Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Tonight is our annual Family Fun Night at Halloween where we partner with the TV station near the church and others.   There will be free hotdogs, popcorn, inflatables, trunk or treat and more.   Volunteers need to arrive at 5pm, and please bring more bags of candy with you.   Thanks to our own Matthew Perdue for helping make this event a huge success. The Community Fellowship was formed to meet people where they are and demonstrate the love of God to our community while we get their attention.   This event, and all the events we do, is one more way to share Christ.   Come out.   Pass the word.   Let’s make a difference! "God is not just the starting point of your life; he is the source of it." - Rick Warren Are you at the end of the rope?   Do you have nowhere else to turn?   Many people find that those two places are the very ones where they find God.   That’s where we find God in incredible ways.   Yet along the journey we are on through the good and

“The Christian life consists of sitting with Christ, walking by him and standing in him.   We begin our spiritual life by resting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus.   That rest is the source of our strength or a consistent and unfaltering walk in the world.   And at the end of a grueling warfare with the hosts of darkness we are found standing with him at last in triumphant possession of the field.” – Watchman Nee, Sit, Walk, Stand, page 78 One of the first books I remember reading that impacted my life was a very small and simple book titled Sit, Walk, Stand and was written by Watchman Nee.   You would do well to find this book and ingest the great foundation truths that this man shared. Watchman Nee lived during the 20th century in China.   He wrote several books, was a Christian leader and was persecuted and even put in prison for his faith.   He spent the last 20 years of his life in prison.   This mans faith looked Communism in the face while expounding on the

This week The Community Fellowship’s “volunteer of the week” is Jonathan Norman!!!   Jonathan Norman, his wife Angie and their family have been part of The Community Fellowship family since its beginning.   During our back2school Ministry Jonathan volunteers in the Shoe Area making sure the right shoes are selected for each child that is blessed through this event.   Jonathan is a Diesel Mechanic and is instrumental in using his skills in our Mother’s Day Car Care Ministry where many women are blessed to be able bring their cars to the church and receive a free oil change and engine diagnostics.    Angie Norman, Jonathan’s wife, describes him as a “Certified Brainiac” when it comes to trucks and equipment.  We are indeed blessed that he uses these gifts to bless our church family as well as others!   Our church recently was part of Raceway Ministries, and Jonathan makes a point of always being on han

Romans 15:5-7 PHILLIPS May the God who inspire s men to endure, and gives them a Father’s care, give you a mind united towards one another because of your common loyalty to Jesus Christ. And then, as one man, you will sing from the heart the praises of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So open your hearts to one another as Christ has opened his heart to you, and God will be glorified. Inspiration comes from many places, and some of those places may surprise us.   Recently I was in a counseling sessions with a young person from our community, and in that short time God spoke in a sweet way.   Another time recently I was walking through a hallway of a local church and saw a friend that I haven’t seen in a long time.   The conversation inspired me.   One of my favorite places to be inspired is sitting quietly in my office before anyone else comes in to church and reading a book as God uses sentences and concepts to inspire my heart. There are many places and many peo

There are many topics within the confines of the Bible that we don't even get close to examining in all their glory.   One of those is the GRACE of God, and this Grace stands out as the one thing that we need, the one thing we can rely on and in turn it is also the one thing we get wrong. Yes.   I said we get it wrong.   That is because we do what an old saying or thought that goes like this, “pray like it all depends on God and work like it depends on you.”   That is a great statement in theory, but it seems to teach us that we have something to do with the receiving of God’s grace.   That could not be further from the truth. What is so amazing about grace?   As we get closer to God the sweeter and more complex His grace gets.   The further we are from God the more confusing His grace gets, and it even gets a little clouded.   Or in churchy terms it is veiled where it is hard to see. God desires His grace to be easy to see, understand and to get.   If we were to

Hebrews 12:28   NASB Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude , by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; This past weekend was one of my favorite events in our year.   It is when the world comes to our community through the racing world, and we get to be part of Raceway Ministries work dealing with race fans, sharing our testimonies and serving.   It was a good weekend although it brought some challenges our way too. It takes me back to remember almost 13 years ago when I met Ron Pegram from Motor Racing Outreach.   He asked for a person from our ministry to share a Bible study with people who work in the media area.   That was a great experience.   A year or so later our Raceway Ministry group celebrated the years of our work, and Ron was one of our special guests at that event. The rest is almost what you would call history.   My path kept crossing with Ron’s, and I even got to know his wif

Raceway Ministry tent at Martinsville Speedway Twice a year the world comes to our city through the world of NASCAR racing, and it is an honor to be part of this event through Raceway Ministries.   Almost 100 volunteers from several churches come together to serve race fans and have conversations about Jesus. I’d like to share with you a portion of a devotion I wrote in the spring of 2008.   I pray that God will help each one of us stay in the race of life and find the abundance God offers… 43 drivers started the race, but only one of them was the winner.  Does that mean that 42 of them lost?  You have to answer that for yourself.  Yet I have some thoughts for you as the race traffic heads toward Martinsville, Virginia. Hebrews 12:1  nlt Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God h

This week The Community’s volunteer of the week is Kathy Clements!!! Kathy Clements has been attending The Community Fellowship for over a year and became a member of the church about 3 months ago. She and her boyfriend, Greg Reyes, own a lawn care business and began donating their services of mowing the lawn at our new campus almost as soon as they started attending worship with us.   They also generously purchased and donated a beautiful sign for our new property. Kathy is a Leader of REACH Ministry and is instrumental in showing the love of Jesus to those she ministers to with the free meal at the Martinsville Hotel.   During back2school Kathy volunteered in the Pack the Bus Ministry and is also on hand to count and sort the donations we receive as well as filling the book bags with school supplies to be given to the children blessed during this event. Kathy is a regular volunteer at our Fall Festival and will be actively serving others at this year’s activ