Line Upon Line

Teaching from Luke 13:31-35, where Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod wants to kill him, and Jesus responds undeterred because he knew his identity, purpose, and destiny. Pastor Miles applies this to how a settled, anchored Christian responds to the constant threats of a broken world by remembering that our ultimate citizenship is in heaven.

Jesus, journeying toward Jerusalem and the cross, answers the question "Are there few who will be saved?" not with a number but with a challenge: strive to enter the narrow door by trusting in His finished work rather than in religious performance. The proof that we belong to Him is not our practice but the presence of the Holy Spirit evidenced by the fruit of love.

Teaching from Luke 12:49–59, Pastor Miles examines Jesus' call to discern "the signs of the times" and applies it personally, confessing that for years he ignored God's signs to rest and ask for help—culminating in a hypertensive crisis. He announces he will "preach less to reach more," urging the church to honor its whole pastoral team, pray for its leaders, and step into service.

Returning to Luke 12, Pastor Miles teaches that Jesus's warning against "the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" is rooted in the Old Testament Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread: God's people are delivered by the blood of the Lamb and then purge out sin because they have been redeemed. The great danger is that religious commitment can become mere performance, a covering we hide behind, when what we truly need is the broken body and shed blood of Christ, our Passover Lamb.

Through the post-resurrection encounter between Jesus and Peter at the Sea of Galilee (John 21), this teaching shows that Jesus is a restorer who seeks out the broken and failed. Rather than condemning Peter for his three denials, Christ takes him back to the scene of his failure to redeem it, redefining Peter not by his weakness but by Christ's calling.

Following Paul's second gospel journey in Acts 16, this teaching shows how God led his workers by closing doors and opening others—into Troas, Philippi, the hearts of Lydia and a Philippian jailer—and calls believers to wait on God, do his revealed will, work wisely, and endure opposition as ambassadors of Christ.

In John 5, Jesus heals a man who had been an invalid for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda, seeking him out twice—first to heal his body and later to make him whole. The teaching shows how we can fixate on "the moving of the water" and miss Christ, how his commands carry the power to fulfill them, and how his overflowing grace is meant to flow through us to others.

Through the story of the woman at the well in John 4, Pastor Miles teaches that Jesus is not merely a historical figure to be studied but a living person to be known—the seeking Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine, reveals both the gift of God and himself as the Giver, and transforms those he finds into ambassadors who bring others to him.

In a verse-by-verse study of John 3, Pastor Miles examines Jesus's nighttime conversation with Nicodemus, showing that no amount of religious effort can make a person righteous. True entrance into the kingdom of God comes only through being born again—a work of God by the Spirit through faith in Christ, who was lifted up on the cross as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness.

Through the tragic account of David, Bathsheba, and Uriah in 2 Samuel 11–12, this teaching traces the anatomy of sin and shows why David—despite his grievous fall—is called a man after God's own heart: not because he was sinless, but because he confessed, repented, and threw himself on God's grace. The message emphasizes that God is the first mover in dealing with sin, that He always provides exits from temptation, and that He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.