Line Upon Line

Studying Paul's final hours as a free man in Acts 22, Pastor Miles shows how God works all things together for good even in trials, and draws four exhortations: God's heart is for those outside our circle, we should be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, and we should use every available resource and opportunity to reach others for the kingdom.

Tracing the biblical arc from creation to the church, Pastor Miles teaches that humanity was made for community and communion with God, that both were broken in the fall, and that Christ came to reconcile us to God and one another—making the church God's plan for restoring genuine, satisfying community.

Opening a new series called "Life in Connection," Pastor Miles uses Habakkuk 2:2-3 to teach that God has good plans for His people, makes those plans known through God-inspired vision, and calls His people to test, write, and act on that vision. He then unveils Cross Connection Church's vision and mission to live a life in connection with God and one another through worship, fellowship, disciplesh...

Drawing on Peter's pattern of stirring believers up by reminder, Pastor Miles works through 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18, exhorting the church to warn the unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all, refuse to render evil for evil, and to rejoice, pray, and give thanks—the explicitly stated will of God.

Pastor Miles uses the year-end season to give a "prophetic encouragement" rather than a sensational prophecy update, warning against speculative eschatology while affirming the certain hope of Christ's second coming and His promise to make all things new. He calls believers to faithful watching, waiting, and working—taking the gospel to the world—until Jesus returns.

The fourth message in a Christmas series answers "Why Christmas?" by showing that Jesus came to give abundant life, which is the unmitigated and perfect experience—now and forever—of the fullness of God's presence, summed up in the word "joy." Pastor Miles connects the angels' announcement of "good tidings of great joy" to the believer's call to carry that good news to all people.

The third message in a "Why Christmas?" series argues that Christmas matters because life is precious to God—who is life, gives life, and loves life. Because death is a foreign agent introduced by humanity's fall, the gift-giving God came in the person of Jesus Christ to abolish death and bring everlasting life.

A Christmas teaching on why God gave Jesus, tracing the "hints" (prophecies) God left throughout the Old Testament about His perfect gift for a broken world. From Genesis 3:15 forward, God progressively revealed who the Messiah would be, where He would come from, and what He would do.

Opening a Christmas series, Pastor Miles walks through Genesis 1–3 to show that God is a generous, gift-giving Creator whose "very good" world was broken by sin. The fundamental answer to "Why Christmas?" is that the world is broken, and Christ's coming addresses that brokenness.

Drawing from Ephesians 5:15 and its surrounding context, Pastor Miles teaches that believers must walk carefully and wisely, "redeeming the time," because we live in evil days and have a God-given purpose to fulfill. He contrasts the world's self-indulgent, "do whatever you want" mindset with the Spirit-filled life evidenced by worship, thanksgiving, and submission to one another.

In this closing study of Romans, Paul gives a series of parting exhortations: mark and avoid those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to sound doctrine, become well-versed in what is good so the counterfeit is easily detected, and rest in the promise that the God of peace will crush Satan under the church's feet. The teaching ends with Paul's great doxology, that God alone is able to establ...

A study of Romans 16, showing first how God grants "honorable mention" in eternity to ordinary, faithful servants whose names are written in the Book of Life, and then how the church is to identify, avoid, and admonish those who cause divisions while remaining established by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the closing personal section of Romans, Paul affirms his confidence in the Roman believers, attributing all their goodness to God in them, and explains his calling as a frontier missionary to the Gentiles whose aim is to preach the Gospel where Christ has not been named. The teaching emphasizes that salvation, sanctification, and all good works are God's work for which He alone gets the glory.

Drawing from Romans 15:1-13, this teaching calls believers to reject the world's "survival of the fittest" mindset and instead follow Christ's example of self-denial—bearing with the weak and pleasing others for their growth. As ambassadors of God's kingdom, Christians may face the same reproach Christ endured, but they lay hold of joy, peace, and hope by faith and live united so that Jews and Gen...

Working through Romans 14, Pastor Miles teaches how Christians should handle "gray areas"—doubtful, nonessential matters the Bible does not directly address. Rather than judging or despising one another over differing convictions, believers are to receive one another, walk by faith, and pursue righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 13:8–14 teaches that the one debt we can never fully pay is the obligation to love one another, which fulfills the whole law. Because we cannot meet this command in our own strength, we depend on God's indwelling Spirit to empower us to love sacrificially, walk in the light, and put on Christ as our time grows short.

A verse-by-verse teaching on Romans 13:1-7 showing that civil government is a God-ordained institution, and that Christians are called both to submit to governing authorities (except when commanded to disobey God) and to support them through paying taxes, all as an expression of obedience to God and a path into the abundant Christian life.

Romans 12:9-21 contains roughly 45 practical exhortations that show how the believer actually lives out the abundant life Christ came to give. These commands are easy to understand but hard to apply, run contrary to our self-centered flesh, and are only possible through the enabling mercy and grace of God.

At Romans 12 Paul pivots from doctrine (orthodoxy) to practice (orthopraxy), showing how the believer experiences the abundant life now through submission, renunciation of the world, transformation by the renewing of the mind, sober self-evaluation, and active use of God-given spiritual gifts. The teaching closes with an exhortation to serve and give as faithful stewards of God's grace.

Paul declares that Israel's present unbelief is not permanent: their rejection of Jesus brought salvation to the Gentiles, but a day is coming when Israel will see the One they pierced and turn to Jesus in mass salvation. Gentile believers, grafted into the family tree of Abraham's faith by grace, must never boast against the natural branches but stand humbly in God's mercy.

Drawing on Romans 11:1-10, Pastor Miles teaches that God has not rejected Israel, His chosen people, despite their disobedience and rejection of the Messiah. Just as God preserved a faithful remnant of seven thousand in Elijah's day, He preserves today a remnant according to the election of grace—righteousness given freely through faith, never earned by lineage or works.

Working through Romans 10:14-21, Pastor Miles teaches that evangelism begins with prayer but demands the preaching of the Gospel, since faith comes by hearing the word of God, and is confirmed by lives so transformed by grace that they provoke unbelievers to jealousy. He explains how Israel, despite hearing God's word, failed to obey (believe) the Gospel, while God was found by Gentiles who never...

Working through Romans 10:1-13, Paul models a deep, prayerful desire for the salvation of his countrymen Israel, who had zeal for God but were ignorant of His righteousness, seeking to establish their own. The teaching shows that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, that righteousness comes by faith and not works, and that evangelism begins with specific, target...

Drawing on the prophets Hosea and Isaiah, Paul demonstrates in Romans 9:22-32 that God justly cast away unrepentant Israel while mercifully calling Gentiles to be "My people," proving that both Jew and Gentile become God's people only by responding in faith to His merciful call, not by works or ancestry.

Working through Romans 9:19-24, Pastor Miles addresses the objection that God is unjust to find fault with those whose hearts He hardens, showing that the potter has sovereign authority over the clay. He argues that God works all things according to His foreknowledge, with goodness and justice, making vessels for honor and dishonor from the same fallen lump and calling people—both Jew and Gentile—...