Line Upon Line

Closing the summer study of Nehemiah, Pastor Miles shows that the book is fundamentally about remembrance: Israel forgot God, was exiled, then remembered and returned because God remembers His covenant and mercy. Nehemiah recorded his many deeds not for his own fame but so that God would remember him, and we too become memorable to God through our faith and faithfulness.

Using the framework of decision-making and the life of Joseph, Pastor Jason teaches from Nehemiah 11:1-2 that because our perspective is severely limited, faithfulness to God in every circumstance—pit, prison, or palace—is what God values, requires, and ultimately records.

Teaching through Nehemiah 10 (and 9:38), Pastor Jason examines the binding vow Israel made to follow God's law—their commitments against intermarriage with pagans, to honor the Sabbath, to give offerings, and to not neglect the house of God—while honestly facing humanity's inability to keep vows perfectly. He turns each point into a self-examining question, urging believers to be ruthless about wh...

Teaching through Nehemiah 9, Pastor Jason traces Israel's history of God's faithfulness and their repeated rebellion, showing that preparing for God's Word, recognizing our modern "golden calves," and responding with quick repentance is the path to joy and a right relationship with a God who loves us despite our failures.

Drawing from Nehemiah 8, where Ezra read and explained the Law to a repentant people, Lance Ralston explores three things: the importance of expository teaching, the call to repent immediately at the first whisper of conviction, and the truth that the joy of the Lord is the believer's strength.

Preaching from Nehemiah 7, Pastor Garrett teaches that completing the walls of Jerusalem was only the beginning—the great work God accomplishes must be protected through godly leadership, vigilant gatekeeping, divine vision, and faithful stewardship. He applies these principles to guarding our own hearts and to membership in the kingdom of God, whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Drawing from Nehemiah 6:15-16, Pastor Miles teaches that every great work of God begins with a vision, and that God characteristically uses unlikely, untrained, and underprepared people to accomplish what experts could not—if they will simply engage rather than be hindered by obstacles. He challenges believers to maintain an optimistic vision of the future rooted in Christ's coming reign and to as...

Through Nehemiah 6, this teaching shows how the enemy schemes to lure believers out of God's will through enticement, defamation, and deception, and how a focused heart, clear priorities, knowledge of God's Word, and prayer build the discernment needed to resist and finish the great work God has given us.

Teaching through Nehemiah 5, David Guzik shows how money problems—rooted in greed, famine, taxes, and crushing debt—created strife among God's people and stopped the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls without a single enemy arrow. Nehemiah's righteous confrontation, his refusal to profit off others, and his sacrificial generosity make him a striking picture of Jesus, who came not to be served but to...

Teaching from Nehemiah 4, Pastor Mark examines how God's sovereignty and man's responsibility work together when God's people face the enemy's threats and discouragement. He encourages believers—especially fathers on Father's Day—to pray rather than retaliate, to remember why they fight, and to commit to long obedience while trusting a Heavenly Father who fights for them.

Teaching through Nehemiah 3, Pastor Mark shows how the detailed list of families rebuilding Jerusalem's wall reveals a theme of accountability—putting God first, teaching children by example, honoring parents, and living with personal integrity and justice as the means by which God's people respond to a spiritually and physically broken nation.

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...