Line Upon Line

Returning to a study in Deuteronomy 1, Pastor Miles teaches that times of crisis expose the need for leaders and experts who possess not just knowledge but wisdom, understanding, and faith in God. Using Israel's twelve spies as a case study, he warns that expert data alone—however true—must be balanced by trust in God, and invites listeners to find rest by placing their faith in Jesus.

Drawing from Deuteronomy 1, Pastor Miles teaches that in chaotic, uncertain times we are in desperate need of leaders—and citizens—marked by knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and faith. Using the twelve spies as a case study, he warns that the data of experts, while true, must be balanced by wisdom, understanding, and trust in God.

Preaching on Easter Sunday in the midst of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Pastor Miles uses the road to Emmaus account in Luke 24 to show that the risen Jesus draws near to grieving, confused disciples whose hopes have been shattered. Just as Jesus walked with Cleopas and his companion, He is nearer than we think, aware of our burdens, and eager to give us perspective, peace, and Himself.

Pastor Miles teaches from James 1:2-4 on Palm Sunday, showing how God uses trying circumstances—including the present coronavirus crisis—as chosen tools to test, purify, and mature the believer's faith. He calls Christians to choose joy in trials because God is at work completing the believer into Christlikeness, and closes with communion and a gospel invitation.

Teaching from Philippians 1, Pastor Miles draws encouragement from Paul writing in lockdown to a house-meeting church, showing that even bound and uncertain circumstances can turn out for the furtherance of the gospel and for God's transforming work in us. He closes with a gospel invitation and the assurance that temporary trials remind Christians of eternal glory.

Speaking to his church amid the early COVID-19 pandemic, Pastor Miles addresses how Christians should respond to global chaos, urging wisdom, responsiveness, and trust in God. Drawing from John 9, Isaiah 26, and especially Philippians 4:4-9, he teaches that believers can rejoice, remain steady, find peace through persistent prayer, and fix their attention on God so as to draw near to the God of pe...

Drawing from Israel's failure of nerve at Kadesh Barnea in Deuteronomy 1, Pastor Miles addresses the fear and uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis, urging believers to trust in the God who stands above all troubling circumstances. He warns that unbelief grieves God and forfeits His blessing, while faith in Christ offers peace that becomes a powerful witness to a fearful world.

Moses' instruction to Israel's judges to "judge righteously" reveals our innate, God-given capacity to make judgments and society's need for justice administered rightly, impartially, and courageously. Yet because God is the perfect Judge who sees everything, we cannot stand before His righteous judgment and need the mercy and grace provided through Jesus' New Covenant.

Drawing from Deuteronomy 1:16-18, Pastor Miles argues that a culture survives only when righteous, impartial, and courageous leaders apply justice according to an objective, divinely-given moral standard. He contends that postmodernism's rejection of a superordinate rule and a moral lawgiver destabilizes society, and that the church must serve as a prophetic voice courageously calling people back...

Drawing from Moses' charge to Israel at Kadesh Barnea in Deuteronomy 1, Pastor Miles teaches that God is always calling His people to move out of comfort and into the blessing He has prepared, recounting the church's recent history and his own decision to stay and lead rather than relocate. He urges the congregation to overcome fear and discouragement, plug in to serve, and pursue the much land th...

Drawing on Deuteronomy 1:9-15, Pastor Miles teaches that God ordered Israel as a "Democratic Republican theocracy" governed by wise, understanding, and knowledgeable leaders who rise through a competence hierarchy. He contrasts this biblical worldview with modern sociological theory that sees all hierarchy as oppressive, tracing that critical idea back to the serpent's lie in Genesis 3.

Drawing from Deuteronomy 1 and Exodus 18, Pastor Miles teaches that admitting "I'm not able" is wisdom, not weakness, and that humbly seeking, weighing, and acting upon wise counsel spares us from much pain and trouble. He walks through Moses' decision to share leadership at Jethro's counsel and offers practical guidance for identifying and emulating genuinely wise people.

Pastor Miles opens the book of Deuteronomy by examining how Israel turned an eleven-day journey into forty years of wandering through unbelief, fear, and self-reliance, and challenges believers not to merely experience redemption but to press on and lay hold of the abundant life and purpose for which Christ has laid hold of them.

Drawing from Genesis 2, this teaching shows that God created humanity for connection—with Him and with one another—a truth confirmed by both Scripture and modern science. Though sin in Genesis 3 brought separation and destruction, Jesus came to destroy sin, reconcile us, and restore that oneness, which is now expressed in the life of the church.

A new-year vision message tracing the Bible's meta-narrative—creation, fall, redemption, restoration—to show that life through Jesus is the basis for being connected to God and to one another. Pastor Miles prepares the congregation for communion by remembering Christ's finished work, which gives clarity in the present and a future hope.

Drawing from Jacob's dream of the ladder in Genesis 28, Pastor Miles argues that the universal human desire for transcendence is itself evidence that we were created by God for connection with Him, and he offers five lines of evidence for transcendent reality against the skeptic's claim that the material world is all there is.

In the final message of a Christmas series on the gifts of God, Pastor Miles teaches that hope is an essential, God-given gift that the advent of Jesus brings into a broken, hopeless world. Biblical hope is not blind optimism or wishful thinking but confident certainty grounded in God's faithful promises—an anchor for the soul that should move us to draw near to God, hold fast to faith, encourage...

Set within Paul's teaching on spiritual gifts, this Christmas message presents love as the most excellent gift of God, supremely revealed in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Pastor Miles shows that the gift of love is essential for life, shines in Christ's coming, brings great joy, frees from oppression, and is meant to be shared with all people.

Drawing on Ephesians 1 and a chain of supporting passages, Pastor Miles teaches that God is a gift-giving God who delights to bless His people, and that every good gift comes from Him for our enjoyment, for His glory, and for the blessing of others. He calls believers to identify the gifts that bring them joy and steward them to bless others and glorify God.

Drawing on 1 Corinthians 13, this teaching explores love as one of God's good gifts—essential for life, supremely revealed in the incarnation of Jesus, and the source of great joy. Pastor Miles urges believers to share the gift of God's love with others during the Christmas season.

A teaching on gratitude as one of God's gifts meant to be given away, exploring why we should be thankful—because God is good, gives good gifts, commands it, it benefits us, and it inspires others—and how to overcome what stops us from showing it.

In this final message of a series in Job, Pastor Miles ties Job's story to James's call to "count it all joy" in trials, showing that God promises a blessing—the crown of life—to those who patiently endure suffering. Job's restoration is a poetic picture of resurrection, pointing to the eternal hope that gives believers proper perspective and hopeful endurance in every trial.

An overview of Job 3–37 that examines how Job and his friends wrestle with the problem of suffering through the worldview of retribution (sowing and reaping), and shows that the book does not so much answer why God allows suffering as it reveals our flawed assumptions and points to humanity's true need for a mediator, ultimately found in Jesus Christ.

A study of Job 1 that re-examines who "the Satan" is in the heavenly court scene, argues that this figure functions as a kind of divine prosecutor rather than the red-and-pitchfork devil of Western imagination, and presses the book's central question on the reader: do we serve God for who He is, or only for what we can get from Him? Job's worshipful response to catastrophic loss becomes the model...

Through Job chapter 2, this teaching addresses the problem of suffering, showing that while everyone suffers, the biblical writers never charge God with wrong, and that the righteous sufferer trusts God has a purpose in suffering even when that purpose is unknown. It culminates in the greater-than-Job, Jesus Christ, who maintained His integrity in adversity for the joy set before Him.