Line Upon Line

Drawing on Isaiah 9:6, 26:3, and 53, Pastor Miles teaches that the perfect peace (shalom) every person desires and needs is found only in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose coming we celebrate at Christmas. He shows that this peace is received by faith, can be laid hold of now through the presence of the Holy Spirit and through prayer, and will be experienced in fullness in Christ's coming kingdom.

Pastor Miles reflects on the power of Christmas memories—using his own favorite childhood Christmas in England—to encourage believers that the unusual, distanced Christmas of 2020 can become an especially meaningful memorial pointing to Jesus. He shows that the advent of Jesus is both the advent of joy and the advent of a sure and steadfast hope, an anchor for the soul that a weary, hope-deprived world desperately needs.

Pastor Miles teaches that the advent of Jesus is the advent of joy, drawing from Isaiah 9 to show that the Messiah's coming brings an ever-increasing, eternal joy unlike the fleeting happiness the world pursues. He identifies gratitude and generous giving as two keys that unlock this joy, even in the difficult season of 2020.

Drawing from Deuteronomy 5, Pastor Miles explores the profound and discomforting reality that "God speaks with man." He explains why this truth unsettled ancient Israel, modern believers, and skeptics alike, and shows how the law reveals our sin and prepares the way for the Savior, Jesus Christ.

A study of the fifth commandment, "Honor your father and your mother," showing that honor means living according to the wisdom of Scripture in which parents are to train their children, and that breaking God's law—illustrated by David's sin with Bathsheba—dishonors one's family. The teaching closes with David's repentance in Psalm 51 and the call to confess sin and receive God's forgiving grace in Christ.

Preached days after the chaotic 2020 election, this teaching anchors believers in trusting God rather than earthly powers, then moves into the fourth commandment in Deuteronomy 5, presenting the Sabbath as both a command and a gracious gift of rest fulfilled ultimately in Christ.

Drawing from Luke 20:20-26, Pastor Miles examines how the Pharisees and Herodians—two opposed factions united only by their hatred of Jesus—tried to trap Him with a question about taxes, and how Jesus's reply to "render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" calls believers to a hope rooted in Christ rather than in politics or religious effort.

Through the story of the rich young ruler, paired with Jesus blessing the infants, this teaching shows that no one can earn salvation by their own works; our worth comes entirely from God's love. We are called to come to Jesus helpless like children, resting in His finished work rather than trusting in our own efforts.

Pastor Miles teaches from Deuteronomy 5 on the first three of the Ten Commandments, showing that God's law is fundamentally relational and covenantal. Because God redeems His people into a covenant relationship like marriage, He expects exclusivity, demands proper adoration and representation, and calls us to bear His name with solemnity.

Pastor Miles teaches that the basis of obedience to God's commandments is relationship, showing from Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 6 that God's prior act of redeeming and rescuing Israel makes His commands relevant and binding. He applies this to believers today, arguing that God's saving grace through Christ likewise calls us into a relationship animated by obedience.