Line Upon Line

Drawing on the early church's practice of Koinonia in Acts 2 and Paul's instructions to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5, this teaching examines how the church is to honor and provide for widows who are genuinely in need, while also calling believers to care for their own families first. It establishes biblical principles for wisely discerning genuine need and honoring godly witness.

Drawing on his own life as a commercial fisherman, the teacher uses Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:35-41 to show that following Jesus moves us from the "classroom" of faith into the testing field where faith is proven. He argues that fear is the opposite of faith, that God's promises and love are trustworthy in every storm, and that the only truly unsinkable vessel is the boat occupied by the sleeping Savior.

Drawing from Paul's instruction to Timothy on how to honorably treat older and younger men and women, Pastor Miles argues that gender and family are part of God's created order, broken by the fall, and restored through Jesus—so the church should be the place where gender clarity and familial wholeness are rightly expressed.

Drawing from 1 Timothy 4:9-16, Pastor Miles teaches that every believer is an example to someone at every stage of faith, and that our lives—more than our words—teach others how to walk with Christ. He calls Christians to labor in godliness, living irreproachable lives that are exemplary in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith, and purity.

Teaching from 2 Corinthians 2:14-3:6, this message explores how believers are led by Christ in a triumphal procession, diffuse the fragrance of Christ to the world, and serve as Jesus' living letters to those around them. The recurring theme is that we are not sufficient in ourselves—our sufficiency and the power of the message come entirely from Christ.

Building on Pastor Miles's teaching through 1 Timothy, this message uses Jesus's teaching in Luke 6:43-49 to show that our hearts and character are revealed by the fruit of our lives, and that only a life founded on the rock of Christ will stand when the storms come. The teaching calls believers not merely to hear Jesus's words but to do them, and invites the unsaved to lay a lasting foundation in Christ.

Drawing on Paul's exhortation to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, Pastor Miles teaches that every follower of Jesus is an example to someone at every stage of faith, and that we should labor by God's grace to live exemplary lives in word, conduct, love, spirit, faith, and purity. Because our lives—even more than our words—are constantly teaching others how to walk with Christ, we must give attention to Scripture, doctrine, and a careful watch over how we live.

Teaching from 1 Timothy 4:6 on Paul's charge to Timothy to be a good minister of Jesus Christ. Pastor Miles argues that all Christians are called, commissioned, and gifted as servants, and shows how to be good ministers: by feeding on God's Word, carefully applying good doctrine, avoiding distracting false teachings, and exerting effort toward godliness.

Teaching from 1 Timothy 4:1-5, this message warns that even a church planted by Paul and pastored by Timothy can drift from the faith—not chiefly into open immorality, but into the seductive sin of self-righteous religious legalism. Pastor Miles shows that Christ's finished work alone secures our righteousness, and that love, not spiritual self-discipline, is the clearest evidence of genuine faith.

Using the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus's mission statement to "seek and to save that which is lost," Pastor Miles calls the church to move from being a "sermon appreciation society" to a mobilized people who reach the lost through compassion, charity, and evangelism in the power of the Holy Spirit.