Line Upon Line

Drawing from 1 Timothy 6:11-16, Pastor Miles teaches that the man and woman of God are called to flee the carnal traits of the old nature (pride, envy, strife, greed) and pursue the new nature in Christ (righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness). This putting-off and putting-on, empowered by God's indwelling Spirit, is the "good fight of faith" by which Christians lay hold of th...

Drawing from 1 Timothy 6 and its parallel in Ephesians 6, Pastor Miles teaches that how we work matters to God because our work represents Him, calling Christians to labor with honesty, integrity, and sincerity for God's glory rather than for selfish gain. He warns that pursuing riches as the goal leads to ruin, while godliness with contentment is the truly great gain.

Working through 1 Timothy 6:1 alongside its parallel in Ephesians 6, Pastor Miles teaches a godly work ethic: how and for whom we work matters to God, because our labor represents Him. He warns that pursuing riches as our motivation leads to ruin, while godliness with contentment is the truest and greatest gain.

Drawing from 1 Timothy 5:17-25, Pastor Miles examines the universal human drive toward purity and shows that, although Scripture commands us to be holy, no one is naturally pure and we therefore need God's supernatural power. He ties Paul's seemingly odd instructions about elders, wine, and hidden sin to the truth that personal religious standards do not equal righteousness—only the Spirit's fruit...

Drawing from 1 Timothy 5:17-25, Pastor Miles explores humanity's universal drive toward purity and morality, arguing that since we cannot make ourselves righteous by our own efforts or external standards, we need God's supernatural power; he ties this to Paul's instructions on appointing, disciplining, and honoring church elders, showing that private impurity will eventually surface and that the t...

Continuing through 1 Timothy 5, Pastor Miles teaches that off-course churches always lack qualified elders and sound doctrine, and that the remedy is to qualify elders by biblical requirements, appoint them, support them with "double honor," discipline them when they sin, and never appoint them hastily.

A Resurrection Sunday teaching from John 20 examining how Mary, John, and Peter each "saw" the empty tomb differently, tracing a progression from casual observation to attentive investigation to believing understanding. Pastor Miles argues that the empty tomb requires a response and that the most logical decision, given the evidence and eyewitness testimony, is faith in the risen Christ.

A call to remember Christ's saving purpose, to trust the power of God in the gospel, and to overcome fear of evangelism by learning to answer skeptics' questions with questions that reach the heart. Pastor Miles equips believers to share their faith in their everyday mission fields with gentleness, respect, and confidence.

Pastor Miles addresses the most common question he receives—"What is God's will for my life?"—and answers it from Philippians 2 through its four movements: exhortation, example, exercise, and exhibition. He argues that God leads us into His will primarily by transforming our desires as we delight in Him, follow Christ's sacrificial example, and live for the joy and interests of others.

Drawing from Philippians 2:1-16, Pastor Miles tackles the most commonly asked pastoral question—"What is God's will for my life?"—and shows that God leads us into His will not by audible voices or coin flips, but by transforming our desires as we delight in Him and follow the sacrificial example of Christ.

Through the contrasting stories of Naomi and Hannah, this teaching argues that our perspective and mindset—not our circumstances—determine how we walk through suffering, and that real peace is found only by pouring our hearts out to God rather than blaming Him. God works purposes in our trials we cannot see, ultimately weaving Naomi's and Hannah's lives together into the line of David and the comi...

Drawing on the early church's practice of Koinonia in Acts 2 and Paul's instructions to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5, this teaching examines how the church is to honor and provide for widows who are genuinely in need, while also calling believers to care for their own families first. It establishes biblical principles for wisely discerning genuine need and honoring godly witness.

Drawing on his own life as a commercial fisherman, the teacher uses Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:35-41 to show that following Jesus moves us from the "classroom" of faith into the testing field where faith is proven. He argues that fear is the opposite of faith, that God's promises and love are trustworthy in every storm, and that the only truly unsinkable vessel is the boat occupied by the s...

Drawing from Paul's instruction to Timothy on how to honorably treat older and younger men and women, Pastor Miles argues that gender and family are part of God's created order, broken by the fall, and restored through Jesus—so the church should be the place where gender clarity and familial wholeness are rightly expressed.

Drawing from 1 Timothy 4:9-16, Pastor Miles teaches that every believer is an example to someone at every stage of faith, and that our lives—more than our words—teach others how to walk with Christ. He calls Christians to labor in godliness, living irreproachable lives that are exemplary in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith, and purity.

Teaching from 2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6, this message explores how believers are led by Christ in a triumphal procession, diffuse the fragrance of Christ to the world, and serve as Jesus' living letters to those around them. The recurring theme is that we are not sufficient in ourselves—our sufficiency and the power of the message come entirely from Christ.

Building on Pastor Miles's teaching through 1 Timothy, this message uses Jesus's teaching in Luke 6:43-49 to show that our hearts and character are revealed by the fruit of our lives, and that only a life founded on the rock of Christ will stand when the storms come. The teaching calls believers not merely to hear Jesus's words but to do them, and invites the unsaved to lay a lasting foundation in...

Drawing on Paul's exhortation to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, Pastor Miles teaches that every follower of Jesus is an example to someone at every stage of faith, and that we should labor by God's grace to live exemplary lives in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith, and purity. Because our lives—even more than our words—are constantly teaching others how to walk with Christ, we must give attention...

Teaching from 1 Timothy 4:6 on Paul's charge to Timothy to be a good minister of Jesus Christ. Pastor Miles argues that all Christians are called, commissioned, and gifted as servants, and shows how to be good ministers: by feeding on God's Word, carefully applying good doctrine, avoiding distracting false teachings, and exerting effort toward godliness.

Using the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus's mission statement to "seek and to save that which is lost," Pastor Miles calls the church to move from being a "sermon appreciation society" to a mobilized people who reach the lost through compassion, charity, and evangelism in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Teaching from 1 Timothy 4:1-5, this message warns that even a church planted by Paul and pastored by Timothy can drift from the faith—not chiefly into open immorality, but into the seductive sin of self-righteous religious legalism. Pastor Miles shows that Christ's finished work alone secures our righteousness, and that love, not spiritual self-discipline, is the clearest evidence of genuine faith...

Returning to a verse-by-verse study of 1 Timothy, Pastor Miles examines the Spirit's warning that in latter times some will depart from the faith—not chiefly into immorality but into the more seductive trap of religious legalism and self-righteousness. He argues that love is the clearest evidence of sound faith and that Christ's finished work alone secures our righteous standing.

Reflecting on the story of Zacchaeus, Pastor Miles teaches that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and that the church is called not to be a "sermon appreciation society" but a mobilized body that reaches the lost through compassion, charity, and evangelism. He shares the statistics of San Diego's lostness, the church's vision and name change, and a new church-planting partnership in Baltimo...

Filling in for Pastor Miles, executive pastor Mark Childress teaches from Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17:20-23, showing that the unity of the church is evangelistic, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and purifying. He ties it to Cross Connection's mission of connecting with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ, urging believers to join connect groups and serve.

Guest teacher Garrett Marks uses Proverbs 29:18 and the example of Daniel to call the church into a new year marked by gospel-centered vision and persistent prayer. He urges believers to surrender their broken past to God, to keep praying even when answers are delayed, and to reflect the light of Christ to a lost world.