Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Please consider giving an end of the year gift to help with our work with those in need. Year end giving is a big deal. The IRS is giving a special $300 tax deduction helping you give to charity this year. Check out this link for the information. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/special-300-tax-deduction-helps-most-people-give-to-charity-this-year-even-if-they-dont-itemize Give online at www.thecommunityfellowship.org and click "give online" You can choose (1) general fund (2) dream center for our work with the homeless (3) mission offering or another. Thank you for considering this as the need is great and the year is coming to an end tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions. My email is pastormh@gmail.com Pastor Michael Harrison -- James 1:5

  There is an old blessing from Numbers 6 that has been used for centuries and by so many churches and ministers.  Just recently Kari Jobe brought it to light in a song.  I have listened to it many times, and it always reminds me how we should be a blessing to others. The new year is only a couple days away.  Each of us are looking for it to be a year of blessings.  That is much unlike the current year and the situation around us.  We want blessings instead of the pain and chaos we have dealt with. That is why I ask you to take time to seek the blessings, but even more seek give blessings to others. Numbers 6:24-26  NASB The Lord bless you, and keep you;  The Lord cause His face to shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His face to you, And give you peace.’ It really is that simple.  Accept the blessing.  Share the blessing. Let’s set our focus, our plan for the new year, our expectations, and our belief that God can fix what is broken, straighten what is crooked and br

  Fear is a damaging thing.  In fact as we move toward 2021 we have a choice to prepare for the future and to not live out of fear.  This is a really big deal. Conversations are happening around you, I would guess, as they are happening around me.  People want to believe in something.  People are looking for hope.  We should and can be the ones delivering the message, sharing the light and being an example of how to deal with what is happening around us as well as what will happen ahead of us. The pandemic continues.  Covid is spreading.  Fear is building.  Yet all through it God is working, and he is working in incredible ways.  Do you see it?  Are you hearing about it? Scripture describes this for us in almost every book, and if you will, on almost every page of the Bible.  Take a look at Psalm 34 that opens some of this truth for the reader. Psalm 34:4-10  NLT I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. 5  Those who look to him for help will be radiant w

  Turn our attention to this day and what is ahead.  Christmas was sweet.  The new year begins in only a few days, and we recognize this year has been full challenges.  Many of us are tired because of all we have been through.  Would you agree? What we will do to change our minds and direction for the next year, or even the next days?  I believe that is what God gave us His love letter, the word of God for.  It impacts us so that we can impact the world. God gave the church and His word for the church so we can take His word to the world, and I believe that word is hope and life and strength.  yet all around us is death and dying, pain and problems, struggle and sever weakness.  I am tired of that.  I am ready for an adjustment. That is why I suggest there are two things that will change us and prepare us to think stronger.  These will allow us to help others find real hope.  First, we have to have hope.  Two things will feed our hope. That is peace and the Word of God. Colossians 3:15

  From our family to you and yours, Merry Christmas! 2020 has been a year we will most likely just want to forget.  It has brought us pain, problems, prohibitions and so much more.  Yet throughout there have been some victories that we need to remember. God is still working.  Nothing changes the fact that God loves us.  God knows what is happening and is working His perfect plan.  He is offering us abundant life even in the middle of the storms.  But how can we see those truths. Open our eyes. Stay optimistic. Share with others. Recognize the blessings and even the miracles. We can claim the trouble or the blessings.  We can focus on what we cannot do or on what we have been able to do.  We could say it is all dark and looming of even more decay or we can see how God brought fresh light and some thought about what might be to come. I challenge us to take this Christmas has more than just another day.  Celebrate.  Celebrate the fact that God sent His son as the perfect gift that we all

Hello Community family and friends.  Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you. We have been so blessed even through the most difficult time of the pandemic. May God show us even more of those blessings as He works in and around our lives. As Christmas is here and the end of the end is soon, please consider giving an end of the year gift to our work. You can give online at  http://www.thecommunityfellowship.org , mail your gift to the church (PO Box 388, Collinsville, VA 24078), or bring your gift to the church this coming Sunday. It takes all of us to  demonstrate the love of God to our community  and give them the best gift of all… JESUS. Have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year. There is more to come! With GOD as my guide, Pastor Michael Harrison

  Christmas may come but once a year, but this season ought to influence the hearts of all who follow Jesus on an every day basis.  Remember that without God we are in deep trouble. We might want to do the right thing, get the right or best advise, and still end up going against the path God chose for us.  Seek and take the guidance of God.  That is another aspect of the Christmas story that it is worth our time to see how God led His people. Right here we will look at Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.  He was a man of faith and a good man.  He was much older than his soon to be bride, and by the account of Scripture he wanted to do what was right. Read on… Matthew 1:19-20,24-25  NASB And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Chi

  Choose joy.  Not easy to do.  But choosing joy changes lots of things, including you. Luke 2:8-10  NASB In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; We stay in the Christmas story as this week is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus as well as the story that started the biggest transformation in history. Jesus brought “great joy which will be for all the people.”  But here the joy was for shepherds. You know.  Shepherds.  They were most likely always dirty and smelled.  They spent their time away from those who were classy and with animals.  Most people would say these people were the outcasts and maybe the forgotten ones. But who did God send the

  Luke 1:26-30  NASB Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and was pondering what kind of greeting this was. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. This is one of the first parts of the Christmas story, and it is one of the best known as well.  The list of the angel to Mary bringing the message from God may also be one of the sweetest of all parts, other than Jesus’ birth. Mary was young and in the most exciting time of a young lady’s life.  She was preparing to get married and really to begin her adult life starting her own family.  Scripture tells us she comes from a family of faith.  She was in the right place and something special

  There are so many things happening in the Christmas story, and by the way, Christmas is one week from today.  I love to look at, re-read, and take in ann the aspects of this story and the truth it brings to us and our world. Within the story the angels show up several times to announce a birth, various aspects of Christmas.  In each announcement there are different responses from the people who hear from God and meet the angels with the message from God. As you read each announcement, take in the differences. Matthew 1:24  NLT When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. Luke 1:38  NLT Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1:18  NLT Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.” Luke 2:15  NLT When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s

  Each of treasure different things.  And what we treasure ought to be worth treasuring.  Does that make sense. Our values might be all over the place and even depict a variety of traits, and it is worth stopping to make sure that what you treasure and what you show others that is important leads them and you to higher ground. I mean don’t pull people down or to lower standards.  Don’t lead people to make rotten decisions that will hurt their future or make them and you think less of themselves than God thinks of them. That is why I take some time, really a point of person privilege to let you a couple things that I greatly treasure.  If you know me, I hope you know that both of the following things are important to me. Proverbs 3:3  NLT Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Loyalty.  That is a big deal and a great trait.  For a soldier or an employee it is important to be loyal to the leader.  And we shoul

  Christmas is the time when we all tend to give.  We want to fill others with love and even hope.  That is why we often sacrifice to make this happen. Sacrifice is not a new idea for those who choose to obey God.  Since the beginning of time the understanding of and the need for sacrifice has been very important.  Sacrifice ought to cost something.  Be careful not to casually follow or to do things in a way that doesn’t honor God.  2 Samuel 24:24  NASB However, the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will certainly buy it from you for a price; for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. Give what is from the heart.  Our gifts should be costly and from our hearts.  That is best seen in why God gave us the best gift of all in His son.  Jesus cost the Father everything. David said he wouldn’t offer anything to God that cost Him nothing.  When we honor and esteem God, we will make

  Christmas is 10 days away.  There is no reason to focus on things that keep us from celebrating the real meaning of this season.  But that would be easy. 2020 has been full of reasons to be depressed or stressed rather than focusing on how we are blessed.  There is a virus that keeps changing, or so it seems, with fear all around.  So much fear keeps hitting us that we aren’t willing to step up and live.  You are either bad because you do something or bad because you didn’t do it. Seems that there is no way to win.  That is when we have tried to out live the Coronavirus, but that didn’t work.  We have tried to make it a conspiracy or just pretend it isn’t a big deal.  So how do we deal with all the issues around us? Let me simply remind us that none of the stuff we are dealing with changed who our God is and what He can do.  Remember the question that I shared last week, “since when has impossible ever stopped you?”  God is still working, He is still God completely, and God is still

  Romans 12:2  NASB And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. There are some things that catch your attention.  I want to share one that stopped me in my tracks and in my thoughts this weekend. Usually on Monday I share a part that is gleaned from Sunday’s sermon at The Community Fellowship.  That is something I will come back to later this week.  The message is one I will come back to because it brought some things up that I think are very important for our every day lives, including our Christmas celebration. What caught my attention was an email from the incredible Tom Ziglar.  He is the son of one and only Zig Ziglar that has taught about leadership for decades.  This thought about comparison is right on and something we need to learn… Comparison is the thief of joy. “Success is not measured by what you do compared to what others do; it is meas

  Jeremiah 17:20  NASB and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates. I have spent much time recently listening.  This is often as I am walking or exercising.  Things or words or songs catch my attention.  Many times God is speaking, and I am seeking to listen. This time was in a song.  The song is titled Rattle and is by Elevation Worship.  It is a powerful song with an incredible message. Early in the song there is a question asked.  When I heard the song and the question, I stopped and listened.  Then I stopped a few times to listen and think. “Since when has impossible ever stopped You?” It made me stop.  It was a wow moment for sure. What is impossible with God?  Nothing.  That is a simple answer, and it is true.  We may think that God has limits or doesn’t work in one way or another.  Our perception of God can often be wrong. He has no limits.  He is able to do so much more th