Michael Harrison's e-devotion

We have come to the end of the year.  2019 has come and gone.  Our theme for the was BOLD.  The church has been encouraged to be bold in our faith and in our living. The best way to be bold is to know who you are, where you are going and even why you are alive, and that is why I shared with our church a concluding a message that brought us some thoughts that will push us to be even bolder with our living. Know who you are and whose you are… 1 Peter 2:9  NASB But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; That is you.  That is me.  That is what God said about us.  Believe it.  Let this truth and more make us even more bold in sharing our testimony of what Jesus has done. As I have been preaching through 1 Thessalonians yesterday we walked through the last chapter, and in verses 12 through 24 is speaks of

The best of Christmas has less to do with the lights and gifts than most people think.  It has more to do with what Christmas and the person of Christmas, Jesus, has done to us. Take a few minutes to think about the change that God has made in your life.  This might be better described as think about the person that God has created you to be. Here we go! 1 John 3:17  NASB But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Self or savior?  Giver or taker?  Hoarder or sharer?  We know the truth.  We know our hearts Reach out to those who are hurting and struggling.  Give them a picture of what God’s love is. 1 John 4:18  NASB There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. Matthew 2:11   nasb After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell 

Proverbs 11:25  NLT The   generous   will prosper; those who   refresh others will themselves be   refreshed. Christmas is about giving.  Most of us focus on the act and love of giving and receiving gifts between family and friends on this special day, and that is something that we all really enjoy.  I really love watching my children enjoy this. But there is more to giving.  In fact as you have heard me say many times giving to God is a blessing and giving our lives and resources to help others is an important part of the life of people following God. It is this time of the year that our church has our annual Christmas mission offering.  This supports missions around the world as well as supports those who are hungry.  If you would like to give, go to www.thecommunityfellowship.org and click “giving online” and choose “mission offering”.  100% of this offering goes to missions and to feeding people. There are many places and many ways we can give.  Follow your he

The people of the Christmas stand out, as they should.  Each person and each group were given a special part, but it is only Jesus who is fully God and the gift of heaven for our Salvation.  Let’s celebrate the truth of Jesus. Matthew 1:21  NLT And she will have a son, and you are to name him   Jesus, for he will   save   his   people   from their sins. That is Jesus.  That is the reason God touched humanity that was messed up almost from the beginning by one simple act of disobedience by Adam and Even.  Praise God for the covering of their sin and the covering of ours. For the rest of the people of the Christmas story we can learn much.  Follow on… The wise men.  God came through Christ to demonstrate His love and goodness to those who are far off and to those of every class. The shepherds.  God came in Jesus to everyone.  Shepherds were some of the worst smelling and worst reputation.  Although their job was tough, most people thought very little of these pe

We are just a week away from our Christmas and Christ celebration.  Please plan to join us at The Community Fellowship Sunday at 10:10am if you are in the area.  The following is a devotion I shared in December 2013, and it caught my attention again today.  Read and choose joy! Lamentations 5:21     NLT Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again!    Give us back the   joys we once had! Let me give us some ways to keep our joy fresh.    I understand that we aren’t always going to be up and excited.    We can put in place truth that we let us see through situations.    In the Christmas story each player had to make a choice.    From Elizabeth and Zechariah a choice had to be made to believe that their son would be the prophet of the coming messiah.    With Mary and Joseph had to come radical faith to not separate but to live by what God said.    From the shepherds and the wise men had to come determination because many people will question what they said they sa