Some of you may have noticed that we had cars parked everywhere and I do mean everywhere last Sunday at the new building.  What most of you don’t know is that there is a “secret” parking lot just down the side road the runs along our building.  Someone built it and then never used it.  (I think they built it for us even though they didn’t know it but that’s another story.)  Anyway, I’d like to ask some of you fusioneers (particularly those of you without small kids) to help us out by parking in this “fusioneer lot” so that we can free up a few more spaces in the main lot.

The fusioneer lot basically has it’s own special batman-style entrance.  If you’re headed north on Buford Highway, just go past both the church and the Sherwin-Williams entrances and then turn left at the next unmarked road.  The fusioneer lot will be immediately on your right.

Thank you for helping out by parking there!

God loves you too much and knows you too well to expect you to be perfect.  He knows that perfection isn’t something we’re capable of as humans.  He extends His grace to fill in the gap between the ideal and the real in our lives.

But, it doesn’t end there.  He also loves you too much and knows you too well to allow you to live a life that’s only half-lived.  He wants you to do everything you can with excellence.  He asks you to stretch yourself instead of just giving up and following the path of least resistance.

He doesn’t want us to look at the imperfections of this world and our lives and resign.  He wants us to look at His perfection and His love and resolve to give Him our very best.

Don’t give up.  Don’t give in.  Instead, give Him your all.

Well, the twitter man has been trying to keep me down.  I’ve got no response at all as to why they have suspended my account.  Their automated system says that it is now under review.  Until I get that all sorted out, I’ve decided to create a new twitter account.  You can follow me @tmack2.  Please forgive the Breakin’ 2:  Electric Boogaloo reference in my title.  I just couldn’t resist.

Just remember…I’m back…for everyone that believes in the beat!

The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I realize that hearing from Him, clearly and consistently, isn’t just a nicety but rather it’s an absolute necessity.  We need to hear from God all the time about all sorts of things.  SO, how can we hear from God better?  Well, I could go on and on about all sorts of stuff but I want to focus on one key truth today.  Are you ready?  Here it is…

The more you obey Him the clearer His voice will become.

In other words, obey Him in every way you can, in the seemingly insignificant things, and His voice will grow stronger in your ears.

I just found out that my twitter account has been suspended and I have no idea at all why.  They didn’t even send me an email telling me it had been suspended.  I hope they will restore it soon but for now it would seem that I’m twitterless.

In the meantime, you can follow me on my plurk account here.

Okay, so I just posted what I thought about the new building and our first service there but what I really want to know is what you thought about everything this morning.  Actually, I want to literally hear and/or see you as you share your thoughts so please post an audio or video comment below.  You can post a text reply if you’re lazy too, I guess.  :)

Come on, Fusion, let me hear whatcha think!

It’s a joy to be your pastor!

Today is a day I will never forget.  Today is a day like no other in the history of our church.  Today, we reached a milestone and started a new chapter in our journey.  Today, we crossed the Jordan and entered a new land filled with new opportunities.  Today, God showed His faithfulness and goodness, yet again, to His people.  Today, we gathered in our own building for the first time and experienced the power and presence of God in a bold new way.  God has been so very good to us!

I’m still having a really hard time getting my head around it all.  It seems like a dream.  Honestly, it’s been a dream for so very long that it’s hard to accept that it’s actually a reality.  God has been very good to us!

This week has been a whirlwind week.  We’ve been working around the clock to get everything ready but I think it all really paid off today.  It all came together in an amazing way and it has been abundantly evident that God was working with us on everything every step of the way.

When we couldn’t get the chairs we wanted, God provided.  When we had a flooring nightmare that could have blown our tight time line, God provided.  When we needed extra help, God provided.  When we needed additional resources, God provided.  When we need a creative idea to fix a problem, God provided.  God has been very good to us!

I walked away from the building today convinced, once again, that we have the greatest people in the world serving at our church.  First, there’s my tireless wife who is nothing short of amazing.  Her design eye has been invaluable throughout the process and I don’t know what I’d do without her support, dedication, decorating sensibilities and flat out hard work.  Then, there’s the amazing staff of our church that literally worked morning, noon and night every day last week (including their “days off”) to make everything happen.  They truly went above and beyond the call of duty!  Beyond that, there are our amazing fusioneers that never cease to blow my mind.  People like Theresa Stewart who worked so hard even with a foot in a “cast” and Angie Hipps who worked so hard even with a baby in a sling.  That’s not to mention all the others that worked so very hard doing every imaginable task.  I want you all to know that I’m so very thankful for you.  God blessed this church beyond measure when He planted each of you here!  God has been very good to us!

One person that deserves special recognition is Jason Smith.  When we listed out all the major tasks that needed to be done to get us into the building, Jason was responsible for over 75% of them!  Remarkably, when we decided to move the launch date up a week Jason didn’t try to kill me.  He even agreed with our reasoning!  I don’t think he got more than 3 hours sleep last week and we all own him a huge debt of thanks for his dedication, determination and skillful labor.  God has certainly blessed our church by sending us Jason.  God has been very good to us!

The day itself was nothing short of incredible.  We filled the auditorium to absolute capacity!  We filled up KidZone too!  The parking lot was also full!  (We actually had people drive through the parking lot just to see what the heck was going on!)  God has been very good to us!

It was very poetic and fitting to have both the Buckland’s and the Eley’s there today.  Along with my amazing wife, the six of us started this church with nothing more than a dream from God and at many times it looked like it wasn’t going to happen but God always made a way.  It was wonderful to have all six of us under the same roof in “the house” as we worshipped Him this morning.  God has been very good to us!

I strongly sensed two things during the service today.  First, I sensed God’s presence in a powerful way.  I’ve been sensing that all week in the building as we worked on everything.  That’s such a good feeling to have as a pastor.  Like Moses, I’ve been praying that His presence would move with us and He has.  He filled that building today in an undeniable way and I’m very thankful for that.  I also sensed that the best is yet to come.  I am absolutely convinced that we have pushed through a barrier and that a new era of growth, opportunities, and miracles has begun.  Remember Fusion, this is only the beginning.  God has been very good to us!

May God, our God, be forever praised and thanked for who He is and what He has done.  Let us not forget His gracious love, rich mercy and mighty deeds.

God has been very good to us!

Folks, you’re going to want to do you absolute best to be a Fusion a little earlier than normal tomorrow for several reasons.

1. Most of you have never been to the new building and you don’t know how long it’s going to take you to get there.
2. We think parking is going to be tight the first couple of weeks so you might need some extra time to get parked.
3. You’re going to want to spend some time checking out the new digs.
4. You’re going to want to have a good seat.  Again, we expect a full house.
5. Seth’s got a video that’s going to start at the beginning of the service that you don’t want to miss!

See you there tomorrow!

Just in case you need it, here’s a map to the new location. Click on the marked spot to get driving directions.

View Fusion Church in a larger map

Let me get straight to the point.  We need more people to join our newly formed parking team.  We’ve got a good number of folks but it’s just not enough for this weekend, or beyond.  If you attend Fusion and you’re interested in serving on this team please let me know as soon as you can.  We need you.

Don’t hesitate.  Join this vital team and help extend the love of God to people from the moment they set foot on our campus.