"It's Complicated" is our series at Fusion Christian Church on relationships. Everyone knows our relationships are messy, but not everyone knows how to navigate them. This series will provide godly, biblical principles for keeping your relationships much less complicated! In Part 4, Pastor Zac teaches about honoring your parents.

We honor our parents, even when it’s complicated, because it’s right.

Honoring your parents is what God calls us to do even when it is difficult or confusing. Sometimes understanding honor properly is easier when we define what honoring our parents is NOT. Firstly, honoring your parents does not mean blind obedience throughout your life. As a child especially, obedience is right and even necessary. As an adult, you are no longer required to blindly obey everything your parents say, but you are still called to respect them.

Honor also does not mean approving of sinful or destructive choices. Sometimes your parents will do the wrong thing, you do not have to approve of that. Honor also does not require you to remain in an abusive situation or relationship. If it is not safe, you are not required to stay. Finally, honor is not compromising your own marriage, faith, or calling in order to make your parents happy. Within these limitations, do your best to show respect to your parents in all situations.

Choosing respect over disrespect.

This can be most difficult when you disagree with your parents. However honor does not require agreement. You can still show respect for your parents even if you end up choosing something other than what they would. It is up to us to choose to respect rather than disrespect our parents.

Choosing care over caring-less.

As parents age, it is important for their children to take care of them as best they can. We should not put off care of our parents onto others when we are able to do it. Showing honor and love for our parents means ensuring they are cared for in their old age.

Choosing forgiveness over bitterness.

 Family can hurt us worse than anyone else. The wounds are deeper and harder to mend. Christians are still to forgive. Forgiving others does not mean we must allow them to hurt us again, but it does mean we cannot cling to bitterness. Unforgiveness has destroyed millions of relationships. Christians should not allow this to happen with our relationships by harboring an unforgiving attitude. Christ calls us to forgive, and if we cannot forgive our parents, who will we forgive?

"It's Complicated" is our series at Fusion Christian Church on relationships. Everyone knows our relationships are messy, but not everyone knows how to navigate them. This series will provide godly, biblical principles for keeping your relationships much less complicated! In Part 3, Pastor Matt teaches about the right approach to parenting.

We must equip our children rather than enable them.

Often parents don't equip children to succeed in life, but enable them to misbehave. Instead of learning discipline, the children learn to do whatever they want. One day, the parents won't be able to keep their kids' lives on track anymore. When that happens, the kids will have to make their own choices. Then it will truly be revealed how well they were raised.

Equip them with your Example.

What kids learn from their parents is more "caught" than "taught." What this means is that they will learn more from your example than what you tell them. This means parents cannot be hypocrites! If you speak one way and live another, your kids will see right through it. This means we should focus on the example we set before anything else.

Equip them with the Word.

Learning the word of God is the most important education any person can receive. That means parents should make it a priority to keep their kids in the scriptures. This also means that parents should know the scriptures. It's hard to equip someone else with God's word when you are not equipped yourself.

Equip them with Discipline.

Children need discipline. This is an unpopular position in modern culture, but children are not perfect and need correction. Out of love, out of a desire for what's best, children must be given discipline. If parents refuse to discipline their children, their children will almost never grow up to live healthy lives.

Equip them with with Grace.

On the flip side of discipline, parents must also offer grace. God is perfect in justice, but also in mercy and grace. In the same way, parents need to try to strike a balance between discipline and grace. Your children need to see both of these modeled because it will affect the way they relate to God later. If you can strike a balance between the two extremes, you will be on your way to godly parenting.

"It's Complicated" is our series at Fusion Christian Church on relationships. Everyone knows our relationships are messy, but not everyone knows how to navigate them. This series will provide godly, biblical principles for keeping your relationships much less complicated! In Part 2, Joel Pierce (our worship director) talks about how to have a godly influence on the people around you.

Influence is wasted if it does not point to Christ.

We can influence people in many ways, but unless we point to Christ we are wasting our time. People might remember you fondly for telling good jokes and being a fun person, but these things are temporary. By pointing people to Christ in all we do we can have an impact on their eternity, not just their present.

Give God the Glory.

In leadership, as in all things, we must learn to give God the glory. Any time you attempt to influence people, you are attempting leadership, even if you have no official position. By giving God glory, we not only recognize our creator, but we help keep ourselves out of the spotlight. in that way, giving God glory is really about keeping ourselves humble. If you desire influence in order to make yourself look better, you have the wrong attitude. Glorifying God instead maintains a humble attitude.

Start Small.

If you're trying to have a positive impact on others, it's important to focus on the people around you first. Stop worrying about the people who are not in your sphere of influence and focus on the people who are. If you are faithful with the few people God has placed around you, God will reward your diligence and increase your influence according to your abilities.

Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy.

Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy refer to right teaching and right practice, respectively. When you combine them, they encapsulate what we believe and how we live out that belief. If we can maintain those two things effectively, then we are on our way to setting a right example in our lives. God calls all Christians to set an example for those around us. If we can keep our doctrine and practice sound, then we will encourage those around us through our example. 

"It's Complicated" is our series at Fusion Christian Church on relationships. Everyone knows our relationships are messy, but not everyone knows how to navigate them. This series will provide godly, biblical principles for keeping your relationships much less complicated! In part 1, Pastor Zac teaches how to honor God with our sexuality both in dating and marriage.

Fall in love with someone who loves Jesus.

The most important decision any person makes after deciding to follow Jesus is deciding who to marry. For those of us who have decided to follow Jesus, marrying someone else who loves him too is of utmost importance. The bible is very clear that those who follow God should not marry people who don't follow him. If you have, the best thing to do is to honor God in that marriage. But if you are an unmarried Christian, you should not marry anyone who is not Christian.

Honor God with your sexuality.

God designed sex for marriage and designed marriage to be between one man and one woman. To honor God with your sexuality, therefore, means to maintain purity outside of marriage and faithfulness within it. Pornography, adultery, and extra-marital sex are all dishonoring to God and should be avoided.

Lifelong marriage is God’s design from the beginning.

Part of God's design is also for marriage to be lasting. Although the bible allows for divorce in certain limited circumstances, God hates divorce, and desires that reconciliation happen instead when possible. Marriage is meant to be for one man and one woman to be joined for life. When this happens it allows marriage to properly mirror the relationship between Christ and the Church.

Move from selfishness to selflessness.

The single biggest obstacle to healthy relationships is selfishness. If we can teach ourselves to put the other person's needs above our own, we will find that selfishness disappearing. When both partners in a relationship do this, the relationship becomes healthier. How can you put others above yourself in your relationships?

Before Jesus left earth, he told his disciples to let the whole world know about the gospel. That's why our vision at Fusion Christian Church is to "Tell Everyone" the good news of Jesus Christ. On our Mission Sunday, we celebrate the ways in which we participate in that mission locally and globally. In this sermon, guest pastor, Mark Blum, teaches about our role in carrying the gospel to everyone.

If you are a believer, you ARE qualified.

God doesn't always use the most impressive and qualified people to carry his message. In fact, he prefers to use people who are lowly in the world's eyes. The truth is, anyone who has been saved by Jesus has a story to tell about how the gospel changed them. Sharing that story is enough to get started with telling everyone. You'll learn more along the way, but if you have a Jesus story, you are qualified to start sharing it!

Love God, Love Others, Tell Everyone.

These three simple commands comprise our mission statement at Fusion Christian Church. They are drawn from Jesus' summary of the law into two commandments as well as the Great Commission. Part of the simple beauty of this mission is how each part of it logically flows out of the command before it. If we begin be loving God, the natural overflow of our love for God will be love for others. If we love others, the natural expression of that is to tell them the good news of Jesus.

Live a life of LEGACY.

Most people live their lives in survival mode. They are barely scraping by and don't have time to think much about the future. Fewer people live life in success. These people are comfortable. They don't have any major struggles and are usually content. This is better, but is it what God has for us? Fewer people still life a life of legacy. These people have moved beyond success and are living a life with a goal of making a difference in the world around them. It's not enough for these people to have success for themselves, they need to expand God's kingdom and leave a legacy behind them that will affect others for generations.

At Fusion Christian Church, Loving others is a major part of our church vision. This is because Jesus told us it is the second most important commandment, only beaten out by loving God. While this could easily be its own series, Pastor Matt will summarize some ways to love others in this message.

We love people equally.

God hates partiality. Partiality is when you show favoritism and don't treat people fairly. At Fusion Christian Church we strive to treat all people with justice and fairness, as God instructs. The bible leaves no room for us to be unfair. We must love all people equally.

We love people by serving them.

Serving others can take many different forms, but it is an essential way to show the love of Christ. All Christians need to be serving in one way or another, because that is an irreplacable way to show love. Just as Jesus showed his love by washing the disciples' feet, we too must show love by serving.

We love people by forgiving like Christ. 

If serving is sometimes difficult, forgiveness can be even more difficult! Much could be said about forgiveness, but in short, Christians must not hold grudges. Whether or not another person accepts forgiveness, it is our place to offer it. If we refuse to offer forgiveness when God has forgiven us so much, we make ourselves hypocrites. Don't cling to bitterness, but forgive others as God forgave you.

Three ways to embody love:

-We love people in the gathering of believers.

-We love people in the small groups.

-We love people in relationships.

What these three points encompass is three different levels of relationship. Christians need to love at the church level: we cannot neglect church! We also need to love at a small group level, participating in close-knit community with other Christians. Finally, we need to love individually, maintaining one-on-one accountability and familiarity. If we do these things, we will be well on our way to embodying the love of Christ.

Love God is the first part of our mission statement at Fusion Christian Church. We believe that everything we do and believe starts there. So how exactly are we to love God? Listen in as Pastor Zac answers that very question.

We must go to the source.

In order to Love God we must draw near to him. He is the source of all things, especially love, because God is love. If we are going to learn how to love God properly, we need to know what love is. The only way to do this is to get to know him for who he is. Knowing God's character on a personal level gives us a personal understanding of love and enables us to reciprocate it. When we know God, not only do we experience his love for us, but we will be able to love him in return.

To love God is to delight in listening to Him and obeying Him.

Loving God is not an idle exercise. Loving God means we choose to listen to and obey him. If we say we love God but we don't listen to him, we make ourselves liars! If we say we love God but we don't obey him, we make ourselves hypocrites! Loving God includes following his commandments. We don't do this merely out of obligation, but in joyful adoration of our King and Savior.

Where there is love, there will be service and obedience.

This is the natural state of a believer. Because God is our Creator and King, it is natural for us to serve him. Because he is good, it is a service of love. If we truly love God, service and obedience will flow from that spring. Service will not be a burden, but a joy. The Lord is not a harsh taskmaster, but a loving Father who desires close relationship with his children. Loving him is the greatest endeavor of the Christian life.

Clear, Focused, and Godly describes our Fusion Christian Church vision for the year 2026. On Vision Sunday, Pastor Zac teaches about how to expand God's kingdom through serving at the church.

God’s plan A has always been to build his church.

Jesus told us his plan for the gospel before he left earth, and that plan is to spread it through the church. Building the church means going out into all the world and making disciples. As we add more disciples to our number, the church grows, because the church is not a building, it's the people. The spreading of the gospel and the building of the church are ultimately the same mission.

When you grow, WE can grow more.

Pastor Zac is fond of saying, "We will never be corporately what we are not individually." What this means is that if individual church members do not grow, the church will not grow either. Every Christian must take it upon himself to grow spiritually. This is the only way for a local church body to stay healthy, because if you aren't growing, you're dying.

When you step up, WE can serve more.

Similar to growing, the church is more limited on the service it can offer to people when the congregants don't get involved. The church needs its members to step up and serve so that more ministry can happen. There are needs all over the place just waiting for someone to step up and fill them. If you aren't involved, you need to be!

When you give, WE can do more.

Ministry doesn't happen for free. The reality is that everything costs money, and it probably costs more than you think. The church relies on the generosity of God's people for ministry to happen. If people are not giving, ministry is not happening. Prayerfully consider giving to your local church body and help support the work of the gospel.

When you go, WE can reach more.

Fusion Christian Church is involved in missions projects both locally and globally. We believe in spreading the gospel both near and far, but we need people to carry that gospel out. Will you join the mission and go where God needs you?

"How to Have the Best Year Ever" is just that: a quick guide on having the best year ever! At Fusion Christian Church, we believe that living a godly life is the way to have the best life. In this year's end sermon, Pastor Zac teaches through the principles of godly living and how to have the best year ever by applying them.

Train yourself to be godly.

Godliness requires training; it doesn't happen by accident! There are no short cuts or easy routes to spiritual maturity. Instead, growing in godliness takes discipline and training. Here are four ways to sum up what training this way means:

1. Training means preparing in private for what God wants to do in public.

2. Training means developing godly, healthy habits that produce kingdom results.

3. Training means preparing today for the life God is calling you to live tomorrow. 

4. Training is what separates intention from transformation.

Training for godliness requires God's training plan.

If we are to train, we need to know how to do it. God gave us instructions for growing through his word. This is the first place we should turn to when we are trying to learn how to train. God hasn't left us feeling around in the dark for answers, but has given us the light of his word to guide us.

The eight spiritual muscles of the Christian life.

1. Bible reading and study 

2. Prayer and fasting 

3. Worship—both private and corporate 

4. Generosity 

5. Serving 

6. Witnessing to others 

7. Faithfulness to God’s house 

8. Loving God and loving others 

Nine benefits of training in godliness:

1. You’ll become more like Jesus. 

2. You’ll grow in patience. 

3. You’ll experience less guilt and shame. 

4. You’ll experience less fear, worry, and anxiety. 

5. You’ll become a more loving person. 

6. You’ll become better at your work. 

7. You’ll become wiser with your money. 

8. You’ll build a stronger family and relationships. 

9. You’ll become the person God is calling you to become. 

The Greatest Story Of All Time is our Christmas 2025 series at Fusion Christian Church. In this series we look at some of the ways God foreshadowed the Christmas story throughout the bible. In part 4, we conclude our series with a teaching on how Jesus Christ is our great High Priest.

Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice.

The priests in the Old Testament had to offer sacrifices constantly in order to atone for the sins of Israel. This is because the animal sacrifices could never truly take away the sins of the people. What the sacrifices did was point forward to the future sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus, by offering his own body up on the cross, did what all the priests who came before could never do. He made a once for all, perfect sacrifice that could finally make people clean. 

Jesus entered the perfect place.

Under the Old Testament system, the High Priest entered the "Most Holy Place" once a year on the Day of Atonement. The Most Holy Place was the room in the Tabernacle (or later the temple) that housed the Ark of the Covenant. Here the High Priest would act as a mediator between God and his people, making peace between them. The Most Holy Place, however, was only a shadow of the true Most Holy Place in heaven. Jesus, as the perfect High Priest, passed through the heavens himself, and therefore entered the "perfect place." By doing so, Jesus was able to reconcile God's people to him in a way no other high priest could.

Jesus sat down on the perfect seat.

On the Ark of the Covenant, which sat in the Most Holy Place, there was a space between two angels called the "Mercy Seat." This is the place where God's presence rested and where he would meet with the High Priest. Like with the Most Holy Place, this Mercy Seat was a shadow representing God's throne in heaven. According to the bible, after Jesus had offered his perfect sacrifice (himself) he sat down at the right hand of God in heaven. What this means is that Jesus can sit in the seat reserved only for God (because he is God). Jesus sits in heaven's Mercy Seat because he is the one who gives mercy to his people.

You are now part of the priesthood.

If you have been saved by Jesus, then his blood has washed you clean and set you apart for his service. God has a job for all of us to do, and that is to serve him and his gospel. All Christians are part of a priesthood where we live in service to our Prophet, Priest, and King Jesus Christ. How will you serve him?