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.
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
27 Oct 2026
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
21 Oct 2026
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
Contact theCHURCH Sermons
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of theCHURCH Sermons?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
