We Are a Body, Part 2

You know, you got to make up in your mind that you want life change. Life change isn't going to come easy.

It's not going to be convenient. You're not going to wake up one day and say, I don't know, I'm not jacked up anymore. No, no, everybody who goes from jacked up to this to deliverance to help to wholeness, I'm getting better in that area of my life.

It's because they went after it. In one way or another, all of us needs to be healed from something. You need it. I need it.

The question is, how badly do we want it? Hello and welcome to Destin for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. Well, Pastor Paul has a great message for us today.

A gentle reminder that the road from darkness to destiny is paved by a little good, old-fashioned hard work. Be encouraged today with God and the church on your side, you don't have to make that journey alone. Stay with us now or visit pastorpaul.net to listen on demand. That's pastorpaul.net.

You can also listen or subscribe to the Destin for Victory podcast at Spotify, at Apple podcasts, or wherever you get yours. But right now, here's Pastor Paul with today's Destin for Victory message, We Are a Body. In the last message, I talked about the fact that we are a flock. We are a flock. And we looked at Acts 20 and 28.

Therefore, take heed to yourselves. Paul says to the elders of the church and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. And I talked about the fact that some of us are called to be leaders of the flock. That's what a pastor is. Pastor means he is a shepherd of the flock of God. God gives us responsibility as shepherds, under-shepherds.

He's the great shepherd, but you need an under-shepherd who watches for your soul. And we talked about the fact that pastors are called to gather God's people. They're called to watch for their souls, and they're called to lead and feed the flock. I ended there talking about the fact that you shouldn't be in a church where you're not being well-fled or well-fed. Don't belong to a church if they're not leading you anywhere good in God's purpose for your life. And for God's sake, don't belong to a church that's not feeding you well on the things of God. And so back in my early days, I remember when I first got to California, I was saying to people, I want to reach unchurched people. That's the calling on my life. And so tell your friends who go to other churches, stay there. They can visit every now and then, but tell them to stay there.

Y'all help me reach unchurched people. I know what I meant back then, but over the decades I've come to see there are so many folk, you can't keep them in the church where they are. Because they're dying over there.

They're dying because they're not being well-led or well-fed. Amen. I'm not calling any names, so you good, we good.

I hate talking about people I didn't call anybody's name. I'm just saying if you had a church and you're not being led into the things of God and you're not being fed the word of God, if you're being fed dry goods and notions, if you're being fed what somebody thinks, if you're being fed what was just on the internet, uh-uh, you need the eternal word of God. We are sanctified. We are changed.

We are made who God wants us to be as we saturate ourselves in the proper teaching and the proper division of God's word. And so I no longer say that if you got friends and they're somewhere eating brown grass and drinking bad water, tell them you got a shepherd who is committed to leading you besides still waters and you need to be there. Amen.

There or somewhere like there. I'm not into sheep stealing, but if sheep are sick they need to get rescued sometimes. So y'all rescue your friends who are somewhere getting sick. And you know it because sometimes they spend half their time talking to you about how bad their church is or how bad the past is because we need to invest in our own welfare and what is in our own best interest. And so we are a flock. Now I want to move on now and talk to you about the fact that not only are we a flock, but we are a body.

We are a body. I want you to look with me at Romans chapter 12 verse 5. Romans chapter 12 verse 5.

You'll find this. We being many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. So we being many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. I need you to understand God said in his word my church is to be characterized as a body. He tells the apostle Paul as you write my church tell them that we are a body. And I want you to get the revelation just like I tried to give you a revelation about what it means to be part of a flock, how important it is to gather, how important it is to be there present.

I said about being a flock you got to be together even in service. These days with technology you can watch the services of many live streaming churches at home and that's wonderful for the sick and shut in. That's not for the well and about to go out. The well and about to go out need to go out first to the house of God where you connect with other people. You connect your life. You pray for them. You minister to them through your hugs, through your encouraging words and you all receive the word of God together. Sometimes the Lord will give you a way to minister to somebody before they leave and so you need to understand the power of gathering together. Now that theme is reemphasized as we're described as the church as a body. We being many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

Three sub points I want to make and I'll let you go. The first is body parts require connection in order to fulfill their purpose. Have you noticed that an eye with no body can't see anything? Have you noticed that an ear that's been severed from the head can't hear anything?

Have you noticed that a mouth has to be in a face? Connectedness. The parts can't function apart from the rest of the body. That's what God is telling us. When through the apostle Paul, he calls us a body.

You have to be connected. If you see an eye, an ear, a mouth, and is disconnected but it's still trying to function, that's a horror movie. You understand what I'm saying? There should be no feet walking around here with no body over top of it. Let some feet start coming out of that eye right now. Clear this place out and nothing flat. Y'all won't even try to go into spiritual authority. I rebuke whatever.

Y'all wouldn't do nothing. I rebuke nothing. I rebuke on my way to my car. Why? Because you know something is wrong.

Feet are supposed to have a body over top of it. An eyeball rolling around here looking at y'all. You see what I'm saying? That's not the way it goes. So why do we have a world full of folk trying to be separated and independent from everything and everybody else? Talking about just me and Jesus.

There's a Greek word for that, baloney. Because Jesus is the one who called you to be connected. So don't get super spiritual on me. I don't need a pastor. I just me and the Lord. He speaks to me all day long. I know people like that. Y'all never met him. I got something I can introduce you to. They don't go to church unless the Lord leads them.

Every now and then they pop up. And some of them will tell me, the Lord led me over here today. Like he led you every day.

You just don't hear the rest of it. Up next, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd. But we want to take a moment to thank all of you whose prayers and financial support help Pastor Paul share the gospel all over the world.

And right now, during the busy summer months when donations often decline, your support is especially needed. So as God leads, prayerfully consider making a generous gift to Destined for Victory today. Give online at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.

Or call 855-339-5500. And if you need a breakthrough today, maybe healing from a past hurt or a present challenge, how badly do you want it? Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message. We are a body. The body parts must be connected. We must discern the importance of the other parts of the body in order for us to function the way we're supposed to function.

So do not give me this spiritual stuff. Fact of the matter is, it is Jesus who baptizes us by His Spirit into the body. And we just read in Romans 12, 5, we being many are one, and individually, we're members of one another. We're members of one another. So we got to understand that in order for you to function in the calling God has on your life and the giftings God's given you, in order for you to be healthy as a spiritual being, you've got to be connected, not just to God, but to the body. Because the other parts of the body help you do what you're going to do.

Let me illustrate it. If you ever in the darkness of maybe the middle of the night, call yourself walking to the bathroom or wherever, and you caught the end of your bed with that last toe, because you think you know the outline of the room, so no need of turning on the lights. I know how this room is. And so you walk by, but that one toe catches the end of the bed.

Anybody ever had a similar experience? All right, I got some witnesses. So they can help me preach this point right here. Man, if you catch that thing just right, although it's a dark room, your head lights up with pain. Come on, somebody, your head lights up with pain.

But let me show you how important the other parts working with you are. So let's just say for revelation, you are that toe. You just got caught on something. The pain is indescribable. Furthermore, you're a toe.

You can't describe it. Oh, but the rest of the body kicks in. The foot that wasn't hurt goes to work, starts hopping you back to the bed. It knows its job is to get you off of your feet so it can get you where you need to be.

So that foot, you need to be connected so it'll hop you back. Then your butt says, come on down. Your butt says, I got you. We're at the bed now.

Just come on. I got you. Woe be to the person who has pain and no soft place for your butt to land. You understand what I'm saying? So now your butt's got you. That foot took care of you. Now a hand reaches down and says to the last toe, I know you can't do anything for yourself, but I'm just going to rub you.

Everybody understand me? And now the mouth gets in it. The mouth flies open to say what the toe cannot say.

Your vocal cords say, we're going to express what the toe wants all y'all to know. And you say, oh Lord have mercy. That's you who are sanctified. You who are sanctified.

Oh Lord have mercy. You who are still working on sanctification. Y'all say some other stuff.

Oh, quit perpetrating the fraud. You know good and well there's some folk in here who have cussed in the middle of the night and the mouth yells and the hand rubs. Why? Cause the whole body gets in on what this one part needs. That's the way we've got to live our lives as the people of God.

If I'm somewhere in pain and there's nobody to help me, I am in trouble. So the connectedness is absolutely essential. Quit trying to act like you are a self-contained package.

You are not. You need what the other parts bring to the table. If it's not for them, you will not be successful in living your life God's way. The body parts require connectedness in order to fulfill their purpose, in order to get through their challenges. You've got to be connected.

Another sub point. When wounded, broken, or diseased, body parts require specific treatment in order to heal. Now I want you to think about this.

I need to park here for a while. When a body part is wounded, broken, or diseased, it requires specific treatment in order to heal. Think about your body. Think about what it is to have a wound somewhere on your body. To have brokenness. Anybody here ever broken a wrist or a arm or a leg or ankle or anything? Anybody ever had a broken part of you?

Okay, I've got some witnesses in here. Listen, when that happens, you need to be able to get some proper attention to that part of your body if you're going to get back to full functionality. One of the common sayings that is totally incorrect and in fact is damaging is this lie, time heals all wounds.

That is not true. Ask anybody in the healthcare practices, anywhere in healthcare, anywhere in physical rehab, any of those disciplines. Time doesn't heal alone. Just think about it. If something is broken, is diseased, is wounded, you can't just say, ah, just give it some time, you'll be fine.

No, no. You won't be fine. Depends on what it is. Sometimes you say, well, a broken limb, they can't really do much. So I just keep the wrist inactive till it gets back the way it's supposed to be. No, you need to go somewhere so the right people can do x-rays and assess what is broken, how to set it so that it can get properly put back in the right position.

Then they'll teach you how to keep it isolated from activity that won't be helpful. They have some ways to help you get better, but time alone is not going to do it. Everybody with me so far?

I need you to track with me. You've got to know time doesn't have a healing agent that totally wipes out whatever's wrong. Depending on the type of wound, depending on the type of breakage, and especially depending on the type of disease. Do you know flu isn't the same now that it once was?

There are now strands and different types. This is not your grandma's flu. There are different things going on now, and there are different ways that various diseases manifest. They say there are some diseases that actually fight against healing. In the disease itself is war against getting better. The disease has something in it that doesn't want to get well. Some diseases have their aim is to take you out.

I'm not telling you what I think. Just ask folks in healthcare. That's the disease as though it had a personality. Its job is to not let you get well, and so you got to understand time doesn't heal wounds by itself. You've got to give the right attention to dealing with your woundedness, your brokenness, or your disease.

So we in the body of Christ, when we, a particular body part, when you are wounded, when you are broken, when you are diseased, don't sit somewhere by yourself and say, I'm going to just wait until I feel better. I'm going to stop going to church because I don't feel like being around all them happy people when I'll just mess up the atmosphere. So no need of me being there.

They all happy. Let them just go on and sing and shout and rejoice. I'll just stay here by myself.

That doesn't heal. And so I know your feelings are telling you, just stay here. Why bother with that? It'll just get on your nerves. They're going to sing stuff you don't want to sing.

They're going to say stuff you don't want to hear. Pat's going to be up there cracking jokes. I don't feel like laughing. That's your disease fighting against healing cause laughter is actually medicine.

According to the word. Oh, I'm in my Bible. Laughter is actually medicine. You ought to say, well, I don't necessarily feel like it, but I know my pastor, he going to have me laughing at some point and I might as well laugh at something that's making a real point than to sit home, laughing at a comedian who is going to do nothing to feed you in a positive way.

Maybe you're listening today and you're saying to yourself, that's me. I'm the one who needs to get from wounded to well. Well, if so remember what pastor Paul said, desire is not the same thing as faith. If you want to be healed, ask for help and don't stop asking until you get it.

The solution is easy. It's the following through that sometimes is hard. Our prayer for you today is that you'll be a person of faith, a person who follows through, a person who is willing to take part in your journey from darkness to destiny. Well, before he ascended to heaven, the last thing Jesus told his disciples was to go into all the world and make more disciples. That's our mission here at Destined for Victory. And we depend on friends like you to partner with us so that together we can reach the world for Christ. As our way of saying thanks for your partnership of $20 or more a month, we'll send you a few thank you gifts including one of Pastor Paul's most popular CDs, The Best of Let My People Smile. Call 855-339-5500 to find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner or mail your gift letting us know you wish to become a partner.

The address is Destined for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont California 94538. You can also partner with us from our website, PastorPaul.net. Now if you can't become a monthly partner but can make a generous donation, we'd be happy to send you by request a copy of Pastor Paul's booklet, Finding Strength in Tough Times. That's Finding Strength in Tough Times, our gift to you by request for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. And I want to let you know that that's the way we have to be as the people of God.

We've got to be connected and we've got to get our broken places healed so we're both connected and we're healthy. And when we strike a mighty blow against the works of darkness, things are going to change. You can do that in your life. You can do that in your individual life. That's next time in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, We Are a Body. Until then, enjoy your weekend and remember, He who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.