Line Upon Line

A study of Acts 1 and the Nicene Creed's statement about the Holy Spirit, showing that the centuries-old "filioque" controversy ("and the Son") became a distraction from the church's true mission. The Holy Spirit was promised and given to empower God's people to accomplish God's mission, and we must keep our focus there rather than on divisive arguments.

A teaching on the second coming of Christ, drawn from the Nicene Creed's affirmation that Jesus "will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." Pastor Miles shows that Christ's return has always been a central, promised hope of the church and calls believers to wait, watch, and work faithfully until that day.

Drawing from the ascension of Jesus and Paul's appeal in Ephesians 4, this teaching explores how believers, who are citizens of heaven living on earth, are called to walk worthy of their calling through humility, gentleness, patience, and unity. The goal is maturity, the path is unity, and the standard is Jesus Himself.

Pastor Garrett teaches on the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the cornerstone of the Christian faith, using 1 Corinthians 15 to show that without the resurrection preaching is useless and faith is futile, then offering C.S. Lewis's "liar, lunatic, or Lord" argument and historical, prophetic, and personal evidence that Christ truly rose. He closes by inviting hearers to share in Christ's resurrection life through faith and communion.

Drawing on the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, this teaching examines six words—"through him all things were made"—to show that Jesus, the divine Word and Creator, brings the transcendent, seemingly distant God of Genesis 1 near to us. It traces how Western philosophy reasoned God away into deism, naturalism, and nihilism, and presents Christ as the answer to modern culture's crisis of meaning.

Using the Nicene Creed and John 1 as a framework, Pastor Miles examines the question Jesus put to His disciples—"Who do men say that I am?"—and the controversy with Arius that produced the creed, defending that Jesus is the eternal, divine Son, "begotten not made," who brings God's presence to us in order to bring us into God's presence. He argues that no other great question of life—meaning, origin, identity, purpose, or destiny—can be answered rightly until the Jesus question is answered correctly.

Opening a summer series on the Nicene Creed, Pastor Miles examines the creed's first statement about God the Father, showing how it is drawn directly from Scripture. He distinguishes genuine belief (trust in God) from mere intellectual assent, and explores how God reveals Himself as one God, a compassionate Father, the Almighty, and the purposeful Maker of all things.

Marking the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed and the Christian celebration of Pentecost, this teaching traces how Western culture shifted from a God-centered "we believe" (credimus) to a self-centered "I think" (cogito), and argues that truth, identity, and practice must be found in Christ by faith. Using Acts 2, Pastor Miles shows that the gospel—not politics, technology, or economics—is the only answer for a broken world, and explains the meaning and practice of baptism.

Through the calling of Simon Peter and the miraculous catch of fish in Luke 5, Pastor Miles teaches that Jesus works incrementally and graciously, rewarding even reluctant obedience as He transforms ordinary people into faithful followers. The message calls listeners to take the next step of obedience—however small—trusting God for an outcome they cannot yet see.

Responding to Sigmund Freud's claim that belief in God and heaven is mere wish fulfillment, this teaching argues from C.S. Lewis and Scripture that our longing for an eternal world is not an illusion but a signpost pointing to what we were made for. Through Revelation 21 and Paul's confidence that "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord," Pastor Miles shows that death is a doorway to God's presence, transforming how believers face grief, suffering, and trials.