Line Upon Line

Paul tells Timothy that God's "great house," the church, contains both vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor; though God graciously welcomes all kinds of people, He intends to transform them. Through pursuing godliness and fleeing youthful lusts, believers become vessels of honor useful to the Master, who is an expert at turning broken, dishonorable vessels into display pieces for His glory.

Paul's last words to Timothy charge believers to be diligent workers who rightly divide the word of truth, while avoiding quarrels over words and shunning the subversive, divisive teaching that spreads like gangrene in the church. The teaching distinguishes essential doctrines from non-essentials and calls Christians to graciously hold the line without dividing over minor points.

Building on a series exploring Jesus's purpose statements, Pastor Miles teaches from John 10:10 that Christ purposed to give abundant life by destroying the work of the thief, and that we lay hold of this abundant, meaningful life by adopting Christ's evangelistic purpose as our own. The teaching closes with a call to write down and pray for three lost people.

Pastor Miles concludes a series on meaning and purpose by examining John 10:10, showing that Christ's evangelistic purpose—to give abundant life by destroying the work of the destroyer—becomes the framework for a meaningful human life. He argues that we find life more abundantly by adopting Christ's own purpose, even though that path invites opposition.

Through the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19, Pastor Miles teaches that grasping Jesus's purpose—to seek and save the lost—reframes our own purpose, giving meaningful direction to every place God has placed us. We are called to be lights in dark places, bearing witness to the truth wherever we live, work, and play.

Using the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19, Pastor Miles argues that grasping the purpose of Jesus—who came to seek and save the lost—reframes our own sense of purpose, showing that God has placed each believer where they are to be a light in dark places. This is the second message in a short series on purpose.

Opening a new series on purpose, Pastor Miles examines Mark 10:35-45, where Jesus corrects James and John's pursuit of greatness and declares His own purpose: "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." This sacrificial-service purpose stands contrary to humanity's natural will to power and gives believers a deeper, more meaningful purpose than the world can offer.

Drawing from Romans 5, Pastor Miles concludes a Christmas series on the spiritual needs every person has, arguing that the abundant life is impossible without God's love, grace, peace, and hope—which together produce a joy that is not circumstantial but increasing and enduring. This joy, announced by angels as "good tidings of great joy for all people," is available to everyone but found only in Christ.

This Advent message teaches that our deepest spiritual needs—grace, peace, and hope—all flow from the love of God, which is grounded in God's very nature and demonstrated in the gift of Christ on the cross. Drawing chiefly from Romans 5, Pastor Miles argues that because we have received God's love, we are compelled to love God and to love others with the patient, kind, sincere love described in 1 Corinthians 13.

Through the burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, this teaching shows how experiencing the love of Christ at the cross transforms secret followers into public, fully invested disciples. What was the worst day in history for the disciples became the best day for these two men, because Jesus' death moved them to act.