theCHURCH Sermons

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Weekly Bible teaching from theCHURCH in Bend, Oregon. Our mission is making it easier for people to know Jesus. Each message is centered on Scripture, the gospel, and practical discipleship for everyday life. Learn more at thechurchbend.org.

  1. 1d ago

    Who Has Your Heart? | Nehemiah 13

    Nehemiah 12 feels like the perfect ending. The walls are rebuilt. Jerusalem is filling with life. God’s people are worshiping. The city is overflowing with joy. But then comes chapter 13. Nehemiah leaves Jerusalem for a time, and when he returns, he finds many of the old compromises coming back. The house of God has been neglected. Tobiah—an enemy of the work—has been given space inside the temple. The Sabbath is being traded for financial gain. And the people are once again joining themselves to influences that threaten their faithfulness to God. It raises an important question: What went wrong? God had fixed their circumstances. He had restored the city. He had given them His Word. They had confessed. They had made commitments. They had experienced incredible blessing. And still, their hearts drifted. Because the deepest problem was never outside them. It was inside them. A changed circumstance cannot replace a changed heart. A mountaintop experience cannot replace a surrendered heart. A list of commitments cannot replace a heart that truly belongs to God. And even blessing itself can become dangerous when our hearts love the gift more than the Giver. The real test of faithfulness is not what we promise when we are overwhelmed by God’s goodness. It is what we do in the long, ordinary middle when the emotion fades and no one is forcing us to remain faithful. That is where we discover who has our heart. The answer is not simply trying harder. It is giving our hearts completely to Jesus. Because a heart left to itself can desire the very things that destroy it. But a heart surrendered to Christ can be made whole. So don’t merely ask: “Am I doing the right things?” Ask the deeper question: “Who has my heart?” God Through Us — A Study Through Nehemiah

  2. Oct 27

    Willingly Offered | Nehemiah 11

    Jerusalem’s walls had been restored—but Jerusalem was still empty. For the city to truly come back to life, people had to be willing to move inside the walls. That meant leaving behind familiar lives. It meant inconvenience. It meant sacrifice. It meant risk. And Nehemiah 11 tells us that while some people were selected to move into Jerusalem, others “willingly offered to live” there. That distinction gets to the heart of this message. Every believer has a calling. But calling is not primarily about discovering the perfect assignment that matches our personality, talents, and preferences. Calling is God giving us a part to play in His work for His purposes. And most of the time, the opportunities are not nearly as mysterious as we make them. They are already in front of us. Someone needs help. A ministry needs hands. A neighbor needs Jesus. Your church needs people willing to take ownership of its mission. The problem is often not that we cannot discern the call. The problem is that the call is inconvenient. Nehemiah 11 challenges us to move beyond reluctant participation toward willing obedience. That applies to our service. Our time. Our generosity. Our relationships. And the way we participate in the life and mission of the local church. God does not simply want us occupying a seat. He wants our hearts. Because there is a world of difference between doing something because we have to and offering ourselves willingly to the Lord. The walls are built. The foundation is here. Now it is time to fill the city with life. So which person will we be? The one who has to be compelled? Or the one who willingly says: “Lord, if there is work to do, I’m in.” God Through Us — A Study Through Nehemiah

  3. Oct 21

    Silver Rail Elementary | The Call of the Pre-Responder | Hope After Tragedy

    What does it mean to love when something terrible happens in your own community? After the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary, our city was left grieving lives that should never have been taken. For me, that day became deeply personal. I work a second job sometimes described as being a “last responder.” When someone dies, we are called after the other responders have finished their work, entrusted with caring for that person as the first steps toward funeral arrangements begin. Thursday evening, that call brought four of us to Silver Rail Elementary. Before I went, a friend gave me words that stayed with me: You are a last responder today. But when this is over, remember that you are also a pre-responder. That distinction became the heart of this message. Love makes us vulnerable. When we genuinely love another person, we give them access to our hearts—and when something happens to them, we hurt. That is especially true when children are involved. Our grief is evidence that something precious has been violated. So Christians do not need to rush past mourning. We mourn with God. We acknowledge the darkness for what it is. But we cannot remain there forever. Eventually, we stand back up and ask: What can we do before the next desperate phone call ever comes? Scripture tells us that God desires people to come to repentance and to the knowledge of the truth. And Romans asks a simple question: How will they believe if they have never heard? The Gospel is God’s intervention into human darkness. That means the church has work to do long before tragedy strikes. There are people in our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and families who need hope now. They need someone willing to listen. Someone willing to love. Someone willing to speak truth. Someone willing to tell them about Jesus. We cannot control every outcome, and we should never pretend that one conversation guarantees tragedy will be prevented. But we can answer Christ’s call to love the people in front of us while there is still time. Our community needs believers who are willing to go. Not only last responders when everything has already fallen apart. Pre-responders carrying the hope of Christ into the darkness before the call ever comes. Will you join us? Scripture: 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4, Romans 10:14–17

  4. Oct 12

    You Are Lord | Nehemiah 10

    Conviction is not the end. Confession is not the end either. Both are meant to lead somewhere: A life surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ. In Nehemiah 10, God’s people make a covenant to walk faithfully before Him. They commit themselves in three major areas. They become intentional about who influences them. They commit to ordering their lives according to God’s Word. And they take responsibility for sustaining the worship and ministry of the house of God. But if we reduce this chapter to a list of rules, we miss its heart. All three commitments ultimately say the same thing: He is Lord of my life. Who influences me. How I spend my days. Where my resources go. Every part of life comes under His authority. That is consecration. The Christian life was never meant to be Jesus added onto everything else. We have been called out of darkness and set apart as a people who belong to Him. But that surrender has to reach the heart. There is a world of difference between rule-keeping and obedience. Rule-keeping looks for the minimum requirement. Love asks how it can honor the One it belongs to. And that is why surface-level behavior change is never enough. When conviction reveals an area of sin, it is good to make practical changes. But first, go deeper. Don’t merely confess: “I did something wrong.” Confess: “Jesus, in this area of my life, I have not allowed You to be Lord.” Then let your commitment begin there. You are Lord.Here is my heart.Have all of me. Because lasting obedience does not grow from forcing yourself to keep a list. It grows from a heart that belongs to Christ. We don’t obey in order to earn closeness with God. We obey because our hearts belong to Him. And ultimately, the best reason to obey Him is simple: Because I am in love with Jesus. God Through Us — A Study Through Nehemiah

  5. Oct 5

    The Courage to Confess | Nehemiah 9

    Conviction is only the beginning. In Nehemiah 9, the people of Israel move from being cut by God’s Word to doing something about what they now understand. They confess. For part of the day, they read from the Book of the Law. Then they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God. Pasted text Their confession becomes a sweeping retelling of Israel’s history. And as they look backward, one truth becomes impossible to miss: God has been faithful. He called Abraham. He rescued His people from Egypt. He divided the sea. He led them through the wilderness. He gave them His Word. He provided food and water. And even when they repeatedly rebelled, He remained gracious and merciful. Pasted text The problem was never that God had failed them. They had turned away from Him. By the end of their confession, they are able to say: “Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.” Pasted text That is confession. Not simply feeling bad. Not drowning in shame. Not defending ourselves. Confession is agreeing with the truth. It is the humble recognition that I am not Lord—Christ is. And that honesty opens the door to restoration. Some of us have felt conviction but never moved beyond it. We have said sorry. We have felt guilty. But we have never brought the truth fully into the light before God. Nehemiah 9 reminds us that there is freedom on the other side of honesty. God is not waiting to crush the person who confesses. He is the gracious and merciful God His people describe throughout this chapter. So stop hiding. Stop defending. Stop allowing pride to keep you outside. Get honest with God. Confess. Ask for His help. And begin moving forward with Him. God Through Us — A Study Through Nehemiah

  6. Sep 28

    The Word That Cuts and Heals | Nehemiah 8

    In Nehemiah 8, the rebuilding project shifts from the walls of Jerusalem to the hearts of God’s people. The people gather together and ask Ezra to read the Book of the Law. He reads God’s Word clearly. Then the Levites help the people understand what it means. That gives us an important pattern: Read the Word clearly.Understand what it says.Respond to what God has revealed. But real understanding can be painful. As the people hear the Law, they begin to see why Jerusalem had fallen. God had warned their ancestors what would happen if they abandoned Him. And now they were standing in the consequences of generations of disobedience. So they wept. The truth cut them. But the leaders did not back away from what God had said. They did not create gray areas where none existed. Instead, they helped the people see the purpose of the conviction. “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The Word had cut them. But not to destroy them. To bring them back. The same thing happens in Acts 2. Peter preaches the Gospel, and the people are “cut to the heart.” Their conviction leads to repentance. Repentance leads to forgiveness. And thousands are saved. That is the power of God’s Word. It exposes what is false. It brings sin into the light. It wounds our pride. And in the hands of a good God, it leads us toward healing. So when the Word confronts you, don’t mistake conviction for rejection. Let it do its work. Repent. Return. And rejoice. Because the final word over the believer is not condemnation. It is grace. We are great sinners—but Jesus is a greater Savior. God Through Us — A Study Through Nehemiah

  7. Sep 22

    Protect the Wall | Nehemiah 6–7

    The wall was finished in 52 days. What had remained broken for generations was rebuilt so quickly—and against such intense opposition—that even Jerusalem’s enemies recognized the work had been accomplished “with the help of our God.” That gives us an important picture of the Christian life. God’s people did not sit back and wait for Him to build the wall for them. They worked. And God worked with them. He gave them a mind to work. He exposed the plans of their enemies. He strengthened them when they became weak. He raised up faithful leaders and gave them what they needed to keep moving forward. God’s work in our lives often looks the same. He reveals His will through His Word and prayer. We respond with faith, obedience, and intentional action. Then He works within us, around us, and through us to accomplish what we could never accomplish by ourselves. But Nehemiah understood that rebuilding was only part of the responsibility. What had been rebuilt now had to be protected. Tobiah had spent years forming relationships and gaining influence inside Jerusalem. Even after openly opposing the welfare of God’s people, some of Jerusalem’s leaders continued defending him and keeping him connected. The wall existed. But access still had to be guarded. That principle reaches directly into our own lives. Where have we made agreements with things that oppose what Christ is doing in us? Where have we defended influences that continually pull us away from Him? Where do stronger boundaries need to be established? Nehemiah appoints leaders who are described not merely as talented or capable, but as faithful and God-fearing. He also temporarily restricts access to Jerusalem while the life inside the city becomes stronger. Sometimes wisdom means limiting a freedom today so that you can walk in greater freedom tomorrow. So partner intentionally with God. Protect what He is rebuilding. Close doors that need to remain closed. Surround yourself with faithful, God-fearing people. And guard the work Christ is doing within you. Build with God. Protect the wall. God Through Us — A Study Through Nehemiah

  8. Sep 14

    Stay on the Wall | Nehemiah 6

    By Nehemiah 6, the wall is nearly finished. The breaches are closed. And the enemies of Jerusalem are running out of options. So they turn to deception. Sanballat invites Nehemiah to a meeting that sounds like an opportunity for peace. Nehemiah refuses. “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” Four times the invitation comes. Four times the answer stays the same. When distraction fails, Sanballat spreads a lie that Nehemiah is planning rebellion and tries to manufacture a crisis that only he can supposedly help solve. Nehemiah refuses to panic. Then comes perhaps the most dangerous attack of all. A religious voice tells Nehemiah to hide inside the temple to save his life. It sounds compassionate. It sounds spiritual. But Nehemiah knows God’s Word—and the advice requires him to disobey it. That is how he knows the message did not come from God. Nehemiah tested the word by the Word. And it failed. Every attack in this chapter is built on deception. Every attack is designed to create fear. And every attack has the same ultimate goal: Get Nehemiah off the wall. But Nehemiah refuses to move. He knows his calling. He knows the truth. He trusts God. And he keeps building. We need that same kind of discernment. Not every relationship needs to be repaired. Not every accusation needs a lengthy defense. Not every crisis is real. Not every spiritual-sounding voice should be trusted. And no counsel that leads you into disobedience can come from the God who gave us His Word. Whatever God has called you to build, stay faithful to it. Stay anchored in truth. Refuse to be ruled by fear. Stay on the wall. The voices will come. Don’t come down. God Through Us — A Study Through Nehemiah

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Weekly Bible teaching from theCHURCH in Bend, Oregon. Our mission is making it easier for people to know Jesus. Each message is centered on Scripture, the gospel, and practical discipleship for everyday life. Learn more at thechurchbend.org.

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  • Creator
    theCHURCH
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
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