about the PASTOR
Pastor David Paul Harris started his journey at early age of 10 after confessing his belief of Jesus Christ as his Saviour then being baptized by the late Reverend Eugene Cochran of the Robinhood Missionary Baptist Church. He served faithfully as a band member, and member of the male chorus.
Pastor Harris journey continued under the late Dr. James A. Adams of the St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church and Hammond Grove Baptist Church where he was the leader of the media ministry, and youth advisor. He announced his calling under the late Dr. Adams in January of 2015. Then, he served as advisor to the new converts and new member class.
While at St. Stephen, Pastor Harris started his stewardship as the Sunday School teacher of the of the young men class, also served as the leader of the Media/I.T. Ministry where he worked with young men and women teaching how to use technology and audio/video in Kingdom building.
Pastor Harris then transitioned his membership to Hammond Grove Baptist Church, where he served under Pastor Odell Johnson, as the teacher and leader of the Baptism Class and Spiritual Leader of the Young Adults Ministry. He also served as the secretary of the Laymen’s Division of the National Baptist Convention, Friendship Chapter.
Pastor Harris is currently attending Tennessee School of Religion where is working on his bachelor’s degree in theology. He continues to serve God and his people by first carrying out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20), to continue providing to God’s people both in season and out of season, teaching, reaching, encouraging, empowering, and enabling them to grow stronger in the word of God.
Officially hired on May 4, 2025, and installed on June 8, 2025, Pastor Harris now leads Testament of Hope Community Baptist Church. He continues to serve the young and old of the church by engaging with them in worship, Sunday School, Bible Class, and activities both in and outside the church.
One of Pastor Harris’ gifts is the gift of giving he doesn’t mind nor frowns on giving his time to the Church. One of his favorite saying is “It’s a blessing to be a blessing to others.”
The Pastor's Pen
Matthew 4:1-11: Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights and was hungry after his days of fasting. The devil knew that Jesus was or should be at his weakest point, but Jesus being the truth and the Son of God was and is never weak or at a low point. We, on the other hand, are not spiritually able to resist the devil on our own.
The devil not having the power but having the knowledge, knows when we are at our weakest and tries to tempt us with things that he knows our flesh desires. That’s why we must do as Galatians 5:24 because we are one with Christ; those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Our passion and desires don’t meet our needs, especially our spiritual needs, therefore we should put our spiritual needs before our earthly desires. Keeping the devil in his place.
Putting God first in our lives and spending time with his will minimize what the flesh will desire from the world, and our spirituality will grow closer to Him. The temptation of the world is a powerful tool of the devil, and he uses our desires to entrap us and to confuse our minds into following him, and when we fall for the things that we think desire, if we just hold out God will meet our needs. Don’t allow temptation to fool you into what God already has given you.