Michael Harrison's e-devotion

My community family and friends, I sure have missed many of you as the snow kept you guys away last week.  Just wanted to pass on some love and a bit of encouragement. This Sunday we will finish our series called LIES.  I'm excited to share what's on my heart, and I hope you are excited to come worship and to interact with the message too.  Valentine's day is a couple weeks away which means we will talk about love in the coming weeks. If you have never taken the Community 101, the coming weeks will offer you this opportunity.  We will also celebrate baptism toward the end of the month of February.  The weeks ahead are full of great things! A HUGE THANK YOU to all those who have taken part in our Challenge to raise $25,000 for our Vision Fund and the roof on the office building at the new campus.  We are above $10,000 at present.  Please consider giving if you haven't yet.  I have noticed that some of our folks have been giving to the Vision Fund and not the general offe...

Been there. Done that. And that would be far too many times. Pain. Heartache. Questions. Focus. That’s a challenge.   You have been there as well. Yet along the way there are some things that make sense and give us a place where we can focus. I don't always understand the path we have to walk or the things we go through, yet through the fog or clouds there is hope because God has not left us; we are His children. There is still that voice deep in my heart and the compassion He has for us and for others that ought to take our pain and exchange it for something better.   Exchange it for pure, God-given hope. Psalms 33:18,20 (NASB) "Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness...Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield." This chorus by Darrell Evans rings in my head as my mind opens... I'm trading my sorrow. I'm trading my shame. I'm laying it down for the joy of t...

One of the greatest gifts I can give anyone is serving them.   Serving brings the one giving satisfaction and gives those being served help and encouragement.   All around there is courage given and entrusted in the lives of the people who see or receive what is going on. As Christians we ought to be determined to serve.   We will make a difference for all involved when this is our choice. Here is a devotion from Oswald Chambers book My Utmost for His Highest ( February 23 ): Matthew 20:28   NIV The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve… Jesus also said, “Yet I am among you as the One who serves” ( Luke 22:27 ). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— “…ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake” ( 2 Corinthians 4:5 ). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a “doormat” for others— called to be thei...

Change.  Literally the amazing things that God has done in our lives keeps me digging deeper in to understanding faith and how amazing it is.  Here is a passage of the Bible about the change God has brought in to my life: Colossians 3:1-4  NLT Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Understanding the truth of what God has done for us makes us live life differently.   Applying truth is not an option.  Letting our minds think through our faith and letting it sink in to our hearts is a big deal. It is a fact that God gave us new life in Christ.  Heaven is our eternal reali...

Luke 5:16 (NASB) But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. For more than a year each Sunday at The Community Fellowship we have been encouraged to stop and pray for people and situations that we come across.   It is a shame that Christians often promise to pray for someone and forget to do so.   This promise might come from a sincere desire to pray for it may be just a simple word like saying hello and not wanting a response. Years ago I learned the power of stopping at the moment you feel the need or push to pray and praying.   When I was a very young pastor, I remember a Sunday morning where a lady told me about a need in her family.   I knelt and prayed with that lady right there.   It was a powerful moment for that lady and for me. That days rings in my memory, and that memory has caused me to encourage others to literally stop and pray for and with the people that come in and out of our lives.   It also means...

Ephesians 5:2 (NASB) and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. One of the most difficult things we do in life is to deal with difficult people with love.   It is easier to avoid someone or even to be mean rather than to show love or even to forgive.   When we choose to step up and show the love of God, we choose to act outside of the natural, or what feels natural, and to do what is supernatural. This kind of action doesn’t make us a superhero or make us better than someone else.   Often what showing love, being kind of offering forgiveness does is open the opportunity for God to be seen and heard by the people you encounter.   Who are the people in your life that need to see love?   Who are some of the people in your life that rarely have someone show genuine concern for?   I believe that there are people all around us who are kind of falling through...

"Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends." ~ George Muller Faith is one of the things that is hard to understand but difficult to live without.   There are people who have come in and out of my life as examples of living by faith and sharing their faith with others.   Those who follow Jesus have been blessed with the gift of faith. This is gift is not based on what we have or can accomplish.   No, this gift is based on the finished work of Jesus.   He completed all we need to get to heaven.   Jesus lived, died and lives again so that faith can be something we understand and make part of our every day lives.   Faith makes life richer.   Romans 10:17 (NASB) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Hebrews 11:1 (NASB) Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ...