GracePoint Church

Media Give App Groups

Minor Prophets Major Truth

Malachi: Love the One You’re With

November 10, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Malachi 2:10–12, Malachi 2:13–15, Malachi 2:16, 1 Corinthians 13:4

Well...it's over. The election. Most of us likely gave it more attention than was needed. It can be quite a distraction from what God tells us is important. We come by it honestly, because our leaders tend to have a lot of say on the day to day experience of our lives. The same thing was happening when God spoke through His prophet Malachi. His people were forgetting what was important. They began to build a camp out of the created things rather than build a relationship with the Creator Himself and look to the eternal things. But God has a plan for us to experience deep meaningful lives filled with peace and a hope for the future. God tends to use "people" to accomplish His purpose. So, it's critical for His people to stay close to Him if we hope to max out our impact as we go about the work He gave for us to do. Malachi brings out the idea (truth) that God's vehicle for His message to be passed on, was the family. It's no surprise that our enemy, Satan seeks to go after breaking down the family. And it begins with marriage. Malachi says, "God made man and woman one in marriage. We are His in body and Spirit. And what does He want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth."

Malachi: Stuff God Cares About

November 3, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Malachi 3:5, Malachi 3:16, Proverbs 9:10, Malachi 4, Luke 1:11–19

Do you remember your first job? How about the day you got married? What about that first house you moved into? My guess is that those were some pretty amazing days. I'd also guess that...after a while...the joy faded. Like a fire that is not tended will go out, so many things in life fade if we don't work on them. A couple needs to remember to keep dating. A house needs upkeep. This weekend, we come to our final book of the Minor Prophets series. Malachi reflects on the fading relationship that God's people have with Him. It has been close to a hundred years since Haggai and Zechariah led Israel back to a thriving relationship to God. Now, the intimacy has cooled...to the point that they are drifting back...back to seeing God as a religion...someone to appease rather than love. Malachi's message will be a shot in the arm to remind God's people to keep the fire hot and to stay close to God. His way of "how" to do that, may come as a surprise to some of you.

Zechariah Part 2: Same God

October 27, 2024 • Canaan Chapman • Luke 11:11–13, Zechariah 7, Zechariah 8, Romans 12:18, Galatians 5:22–23

I get fascinated with how time works. Do you ever think about it? One of the latest things I've been pondering personally is the time span between our family's move to Asheville, and Helene being almost the amount of time as Helene was to now–it simply blows my mind! How is that possible?! When I think of longer spans and how it works also with matters of faith, I have similar conniptions. How is it possible that an Old Testament prophecy still be relevant today? How can that have meaning to the disciples 2,000 years ago? How is it that what we believe about Jesus matters still and will matter... forever? This weekend, we'll explore this idea. I'll be preaching from Zechariah about how the God who was worshiped then is the same God we worship today. His promises were made good, and He's still making good on them; His character is as loving as it was, as forgiving as it was, and as jealous as it was. The prophet's messages are as pertinent as they've always been. Will we have eyes to see and ears to hear? Read up, and let's dive in together.

Zechariah: Hope in Dark Places

October 20, 2024 • Neil Montgomery • Zechariah 1:1–6, Hebrews 4:16, Zechariah 3

How are you doing this week? With all that has been happening in our community, how is your soul? How is your walk with Jesus? Trials like the one we have been sharing this month bring out our best and our worst. God uses adversity to shine a spotlight on our heart...encouraging us where we are walking "with" Him and revealing those areas of our lives where we are holding on to "control" and not trusting Him. Zechariah comes at a good time as we ponder the events of recent days. Haggai was all about the HOUSE of God and ensuring that God remains front and center in our lives. Zechariah is all about your HEART for God and ensuring that you see the "larger story"...the story beyond the hurricane...the real work that God is doing.

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.