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Haggai: How To Patch The Hole In Your Pocket

September 22, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Proverbs 3:9–10, Proverbs 12:9, Proverbs 21:17, Proverbs 21:20

I was done! This was going to be the last time I put any money into that junk-heap of a car. My 1978 Ford Pinto was draining my back account on a regular basis. I finally gave it a burial, and bought a new(er) car. The problem wasn't that I got a much needed car. The problem was that I bought a car that looked nicer than I needed it to look, and cost a little more . . . no, a lot more than I should've paid. Now I had a car payment and repairs. Suffice it to say, I learned my lesson about trying to keep up with the Joneses. The trouble with keeping up with the Joneses is that you never can. Who are the Joneses anyway? It's our tendency to covet. That's part of our sin nature. Hence, we need to practice the way of Jesus in being content and making wise choices with the resources that He has entrusted to us. Join us in person or online this Sunday as we look at what true Financial Freedom looks like and wrap up our study in the book of Haggai.

Haggai: The Hole in Your Pocket

September 15, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Proverbs 15:8, Haggai 1, Haggai 2:3–9

Pressure seems to come from all sides. It seems like everyone wants something from us. Friends, family, work, school, church, clubs...all seem to pull at us until we are exhausted. As a result we have so little left to give to anything else. The important things are left in the dust. We find ourselves rushing through life, attending to the necessary, the immediate, and the urgent. Our battle is not the busyness and volume of demands...it comes down to values. What is truly important to us? We cannot hide what we value the most because it is reflected in how we use our resources--time, money, talent and touch. I may say God is number one, but hang out with me for a day. Look at my calendar or my bank account and you'll soon see that I struggle keeping God at the top of it all. Haggai was a prophet who called the people of God back to the value of placing God first in every area of our lives. How are you doing with that? Struggling? Come struggle together with us as we delve into these two small chapters.

Zephaniah: “If I’ve Said It Once, I’ve Said It A Thousand Times”

September 8, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Zephaniah 1:1–9, Zephaniah 2:1–3, Zephaniah 3:1–2, Zephaniah 3:7–8, 2 Kings 22:19–20

"You're grounded!" I can still hear the words as I worked to hold back tears of frustration toward my parents who failed to heed my cries of innocence. Truthfully, I was guilty. My parents were right. Their motivation was in my best interest...grounded in a deep love for their son. Everyone one of the minor prophets we have studied have shared echoes of the same message--God gave us a path--the people chose to go a different way. God fought to bring them back...grounded in a deep love for His children. God is the same today as He was back then. The same love drives Him to draw us back into intimacy with Him. His goal, that summarizes most of your bible, is that He is willing to do whatever it takes to bring you back. Many times it comes in the form of adversity. If we can learn to trust God and lean into a trial with prayer, patience and perseverance...an intimacy with God awaits on the other side that nothing on Earth can compare to. Join us as we open the 9th Minor Prophet--Zephaniah.

Habakkuk: How to Complain to God

September 1, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Psalm 13:1–4, Psalm 22:1–2, 1 Peter 4:17, Habakkuk 3:17–19, Hebrews 11:32–40

All of us come to times in our life when we don't understand what God is up to. At times like this, the bible teaches us to have faith and trust that God has a plan...even when it doesn't make sense. However, if you and I had an "honest" moment, there are times when that seems all too convenient...like "wishful thinking." Doubt starts to creep in and if God doesn't come through in a reasonable amount of time, I begin to get a little upset. If we were to be even a little more honest, our anger makes us want to complain to God. BUT...that doesn't seem right or respectful to God. As a result, so many of us "bottle up our pain"...until we explode in anger and walk away from our faith. Can you relate to that? The good news is that "complaining to God" is all over the bible. I wouldn't make a habit of it, but what I want you to understand is that GOD CAN TAKE IT. We see it all throughout the Psalms and we see it in the book of Habakkuk. I hope you can join us as we look into how to "effectively complain to God."

Habakkuk: The Other Side of Faith

August 25, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Habakkuk 3, Hebrews 11:6, Daniel 1:1–2, Habakkuk 1:1–13, Habakkuk 2:1–6

I still remember the first time I jumped off of a diving board. I was terrified. My brother was behind me and refused to allow me to retreat to the safety of the pool deck. My dad was in the water in front of me...urging me on. This was the scariest moment of my life up until that point. After what seemed like an eternity...I inched close enough to the end of the board that I lost my balance and fell screaming into the pool. As I went under and resolved to accept my destiny, I'm sure my little mind was thinking, "This is it." Just then (as I'm sure you know), the strong arms of my dad lifted me to the surface. My fear was gone. Replaced by a shot of adrenaline that made me race up to the board and do it again and again and again... I think faith is like that. Though our challenges may seem much larger, the loving arms of our father are always there to catch us when we jump into places that we know are good, but are a little scary. Join us as we open the book of Habakkuk and learn more about the kind of faith that drives us forward as followers of Jesus.

Nahum: Where is God's Justice?

August 18, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Nahum 3:1–7, Psalm 73, Nahum 1, Nahum 2:1–2

I grew up with five siblings. When dinner was put in the middle of the table, it was a free-for-all. Being on the younger side of the sibling tribe, I often missed out on the choice morsel of a fine macaroni and hotdog casserole or the extra helping of mashed potatoes. I remember crying out, "It's not fair!" Fast forward to the present day and I've learned that very few things in life are actually "fair." Spiritually, I've learned to be thankful that God is NOT fair. If He was fair, there is a very good chance that that fairness would land me apart from His Presence in the end. I am thankful that God is just. He rights wrongs. He reconciles all things to Himself. As apprentices of Jesus, we get to share in that work of restoring all things. Here's the problem: God often works on a different time frame than you and me. When I see something that is wrong, I want it fixed now. Unless, I'm in the wrong...then I want a lot of grace. But, God is a patient God. In His mercy, He waits for us to see the error of our way and turn back to Him...before He needs to step in. For those of us crying out to God and seeking His justice, come join us as we open the book of Nahum and continue our deep dive into the Minor Prophets.

Micah: Our Day in Court Part 2

August 11, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Micah 6:8–16, Micah 7:1–9, Micah 7:18–20, Micah 5:2

The gavel lands with a gut-wrenching thud and your heart sinks. You are guilty! That's the message of Micah. God's people have drifted away from God. They have forgotten God and have put themselves on the throne. The result has been a litany of sins that have led God to "step in" and pronounce His verdict. Fraud, theft, greed, debauchery (you may have to look that one up), oppression, hypocrisy, heresy, injustice, extortion, lying and murder to name a few...and God has given them opportunity after opportunity to come back to Him. Motivated by his compassion and love, God brings His people into the courtroom and pronounces a guilty verdict. Micah could've been written last week. In a very real sense, we have drifted from God. We have been blessed with so much in America. It has led many of us to forget about God...or at best, give a cursory nod to Him (with the wink and hope to keep the blessings flowing).

Micah: Our Day in Court

August 4, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Micah 6:1–8

Micah: When Preachers Lie

July 28, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Micah 1:1–6, Micah 2:1–7, Micah 3:5–7, Deuteronomy 28:1–21, Romans 8:28

It's not unusual around Western North Carolina, to be driving down the road and come across a tree that has fallen. Have you ever wondered how that happened? A moment before the tree was standing straight and tall. Sometimes a storm will be strong enough to blow a tree over but even then, most trees have a strong trunk, and a deep root system enabling them to weather even the toughest storms. A tree never just simply "falls over." What you don't see on the outside is happening on the inside. A tree has a root base that has been rotting. That root is the life of the tree and hence the tree itself is rotting. Left unchecked, the tree eventually falls to the ground. We live in a world that is all about "looking good on the outside." Yet, the message of Jesus, and all of the Bible, is that God works from the inside. When our inside is healthy, we are told that glorious fruit is the result. There is a peace about us. We have a genuine love for others. Our hope is not focused on this world. We enjoy blessings, but endure hardship, trusting that God is working in us as we persevere. The list goes on. Suffice it to say, a life...a soul uncared for, is a soul that is rotting. It's only a matter of time before the impact becomes devastating in our lives. Join us this Sunday as we unpack the message from the Minor Prophet, Micah, and learn how to care for our souls that leads to living a life of impact.

Jonah: You Can Run But You Can’t Hide

July 14, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Deuteronomy 29:29, Hebrews 12:5–7, Jonah 1

As a little boy sitting in Sunday School, I loved the story of Jonah--the idea that some huge fish swallowed a living man! Wow! For years, whenever I thought of Jonah...I thought about this incredible picture. Perhaps by now, like me, you have learned that this book is about so much more. In fact, it's really not about a "whale" at all. The prophecy of God through His prophet Jonah is, once again, an object lesson of what happens when we walk away from the clear direction that God has given to us. For those of us who have placed our faith and trust in Jesus, the Bible has given us a very clear path on HOW to walk with God through His Spirit. So often, we want God to answer the WHAT and WHERE. This is where so many of us get bogged down. I hope you'll join us as we dive in the depths (pun intended) of Jonah and look at the answer to God's direction in our lives.

Jonah: It's Not About the Fish

July 7, 2024 • John Sessions • Jonah 3, Jonah 4, Jonah 1, Jonah 2

Sometimes we forget that all people are created in the image of God. They are of great worth because God made them. So, when we look around and see the depravity of the world around us it's easy to view people who don't know God as the enemy. Especially, when some of those people do such evil things--cheating, murder, abuse and unthinkable violence. Many of us long for God to come and put an end to those people--to stop the evil. It's difficult to think of praying for those people or even sharing the hope of Christ with them. But that is exactly what God did with our next prophet, Jonah. God's mercy can reach the one who is farthest from God...it can provide forgiveness and hope to the worst among us. Join us as we begin exploring God's message through Jonah.

Obadiah Part 2

June 30, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Obadiah 3–4, Obadiah 10–11, James 4:16–17, Obadiah 12–14

I remember the season of raising young kids and how challenging it was. Not just the energy of keeping up and running from one event to the next…but the “cost of raising a family” was something I never saw coming. For years we pinched pennies, amassed credit card debt, constantly dealt with broken down cars and struggled to pay bills. That being said, we were still blessed compared to the rest of the world…but we struggled. I’ll never forget the season when kids became adults and flew from the nest…when debts began to be paid and life seemed less of a financial strain. I was stunned as I began to see my bank account move in the right direction. It became a game (more of an obsession)—to stay out of debt and amass MORE! Suddenly, I was thinking about retirement and travelling the world and taking it easy. Then it hit me. As an apprentice of Jesus, who has been entrusted with much, I am blessed to be a blessing. The Bible saves us the pain of figuring this out for us—that amassing MORE will never fill the deepest need of contentment in our soul. It’s actually the opposite—by practicing generosity (remember “Practices of the Way?) you begin to experience the joy of being the hands and feet of Jesus. There is no vacation big enough to compare to the joy of loving the way Jesus teaches us. Join us as we wrap up our study of God’s message through his prophet-Obadiah.

Obadiah Part 1

June 23, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Genesis 25:19–34, Genesis 27:39–41, Numbers 20:14–21, James 4:6, Obadiah

We dive in to Obadiah. Although it's the shortest book in the Old Testament, it is packed with truth that is relevant for today.

Famous Amos or Amos Moses

June 16, 2024 • Gary Hensley • 1 Corinthians 10:1–13, Amos 5, Amos 3, 1 Thessalonians 5:16–23

Just think --- We can be instrumental in rescuing the perishing in our families and communities. Hopefully you are not one that is saying we’re doing all right and we got this. What feeling do you have? Everything feel ok to you in our country and communities? We don’t live by feelings, but God does give us intuitiveness and insight from His Word. We do have a big problem in our country and it is called sin. There is no political or economical solution for the Spiritual problem we have. People in the Americanized church are being tricked by the father of lies, and leaders that have become complacent and turning away from the Truth. As we continue to dive into the book of Amos, may we do as he said, "Seek God and live!"

Not So Famos Amos

June 9, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Amos 1:1–13, Amos 2:1–8

When you pray, what do you say to God? It's a fair question. How we answer reveals much about where we are with God. If I'm honest with myself, most of my prayers are about me...for me...for God to help me...bless me...and take care of those who are not like me. Before you decide to fire this pastor, know that I battle right alongside you. The late French Bishop, Francois Fenelon declared that our greatest battle is our "addiction to self." We are hard-wired for self preservation. Some of you have heard me jest about my two values in life: If you're going to be wrong, be wrong with authority Why take responsibility when you can blame somebody else? What I have said as humor has sadly become the values for so many of us. So when life throws us a curve...as it inevitably does, so few of us are prepared to navigate the adversity. We want God to swoop in and take care of all that is causing us grief. When God doesn't seem to do that, at least in our way and in our timing, we tend to get a bit grumpy at best, or at worst we reject God all together. Well, there's great news--the Bible helps us in the midst of this.