Fusion's 4 elements
At Fusion, we are all about 4 things. These 4 things help us to do everything God has called us to do. They are:
1) Being Devoted to the Word of God
2) Living in Real Community
3) Praying Continuously
4) Being United for Change
If you wanna find out why these are our 4 elements & what they are all about, then keep reading!
Many people in church circles say they want to get back to an Acts 2 church. What they are really saying is they want to see signs & wonders, salvations, and unity again flowing through the church. That's amazing and we desire those things too, but we often mistakingly aim for the "results" and not the life that produces those results.
Acts 2:42 lays out the pattern for a life that "buys" us the amazing life and experiences that the early believers in Christ had. "All the believers devoted themselves to the Apostle's teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer." These are the 4 elements of life. We aren't told that these early believers devoted themselves to signs & wonders, salvations or even unity... they devoted themselves to Being Devoted to the Word of God (Apostle's teaching), Living in Real Community (breaking of bread), Praying Continuously (prayer), and Being United for change in the world (fellowship)... and everything else flowed from this way of life. (To get a more in-depth explanation of this, listen to the "How Far We've Come" series in the Downloads section.)
The 4 Elements of life ::
Being Devoted to the Word of God:
We know that the Word of God (the Bible) is living and active. It is God's Truth that we center our lives around and God moves through it to provoke us to change, reveal sin in our lives, propel us to tell others the good news of Jesus, and reveal a direction for our lives. We are commited to teaching this Word, finding the most effective ways to make the Scriptures alive in today's culture, and then doing our best to live it out daily. So from speaking it in large settings to discussing it in smaller ones to writing blogs to having conversations through online forums, it's our desire to be driven by an uncompromising devotion to God's Will for our lives.
Living in Real Community:
It seems like we are surrounded by people all day long, but don't truly know anyone. We weren't meant to live this way. That's why we are dedicated to building real community, where people can take the masks of life off, engage the Word of God, and be changed. Nothing gets accomplished when we are fake, acting like we have it all together.
This community life is not a white thing or a black thing, it's a way of life thing. We believe the church is called to be one people, regardless of skin color or culture. Fusion is composed of about 30% White, 45% Black, 20% Latino & 5% Asian young adults. Come on Jesus!
These facts, combined with the encouragement God gives us to not give up meeting together, are why there are so many people through Fusion who meet in small groups across Atlanta, called Fusion Communities.
Praying Continuously:
Prayer is conversation with God. And like any good conversation, it's 2-sided...speak and listen: telling God what you need, praying for others, repenting of sins, listening to His guidance for life, praying what He leads you to pray for, allowing Him to stoke your passions...intimacy with God.
This is our fuel for life. Prayer is at the foundation of all we do, our best outlet of living out the 1st Commandment of loving God with all our mind, soul and strength. In fact, The Furnace, Fusion's prayer room, is called that because a Furnace is in the basement and heats up everything above it. Prayer is at our core and fuels everything else that we do.
United for Change:
We can hear teaching all day long, be involved in community and pray until we're blue in the face...and never accomplish anything in this world. There is entirely way too much talk and not enough action right now. Where are the people who will join together to make an impact in this world and create the future for good?
We are dedicated to restoring the local community. We are not content to "have church" while the city falls apart around us. We reach into the community primarily through our small groups, but also have occasional Fusion-wide events.
We are also dedicated to capturing a world view and impacting nations. We believe we should not simply talk about the love of God, but also live it out by taking His love out into this nation and beyond. We regularly sponsor missions trips to areas such as Mexico, Peru, Haiti, Nicaragua and beyond.
Here's what this all looks like lived out:
We receive teaching through hearing messages or reading the Bible or through prayer. We then carry those thoughts & ideas back into community where we discuss them and sharpen each other by implementing it in our lives. Next we take those teachings and thoughts and conversations to the place of prayer where we allow the Holy Spirit to provoke us even more, cleansing us of sin and fueling our passion about the teaching sitting on the inside of us. Then full of teaching, living in community & fueled by prayer, we GO, united with others to change the world.
What's the result? Who knows?...good deeds, signs & wonders, unity, salvations, freedom, the Will of God being done on earth as it is in Heaven? God, may your 4 elements become a reality in our lives!