Line Upon Line

As the early church multiplied, a complaint arose that the Hellenist widows were neglected in the daily ministry, and the apostles responded by keeping their own focus on prayer and the Word while appointing seven Spirit-filled men to the task. Pastor Miles applies this to Calvary Chapel of Escondido's growth, urging every believer to recognize their unique gifting and "launch out into the deep" to serve.

Pastor Miles walks through 1 Peter, a five-chapter letter written by the apostle Peter (likely from Rome around 64 A.D.) to believers in Asia Minor about to face persecution under Nero. The teaching emphasizes the believer's living hope and heavenly inheritance, the call to holiness, our identity as a chosen royal priesthood, and the call to submission and humility in every area of life.

Through the example of King Saul's incomplete obedience in 1 Samuel 15, this teaching shows that God desires obedience over sacrifice, warning that partial obedience and delayed obedience are both disobedience in God's eyes. The believer is called to total surrender to God's sovereignty rather than building his own kingdom or making excuses for sin.

A verse-by-verse teaching on Acts 5:17-42, where the Sadducees imprison the apostles in fury, God miraculously frees them through an angel, and the apostles boldly return to the temple to preach Christ, declaring they must obey God rather than men. Pastor Miles draws out the contrast between the leaders' fear of man and the apostles' fear of God, and applies it to standing boldly for the gospel amid opposition today.

A through-the-Bible overview of the epistle of James, framed as the "Proverbs of the New Testament," exploring its practical exhortations on how faith grows (through trials and the Word), how faith is recognized (through justice, mercy, and humility/bridled speech), and how faith fails (through quarrels, love of the world, presumption, and fraud). The teaching closes with James's call to prayer and to restore those who have wandered from the truth.

The concluding study of the "Profiting in the Prophets" series turns from the prophetic word to its application, using the latter portion of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25) to call believers to be watching, waiting, and working in light of Christ's certain return. Pastor Miles argues that the prophetic promise is both a comfort and an exhortation to holiness, faithfulness, and Spirit-empowered love.

A verse-by-verse study of the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, showing that God examines the heart and motive behind our giving, and that greed and hypocrisy invite spiritual death while purity in the church invites God's blessing and growth.

A through-the-Bible overview of Hebrews, arguing that God's final and supreme revelation is His Son, who is greater than the prophets, angels, Moses, Aaron, Abraham, and Melchizedek. The teaching traces the book's call to leave religious formality and move on to maturity in faith, hope, and love, while addressing authorship, dating, and the doctrine of apostasy.

Working verse-by-verse through Zechariah chapter 1, Pastor Miles shows how God called a backslidden, returned remnant to "turn to me, and I will turn to you," and how God's promise to judge nations that divide Israel speaks directly to our own day. Delivered on the very anniversary (the 24th of Shabbat) of Zechariah's vision, the message urges the church to take comfort in prophecy, find peace in the Prince of Peace, and share the gospel before Christ returns.

A study of Acts 4:32-37 examining the gracious giving of the early church, which flowed from their recognition that everything belongs to God and they were merely managers of His resources. Pastor Miles teaches that Christ-centered unity, community, and charity produce great power and grace in the church, and closes with six biblical principles for giving.