Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  So, it begins.  My sabbatical off and running as of this morning.  Each of the next 5 weeks you will receive one e-devotion on Monday or Tuesday morning with a little glimpse at what I am in to, studying and planning for the week. I am grateful to be able to get away and spend time with family as well as seek to recharge or refresh myself, physically and spiritually.  This week will be the challenge.  I want to unplug.  Wow, that isn’t easy at the pace that I typically live.  But giving it a try beginning today. This week I begin reading two of the books I have chosen for the sabbatical.  The first is “Saturdays With Billy” by Don Wilton.  Don was Billy Graham’s pastor, and this book is part of what he learned and reflects on his time with the greatest evangelist of our time.  The second book is “Death By A Thousand Lies” by Blaine Bartel, and this book shares Blaine’s story of the rise and fall of a pastor. This week begins with us headed to Hawaii to spend time with our daughter Re

  Joy.  Determination.  Strength and leaning. Just take a minute to listen to some of my ramblings.  I do not mean that what I share is not important or significant.  What I do mean is that we need direction that changes our lives. Think about the impact of your choices.  Think about the things or the people that make you a better and stronger person.  It is these four things that come to my mind as I set my heart and head toward God.  These four things will allow life to have more meaning and for my work to impact more people. Let me explain… when you aim at nothing, you hit it every time.  When you have no direction, you count for very little.  Now walk the other direction.  When you set a goal, it is easier to accomplish that goal because you know what you are heading for. Nehemiah 8:10  NLT And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t

  Waiting is not always about stopping what you are doing.  Often waiting is an act of staying connected, continuing to watch and always seeking what you are waiting on. As I have shared this week, we are going on a sabbatical beginning on Monday.  This is a time away from work and the normal every day life to focus on God and on our family.  It will be hard to disconnect, but Julie and I believe this is an important time.  I am grateful that our church family is allowing us to take these weeks away. During this time we will be waiting on God.  I want to hear His voice, and I will wait on Him.  I will be seeking wisdom for our future, and I will be learning more about my God given purpose.  I will be reading some books that I have chosen, and I desire to learn more, grow in my walk with God, sharpen my skills and enjoy what God has blessed me with. Think about waiting on God and what that means. Psalm 27:14  NLT Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently

  Caring for one another is not always easy, but it is always right.  The thing we often take for granted is the fact that we stay so busy and feel like things will take too much of our time.  That really is not the case. Let me remind you of something that hit me recently… it only a takes a few minutes to stop and show someone you care.  Step out and do something. Zechariah 7:9  NLT “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. When you feel a tug in your heart to do something kind or to serve someone else, do it.  Stop right then and do something.  Waiting most likely leads to forgetting to do it. You don’t have to have a lot of money or other resources to meet a need.  It might be as easy as buying a cup of coffee, letting someone go ahead of you in line at the store or walking across the street to have a conversation.  It could be that God leads you to do something that does have a cost like paying someone’s electric bill

Focusing on God has specific results in our lives.  In fact any kind of focus leads to outcomes based upon what you focus on.  Choose where your focus will be, and many success experts says that you will have greater results when you know what your goals are and when you focus on them. That is one reason I am taking some time this week to share with you about focus.  Beginning next Monday I will be taking an extended period of time away from church and ministry to focus on some key things.  I will be focusing on my relationship with God and spending quality time with my family. I will be unplugging from much of social media, choosing to pour time and energy in to strengthening our family relationships, working on my walk with God as well as planning for the future, and finally, soaking up as much as can from God. That really is focus.  Here are some verses from John 15 that speak directly to why this type of focus is important… John 15  NLT “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is th

Acts 3:19  NASB Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; It is time to make some choices that will help me be stronger.  Not easy to make the hard choices, but it will pay off with long term benefits. What I am talking about is something akin to discipline.  The harder we work and push toward goals, the great the benefits for ourselves and those who we have influence over.   The last year has shown this to be a reality.  I chose to get healthier by losing weight, and it has paid off.  As of this last week my doctor shared with me that I no longer have diabetes as I have lost more than 70 pounds and blood sugar levels are at a normal level.  I feel better and stronger.  And I am not done. On to another note, beginning the end of this month I will be taking a sabbatical, an extended time away from the church to focus on family and God.  In the coming days this week I will share with you how

Proverbs 7:24  NLT So listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words. Today is an important day as our last born, youngest child, will cross the platform and receive his high school diploma.  We could not be more proud of this young man and his accomplishments over the last 17 years. Ryan came along after we moved to Virginia.  He has two older sisters that he watched play and fight, love and excel at so many things.  Learning from them has been sweet.  All three of our kids loved marching band for which we are so grateful for those years, those trips, those late nights and the friendships. School was a struggle for Ryan in the earlier years.  In middle school it was tough getting him to apply himself.  Seems like I remember my dad sharing a story like that about me.  High school has been a different case. His grades and his work have been so good.  Learning and being part of school was something that he has done well, at least until the pandemic hit.  This has been a tough 15 mo

It has been almost a year since I started getting healthy.  I’ve lost weight as I have started to eat differently and be much more active.  By getting active I have chosen to spend a good deal of time walking and even running. I say that to say one of my favorite activities in running and walking is to listen to sermons.  I am a preacher that loves sermons and preachers, certain preachers specifically.  You know what I mean.  Plus, I want to soak up more of God’s word. Yesterday I went on my longest run so far.  While running I listened to David Platt of McLean Bible Church share a message titled All In Good Conscience from 1 Corinthians 10.  He is talking about dealing with common temptations in our walk with Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:13  NLT The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. This message h

  I want to share with you a couple thoughts that have been on my mind a good bit.  They are deep and not very much fun.  Yet these might be enlightening and helpful to most who are seeking God. Doubt leads to deeper faith. Faith is not strong until it has been tested. James 1:2-4  NLT Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. All of us will go through tough times, and those times will help our faith gain strength and we will gain understanding.  Don’t let doubt or testing keep you from going further with Jesus. I heard one preacher say that there are three different kinds of people who doubt… those who doubted in the past, those who doubt in the present and those who are going to doubt.  Actually he said there is a fourth ki

Psalm 69:32  NLT The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged. What encourages you? Who speaks life and strength in to you? Where do you find refreshment and renewing? How do refuel energy and stamina? Those are some important questions to know the answers for.  Do you agree?  When you know the answers and don’t go after them, there is most definitely a problem. Isaiah 40:31  NLT But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Think about this for a few minutes.  What keeps us from going to the things that build us in to stronger and more faith filled people? What discourages you? Who zaps you of your strength? Where do feel used or drained? How do you lose engird and want to quit? It is important to know where those things happen as well.  Those answers often are easier to find that the ones we first asked.  Why is it easier

We continue our series based upon hymns of the faith, and yesterday we sang and shared from “Amazing Grace”.  Full on, totally honest, many agree that when we get a good glimpse of God’s grace we are more and more touched, excited and overwhelmed by how God gives us this incredible gift. Grace is a gift.  Grace is what God does to forgive our sin and bring us close to and in right standing with God.  No one but God could do this. Micah 7:18  NASB Who is a God like You, who pardons wrongdoing And passes over a rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. He wants to have mercy on us.  His desire and longing since the beginning of time has been to bring His people closer to Him, but the problem of sin keeps people away from God.  That is why there is such a need for grace, amazing grace. What does real grace look like, how does it act, what does it mean?  Powerful questions wrapped up in a beautiful hymn that fills u

Hello Community family and friends This Sunday morning at 10:10am at The Community Fellowship we will be honoring our graduates.  Please help us honor and show some love to these ... JACOB GRAY son of David and Tammy Gray Bassett High School Going in to the Marines RYAN HARRISON son of Julie and Michael Harrison Bassett High School JEREMIAH McDANIEL son of Jennifer McDaniel Bassett High School JONNY NORMAN son of Jonathan and Angie Norman Patrick County High School ALIYAH WIMBUSH daughter of Lynn Chaney and James Booth As you enter the building Sunday morning there will be tables decorated by each graduates families.  There will be a basket for cards and gifts, and there will be a book for us to write notes of encouragement to each graduate.  Please help us honor these incredible members of our community. We look forward to seeing each of you this weekend at church! With GOD as my guide, Pastor Michael Harrison -- James 1:5

We are in the middle of an awesome series at The Community Fellowship.  It is called CLASSICS and uses hymns to remind us of the faith and theology that God has given us.  These truths literally help us have firm faith during tough times. These have been tough times.  A pandemic is something we have never experienced before and would like to be over.  The last week has been strange with a shortage of gas and people running to fill up their cars.  It resulted in many of our local stations being out of gas for hours or even a day. We have looked at the hymns “How Great Thou Art” and “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”.  This Sunday we move on to “Amazing Grace” which is likely the most popular hymn, at least of my dad. Let me pause this Friday to share a story with you.  Joey Martin attends our church, serves with our Raceway Ministry team and is a great dude.  He shared a story about his father that I would like to pass on to you, and he gave me permission to do so.  This is awesome.  Enjo

  Psalm 50:14  NLT Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. That is an important word.  Would you agree?  Thankful people are a lot more fun and pleasing to be around.  I mean, grumpy people and negative people or those who think they are owed something aren’t a lot of fun to be around. That is one reason I choose, and need to choose even more, to be thankful.  I want to be known as a person who is grateful and generous.  And by the way, the way we act and treat others is often how the people around us will act and treat us.  This makes a lot of sense to me. During this full and crazy week I choose to stop for a few minutes and make a list.  Yes, it is random and maybe a little different, but I stop and just name a few things that I am thankful for that often go unnoticed. - I am thankful that a couple different people today said “thank you” when I didn’t expect it. - I am thankful for FaceTime, the app on my phone, that allows me to see our