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Hocus Pocus is a stand alone sermon from Fusion Christian Church that addresses witchcraft and the occult. This sermon both clarifies biblical teaching and warns about engaging in these spiritual practices. Are you seeking what God can give you in places God has forbidden? The bible explicitly condemns and forbids us from engaging in the dark practices of witchcraft, the occult, necromancy, etc. One of the primary motivations for people who seek out these practices is power. Sometimes they want to use that power to help others, sometimes only to help themselves. Whether or not they desire power for selfish gain is irrelevant, because the power itself comes from a dangerous and forbidden source. No matter what reason you might have to go to the occult, the answer is not good enough. God knows better than we do, and he has forbidden it. You cannot give God first place while giving every other voice equal authority. God is not one authority among many, he is the ultimate authority. Everything is beneath him, and he knows who submits to his authority and who does not. One of the issues with witchcraft and the occult is that they seek gain through powers that are in rebellion to God. When we seek out these dark practices, we are siding with the rebels and rejecting God's authority. God's light does not coexist with darkness. We cannot pretend to honor God while also engaging in darkness. Turn only to Jesus for true power and guidance. Do not be deceived: there is some power in the occult, that is what makes it tempting. However, that power pales in comparison to the power of God. God wants us to recognize that he is the ultimate source of power and truth and guidance. There is nothing else that even comes close. Turn to Jesus Christ, the one true God.

Have you ever read the story of Jonah? It's famous for second chances, but we often forget that Jonah wasn't the only character with a second chance. Come join us at Fusion Christian Church as we study the book of Jonah. In week 6, Pastor Zac teaches about changing our attitude so we don't squander our second chances. Examine your attitude toward God. In the story of Jonah, Jonah had the same bad attitude at the end of the story as he had in the beginning. He knew that God was merciful, but he didn't want God to show mercy to Ninevah. Because of this, he was angry and bitter toward God for sending him there and for not punishing the city. When he should have done some self-reflection, Jonah instead chose resentment. Trust His goodness, even when He doesn’t do what you want. Often God chooses to act in ways that baffle us. We cannot expect to understand his plans, but we can always trust in his goodness. God has demonstrated his perfect love and kindness to us over and over again. This means that even when he confuses us with his actions, we can trust that he is going to make things work together for good. Examine your love for people. Jonah's anger toward God at the end of his book reveals his attitude toward the people he was called to serve. God had to remind Jonah that there were thousands of people in Ninevah that needed to hear his message. However, Jonah was filled with so much hatred toward Ninevah that when God did not destroy it, Jonah wished he was dead. We must always examine our love for others and realign it with God's love. The way you serve shows how much you love. Jonah demonstrated that he did not care for the Assyrians in Ninevah by doing the bare minimum. He spent as little time as possible and used as few words as possible because he ultimately hated them. His lack of love became evident through his lack of service. We all have a tendency to think and act like Jonah. The question is, will we continue to act like Jonah? or will we change our attitude and make the most of our second chances?

Have you ever read the story of Jonah? It's famous for second chances, but we often forget that Jonah wasn't the only character with a second chance. Come join us at Fusion Christian Church as we study the book of Jonah. In week 5, Pastor Matt teaches about the great revival in Ninevah and how God used Jonah to make it happen. We have the God that doesn’t disqualify us because of our past. Jonah failed God when he rebelled and ran away to Joppa. Despite that, God was able to use him. If people needed to be perfect for God to use us, God would have to do everything! Instead, God delights in using his people to accomplish his purposes. Like a parent who lets their toddler help with chores even when they struggle, so too does God allow us to help him. We have the God that can use the bare minimum. It seems as though Jonah put minimal effort into his message to the Ninevites. All we have recorded in scripture is about eight words, but God used those eight words to start the greatest revival in the whole bible. What was probably a city of millions all repented and turned toward God. We have the God that desires faith and repentance, not works and performance. Even though we see works and performance from people in scripture all the time, those works should always be our fruit, not our root. What that means is our salvation is rooted in faith and repentance so that it can produce good works as fruit. If we try to invert that and root our salvation in our own works, we will fail. We have the God who sees our hearts and who hears our cries. God is waiting patiently for people to repent. That means when we do repent, God always hears our cries. He knows our hearts and he knows if we are genuine or not. To those who offer genuine repentance, God offers genuine healing. What is stopping you from repenting in your own life? If something is keeping you from turning to God, know that God is waiting with open arms for you to set that aside.

Have you ever read the story of Jonah? It's famous for second chances, but we often forget that Jonah wasn't the only character with a second chance. Come join us at Fusion Christian Church as we study the book of Jonah. In week 4, Pastor Zac preaches about hope in dark places. Jonah turned away from God. Jonah was swallowed by a big fish, but this wasn't some accident or act of unfairness. God sent the fish because Jonah had turned his back on him. Often we choose to blame God for our problems instead of recognizing the role we played in causing them. Jonah's own actions got him where he was, and God sent the fish as a wake up call! It was time for Jonah to repent. If you want to move toward the light, start praying in the dark. At his lowest point, Jonah did the only thing left for him to do: he prayed. Jonah cried out to God and expressed sorrow over his actions. Jonah repented from trying to run away and confessed his sin to God. When we are in the darkest places of our own lives, we should cry out to God too. Maybe our problems are our own fault, maybe they aren't, either way God is the way out. Jonah could not save himself. Neither can we. It would be hard to imagine a situation more desperate than Jonah's in the belly of the fish. Jonah had no hope of escape and no hope of rescue from any human. Similarly, apart from Christ we are desperately lost and have no way of saving ourselves. If we want to be rescued from our sin, like Jonah we must repent and turn to God. Salvation comes from the Lord. This should be the cry of our lives: that salvation comes from the Lord. It starts with expressing our first faith in Jesus and making that initial act of repentance, but it doesn't end there. After that, we must continue to live a lifestyle of repentance, always turning back to God when we stumble or sin. Christians should lead lives of humility, where we always remember that God is our salvation and no one else.

Have you ever read the story of Jonah? It's famous for second chances, but we often forget that Jonah wasn't the only character with a second chance. Come join us at Fusion Christian Church as we study the book of Jonah. In week 3, Pastor Zac talks about the storms of life and how we should respond to them. Ask yourself, am I the problem? Many of the storms we face in life are storms of our own making. So often we are the source of our own problems! Even if we aren't the source, we often help make our problems worse. If we want to navigate our storms, the first step is to acknowledge when we are the problem. If we have made the problem or made it worse, we must own that and repent of our mistakes. This was what Jonah needed to survive the storm he was in, and we need the same thing. Stop trusting in your own strength. Start trusting in Jesus. A second problem we tend to have when we are hit by storms is trying to fix them ourselves. Most of the time you will not have any more luck controlling your problems than controlling the weather. Some things are out of our control, and we need to trust in the one who has all control! This is most true of our biggest problem: sin. No amount of struggling on our part can weather the storm of sin. We need Jesus to step into the storm and bring us peace. Use your storm to point people to Jesus. Whether or not we have made it through our storms, the Christian has a duty to perform. The Christian's duty is to use our storms for evangelism. Sharing about how God has helped us through our trials is a fantastic way to point people to him. A personal testimony about how God has brought peace to your own storm can be a powerful witness to unbelievers. How has God brought you peace in your life?

Have you ever read the story of Jonah? It's famous for second chances, but we often forget that Jonah wasn't the only character with a second chance. Come join us at Fusion Christian Church as we study the book of Jonah. In week 2, Pastor Zac talks about Jonah's attempt to escape from God. Sin always has consequences. When Jonah ran from God, he probably hoped that there would not be any consequences. He probably hoped that God would choose someone else and leave him alone. God doesn't work like that. Instead, God sent a storm after Jonah to remind him that his sin had consequences. One aspect of this that we often forget is that there is really no such thing as a "private" sin. Our sin affects the people around us even if we cannot directly perceive how. Escaping reality doesn’t change reality. Often we try to avoid the consequences of our sin through a number of coping mechanisms and distractions. We might choose sleep, medication, alcohol, social media, video games, or any number of other "escapes." Ultimately, we cannot escape reality because reality is built on top of God himself. There is no way to evade reality just as there is no way to evade God. The best option is to reach out to God rather than to run from him. The door is still open. Until death, the door is always open for us to run back to God. He is always waiting for us to return to him, and he may be sending us constant messages to remind us of him. Jonah needed a storm to be sent to remind him to go back to God. Perhaps we need equally strong reminders in our own life. Either way, God is drawing us to himself, and once we have accepted the call we are to help draw others. God wants us to participate with him in the mission of spreading the gospel around the world. Will you take up that calling? Or will you try to escape the inescapable God?

Have you ever read the story of Jonah? It's famous for second chances, but we often forget that Jonah wasn't the only character with a second chance. Come join us at Fusion Christian Church as we study the book of Jonah. In week 1, Pastor Zac talks about the reasons we run from God and why we need to run to him instead. Is fear keeping you from running to God? One of the reasons Jonah ran from his mission is that he was afraid of the place God sent him. The Assyrians were dangerous people who oppressed the people of Judah and Israel with horrific cruelty. Jonah was rightly afraid of them, but fear should never keep God's people from doing what God says. Jonah knew he should follow God's command, but instead he tried to run away. Do you let fear control your decisions? Do you let fear keep you from God? It's time to turn toward God and trust him for the strength to move forward. We can run from God, but we can’t escape His presence. Whether we run from God out of fear or some other reason, it is ultimately pointless. God is everywhere, and there is nowhere we can go to escape from his sight. If we go to the ends of the earth, still God is there. There is no way to run from him, so it only makes sense to run toward him for his protection.  We can resist God, but we can’t defeat His purpose. God does not need us to accomplish his purposes. He has had his plans in place since before time began and we cannot change the outcome. Resisting God's plan and purpose is like struggling against the current in a mighty river. You will only succeed in exhausting yourself and the course of the river will remain unchanged. Wisdom is choosing to follow the course of God's plan, knowing that his perfect wisdom put that plan in place. It's time to stop running from God and trust in his plan!

What is God like? How does who he is impact what we do with our lives? In "Now Showing," we walk through some of the attritbutes of God and why they matter for our daily living. In Part 6, Pastor Zac teaches about God's holiness and what it means for our lives. What does it mean to be holy? God’s holiness means He is completely perfect, completely pure, and completely set apart from everything else. The holiness of God in some ways encapsulates all the ways that God is not like us. In some ways, all of God's unique attributes are simply small parts of his holiness. This is because every unique characteristic is another way for us to describe God as set apart. God’s holiness gives us a humble view of ourselves. One of the striking aspects of the scene described in Isaiah chapter 6 is the prophet's reaction to God's holiness. He does not think highly of himself or even try to defend any of his actions. Instead, Isaiah recognizes his own sin, curses himself, and proclaims that he is lost. In the presence of the Almighty there are no illusions about our place before him and the weight of our sin. God's holiness and glory overwhelm any creature and force us to recognize our position. God is holy and we are not. God’s holiness sets us apart from sin. The beauty of God's holiness is that he does not leave us in terror but invites us to be holy ourselves. The gods of other religions often shun mortals, but the true God allows us to reconcile with him. When we do that, God sets us apart from sin and remakes us into the image of his Son. God’s holiness sets us apart for His purpose. God makes us holy and he doesn't stop there. Instead, God makes us holy and then draws us into fulfilling his purpose. When we see the holy God, we know that we can never reach him by our own effort. Because of this, God saves us apart from our own effort, and only gives us something to strive for as a result of being saved. We are not saved by our good works, we are saved so that we might do good works by God's grace.

What is God like? How does who he is impact what we do with our lives? In "Now Showing," we walk through some of the attritbutes of God and why they matter for our daily living. In Part 4, Pastor Zac teaches about God the good shepherd. We keep trying to find another way in, but our goodness will never get us through the gate. Jesus protects his flock by keeping them in the sheep pen. Sometimes we don't like to do things God's way, and so we try to get into his blessings through another way. The truth is that we can only be part of God's flock if we enter through the gate. On top of that, we only enter into the gate by God's grace. No amount of effort on our own part will get us through that gate.  You don’t have to know WHERE He’s leading you if you know WHO is leading you. One of the beautiful things about following Jesus is that we don't have to know where we are going next. Because we know who is leading us and that he is good, we can trust that he will deliver us there safely. He has told us our final destination, so we don't need to know every step of the journey to trust the outcome. The Church isn't a building we attend; it's a flock we belong to. It bears repeating that the church is not primarily a building. The church is the people of God, his flock of sheep. When we become Christians we join that flock. It is important to also note that there is only one people of God. God has one sheep pen and one flock which holds sheep from every nation, tribe, and tongue. There are not multiple flocks, but one, and that flock has only one shepherd: Jesus Christ.

What is God like? How does who he is impact what we do with our lives? In "Now Showing," we walk through some of the attritbutes of God and why they matter for our daily living. In Part 3, Pastor Zac teaches about the God who provides. God’s tests prove and purify your faith, preparing you for His provision. This truth is hard to believe until you experience it. The tests and trials we face are never enjoyable in the moment, but later we can appreciate the lessons learned. When God sends us a test, he always has reason for it. One of those reasons is the same for every trial: to purify our faith and draw us closer to God. Faith moves toward God’s provision. When we have faith it causes us to move to places where we receive God's provision. Choosing to put your faith in God does not mean sitting on your hands and letting God handle everything. Putting your faith in God means doing what God wants us to do and leaving the results up to God. Faith in God allows us to make decisions with confidence that God will provide help when we need it. God’s provision is found in the person we worship. The most crucial provision for the Christian is the provision of Jesus Christ as our savior. God provided his son for us as a sacrifice in order to save us. Without this, we would be lost forever. Even if God did nothing else for us, this would be enough to make him a good God worthy of our praise. Yet God does so much more for us every day through Jesus Christ. God’s provision may come at the last moment, but it’s never late. Sometimes it is difficult for us to trust God's timing. In our minds it always better to receive God's provision when we think we need it. However, God sees every variable and every detail. God knows when the best time to intervene is, and he will not intervene sooner. We must remind ourselves of this and learn to wait on the Lord.

What is God like? How does who he is impact what we do with our lives? In "Now Showing," we walk through some of the attritbutes of God and why they matter for our daily living. In Part 2, Pastor Matt teaches about God's power, presence, and knowledge. Omniscience - God Knows Everything. God possesses perfect, complete knowledge of all things—past, present, future, actual, and possible. Because of this, he knows exactly what is happening in our minds and hearts at any moment. Nothing is invisible to him. While this can be a terrifying realization if we are not right with God, it can also be a comfort. If we reject God, his perfect knowledge means he knows all our wrongdoing. However if we have accepted Christ as our Lord then his perfect knowledge means he is able to comfort us perfectly. He knows our struggles and can help us through them. Omnipresence - God Is Present Everywhere. God is fully present everywhere; there is no place in creation where God is absent. As with the last attribute, this can be a terror or a comfort depending on your perspective. If we reject God, his inescapable presence is cause for trembling and fear. For Christians, his ever-present guidance is a delight. God is always near to us and able to help us in times of trouble. Because of this, we can trust him with our fears. Omnipotence - God Is All-Powerful. God possesses unlimited power and is able to accomplish everything consistent with His nature and will. As has been a consistent theme, this too is either terrible or magnificent news depending on our relationship to God. Those who rebel against God rightly fear punishment, knowing that God has the power to administer it. Those who trust in God rightly rely on his strength to defend and uphold us in our weakness. Because God is Omni, submit your life to Him. These three attributes reveal an incredible binary between those who follow God and those who reject him. On one hand, the one who rejects God knows God's reach is inescapable, that he sees all sin, and that he can punish that sin. The Christian, on the other hand, rests safely in the knowledge that those infinite attributes are on his side. God's power, presence, and knowledge are a comfort, not a curse to the one who trust in God. Will you place your trust in God today?

What is God like? How does who he is impact what we do with our lives? In "Now Showing," we walk through some of the attritbutes of God and why they matter for our daily living. In Part 1, Pastor Matt explains how God's eternal, unchanging nature makes him worthy of our hope and trust. God reveals his nature to us. A fundamental tenet of Christian belief is that God has revealed himself to us both through scripture and through nature. Because God upholds the universe by his power, his fingerprints are all over it. Through the marks he as left we can discover many truths about him. We can broadly separate the attributes of God into two categories: communicable and incommunicable. The communicable attributes are attributes reflected, in finite measure, in humans who bear God's image. The incommunicable attributes belong uniquely to God and he does not share them with any of his creatures. God is Eternal. The eternality of God means he has no beginning or end. Some people ask the question "Who created God?" but this is a nonsense question because God had no beginning. The bible is clear that God has no beginning or end and therefore stands before all things. God is Immutable. Immutability means that God does not change. The unchanging nature of God is essential for Christian belief because it means God is always faithful and always keeps his promises. The Christian who understands this can take courage and hope from it. We live with eternal hope. An eternal God has eternal promises. Knowing that God is eternal and unchanging gives the Christian confidence in the hope we have. We know that God will keep his promises and complete our salvation. He will keep us secure and deliver us from evil. The promises of God offered to us in Christ Jesus are guaranteed to be fulfilled. Take heart and trust in God's promises!

We are in the middle of spiritual combat. "Dressed For Battle" is our series at Fusion Christian Church about winning that combat by wearing the Armor of God. In week Seven, Pastor Zac teaches about using prayer to power your armor. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. The first key to an effective prayer life is to pray in the Holy Spirit. Christians have the unique honor of having God's Holy Spirit live inside of us! Because of that, everything we do should be in submission to the Spirit and in recognition of his power. If you have ever tried to do things under your own power, you should know that it is not enough. Christians need to stand in God's power in order to "power up" our spiritual armor and achieve spiritual victory. To pray in the power of the Holy Spirit is to pray in alignment with the will of God. Praying in the power of the Spirit falls under the broader category of submission to God's will. Jesus set the perfect example for us by repeatedly emphasizing "thy will be done" in his prayers. When we pray, we must always remember that God works things together according to his infinite wisdom and grace. Knowing this, we should remind ourselves that God will grant our prayers when they align with his will and refuse them when we pray selfishly. To pray in the power of the Holy Spirit is to follow the Spirit’s leading. To have an effective prayer life, we must be open to the Spirit's guidance. This will not always be obvious, but through much prayer and through knowledge of scripture we may discern his leading. When we feel the Spirit leading us in one direction, we should affirm that it is him by aligning the decision with scripture and wisdom and then follow it. Sensitivity to the Spirit's leading comes with spiritual maturity. To pray in the power of the Holy Spirit is to pray for the family of God. Once again, we must not pray selfishly. It is acceptable to ask God for personal blessings, but a healthy prayer life includes prayers for all of God's people. Remembering to pray for others inclines our hearts in love toward those very same people and creates a healthy attitude within us. By praying even for our enemies we can keep ourselves from becoming bitter and foster a heart of love instead. What steps can you take this week to build a better prayer life?

We are in the middle of spiritual combat. "Dressed For Battle" is our series at Fusion Christian Church about winning that combat by wearing the Armor of God. In week six, Pastor Zac preaches about the importance of the Sword of the Spirit. If you leave your sword at home, don't be surprised when you lose the battle. Amidst the Armor of God there is only one weapon. If we go to battle without it we will never gain any ground and will inevitably lose. That is why it is so important for the Christian to arm himself with the sword of the spirit. Not only that, but we must train with it so we know how to handle it rightly. Picking up the sword protects us from believing the lies. Similar to the Helmet of Salvation, the sword serves as protection against deception. The helmet protects the mind, while the sword goes on the offense and cuts through the lies. Since the sword of the spirit is the scriptures and the scriptures are true, they provide a powerful antidote to the poison of deception. It prepares you to fulfill God’s purpose for your life. Knowing the word of God helps us to understand who God is and his plan for both creation and our salvation. If we become confused about our purpose, studying the bible helps us gain clarity about how we fit into God's designs. The bible doesn't give you specific advice about every decision you make, but it does set you up on the path of wisdom. The bible teaches us how to think and act with discernment, setting us up to make wise choices. God's will is for us to grow in wisdom so that we can make good choices that honor him. When you take up the sword of the Spirit, God's word becomes your delight and your life. Many people find reading the bible to be a drudgery, but this will not remain the case if we commit ourselves to it. The more the Christian commits to reading and studying God's word, the more he will understand it. The more understanding we have of scripture the more enjoyment we gain when reading it. It soon becomes a joyful act to read through the scriptures.

We are in the middle of spiritual combat. "Dressed For Battle" is our series at Fusion Christian Church about winning that combat by wearing the Armor of God. In week five, Pastor Zac teaches about the Helmet of Salvation. Before Satan attacks your actions, he attacks your thinking. Satan knows that if he can control your thoughts, he can influence your choices. He did this to deceive Eve in the garden of Eden, and he and his followers try to do it to Christians today. We must make sure to train our minds to know truth from fiction and to discern spiritual deception. The Helmet of Salvation is worn to defend our minds from the enemy's attacks. Every spiritual battle is first a battle over what you'll believe. The three main beliefs we need to get right are our beliefs about God, ourselves, and our salvation. Firstly, we must believe that there is only one God and that Jesus Christ is that one God. After that we must accept the simple and foundational fact that God loves us and wants relationship with us. If you're going to have victory in your mind, what you believe about yourself must come from God. The most foundational belief about who we are as humans is that God made us in his image. This means that we have inherent value based simply on how God created us. Another key belief for the Christian to hold is that we belong to God. We do not belong to the devil or even to ourselves, we belong to our creator. Some people loathe not being in control of their lives, but it is so much better to cede control over to a God who loves us. If you're going to have victory in your mind, you must be confident that your salvation is secure in Jesus Christ. This is where the Helmet of Salvation gets its name. When we feel the certainty that comes from knowing Jesus has saved us, it protects our minds from all sorts of doubts and attacks. The enemy might say that you are not good enough, but the Christian should know that's the whole point. Our salvation is secure because Christ is good enough, not because we are. Our assurance of rescue comes from God's perfection and does not rest on anything we do. Therefore there is no cause for boasting and no reason to doubt because of our failures. Jesus Christ has never failed, and our confidence rests in him.