Line Upon Line

Drawing on the contested origins of the gospels, Pastor Miles argues from practical, historical, and literary evidence that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are eyewitness accounts written within 25 years of the crucifixion, so that believers may "know the certainty" of what they have been taught. He calls Christians to let the Spirit produce visible fruit, since a transformed life is itself a powerf...

Pastor Miles opens a new series on the Gospel of Luke by arguing that we live in consequential times marked by a cultural shift back toward openness to Christianity, and that God's people must align with this move of the Spirit by knowing, embodying, and persuasively proclaiming the gospel. He frames the church's task using Aristotle's ethos, pathos, and logos, grounding it in Paul's declaration t...

At the start of a new year, Pastor Miles steps outside his usual verse-by-verse format to explain why Cross Connection Church exists and why believers should attend, support, and invite others. Grounded in the Great Commission and God's desire that none should perish, he argues the church is called to reach a postchristian San Diego with a rigorous, applied theology that produces real spiritual gr...

Beginning a new year, Pastor Miles teaches from John 17 (the high priestly prayer) that God made each person on purpose, to know and live eternal life through a oneness relationship with Him in Christ. Drawing on the Upper Room Discourse and Ephesians 2, he shows how Jesus reconciles outsiders into God's family and commissions believers as ambassadors of reconciliation.

Standing at the close of 2024, Pastor Miles sets aside year-end prophecy predictions to focus on what believers can absolutely count on in 2025: the unchanging nature of God. He offers five pieces of ancient, time-tested wisdom—trusting the Lord wholeheartedly, forgetting the past to pursue God's purpose, numbering our days, redeeming the time, and abiding in Christ.

Concluding his Advent series with the theme of love, Pastor Miles teaches from Romans 5, Ephesians 2, and 1 John 3–4 that Jesus is and brings the love of God to a dark and dying world. Because God loved us while we were still His enemies, His love is meant to transform us into people who love and share the gospel with others.

Drawing on Psalm 16, John 14–16, and Isaiah 9, Pastor Miles teaches that Jesus' Advent makes the fullness of joy accessible — not as a temporary feeling but as the embodiment of hope, peace, and joy found in Christ Himself. He shows how believers apprehend this joy now and forever by receiving Christ and abiding in His word, His love, and His body.

A Christmas/Advent teaching on Isaiah 9:6-7 showing that the Prince of Peace came to restore the peace lost in Eden, offering both peace with God (reconciliation) and the peace of God (inner tranquility) that sustains believers through life's trials. The message calls listeners to personally receive Christ's offer of peace and let it flow through them to others.

A Christmas Advent teaching tracing the theme of hope across all of Scripture, showing that Jesus is the hope promised from the beginning, revealed at His arrival, secured through His death and resurrection, and still our reason for hope in daily life and trials. Anchored in Romans 5 and 2 Corinthians 4, it argues that even afflictions, in the Lord's masterful hands, produce endurance, character,...

A Thanksgiving-season teaching on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that examines why gratitude requires a command, walks through Elijah's depression in 1 Kings 19 as a model of God's gentle care, and shows scientifically and biblically how gratitude protects against depression and fulfills God's will for us in Christ.

Through the story of the sinful woman who anoints Jesus's feet in Luke 7, Pastor Miles teaches that gratitude overflows from a heart that recognizes its own desperate need for Christ's saving and forgiving grace. He contrasts the self-righteous, blind Simon the Pharisee with the woman who saw her sin clearly and rejoiced, showing that seeing our need is the key to genuine thanksgiving and fullness...

Examining the healing of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19, Pastor Miles teaches that gratitude is one of the keys to the fullness of joy God desires for us, and that while many receive God's blessings, far fewer return to give Him thanks. He shows that Jesus moves toward the outcast, sees and answers faith-filled prayer, and brings wholeness to those who praise the glory of His grace.

Opening a November series on gratitude, Pastor Miles teaches from Psalm 100 that thanksgiving is the will of God and the secret to genuine happiness. He argues that a key to gratitude is remembering God's works, and that reframing all of life as service to a good Creator, Lord, and Provider produces joy that overflows to others.

Closing the Book of Judges with chapters 20–21, this teaching examines the civil war provoked by the moral atrocity at Gibeah, showing that while outrage at evil is right, fallen humanity's attempts at justice always fall short or go too far—and that the only sufficient answer to evil and to our own sin is the wrath of God satisfied at the cross by the coming King of Kings.

A study of Judges 19, one of the most disturbing passages in Scripture, showing how a people who departed from God's moral rule descended into total moral chaos. Pastor Miles argues that outrageous immorality demands moral outrage, and that the only true cure for human depravity is the gospel of the cross of Christ.

Judges 18 records how the tribe of Dan, refusing to take the difficult inheritance God gave them, sought an easier conquest, stole Micah's idol and priest, and massacred the peaceful people of Laish — illustrating what happens to a people with no moral governance and no contentment. Pastor Miles shows that we tend to wander when we are not planted, and that only God's grace, not a king, can cure a...

Drawing on Paris Reidhead's classic message "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" and the story of Micah in Judges 17, Pastor Miles confronts the danger of a utilitarian, man-centered Christianity that treats God as a means to our own happiness. True devotion seeks God himself for his glory, not merely the gifts and blessings he provides.

Examining Judges 16, Pastor Miles teaches the final act of Samson's life—his fall through Delilah, his capture, and his death—as a sobering warning about the danger of trusting our own strength and toying with sin, set against the backdrop of God's irrevocable gifts and relentless mercy.

Through Judges 15 and the story of Samson's escalating revenge against the Philistines, Pastor Miles examines the temptation to do the right thing in the wrong way, the danger of personal vengeance, and the surprising grace of God who uses imperfect, foolish people to accomplish His purposes.

A verse-by-verse study of Judges 14 examining Samson—a man of supernatural strength but weak character—who repeatedly walks into avoidable spiritual traps. The teaching warns against underestimating the weakness of strong men and the seductiveness of temptation, while affirming that God accomplishes His purposes even through flawed, broken vessels.

Opening a new series on Samson called "Strong Man, Weak Character," Pastor Miles studies Judges 13 and the angelic announcement of Samson's birth to Manoah and his barren wife. He draws out that whatever good is in our lives is by God's grace, that God creates and calls each person to a purpose, and that fulfilling that purpose requires dedicated consecration, fervent prayer, and worship that invi...

A teaching from Philippians 4 (with support from James 1, Romans 5, Philippians 3, and 2 Timothy 4) on how believers can find genuine joy in difficult circumstances by trusting God's commands, dwelling on what is true and good, bringing worries to God in prayer, and reaching forward toward the prize of God's heavenly call in Christ.

In the final chapter of Hosea, Pastor Miles teaches that Israel's coming destruction was self-inflicted and entirely preventable, yet God still offered restoration through repentance. The same simple message endures today: turn from sin to God, offer the sacrifice of a humble and contrite heart, and receive His reviving grace and the blessings of righteousness.

Drawing on the final chapters of Hosea, Pastor Miles shows how Israel's success bred pride, how compounding sin leads to ruin "gradually, then suddenly," and how God's certain judgment can only be answered by the resurrecting power of God in Jesus Christ. He warns against placing ultimate hope in earthly rulers and calls believers to know and share the gospel as the only true hope.

Using the story of Jacob's transformation into Israel as the backdrop, this teaching unpacks Hosea 12, where God charges the deceitful northern kingdom to repent like their father Jacob did. The message warns that deception and wealth cannot save, and that mercy comes only through humble repentance before God.