Worship & Prayer

As we look deeper into the foundations of FuZion Church we continue to look at our Z- Formations or core values today.  We have looked at how God has called us all to love Him and Love others as ourselves by not simply talking about love but putting it into action.  Last week we talked about how society has caused us all to live a lie by putting on masks and doing things outside of who God has created us to be so that we fit into a specific mold, look and act the “correct way” as well as be just like everyone else.  God has called us as a church to celebrate everyone’s uniqueness.  By simply living a life and being a church that will Be Real & Be True.  Today let’s look our next 2 core values dealing with worship and prayer.

Worship One

God has commanded us in the 10 Commandments found in Exodus that we are to have no other Gods before Him and to worship Him alone.  Everything that we do will do just that bring glory and honor to the Holy One our Father in Heaven Jesus.  We worship a creative God and because of this we will be intentional about creating environments to allow us to experience God in a real and personal way whether that is in a small group or life group in someone’s home, while serving our community or during a worship service.  We are driven by those we are trying to reach;  those far from God and / or those who don’t like church.  Our worship environment will reflect those individuals we are trying to reach with the message of the gospel.  Our worship will be loud, energetic, passionate, authentic, real, non traditional and gospel centered.  Our environments are geared toward those we are trying to reach not simply those we are trying to keep.

Speak Life Through Prayer

We believe that the creator of the world, our Heavenly Father, lives and works in and through us due to the gift of salvation through the forgiveness of sins Jesus provided for us due to the sacrifice He made by shedding His blood on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins or bad chooses.  With this in mind, we believe that every follower of Jesus has the power of the Holy Spirit within them and we are all commanded to love everyone.  We can do this easiest through prayer.  We have made immediate prayer a core value; for the reason if someone in the mists of your life asks you to pray for them because they know you are a Christ follower, instead of telling them you will put them on your prayer list we will stop and pray for them at that moment for whatever the need may be.  We will do this because we believe that God can minister to the deepest needs of people and speak life into their situations much easier through prayer and His Word than anything else we could say.  So by praying for a persons situation or need God through His spirit can minister to them and life can be spoken into their life and situation pushing them closer to Jesus.

The Journey: February 19

This week has been an awesome week. God has been at work in real and tangible ways as He continues to moves us toward the fulfillment of this great vision called FuZion Church.  We are seeing lives changed and people become more excited by what God s doing in and through us.

This past Saturday a group of us went to Walmart to share God’s Love by helping with shopping carts and introducing ourselves to the community.  We would help people put groceries into their cars as well as take carts back to the cart stations in the parking lot.  But our primary goal was to introduce ourselves to them and ask them several questions to get to know them a bit.  We asked:

What do you see as the greatest need in our community?  Why?

Are you active in a local church?  If so, what do you like most about your church?

If not, what are you looking for in a church?

Then we would either ask them to pray for us or give them an invitation to our meet & greet to get to know us and to church is out.  Our team of 9 touched about 60 families in the time that we spent there.  The stories, answers and reactions that were received were all over the chart.  There we some we had opportunity to prayer with, others were excited to hear of a church that cared about the community enough to ask what the greatest need was to disbelief that someone wanted to help them with no strings attached.  95% of everyone we talked to were very receptive and open and we discovered the greatest need in our community was to help those in need, i.e. hungry & homeless,  entertainment options as well as ways to connect with others in community.  Through the variety of answers the Lord showed us why He put the vision and purpose He had for FuZion Church together with our core values.  The answers we received brought great confirmation to all that God has put together and why we are who He has made us into.

Afterward we spent time on a prayer walk around the local school the Lord is calling us to hold services in.  We felt the Lord moving as we continue to move forward in seeing this grand vision fulfilled.

Tonight we had our second Meet & Greet informational meeting where we had the opportunity to share the vision for FuZion Church.  Our team represented our Lord and the vision of the church very well.  In the mists of raining weather and cold conditions we doubled in the number of people who came from our first meeting.  The Lord’s presence was there and we felt Him move in our mists.  We also got to see the fruit of all our hard work tonight as we saw several who are interested but needed to pray more about it and 5 people jump all in behind the vision and wanting to join the team.  I am so excited to see what God is doing. It isn’t in the way I thought He was going to do it but nonetheless He is working and fulfilling His promise.  To God be the Glory for all He is, has and will do.  I know that the best is yet to come and I look forward to sharing the journey of FuZion Church with our 5 new team members!

Be Real – Be True

Our FuZion core values are called Z-Formations. They are the philosophy and common direction behind everything we do. We use the Z-Formation as a decision filter; if you understand our core values then decisions are easier. The Z-Formation defines our culture as an organization. If the mission of FuZion Church is “To meet people where they are leading them into a contagious faith so they can lead others to Jesus”, then the Z-Formation keeps us moving in formation towards that goal.

Z-Formation #2: Be Real – Be True

In society today we are told to not let our real self out.  We are told how to act, what to wear, what we should look like, and so much more.  We are told to conform to what the world is telling us and we will be happy.  But we all know that isn’t true, it is simply a lie.  When we listen to the world’s voice we loose more of ourselves and push away our true selves.  God has created each one of us in a unique way to uniquely express Himself through our life.  If we conform to the world we are unable to express the God inside of us in the way that He intended.  But many times when that personality and unique expression comes bubbling out when are told to hide or suppress it.  At times that is very hard so  we simply put up masks to make everyone believe that we are just like them and everything is just fine.

We need to be ourselves and express who we really are to the world around us. When we are truly who we are that is when we are our the happiest.  FuZion Church will be just that type of church.  A church that will embrace you right where you are and for who you are.  We will be real, transparent, authentic to who God has uniquely called us to be.  We won’t compromise our vision and what makes us uniquely FuZion for anything.  As we live our a life like this we are asking everyone to follow our example that we are following from God’s Word and live our lives in an open, transparent, authentic, and real way.  Being who God created you to be and express your uniqueness is what we are all about.  We will encourage, embrace and love who you not expecting you to become something you are not.  God’s Word is the example and tells us how to live and who we are in Him.

Next week we will look at our next core value - Worship One

Time to Share

Don’t miss another opportunity to get to know more about FuZion Church and

how you can be a part of this great movement of God.

The Journey: Why Do You care More about…

This past week God has been moving, touching lives as we see new people get excited and behind the vision for FuZion Church, seeing Him fulfill more and more as we move toward launching to seeing Him fulfill the one of the first steps of starting FuZion which is being Incorporated and registered with the state.  We thank God for all He has done, is doing & will do in the coming days.  Don’t forget about next Sunday evening at 4pm at Edinborough’s Family Restaurant for a Meet & Greet and a time to learn more about FuZion Church and how you can be a part of this great vision.  I will share more details in the days to come.  But today I want to share with you from my heart which has a lot to do with who I am, have become and the heart of FuZion Church.

Throughout my years in ministry my focus has been reaching the unreached, those down and out, those forgotten, the unloved and the hurting. When I sensed the call to ministry 30 years ago it was always to seek and save those who were lost or simply far from God. My desire has always been to see the church reach people who with the life saving message of Jesus.  But I have been misunderstood throughout the years. One comment that I have never forgotten was, “you care more about reaching people in our community than you care about the church”. That statement isn’t any more true than if I were to say to them that “they” don’t care about seeing people saved and growing their church.”   I know they do care about that but the truth is that we simply see the mission of the church alot differently.

I have decided to center my life on helping people who don’t really think about God find that there is a God Who passionately loves and cares for them! My prayer for FuZion Church is and will always be: Jesus, help us be a church that will help people who don’t like church meet You.

In Luke 5 Jesus’ gives an invitation to a changed life:

“After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” And he did—walked away from everything and went with him. Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. “What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and ‘sinners’?”   Jesus heard about it and spoke up, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.” 

Jesus basically says, “I came to invite people who aren’t in the church to experience the changed life that comes from being in a relationship with me and when I change them they will change not just in what people can see, but more importantly, they will change where only I can see – on the inside.

Friends, that is what I want my life to be about – that is what I want FuZion Church to be about – regardless of whether you’re a part of FC or not, why wouldn’t you want your life to be about that as well?

Love God / Love All

Our FuZion core values are called the Z- Formations. They are the philosophy and common direction behind everything we do. We use the Z Formation as a decision filter; if you understand our core values then decisions are easier. The Z Formation defines our culture as an organization. If the mission of FuZion Church is “To meet people where they are leading them into a contagious faith so they can lead others to Jesus”, then the Z-Formation keeps us moving in formation towards that goal.

Z-Formation 1: Love God/ Love All

Love is a Verb. Love is not something you feel, it’s something you do.  Love is something that we put into action not hold onto.  Our basis for this is found in:

1 John 3:18 tells us, “Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth.”

Our plan is to love you where you are to lead you into a life long daily growing life transforming relationship with Jesus and disciple you to where your faith becomes so contagious that others around you become infected with the spirit that lives inside of you.  We will do this through our actions not just words.  We will lead you into loving God as we live a life of love by investing & serving our community while loving our community right where they are.  God has called us to Love Him above all others and Love those He loves us.

In Mark 12:30-31 it commands us to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these.”

Jesus responds to a religious leader who asked Him to tell him what is the greatest command in the Bible is.  Jesus responds to him stating why Love God/ Love All is one of our Z formations.  We all must be obedient to these simple commands and FuZion Church will do more than just talk about it we will put actions to those words and fulfill the command God has given us to love Him and love ALL People the same way we love ourselves.

Next week we will look at our next core value: Be Real – Be True.

The Journey: God’s Rockin’ the House

The journey this week for FuZion Church has been very exiting.  I am almost without words at all that I have seen God do some things that only He could do and answer prayers as He puts things into places as He puts things together for us to really fulfill the vision He has given us.  Before sharing I need to give a shout out to our sponsoring church, Vertical Church, as they celebrated their first birthday this morning in worship.  This morning was off the chain with God Rockin’ the House this morning while Pastor Dennis brought the Word to challenge us all.  I am so thankful for the great vision given to Vertical Church and how that vision also includes FuZion Church.  I am thankful for my pastor and mentor, Mike Pittman, for his believing in me and pushing me to take the vision that God has placed in my heart and bring it to life while allowing God to bring it to fulfillment.  I am humbled, honored and feel unworthy to be a part of the Vertical staff as a church planter intern and to take the vision God has placed deep within me to bring the gospel message to a group of people who don’t like church and need a place to belong so they can meet Jesus in Raeford.  Thank you Lord, for placing such a grand vision in the heart of Pastor Mike and for blowing it up in their first year and for allowing it to include me to be a part of this exciting movement of God as He brings it to Raeford.

This week the Lord has been rockin’ my world.  I have seen Him answer some prayers for me on a personal level and reconfirm in me the truth of His Word & His faithfulness as He reminded me of the many times in my life He has proven Himself to me on so many levels.  He is answering prayers as He puts the necessary things into place for us to take major leaps forward in launching and fulfilling the vision He has given.  This week we also had another opportunity to share the vision of FuZion with one of our newest team members as she hosted this event at her home.  Thank you Candi for having us in your home and making this meeting a reality.  We saw God work in the lives of all those that were there as He continues to restore, heal and ignite himself in people’s lives.  We had an opportunity to see God reach the teens and our target group that God has called us to reach.  I praise you Lord for these answered prayers and I look forward with great excitement and expectation as I wait to see what you will do next.  Just keep rockin’ my world!!

Foundations: Moving with a Purpose

How do we move with a common purpose?

We do this by following our Z formation or core values.  They are the philosophy and common direction behind everything we do. We use the Z Formation as a filter for every decision we make; if you understand our core values, then decisions are made much easier. The Z Formation defines us as an organization. I know most church-going people don’t see that.  Each church in our society has its own way of doing things that is often different from other churches.  Many times the things that define who they are not what they think, but what influences them the most.  We have our Z formation define who we are and how we will function and make decisions as a living organism called the church.

The reason we call them the “Z Formation” is from a lesson learned from geese.  Have you ever seen geese fly in formation?  Ever wondered why they fly that way?  The short lesson would be…

1. When geese fly in formation they add 72% momentum than if they flew alone;
2. When one falls out of formation it feels the resistance of flying by itself and moves back into formation to take advantage of the other birds momentum;
3. When the lead goose tires it falls back and another takes the lead;
4. The geese honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed (honk, honk!);
5. When a goose is wounded, sick or shot down two others follow it down to help and protect it.

When we as people and most especially as a church “fly” in formation – in the same direction we will get where we are going quicker and easier because we are sharing the momentum of one another. So let’s get information, follow the One who has saved us and “Honk!” like peoples’ lives depend on it (because it does)!

 

If the mission for FuZion Church is to “Meet people right where they are to lead them into a contagious faith so they can lead others to Jesus”, then our Z-Formation keeps us moving information towards fulfilling our vision.

The Journey: God’s At Work

This week the journey of FuZion Church seems to be on fast forwarded.  We are seeing God do some miraculous things and answer many prayers.  With the kick off of our first Meet & Greet Vision Casting Meeting last Sunday God has really been working in the lives of our core team and in those who attended.  There is a lot of excitement and  a buzz through the community about FuZion Church.  That says volumes to me that God has been doing something and many times been places we are going before we even got there.  Had an opportunity to have a follow-up meeting this week with someone who attended last Sunday and it was evident to me that God had been preparing for us meet for sometime.  Our simple meeting lasted over and hour & a half and ending with our conversations turning toward ideas on how to reach more people with the message and vision of FuZion Church.  This trilled my heart and had my spirit jumping know that her excitement was so much that she is gathering some friends and family so we can share with them too.  God is answering our prayers.

Yesterday God gave me an opportunity to preach at one of our partner churches.  The Lord had me share from Acts 4:13 & Mark 2:1-4 about how to be an Idiot for Jesus and be willing to do whatever it takes and go to whatever lengths it takes to get someone to Jesus.  We discovered that Jesus needs us to obey irrationally, give extravagantly and do things that others say can’t be done.  It was great to share from God’s Word as I also had the opportunity to share with them about the vision of FuZion Church and challenge them on the ways they could get involved on a personal level and as a church.  God also challenged everyone to be more obedient in their giving and service to their church.  God was in the place and the Word was well received as He continues to deepen our relationship with this great partner.  It was great to have my entire team there in support of this venture.  After the service God also answered many prayers by individuals coming to me and offering their help and getting us connected with people that we need to be able to fulfill the vision of FuZion Church.  God is awesome and I can’t wait as we continually look to what He is going to do next.  Let’s go get ‘um!!

Foundations: Not Another Church

I have been asked why do we need another church in town.  This might not be what you think of church but it’s what we’ve been thinking.  Think about it – there is someone you love, someone you’ve been praying for that might be open to that church, willing to hear the message of Jesus again – that’s what we’re all about, “meeting people where they are to lead them into a contagious faith so they lead others to Jesus”. Please pray for FuZion Church as we team with our local churches to impact this region for Jesus (and if you like the video, share it).

Why another Church: In Plain English