Line Upon Line

Pastor Miles concludes his "Why Christmas Is" series by showing that Christmas is God's response to the brokenness of a world ruined by sin and death. Because God is the gift-giving God who treasures life, He sent Jesus to die for our life, bringing everlasting joy and good news to all people.

A Christmas Eve Eve message that recounts the details of the nativity from Luke and Matthew, set against the larger series theme of why Christmas exists: because the world is broken, because God is a gift-giving God, and because to God life is precious. Pastor Miles invites listeners to experience, express, and extend the joy of Christ to others.

This Christmas teaching answers the question "Why Christmas?" by tracing life and death from Genesis through the Gospel of John, showing that because life is precious to the life-giving God, He sent His Son Jesus to deal with the death and brokenness brought by sin. The message culminates in the invitation to receive everlasting life through trusting in Christ.

Beginning from Jesus' words in Acts 20:35 that "it is more blessed to give than to receive," this teaching argues that Christmas exists because God is a gift-giving God who, unable to contain His excitement over the perfect gift for a broken world, dropped prophetic "hints" throughout the Old Testament until that gift—Jesus Christ—was finally revealed.

A meditation on Thanksgiving rooted in 1 Timothy 4:1-5 and the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17, teaching that believers who know the truth should be the most thankful people on earth, offering public gratitude to God always and for all things. Pastor Miles shows that Jesus sees and answers those who call on him by faith, that faith must produce obedience, and that wholeness is an added blessing...

Pastor Miles argues that the *why* of Christmas matters more than its cultural trappings, tracing the story from the very good creation of Genesis 1–2 to the fall in Genesis 3, which left the world broken. Christmas is essential precisely because the world is broken, and the missionary God steps into that brokenness to seek and heal lost humanity.

A teaching on 1 Timothy 3:16, framing the verse as an early church hymn that exalts the fundamental truth the church possesses: God was manifest in the flesh. Pastor Miles walks through the six lines of the doxology to show that Jesus, the incarnate God, brought to light life and immortality and is to be proclaimed, believed on, and worshiped as the risen Living Christ.

A verse-by-verse teaching on 1 Timothy 2:8-15 examining how men and women who profess godliness are called to conduct themselves in the church, with emphasis on inward beauty, godly conduct, and joyful submission to God's created order. Pastor Miles argues that these "difficult" passages, rightly understood, reveal a good God who calls His people to a distinctive way of life for their good.

Pastor Miles teaches through 1 Timothy 3:1–7, showing how God transforms the desires of His people to serve, and then explains the biblical qualifications for overseeing elders in the church. He addresses four commonly misunderstood qualifications—husband of one wife, able to teach, not given to wine, and ruling one's household well—and warns that elders can be disqualified by their conduct.

A verse-by-verse study of 1 Timothy 3:8-15 on the qualifications of deacons, framed by Jesus's teaching that greatness in His kingdom comes through servanthood. Pastor Miles explains that the church is led by servants who serve well, that qualified servants display evident character (not academic credentials), and that both men and women serve as equals before God.

A study of 1 Timothy 3:1 and its surrounding verses on the qualifications for elders/overseers in the church. Pastor Miles teaches that God transforms the desires of believers to serve Him, but desire alone does not qualify; elders must display the fruit of the Spirit and can be disqualified by misconduct.

Pastor Miles teaches through 1 Timothy 2:9-15, addressing the proper conduct of women in the church amid a cultural moment of workplace harassment headlines, arguing that the passage flows from a good God who calls godly women to inward beauty, learning, and a willing yielding to God's created order as an act of worship. He contends Paul appeals to creation rather than culture, and that the office...

Using Jesus' Great Commandment in Mark 12, Nick (the junior high pastor) leads a "youth takeover" teaching that functions as a spiritual pit stop, walking the congregation through what it means to love God with all their strength, mind, heart, and soul. He pairs each aspect with a self-examining question, urging hearers to put in effort while trusting the Lord, and closes by pointing to Christ's s...

Drawing from 1 Timothy 2, Pastor Miles teaches that prayer should be a first-order priority in the church—both private and public—and that we are called to pray for all people without distinction, including those in authority and even those opposed to Christ. Acceptable prayer aligns our desires with God's desire for the salvation of all, which in turn compels us to evangelize.

A difficult passage about men and women in the church becomes an occasion to defend the Bible's good intent and, surprisingly, to call Christian men first to lives of holiness, peace, and Spirit-walking in every place. Pastor Miles argues that hard sayings are hard for a reason and that the gospel, wherever it goes, elevates the dignity of women.

Paul exhorts Timothy to make prayer a priority in the church—supplications, intercessions, and thanksgiving offered for all people, including kings and authorities—so that believers might live peaceable lives. Acceptable prayer aligns our desires with God's desire for the salvation of all, making prayer the first weapon of the Christian's warfare and the first step of evangelism.

Working through 1 Timothy 1:8-20, Pastor Miles teaches that God has entrusted believers with the glorious gospel and empowered them—despite their sin—to be ambassadors of His grace, because Christ's very nature is to save sinners. Paul, the self-described chief of sinners, becomes God's masterpiece displaying mercy as a pattern for those who will believe.

Working from 1 Timothy 1:11-20, Pastor Miles teaches that the glorious gospel has been entrusted to believers as a sacred stewardship, that God enables and uses even the chief of sinners as ambassadors, and that the saved become God's masterpiece displaying His mercy and grace to a watching world.

Teaching from 1 Timothy 1, Pastor Miles explains that Paul charged Timothy to keep the Ephesian church in sound doctrine and away from fables and endless genealogies. The purpose of right doctrine is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith—so the fruit of a church reveals whether its teaching is true.

Teaching from 1 Timothy 1:8, Pastor Miles explains that the law of God is good if used lawfully—it was not given to make people good but to convict sinners of their need and point them to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. He warns against preaching bad law both from the pulpit and through a "fake good life" of accidental Phariseeism.

Paul charges Timothy to remain in Ephesus to guard the church's teaching, leading and teaching sound doctrine while defending against error. The mark of right doctrine is not impressive talk but love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.

Teaching from John 1:29-46 on how John the Baptist and the first disciples pointed people to Jesus, and how every believer is called to do the same by simply inviting others to "come and see." Pastor Miles shows that Jesus seeks seekers, knows them fully, and has a plan for everyone who comes to Him.

Drawing on Hebrews 12, Pastor Miles teaches that hope for a better future—anchored in Christ and the glory of heaven—enables believers to endure present suffering. He argues that suffering is temporary, purposeful, and used by God in His loving discipline to make us more like Christ.

A verse-by-verse study of the closing exhortations of Hebrews 13, showing how genuine faith in Jesus produces excellence in Christian living. Pastor Miles works through six practical marks of a transformed life: loving others in word and deed, honoring marriage, refusing the love of money, following godly leaders, and offering God acceptable sacrifices of praise and good works.

A verse-by-verse walk through Hebrews 11, the "hall of faith," drawing eleven truths about faith from the lives of the named and unnamed men and women who trusted the invisible God against all odds. The teaching emphasizes that righteousness comes by faith, not works, and that we are called to endure faithfully like those who came before us.