but my feelingsniggle at me.
Be still, be silent. Put yourtrust in the Lord. I rest in
you, O God, I am in your safekeeping body and soul held in
(06:10):
peace in the stillness the lightof your face shines. My heart
turns to thankfulness and isglad I have more than enough.
You, Lord, are more than enough.
I lie down to sleep, safe andsound. I rest in you, O God, I
(06:39):
am in your safe, keeping bodyand soul held in peace.
Be still and rest. You are heldin peace. You
Steven (07:24):
I was summoned to the principal's office in fifth
grade for bullying anotherstudent. You know, I was kind of
a people pleaser, and ratherthan stand up for what I knew
was wrong, stand up for the onebeing bullied, I went along with
the crowd and participated inteasing this student on my way
to the principal's office, my myshoulders were slumped, wearing
(07:45):
this, this heavy, heavy coat ofguilt and shame. You know, I saw
the principal as the greatenforcer who was to be feared,
and it was about to cast me intothe pit of eternal disapproval.
I was shocked to experience avery different principle than
the one I expected. The pictureI had in my mind. He said to me,
(08:08):
I remember it so vividly. Hesaid, Steven, you're so much
better than this behavior. Thisbehavior does not does not
reflect who you really are. Thisis not your best self. Don't
listen to peer pressure. Listento that voice inside that will
(08:30):
always call you to somethingbetter. Wow. I mean, I was
shocked. I feared the principle,and I thought, I really thought
I was going to be sentenced toperpetual guilt and shame. It
turned out I was being summonedto a larger and more loving life
(08:56):
reflecting who I really am. Am,if your theology, if your
theology sentences you to guiltand shame, and if your theology
doesn't summon you to a largerand more loving life reflective
(09:18):
of who you really are, it's timeto change your theology. If your
image of God shrinks your spiritbinds you in fear, it's time for
a new image of God. What is yourimage of God. You know, we don't
(09:42):
often think about this, but I'dlike you to think about that,
because the image or the notionof God we hold profoundly
influences whether we know it ornot, influences how we see
ourselves and how we relate toothers in the world. You know,
when people tell me, and theytell me this a lot, they just
(10:03):
tell me, you know, I don'tbelieve in God. I always say,
tell me about the God you don'tbelieve in, because the chances
are I don't believe in that Godeither. I profoundly believe the
purpose of Jesus's life was notto change an angry and
(10:27):
judgmental God's mind about ussinful and unworthy humans. I
profoundly believe the purposeof Jesus' life was to change our
mind about God, to change theimage we hold of God, to
(10:49):
introduce to us a God ofspacious, radical, unconditional
love, knowing this would thenchange how we understand
ourselves and how we loveothers. Jesus said there was a
(11:11):
man who had two sons, theyounger one said to his father,
Father, give me my share of theestate. So he divided his
property between them. Not longafter that, the younger son,
said Son, the younger son setoff for a distant country, and
(11:31):
there he he squandered hiswealth in wild living after he
had spent everything, there wasa severe famine in the whole
country, and he began to be inneed. So he went and hired
himself out to a citizen of thatcountry who sent him to his
(11:52):
fields. A Jewish man here senthim to his fields to feed pigs.
He longed to fill his stomachwith the pods that the pigs were
eating, but no one gave himanything. When he came to his
senses, he said, How many of myfather's hired servants have
(12:16):
food to spare? And here, here Iam starving to death. I will go
back to my father and say tohim, Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you,and I am no longer worthy to be
called your son. Make me likeone of your hired servants. So
he got up and went to hisfather, but while he was still a
(12:41):
long way off, his father saw himand was filled with compassion
for me. He ran to his son. Hethrew his arms around him,
kissed him, and said, Welcomehome. The son said, Father, I
have sinned against heaven andagainst you. I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.
But the father said to hisservants, quick, quick, quick,
(13:01):
Bring the best robe. Put it onhim. Put a ring on his finger,
sandals on his feet, bring thefatted calf. Let's have a feast
and celebrate. For the son ofmine was dead and is alive
again. He was lost and is found.
So they began to celebrate.
Meanwhile, the older brother,the older brother was in the
(13:27):
field. When he came near thehouse, he heard music and
dancing. He called one of theservants and asked, what's going
on? Your brother has come home?
The servant replied, and yourfather has killed the fatted
calf because he has him backsafe and sound. The older
brother became angry, refused togo in. His father went out and
(13:54):
pleaded with him, but heanswered his father. Look, look,
all these years I've beenslaving for you and never, never
disobeyed your orders, yet younever gave me even a young goat
so I could celebrate with myfriends. But when this son of
(14:16):
yours, who has squandered yourproperty with prostitutes, comes
home. You kill the fatted calffor him, my son, the father
said, My son, you are alwayswith me, and everything I have
(14:41):
is yours. We had to celebrateand be glad because this brother
of yours was dead and is alive.
He was lost and is found. Yeah,okay, so there's a father with
two sons. The younger son says,give me my share of the estate
(15:08):
now, now in the patriarchalfirst century, where respect for
elders, especially the father,was was everything this son
could not have said anythingmore offensive to those who were
listening to Jesus. The youngerson wandered away, squandered it
all, and eventually realizesthat even his father's servants
(15:37):
have it better than he does. Sohe decides to return home. You
know, I can imagine his youngerson. I can imagine him
rehearsing his apology along theway, hoping to at least, at
least be treated as one of hisfather's servants. Notice he has
no expectations of restoration.
(16:01):
If I could just be one of theservants. And the father sees
him in the distance, becausefrom sunrise to sunset, he has
never stopped waiting, neverstopped looking, never stopped
hoping for the day when his sonwould return home and putting
all dignity aside and like afool, hiking up his robe, his
(16:23):
father just races down the roadto greet his son, and before his
son could even open his mouth toapologize, the apology he had
been rehearsing, asking forforgiveness, the father throws
his arms around him and says,Welcome home. The father doesn't
(16:44):
say like I probably say, I toldyou so, prove to me you're
sorry. Tell me why I shouldforgive you. Assure me that
you've changed and that you'reworthy of my forgiveness, that
you've learned your lessons andyou'll never leave again. Note.
(17:08):
There is nothing in the father'sresponse that leads to guilt or
shame. The son actually tries totell his father that he's not
worthy. I'm not worthy to beyour son. But the father isn't
even listening,calling for the best robe, the
ring sandals, all signs of theson's worth and belonging,
(17:30):
saying, let's celebrate my son,who is lost is now found. Now
the older brother is less thanpleased and says, I love this. I
can I can hear, I can hear theresentment that son of yours,
not my brother, but withdisgust, that son of yours has
(17:53):
squandered all your money andyou give him a feast, he's not
deserving of your love, and hereI am. The older son feels
separated from his fatherbecause of his good deeds. The
(18:13):
younger son leaves home and heassumes his selfish behavior has
separated him and made himunworthy of His Father's love.
The older son stays home andassumes his good deeds, his good
(18:37):
deeds should should earn hisfather's favor, favor, but he
never experiences the joy of HisFather's love. Both sons, like
so many of us, both sons, holdan image of their father as
(18:58):
judging, keeping score, keepingtrack, and you either have
points deducted or you havepoints added. Both sons assume
the Father's love is determinedand dependent by their actions,
(19:20):
good or bad, and Jesus. Jesusturns this idea completely
upside down. The father runs togreet his younger son, and
before he even opens his mouthto apologize, embraces and
(19:40):
kisses him, essentially sayingto him, Welcome home, but know
that in my heart, you never leftyou. You were always, have
always been, will always behome. Me in my love. You can
never be separated from my love.
(20:07):
Now to the older son who said tohis father, you never gave me a
party, the father says, you arealways with me, and I am always
with you. Everything Iinterested in centering prayer,
(20:31):
that's probably the definitionof centering prayer, right there
is understanding that sentencethat just may be my favorite
verse in the entire Bible, theone verse that changes
absolutely everythingwith you. Everything I have is
(20:56):
yours. At the heart of thisstory is the unbelievable good
news that that both sons alreadybelong in God's love, what they
are both desperately searchingfor is already theirs. A
(21:20):
transactional faith,image of a God of conditional
love. Says, you know, if youjust do this, then God will love
you, accept you, save you. Somuch of our love for one another
(21:45):
is transactional. There arerules to follow expectations, to
fulfill criteria to be met inorder to be acceptable. Imagine
if we didn't stop to judge orask if someone was worthy or
deserving of our love. Imagineif we knock down all those
(22:08):
barriers that keep people awayfrom the hospitality of God's
welcome, the barriers that keeppeople from knowing themselves
as God's beloved. Imagine if wejust loved, loved with the
spacious and radical love ofJesus, the kind of love that
might lead people to complainwho we invite to our tables. If
(22:36):
we love like that, we might havejust found a theology worth
keeping when we know ourselvesall ready to be at home In God's
(22:56):
love, we can then become thewelcome mat of healing and
many in this world Need and arelonging for. May it be so.
(26:29):
friends, may we dream of a worldinfused with a wider love than
we can imagine? May we widen ourhearts, look with compassion,
not turn a blind eye to thesuffering of others. May we
learn to walk this path thatJesus has called us to, where
(26:50):
our theology is more than justso.
and our actionscommunicate our faith in ways
our words never could. May wecontinually question the lines
we draw and ask what God'sspacious love really looks like.
(27:12):
May we find ourselves at home inGod's love that we might be
welcome Matt, inviting peopleinto the healing and grace so
many long for and so many needand may we work towards the
(27:33):
flourishing of all breaking downthe structures that divide us
and reclaim the table as a placewhere all are welcome, all are
seen, all are affirmed, all areheard, all are loved. Go in
(27:58):
peace and may the spacious andradical love you extend the
world bring peace to others, mayit be so.
Whitney Higdon (28:13):
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 the many ways. First,Presbyterian seeks to serve our
community. You can make afinancial gift online@bendfp.org
every week, we hear from someonethanking us for the gift of
(28:33):
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, bendfp.org, andclick on the link. Give online.
Your support is reallyappreciated and makes a
(28:56):
difference in people's lives.
Thanks again. I hope to See younext Week. You
Unknown (29:20):
you you.
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