Line Upon Line

Pastor Miles teaches through 1 Timothy 3:1–7, showing how God transforms the desires of His people to serve, and then explains the biblical qualifications for overseeing elders in the church. He addresses four commonly misunderstood qualifications—husband of one wife, able to teach, not given to wine, and ruling one's household well—and warns that elders can be disqualified by their conduct.

A verse-by-verse teaching on 1 Timothy 2:8-15 examining how men and women who profess godliness are called to conduct themselves in the church, with emphasis on inward beauty, godly conduct, and joyful submission to God's created order. Pastor Miles argues that these "difficult" passages, rightly understood, reveal a good God who calls His people to a distinctive way of life for their good.

A study of 1 Timothy 3:1 and its surrounding verses on the qualifications for elders/overseers in the church. Pastor Miles teaches that God transforms the desires of believers to serve Him, but desire alone does not qualify; elders must display the fruit of the Spirit and can be disqualified by misconduct.

Pastor Miles teaches through 1 Timothy 2:9-15, addressing the proper conduct of women in the church amid a cultural moment of workplace harassment headlines, arguing that the passage flows from a good God who calls godly women to inward beauty, learning, and a willing yielding to God's created order as an act of worship. He contends Paul appeals to creation rather than culture, and that the office of overseeing teaching elder is reserved for men while all other ministry is open to women.

Using Jesus' Great Commandment in Mark 12, Nick (the junior high pastor) leads a "youth takeover" teaching that functions as a spiritual pit stop, walking the congregation through what it means to love God with all their strength, mind, heart, and soul. He pairs each aspect with a self-examining question, urging hearers to put in effort while trusting the Lord, and closes by pointing to Christ's sacrifice in communion.

A difficult passage about men and women in the church becomes an occasion to defend the Bible's good intent and, surprisingly, to call Christian men first to lives of holiness, peace, and Spirit-walking in every place. Pastor Miles argues that hard sayings are hard for a reason and that the gospel, wherever it goes, elevates the dignity of women.

Drawing from 1 Timothy 2, Pastor Miles teaches that prayer should be a first-order priority in the church—both private and public—and that we are called to pray for all people without distinction, including those in authority and even those opposed to Christ. Acceptable prayer aligns our desires with God's desire for the salvation of all, which in turn compels us to evangelize.

Paul exhorts Timothy to make prayer a priority in the church—supplications, intercessions, and thanksgiving offered for all people, including kings and authorities—so that believers might live peaceable lives. Acceptable prayer aligns our desires with God's desire for the salvation of all, making prayer the first weapon of the Christian's warfare and the first step of evangelism.

Working through 1 Timothy 1:8-20, Pastor Miles teaches that God has entrusted believers with the glorious gospel and empowered them—despite their sin—to be ambassadors of His grace, because Christ's very nature is to save sinners. Paul, the self-described chief of sinners, becomes God's masterpiece displaying mercy as a pattern for those who will believe.

Working from 1 Timothy 1:11-20, Pastor Miles teaches that the glorious gospel has been entrusted to believers as a sacred stewardship, that God enables and uses even the chief of sinners as ambassadors, and that the saved become God's masterpiece displaying His mercy and grace to a watching world.