Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Pain.  Celebration. Death.  Answers.  Stress. Peace.  Addiction. Those words pass through my mind on just about a daily basis.  As a pastor I meet people in all areas of life.  Some are celebrating the big days or the great wins while others are mourning the loss of family or the battle of some sickness or addiction. Honestly, there aren’t many answers apart from our faith.  Life is difficult. You turn on the news or scroll through Facebook this past Saturday and see the horror of a shooting at a Jewish Synagogue in Pittsburgh where many lives were lost. Sad.  No answers.  Monday morning there is a blurb and not too many hours from us where a student was shot at a school in Charlotte before the school day begins.  Sad.  That ought not to happen. Today is Halloween. For children is a day where smiles and candy are plenteous.  Yet it is a day that often celebrates darkness, demons and anything but God. By the way, we can turn anything toward God.  Use your voice, use

Just read.  Take this in. This truth continues to hold us today. Philippians 2:5-11 The Message Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.  Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

Sunday we continued our series called #gravity at The Community Fellowship.  This series is discussing the truths of our faith that keep us close to God.   It is kind of like gravity.  The larger the object, the greater the force keeping it close to earth.  The big things of our faith will continue to strengthen us as we keep God central.  We have talked about salvation, the Gospel, grace, and yesterday about the church. This is not about the local church where we go on Sundays, but it is the big “C” church of all those who have chosen to follow Jesus.  Together we are representing Jesus to the world, carrying His light and spreading His message.  It is important that we work hard together. Matthew 16:18-19  NLT Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’),   and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell   will not conquer it.     And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid   on earth will be forbidden

2 Corinthians 12:10  NLT That’s why I take pleasure in my   weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am   weak, then I am   strong. Paul spoke from experience.  You have had experiences through your journey, too.  Some of them are difficult.  Some are out of your control.  Some can hardly be explained.  But too often they demonstrate the fact that we are weak. It is when we are weak that we need something to help.  That help comes from getting a friend or someone to help with lifting or with a problem you cannot seem to solve on your own.  That help may come by someone simply taking your place.  Help might come those treatment or medicine or through time. Think about weakness.  Does some weakness have no answer?  I subscribe to a theory that there is weakness that we cannot overcome, but we know someone who can and will overcome our weakness. That would be God. In our relationship with Christ we fin

The following is a Facebook post from “Choosing Freelen” (https://www.facebook.com/choosingfreelen/) that caught my attention yesterday.  I too have been in church when things were tough. So, read on.  Pray for your church to be the expression of God’s love lived out before the word.  Or as we say at The Community Fellowship through our vision, we are here to be  “demonstrating the love of God to our community” and beyond.  Read: I sat in a meeting. The discussion was heated. The conversation heavy.  Hearts were burdened. Chests were puffed. Sorrow, pain, arrogance, curiosity, humility, fear, courage, and forgiveness sat together in a single room. As I looked around the church, I just kept thinking-  Church is hard.  Church is hard for the person walking through the doors, afraid of judgement.  Church is hard for the pastor’s kid under the microscope of an entire body. Church is hard for the prodical soul returning home, broken and battered by the world.