"Take A Stand" is our series at Fusion Christian Church on having the courage to stand strong in the faith. From the book of Daniel we will learn what it takes follow God in a world that doesn't. In chapter 1, Pastor Zac will teach about committing to honor God in everything we do.

If you’re going to take a stand, there’s no prize for compromise.

Taking a stand means being resolute in your decision. If you claim to be resolved but you compromise around the edges, you won't win any prizes! Taking a stand means refusing to compromise, knowing that doing so will forfeit your benefits. God wants people who are all in on his mission and won't cave to the world. God wants people who will commit to him even when the world wants us to lower our standards.

If we keep choosing the world over God, eventually God will give us over to what we keep choosing.

Sometimes people become angry with God's judgments, but we really have no right to feel that way. When God chooses to punish us, it is only because we chose to sin. Because God is merciful, he often does not punish us right away. However, if we continue to sin and reject God's correction, eventually he will give us over to the consequences of our sin. If we think we can cheat the consequences of our sins, God will eventually punish us.

Honor God in the small things.

In the story of Daniel and the three Hebrews, they took a stand over their diet. God had given them restrictions on what they could eat and drink, and they chose to abide by those rules. Even though the culture around them was eating all sorts of other foods, Daniel and his friends decided to honor God even in something as small as their diet. Choosing to honor God in small areas of our lives shows him that we are willing to honor him in much bigger areas as well.

God honors those who honor Him.

God is gracious and fair. He will always reward those who seek and honor him. Taking a stand as a Christian means choosing to follow God and to honor him with our lives. We offer him everything and he honors us for doing so, knowing that it will cost us in this life. How can you choose to honor God in your life this week?

"Victim to Victor" is our series at Fusion Christian Church about overcoming through Christ Jesus. No matter how bad your wounds are or how great your challenges, victory belongs to the Christian through Christ. In Part 3, Pastor Zac talks about how to heal from our hurts, horrors, and hangups.

Let Jesus bind up your wounds.

The most important way to handle our hurts is to let God tend to them. Jesus suffered in every way that a human can suffer, which means he knows what you are experiencing. Jesus is able to perfectly address every hurt we have and to bind them up. If you take your pain to Jesus, know that, as a man, he intimately understands it, as God, he is able to heal it. 

Forgive as God forgives you.

Forgiveness is not easy, but it is expected. For the Christian, it is important to constantly remember God's forgiveness to us so that we can offer it to others. Remembering that we needed forgiveness from God helps us offer forgiveness when others need it from us. Whether or not they accept our forgiveness, we are still to offer it and to forgive in our hearts. If we’ve truly experienced God’s forgiveness, we’ll be ready to forgive others. Humans need forgiveness from God far more than anyone else needs it from you. If God has forgiven, you must also forgive.

Release the hangup of bitterness.

Bitterness is more than just an emotion: it's a mindset. Bitterness happens when we hold onto the wrong others have done toward us until it sets us against them. The original offense may have been serious, or it may not have been, but bitterness will make it serious. When we hold onto the wrongs others have done, we only harm ourselves more. Like an alcoholic who refuses to quit his habit is the embittered man who refuses to let go. By refusing to let go we not only slowly poison ourselves, but we prevent any possible reconciliation. It's time to let go of your hurts, horrors, and hangups and to give them to Christ.

"Victim to Victor" is our series at Fusion Christian Church about overcoming through Christ Jesus. No matter how bad your wounds are or how great your challenges, victory belongs to the Christian through Christ. In Part 2, Pastor Matt teaches about four biblical steps to overcome the Victim Mentality.

Take every thought captive.

As Christians, we are not meant to let our thoughts be ruled by worldly influences. Instead, we are to renew our minds and take control of our thoughts. The Christian who does not make his mind obedient to Christ will fall victim to temptations. That temptation might even be the temptation to play the victim when you aren't! Regardless, we are to take our thoughts captive and submit them to Christ's authority.

Fix your mind on heavenly things.

We very often focus on wordly and negative things but God wants us to focus on him. We must get a heavenly perspective if we want to beat the victim mentality. When we start to see things as God sees them we start to see things as they are. This means keeping what's most important first in our minds and refusing to focus on the negative.

Change your outlook.

Beating the victim mentality is not about delusionally ignoring bad things in our life. It is recognizing the bad but choosing to look at the good instead. The bible teaches that we will suffer and we will have trouble. The bible also teaches that Jesus has overcome these things. Because of this, the Christian knows that God wins in the end and so we win too. Looking past the difficulties of life is key to overcoming them.

Be content.

Lastly, it is crucial to be content with what we have. It's very normal for us to desire more, and it is even healthy to desire good things. However, we must cultivate contentment. Contentment does not mean settling for less, but rather recognizing that God is in control. This means that if God provides less, then less is all we need. True contentment is being secure in the knowledge that we have everything we need in Christ. Anything on top of that is just icing on the cake!

If you follow these four steps, you will be well on your way to beating the victim mentality in your life.

"Victim to Victor" is our series at Fusion Christian Church about overcoming through Christ Jesus. No matter how bad your wounds are or how great your challenges, victory belongs to the Christian through Christ. In Part 1, Pastor Zac talks about how Jesus won the most important victory by defeating death.

We can never be good enough to make our sins right.

We all know from experience that we are broken people, and the bible confirms it. God tells us that all of us are guilty of sin, and that no amount of trying will fix that problem. Many people try to justify themselves, but God is clear that it will never actually be enough. God is perfect and he cannot accept anything short of perfection.

The good news is that God didn’t leave us in our sin—He sent Jesus to give us victory over it.

Because of his love for us, God didn't want us to die in our sins. That is why Jesus came to defeat death and sin and share his victory with us who believe. That is the message of the gospel, the good news. Although we deserved punishment, Jesus took it for us to set us free.

Jesus paid the debt for our sins on the cross.

One way to think of our sins is as a debt. Every time we sin, we add on to that debt. The cost for just one sin is more than any of us would like to pay, but we sin much more than that. Because of that, the debt of our sin is massive, and we can never pay it off. That is why it is so important that Jesus paid it all. 

The BEST NEWS OF ALL ...Jesus didn’t stay dead.

Not only did Jesus pay for our debt on the cross, but he rose from the dead as well. Not only do we not face death in the way he did, but we have the hope of never ending life in him! The cross is a symbol of God's mercy: we don't face the punishment we deserve. The empty tomb is a symbol of God's grace: He gives us eternal life that we didn't deserve!

Eternal victory can only be found in the risen Jesus.

Because Jesus defeated death on the cross he will reign forever. That means the victory belongs to him forever. If we believe in Jesus, we get to share in that victory. Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Are you ready to share in his victory?

“Eyewitness” is our series at Fusion Christian Church about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the people who saw it happen. These were real people, in real moments, who had real encounters with Jesus. In Part 4, Pastor Zac teaches about the thieves who were crucified with Jesus. One chose repentance in his final moments while the other chose his sin.

Jesus did not die for His own sins, because He had none; He died for our sins.

The gospel is simple, but not always easy to accept. The trouble is that we don't want to accept that we are sinful. The bible is very clear that all humans are sinners by nature. Because of that, we all spend our lives accruing debt against God. The debt we owe comes from committing crimes against him, which is what we call sin. The punishment for sin is death, which is a problem most of us don't want to face! The beauty of the gospel is that Jesus came and lived the perfect life so that he could take our place on the cross. He deserved blessings but took punishment. We deserved his punishment, but got his blessings.

One thief held onto his sin to his last breath. The other turned to Jesus with his.

We are all, like the thieves, presented with a choice. We can either recognize our sin and turn to Jesus, or reject Jesus and choose our sin. One of the thieves realized he needed Jesus while on the cross. At some point, while he was hanging there, his heart changed and he chose to acknowledge Christ as his Lord. The other thief chose to deny Jesus in his final moments. His heart hardened as he hung on his cross. The choice to accept Christ is before you. Will you accept him?

“Eyewitness” is our series at Fusion Christian Church about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the people who saw it happen. These were real people, in real moments, who had real encounters with Jesus. In Part 3, Pastor Zac talks about the crowd that saw Jesus enter Jerusalem on a Donkey. Some of those same people would call for his death only a few days later, so what changed?

Let Jesus be the Savior of your soul—not just the solver of your problems.

When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, many recognized that he was fulfilling a prophecy as Messiah. The problem for them is that they were looking for Jesus to fulfill their vision of the Messiah. They expected the Messiah to be an earthly king who would fight off the Romans. Ruling their own kingdom again was all that this crowd had in mind when they waved Jesus into Jerusalem. They celebrated him while they thought he would solve their immediate problems. When they realized he wasn't going to do that, they turned on him.

What these people needed was to trust in Jesus as their savior. They needed to realize that Jesus' kingdom is not of this world, and that his mission was greater. He did not come to merely give them a hope in this life, but a hope in the next. We, too, must be careful not to treat Jesus like a genie who fixes our problems. We must see him as Lord and Savior of our lives.

Passion starts when Jesus is first—no matter the cost.

The crowds in Jerusalem were only interested in what Jesus could give them short-term. They weren't interested in the promise of eternal life. As Christians, we choose to put Christ first in our lives no matter what happens. A true believer will not abandon God when the promise of temporary gains seems to vanish. A true believer in Christ follows him at all costs and does not let anything take priority over Jesus. Are you living this way? Do you treat Jesus like number one all the time? Or do you do it only when he gives you good things? How can you make Jesus a priority in all circumstances in your life?

“Eyewitness” is our series at Fusion Christian Church about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the people who saw it happen. These were real people, in real moments, who had real encounters with Jesus. In Part 2, Pastor Zac teaches about Judas, who saw Jesus and still betrayed him. Judas chose Greed over God, how do we make a different choice?

Choose worship over wealth.

Before Jesus was crucified, Mary chose to wash his feet as an act of worship to our Lord. Judas, seeing her devotion, sneered and thought only about the "waste" of money. He suggested the perfume used could have been sold and the money given to the poor. In truth, Judas was greedy, wanting to skim from that money for himself. For someone greedy, it is unfathomable that others might choose to sacrifice in order to worship. Judas couldn't get his mind around someone spending money to worship God.

Surrender to Jesus as Lord.

The reason it was unthinkable for Judas to put money toward worship is that money was his god. At the last supper, when all the other disciples acknowledge Jesus as Lord, Judas only called him Rabbi. To Judas, Jesus was a nice guy who taught good things, but he wasn't his Lord. If you want to put your greediness to bed, you need to submit to Jesus as Lord. To become godly, it is not enough to recognize Jesus as a good moral teacher. You must recognize him as Lord of all and make him Lord of your life.

Guard your heart from small compromises.

Disastrous moral failings do not spring out of nowhere. They happen when someone makes little compromises along the way. When we begin to think "It's not that big of a deal if I..." then we are on a road to trouble. Chipping away at the rock of our moral integrity will always leave loose gravel at our feet. Once we are standing on gravel instead of stone, one slip can send us rolling down the slope we have created. Choose not to compromise in the little things, and you will set yourself up not to fall in the greater things.

“Eyewitness” is our series at Fusion Christian Church about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the people who saw it happen. These were real people, in real moments, who had real encounters with Jesus. In Part 1, Pastor Zac teaches about Peter's encounter with Jesus that brought him from denial to destiny.

Exchange self-confidence for God-confidence.

If we are to fulfill God's purpose for us, one thing we must learn is humility. We have to realize that self-confidence can only take us so far. Often, it can even get us in trouble. Putting our confidence in God, on the other hand, will take us where he wants us. Confidence in God will never get us into trouble that God can't deliver us from. We must remember that God is the one in control, not us.

Exchange the world’s weapons for God’s sword.

The world tells us to fight with all sorts of weapons. However, if we want to win the spiritual battles, we need to fight with God's word instead. The bible is called the "sword of the spirit" because it is the best weapon for spiritual warfare. As God's people, we should equip ourselves and become familiar with the sword he has given us. The bible is what God has given us so that we might have victory. Why would we let it collect dust on a shelf?

Exchange past failures for God’s future.

We may learn much from Peter's life, but perhaps the greatest lesson is that our failures do not define our destiny. Peter denied Jesus three times, but God still made him a pillar in his church. All of us are going to fail. All of us are going to sin and feel that we have failed God. Luckily for us, that is not the end of the story! God loves to use broken people to accomplish his purposes. You would be hard-pressed to find many people who messed up worse than Peter, but God still used Peter. God will use you too. All we need to do is to get back up when we fall and be willing to continue chasing after God.

"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 7, Pastor Zac teaches about how to handle our relationships God's Way.

Protect the unity.

One of the things God wants from Christians is for us to be unified. Jesus prayed for this specifically before his death, and we should take it seriously. We must not allow petty divisions within the body of Christ. One of the reasons for this is that being unified helps us to accomplish God's mission better. God told us to preach the gospel, and that gospel message is harmed by disunity in the church. Let us be gracious to one another and not separate over minor problems.

Value people the way God does.

God valued humans so much that he sent Christ to die on a cross for us. Do we value other people that much? Would we be willing to sacrifice for the same people that Christ sacrificed himself for? If Christ gave up his own life, the least we can do is give up a little time or a little comfort. If we want to have good relationships, we need to treat other people as though they matter as much to us as they do to God.

Have the same attitude as Jesus.

Jesus left his throne in heaven, giving up every privilege, to be born as a servant. He made himself nothing because of his great humility. If we are to be like Christ (we are), then we must be humble like Christ. Pride has no place in the heart of the believer. Instead, like Jesus, we should make ourselves like lowly servants in God's kingdom.

Start seeing your relationships as a ministry.

Ministry often sounds like it is only for pastors or professionals, but this is not true. Ministry is for all Christians. This is because ministry can be summed up in one word: sacrifice. Since we are to be like Christ, humbly sacrificing the gospel, ministry is therefore for all of us. The pastors and professionals can't do it alone! They need everyone in God's kingdom to be doing their part to spread the gospel. This starts with our relationships. We need to view every relationship as an opportunity to serve other people. These are the people that Christ died for, and we need to show them the light of the gospel. How can you minister to your friends and family this week?

"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 6, Pastor Zac teaches about how to lead yourself so that you can have better relationships.

Wherever I go, there I am.

Have you ever noticed that the common denominator in all your relationships is you? That means if you want to improve your relationships, you need to improve yourself. You need to choose to be godly and to follow God's designs. Regardless of how other people treat you, you can still choose to win in your relationships by doing things God's way.

Be the person who overlooks an offense.

People are going to do wrong to you. You cannot control that. What you can control is your response. One thing that God teaches through the scriptures is that it is good to be able to overlook an offense. Instead of focusing on how you have been wronged, try to forgive and not hold those wrongs against people. Learning how to be gracious to others will ultimately reflect God's grace in your life.

Be the person who loves instead of hates.

The only thing God calls us to hate is sin, and we have plenty of that within ourselves. When it comes to others, God tells us to love them. Loving others does not even mean that you have to like them, but it does mean you have to treat them well. To love someone is to act with their best interests in mind. This means you choose to treat them as God wants them treated even if you don't feel warm and fuzzy toward them. The warm feeling may or may not come later, but choosing to love our enemies is the Christ-like way to live.