Line Upon Line

Pastor Miles reframes the church's identity around "life in connection," reminding the congregation that the New Testament church gathered house to house for teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. He calls believers to host or join small groups during the shutdown, then leads communion as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice.

Using Psalm 33, Pastor Garrett argues that the chaos, anxiety, and depression of 2020 reveal a spiritual battle, and that the answer is found in the God who is sovereign over creation, history, and the individual. He calls hearers to ground themselves in God's truth, hope in His mercy, and find purpose by surrendering to His unstoppable plan.

Continuing a study in Deuteronomy, Pastor Miles explains why the statutes and judgments of God given through Moses 3,400 years ago remain relevant today, offering three reasons: the law judges all who are alive, it produces a solid society and sanctified life, and it reveals sin and points us to Christ.

In the midst of a chaotic 2020, Pastor Miles teaches from Deuteronomy 4–5 that God's statutes and judgments are given to be heard, learned, and observed so that His people may live and flourish. While the law cannot save, obedience brings temporal blessing and rejection brings affliction and shame—both for ancient Israel and for nations today—pointing us ultimately to repentance and the transformi...

Studying Deuteronomy 4:41-43, Pastor Miles examines the Old Testament cities of refuge as a manifestation of God's mercy toward the guilty, showing that they ultimately point forward to Jesus Christ as the true refuge for sinners from the avenger of blood.

In a chaotic 2020, Pastor Miles teaches from Deuteronomy 4 on why God's people should remain in faith and faithfulness: because God is merciful when we fail, because there is mercy and deliverance in no other, and because the Lord alone is God. He calls believers to ask (remember God's mighty acts), know (that the Lord alone is God), and keep (His statutes), pointing finally to Christ who fulfills...

Pastor Miles offers a mid-year "state of the church" address explaining how COVID-19 has fast-tracked cultural and church trends already underway, then closes with a teaching from Philippians 4 on graciousness, rejoicing always, and contentment through Christ's strength.

Facing a "wall" while preparing his message in Deuteronomy, Pastor Miles sets the book aside to address the chaotic times of 2020, urging believers to walk circumspectly and to refrain from letting their Christian liberty become a stumbling block to fearful neighbors. He then shares two recent deaths in the church family, encourages baptism, and leads the congregation in communion.

A verse-by-verse walk through the book of Colossians built around the four times Paul speaks of "walking" (peripeteo), tracing what it means to walk worthy of the Lord, to walk in Christ, to no longer walk as the world walks, and to walk in wisdom toward outsiders. Throughout, the recurring theme of thankfulness anchors the call to live rooted in Jesus and gracious toward all people.

Teaching through Deuteronomy 4:15-24, Pastor Miles examines God's prohibition of idolatry, our innate compulsion to worship, and the truth that God is a consuming fire and a jealous God—jealous not of us but for us and for His glory. He warns that worshiping anything other than God corrupts His glory and misrepresents Him to others.

Teaching from Deuteronomy 4:15–24, Pastor Miles explains that human beings are made to worship and will inevitably worship something; when we refuse to worship the true God we descend into idolatry, corrupting His glory and misrepresenting Him to others. God is not jealous *of* us but jealous *for* us and for His glory—a consuming fire who judges all misrepresentations of His majesty.

Opening a new series on Deuteronomy 4, Pastor Miles teaches that while salvation comes only through Christ, living under God's unchanging statutes and judgments invites His blessing, and disregarding them brings destabilization and ruin—both personally and nationally. He calls God's people to hide His word in their hearts, let His grace shine through their lives, and pass these truths on to their...

Pastor Miles introduces a new series in Deuteronomy titled "Statutes and Judgments," teaching from Deuteronomy 4:1 that life and blessing—for ancient Israel and for any society—come only through hearing and obeying the superordinate principles of God's law, which ultimately point us to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Father's Day teaching that examines the office and calling of fatherhood through three Scripture examples—God in Eden, the prodigal son, and the father of the demon-possessed boy—to show that a father's highest task is leading children to repentance and restoration in Christ, not mere obedience.

Using Moses's plea to enter the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 3, Pastor Miles teaches that God sometimes answers persistent, faithful prayer with a final "no," and that this particular "no" carries a deeper meaning: the law (Moses) cannot bring us into salvation—only Joshua, that is, Jesus, can.

This teaching works through Deuteronomy 3, where Moses recounts Israel's victories east of the Jordan and the dividing of the land among the tribes, before being told he himself would not enter the Promised Land. It calls believers to fix their hearts and minds on God's faithfulness rather than the disappointments and divisions of the world.

Tracing the Bible's redemptive storyline from Genesis through Deuteronomy 3, Pastor Miles shows how the two-and-a-half tribes who settled east of the Jordan introduced a division that bred lasting conflict in Israel—and applies that warning to our own divided nation by calling believers to be slow to speak, slow to wrath, and ruled by love.

On Pentecost Sunday 2020, Pastor Miles addresses why Cross Connection is not yet gathering in its facility, lamenting the division within the body of Christ over the issue and calling believers to the unity, humility, and like-mindedness Scripture commands. He then walks through Acts 2 to show the four things the early church remained devoted to—the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of...

On Pentecost Sunday 2020, Pastor Miles explains why Cross Connection Church is not yet gathering in person, appealing for unity in the body of Christ, and walks through Acts 2 to show that the church's true essence is devotion to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. The teaching closes with the celebration of communion.

Studying Deuteronomy 3 and Israel's defeat of Og king of Bashan, Pastor Miles addresses why God's judgment without mercy offends modern sensibilities, then redirects to the passage's greater point: God faithfully delivers victory to those who trust Him by faith. He opens by honoring the recently deceased Ravi Zacharias, John Wesley's Aldersgate experience, and calls listeners to trust Christ alone...

Pastor Miles teaches Deuteronomy 2:26-37, addressing the "genocide" passages so often used against the Bible by skeptics. He argues that before God judges, He always offers words of peace, that God is righteous in His judgments, and that all people—including us—deserve judgment and need the grace, mercy, and peace found only in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Miles addresses how Cross Connection Church will move forward amid COVID-19 restrictions, explaining why returning to a heavily restricted in-person service is undesirable and proposing instead an Acts 2 model of gathering from house to house. He frames this moment as an evangelistic opportunity in which God continues to build His church.

Drawing on Deuteronomy 2 and Hebrews 3, Pastor Miles compares ancient Israel's 38-year wilderness wandering to a quarantine imposed because of an evil heart of unbelief, and shows how God uses meandering, jealousy, witnessing others' victories, and battle to provoke His people to move into the life He has promised.

Using Israel's thirty-eight years of wandering in Deuteronomy 2, Pastor Miles teaches that the deadly contagion that quarantined a generation in the wilderness was unbelief, and that God uses aimless wandering, provoked jealousy, and the discomfort of defeat to stir His people to trust Him and possess the life He has promised.

Drawing from Deuteronomy 1, Pastor Miles teaches that God's aim is to make us dependable people who can speak order into chaos—but this is only possible as we ourselves become dependent upon Him. Using Israel's failure to enter the Promised Land out of fear and self-reliance, he calls believers to enlightened reliance upon God rather than independence.