Line Upon Line

Teaching from Nehemiah 2:11-20, Pastor Mark explains that the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls is the restoration of God's covenant with Israel, and draws from it three calls for believers: to assess our broken world with a sober mind, to be a testimony of God's good work rather than reproach, and to be doers and not merely hearers—players on the field, not fans.

Continuing through the book of Nehemiah, Pastor Miles examines how Nehemiah prayed for four months before speaking one decisive sentence to the king, teaching that persistent prayer prepares us, attunes us to heaven, and moves God to act on behalf of His people. He shows that when God moves us to pray, He often moves us to act—and that such God-ordained action will always meet opposition.

A contextual introduction to the book of Nehemiah that traces Israel's history through the Deuteronomic principle of conditional blessing—obedience leading to blessing, disobedience to exile—and arrives at Nehemiah's grief-stricken, prayerful response to the ruin of Jerusalem as a model for God's people in distressing times.

Pastor Miles introduces a summer study in the book of Nehemiah by tracing the "deuteronomic principle"—God's conditional framework of blessing and cursing—through Israel's history of faithfulness, idolatry, exile, and return. He shows how Nehemiah's distress over ruined Jerusalem and his response of weeping, fasting, prayer, and confession model how God's people should respond to chaotic and distr...

In the final section of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7), Pastor Miles examines Jesus's series of contrasts—two paths, two trees, two builders—to show that true, kingdom-worthy righteousness is not superficial religious performance but humble faith in and faithfulness to Christ alone. The teaching warns of false prophets and false disciples who say "Lord, Lord" yet are unknown by Jesus, urging...

Drawing on the week's news about the leaked Supreme Court draft on Roe v. Wade, Pastor Miles examines Matthew 7:1-5 to show that Jesus does not forbid all judgment but condemns hypocritical, self-righteous judgment. True righteousness in Christ requires humble self-examination — removing the plank from our own eye before helping others with the speck in theirs.

Continuing the Sermon on the Mount series, Pastor Miles examines Matthew 6 and Jesus' teaching on charity, prayer, fasting, and especially wealth, calling believers to lay up treasure in heaven rather than earth. The core lesson: our focus determines our devotion, so we must seek first the kingdom of God and refuse to divide our loyalty between God and riches.

Pastor Miles launches the "Unmasking Jesus" series by showing that Jesus is the Word made flesh who unveils the full glory of God, and that beholding Him transforms us. Drawing on the opening Beatitudes and the call to perfection in the Sermon on the Mount, he argues that righteousness comes not by rule-keeping but by recognizing our poverty of spirit and receiving Christ's righteousness, so that...

A Resurrection Sunday message tracing the life and failures of Simon Peter through the Gospels, culminating in the angel's words "go and tell his disciples and Peter" — a reminder that the glorious good news of the resurrection is that Jesus Christ forgives failures and sinners.

On Palm Sunday, Pastor Miles teaches from Deuteronomy 16 on Israel's appointed feasts—Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles—showing how these times of rest, remembrance, and rejoicing ultimately point forward to Christ. He traces the Passover lamb from Exodus 12 to its fulfillment in Jesus, the Lamb of God, leading into communion.

Prompted by the Will Smith–Chris Rock incident at the Oscars, Pastor Miles examines the biblical concept of *lex talionis* (the law of retaliation) from Genesis through the law of Moses to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, arguing that "an eye for an eye" was a limitation rather than a license. He concludes that the way of Christ is the way of mercy, since God showed us mercy when we deserved retributio...

Continuing through Deuteronomy 15, Pastor Miles teaches the biblical principles of the sabbatical release of debts, generosity to the poor, and stewardship of wealth, showing that economic exploitation always brings a curse while open-handed obedience brings God's blessing. The teaching distinguishes the tithe from charity and frames believers as stewards, not owners, who are blessed in order to b...

Continuing in Deuteronomy 14, Pastor Miles teaches that as children of God, our Father has a say in how we view and prioritize our money, focusing on the biblical principle of the tithe. He explains what the tithe is, why we give it both before and after the law, and how to practically apply it as joyful, cheerful New Testament worship that God promises to bless.

Drawing from Deuteronomy 14, Pastor Miles teaches that to be a child of God means surrendering lordship over one's own body—both what we do to it and what we put into it—because we have been bought with a price and belong to God as our Father. He contrasts this counter-cultural, surrendered mindset with our culture's worship of personal autonomy and warns against using these principles to judge or...

Continuing the verse-by-verse study of Deuteronomy, this teaching from chapter 13 warns that beyond merely forgetting God, believers face the more dangerous threat of being seduced and deceived away from faithfulness. Moses charges Israel to guard against false prophets, deceptive dreamers, and corrosive relationships, dealing decisively with anything that would pull them from wholehearted devotio...

Teaching from Deuteronomy 12, Pastor Miles examines proper worship under four headings—the place, pattern, purity, and purpose of Israel's worship—and applies these to the Christian's call to sanctification, tearing down idols and exalting Christ alone. He frames the message with hope from Matthew 24 and John 14 for living unshaken in tumultuous times.

Teaching from Deuteronomy 11 (and 30, 10) showing that God delights to bless His people, but His blessings are conditional upon fearing Him, walking in His ways, loving Him, and keeping His commandments. Pastor Miles warns against the two great pitfalls of unfaithfulness (idolatry) and forgetfulness, calling individuals and the nation to choose life and blessing by returning to the Lord.

Pastor Miles surveys the rampant chaos and confusion of postmodern Western culture and shows from Deuteronomy 10 that God is the Creator who brings order out of chaos by His word. He teaches that departing from God's law—whether etched on stone or written on the human heart—inevitably produces chaos, while courageously walking in God's word brings blessing.

Returning to the book of Deuteronomy after a two-year hiatus, Pastor Miles reviews how God delivered Israel and brought them to the border of the promised land—not because of their righteousness but because of His love and grace—and warns against the snare of self-righteousness.

Pastor Miles traces the overarching story of the Bible—creation, fall, redemption, and restoration—from the garden of Genesis to the new creation of Revelation, centering on the promise of Genesis 3:15 fulfilled in Jesus. He then calls believers, as ambassadors of Christ entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, to connect the people around them with the gospel.

Pastor Miles teaches that human beings were created for connection, a need confirmed by the COVID social-distancing experiment and by Scripture's declaration that "it is not good that man should be alone." He argues that the deep oneness lost in the fall is restored only through Christ's work on the cross, and is practically experienced through trusting Christ and becoming an engaged participant i...

Pastor Miles examines our cultural moment of widespread distrust and "shaking" through the lens of Isaiah 19, arguing that God shakes the things we trust in so we will turn to the only unshakable refuge—life in connection with God through Jesus Christ.

In this "state of the church" address, Pastor Miles reflects on how dramatically culture has changed and explains why, beginning in 2009, Cross Connection Church chose to simplify and focus—pruning programs to recover the essentials of the early church so it could effectively reach a transformed, increasingly post-Christian culture.

Tracing Peter's journey from his miraculous catch to his denial and restoration, this teaching shows that failure is part of the human condition and that God's response to our sin is not condemnation but a call to repent and follow Him again. Using New Year's resolutions as a backdrop, Pastor Jason reminds us that our failures don't break God's plan and that Jesus continually pulls sinners close.

On the Sunday after Christmas, Pastor Miles reflects on how Jesus—though fully God and fully man—grew strong in spirit, full of wisdom, and in favor with God and man during nearly thirty years of obscurity. He exhorts the church to pursue that same transformation in the new year through four steps from Colossians 3: seek, set, put off, and put on.