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Body of Christ, good morning. God bless every single one of you. Thank you for being present this morning. Thank you for Attending church. But there's something more that God is looking for. There has to be much more than church. God is building a kingdom. And I want you to hear me this morning because God has a word, and I want to title this message, The Body He's Been Looking For. Father God, I thank you. I ask that you speak through my vocal cords, think through my mind, Let the people of God be blessed by you and not impressed by me. I thank you, God, that their gifts of revelation will flow. Let your teaching anointing fall heavily upon your servant. Let your people be blessed. Let them be kept and led by you, Father, and by you alone. And it's in the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. This morning I want to title this message, The Body He's Been Looking For. There's a verse most preachers turn to in a sermon about poverty. Jesus said this in Matthew chapter 8, verse 20. Listen to me. He said, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. And every preacher I grew up under preached the same thing. Jesus was homeless. Jesus was broke. Jesus was rejected by the world. Every single one of them said this. I'm not saying any of it, that any of that is wrong. That's not what I'm saying. But I'm telling you this morning, there is a deeper reading. And once you see it, you cannot unsee it. Amen. Jesus owned a house according to Mark chapter 2, verse 1. It says he came back to Capernaum and word spread that he was at home. The Greek word, there's a Greek word, it is enoiko. You spell it E-N-O-I-K-O. And that word means in the English language that he was in his house. He had a place. He had a place to live, a place to lay his head. He could have gone to Lazarus' house in Bethany any night he wanted to. He could have stayed with Peter's family any night he wanted to. Listen to me. He could have slept at Mary and Martha's table if he wanted to. But he wasn't talking about a roof, body of Christ. He was talking about He wasn't talking about a pillow. He was talking about something else entirely. Jesus said, I cannot find a body mature enough to carry the weight of my head. That's the sermon this morning. Jesus was not talking or looking for a house. He wasn't talking about a house.

Amen.

Jesus was looking for a body, and he still is looking for one today. Now I need you to write this down. Stay with me. The head is looking for a body. The body has been looking for a head, and until the two come together, the kingdom will limp. And the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 22, and Verse 23, it says, God put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things, over all things to the church, which is his body. Now think with me, a head without a body is a horror, a body without a without a head is a corpse. The two are designed for each other. Neither one functions alone. When foxes have holes, when foxes have holes, when this verse hits, Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is theanthropic, all God and all man. He is the head of a body that doesn't exist yet. Pentecost hasn't happened, family. The Spirit hasn't been poured out. Listen to me, those that are watching me online. The 12 are still arguing about who gets to sit on his right hand and on his left hand. There is nobody mature enough to hold him up.

Amen.

So he walks the earth carrying a head that has nobody. He sees crowds, but nobody. He sees disciples, but nobody. He sees Pharisees, but nobody. He sees the temple, the very place that it should, should have been his body. And he weeps because, because it knew not the time of its visitation, according to Luke chapter 19, verse 44. The foxes had holes, the birds had nests, but the King of Glory had no resting place. Not because he lacked a roof, But because he lacked a body. He lacked a body. And there is the gospel truth that should shake you at that time. Ah, when you hear this, this is the gospel truth that should shake every single one of us, and that is still true today. The head is in heaven. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, but his body, the church, is still being assembled, still being matured, still being prepared to bear the weight of his headship. Every generation, he's looking down at the earth from the kingdom of heaven and asking the same question he asked in the first century, Where is the body that can carry my head? Now I need you to touch your neighbor and say, neighbor, he's looking for a body. Say it. Say, neighbor, he's looking for a body. Neighbor, he's looking for a body. Now here is where most of us— is where most of us get uncomfortable because we want to believe the body is ready. We want to believe the church is mature. We want to wave the banner of how big our ministries are, how full our buildings are, how loud our worship gets. But Jesus measures maturity differently than we do. The reason most of the church can't carry his head is because most of the church has stopped at the door. Ah, they can't carry his head because most of the church has stopped at the door. You said, preacher, what do you mean they stopped at the door? I need you to jaywalk with me to Exodus chapter 12. God gave Israel instructions for the Passover. Slay the lamb, put the blood on the doorpost. The angel of death will pass over. That's the part we preach. The part— that's the part we sing about. That's the part we hang on t-shirts. We hang on t-shirts, the blood, the blood, it must be the blood.

Ah.

And the blood is everything, everything we say it is. I'm not Minimizing the blood, the power of the blood, because the blood will never lose its power. It reaches to the highest mountain. It flows to the deepest valley. The blood, the blood, the blood will never lose its power. We're not minimizing the blood, but God didn't stop with the blood. He didn't stop with the blood. Read the next verse. I need you to electric slide on over to Exodus chapter 12, verses 8 through 10. Read the next verse. They shall eat the flesh that night. Do not leave any of it until— don't leave any of it. Do not leave any of it until morning is what the writer said. Don't leave any of it because the blood Handles the angel. The Lamb handles the journey. The blood addresses your past. The Lamb fuels your future. The blood saves you from something. The Lamb saves you for something. Ah, say that with me. Say that with me. The blood saves you from something. But the Lamb saves you for something. And here is what most of the church has done. Listen to me. We've camped at the doorpost. We pointed at the blood. We have said we are covered, and we are, we are covered, but we never came to the table to eat. Eat the lamb. So we got saved, but we never got formed. We got the angel to pass over, but we starved to death in the house before we could march out of Egypt. Eat the lamb, eat the whole lamb is what the writer said. Don't pick the cuts. Eat the ears because you'll need his hearing in a generation that's gone deaf to the truth. Eat the eyes because you will need his sight to see what is invisible to everyone else. Eat the tongue because you will need his words to speak life into tombs that have been sealed for days. Eat the heart because you will need his love To keep loving people who refuse to love you back. Eat the hands because you'll need his touch to handle what others won't go near. Eat the feet because you'll need his walk to go where the map runs out and where others refuse to go. Eat the legs so that you can walk like him. Eat the inner workings, the parts nobody sees. Because the public ministry is only as strong as the private consumption. You become, you become what you eat, family. The body of Christ is not formed by belief alone. The body of Christ is formed by consumption. Jesus said it himself in John 10:10, Chapter 6, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. Many of his disciples walked away when he said that. They wanted a covered door. He was offering— Jesus was offering a consumed lamb, but they stopped at the door. Ah, now I want to talk about why so many believers can't seem to grow into this body that Jesus is looking for, to grow into a body that can carry his head. And it has to do with whose faith you're standing on. Jesus said, whoever desires to save his life will lose it. Matthew chapter 16, verse 25. And the word for life in the Greek is the word psyche, psyche, and you spell it P-S-Y-C-H-E, and it is the same word for soul. So the verse can be read this way, whoever desires to save his soul will lose it. And I asked the Lord one day, why would I want to lose my soul? And here is what I sensed him say back to me, because the faith that is delivered to you is often a faith that has been given to you by someone else. It is your grandfather's faith. It is your mother's faith. It is your uncle's faith. It is your daddy's faith. It is your pastor's faith. It is your Sunday school teacher's faith. It is the faith of a person who led you to Christ. And God will let you come into the kingdom on borrowed faith. He'll let you come into the kingdom on borrowed faith, but he will not let you stay in the kingdom on borrowed faith. Amen.

faith.

There will come a day, and for some of you, some of you, it has already come, when God strips away every borrowed conviction you have. Your mother's prayers, your grandmother's prayers, your big mama's prayers won't carry you through it anymore. Your pastor's anointing Your bishop's anointing, your apostle's anointing, it won't carry you through it. The Sunday school answers won't carry you through it. He brings you to a room, he locks the door, and he says, we're not coming out of here until this is your faith and your faith alone.

Hmm.

Until, until I am your God, until I'm the one you're worshiping, until what you believe is no longer inherited. It is owned by you, by you, and by you alone. That is what it means to lose your soul to gain it. You lose the secondhand version of yourself so you can receive the firsthand version God has been waiting to give you. And here is the picturesque truth that you need to hear. You cannot put a head on a body that is wearing someone else's face. Jesus is not going to rest his weight on a body that is still pretending to be its mother. The maturity he requires is a maturity of a body that has become itself fully alive, fully its own, and fully his. This is why David's refusal of Saul's armor is one of the most important moments in the Old Testament for understanding spiritual maturity. Saul says, put on my armor, take my sword, Wear my helmet. And David tries it. He puts it on. He takes a step and stumbles. He stumbles. He says, I cannot walk in this. I cannot walk in these tools that you're giving me. I can't walk in this armor, Saul, because I have not tested them. You find this in 1 Samuel 17:39. That little phrase, I have not tested them, is the whole sermon in that text. David is saying the armor that protects a king does not fit a shepherd. And if I go out as a copy of Saul, listen to me, I will die as a copy of Saul.

That's right.

The only way I survive Goliath is to fight, is to fight as myself, not to be a clone of Saul, but to be myself.

Ah.

So he takes off the armor, he picks up his staff, he picks up 5 smooth stones. And he goes out as a shepherd. Ah, he goes out as a shepherd because that is who God called him to be, family. He goes out as a shepherd. Here is the gospel truth that you need to hear. The armor of someone else's calling will kill you on the battlefield of your own. The reason so many ministries collapse is because pastors are wearing armor God never gave them. They are preaching someone else's preaching. They're building someone else's church. They're mimicking someone else's anointing, trying to sound like this person, trying to dress like this person. And when their Goliath shows up, and Goliath always shows up, you do know that, don't you? Goliath always shows up.

Hmm.

The borrowed armor they, they're wearing fails because it was never tested on them. I love what C.S. Lewis said. C.S. Lewis said, the greatest gift God could give us is the gift to be ourselves. You remember that old song, that old funky song? That song sung by Sly and the Family Stone. He said, thank you for letting me be myself again. Be who God called you to be. Ah, don't be a copy. Don't be a clone. Be who God called you to be. C.S. Lewis said the greatest gift God could give us is the gift to be ourselves. The grace to stop performing, the grace to take off the armor that was never measured for you, the grace to walk into your battle with your own staff and your own stones that God has given you to fight the enemy. Ah, God is a tactician because he knows that, uh, the enemy has missed the bullseye. Ah, he's missed the bullseye. God says, okay, fine, you've missed it on this one. This is why God wants you to go out, uh, with a staff and with 5 smooth stones, because Goliath has underestimated you.

Hmm.

Be who God called you to be. Be yourself. The body of Christ cannot be formed by clones. The body of Christ has many members, and each member has a different function according to Romans chapter 12, verse 4 and 5. When you try to be someone else, you don't just dishonor yourself, you withdraw the specific organ the body needed you to be. God called you to To be a member in the body. And the head is looking for a body. He's not looking for a copy. He's looking for a body. Yeah, I have to take you somewhere deeper. I gotta take you down and dunk you. So I need you to stay with me because I want you to understand who is looking for this body. Who's looking for this body? When the Bible says the move of God, we picture God arriving somewhere. We picture him showing up in a service. We picture him crossing a distance to come close to us. But can God actually move? If God is omnipresent, if he's fully everywhere at the same time, then He cannot move because movement means leaving one place to occupy another. And if God left one place, that place would cease to exist because his presence is what holds everything in place. His presence holds everything in place because of who he is, because of his being. And this isn't poetry, this isn't mysticism, this is theology, biblical theology. Paul said it on Mars Hill, in him we live and in him we move and have our being, Acts 17:28. Not near him, not with him, in him. You exist inside of God. The chair you're sitting in exists inside of God. The breath in your lungs exists inside of God. Subtract God from any place and that place dissolves. So when we say God moved in the service tonight, what actually happened? When you say that, what actually happened? We moved, God didn't move. Our awareness shifted, our perception turned. The God who was already there became visible to us for the first time in our lives. Like the sun doesn't actually rise, the earth turns on its axis. The sun has been burning the whole time. What changes is the angle of our face toward the sun. You listening to me?

Yeah.

This is why when God gives you a word about your future, he's not telling you what will happen. He's not telling you what would happen. He is telling you what has already happen from his standing. Because he's already in your December. He's already in next year's promotion. He's already in the room you're afraid to walk into. He's already in the conversation you're nervous to have. He's standing in your future waving you forward, saying, come on, I've been here, I'm here, I'll be here when you arrive. And here is what this does to the body he's looking for. The body that can carry his head is the body that has stopped chasing him and started recognizing him. The mature body doesn't beg God to show up. The mature body wakes up to a God who never left. He was there all along. So how does a believer grow into a body that can hold the weight of his head? I'm glad you asked. There is a gospel progression in the Scripture that we need to look at. It is not a tidy, a little tiny ladder, but it is A real movement. You enter the kingdom as a sheep. There's no, no quick fix to this. There's no little tiny ladder you climb. No, none of those gimmicks or games. Because there's a real movement, a progression that takes place for the The believer, the body of Christ. You enter the kingdom as a sheep. Someone say that with me, say sheep. You enter the kingdom as a sheep. You mature into a bride. Someone say bride.

Bride.

And then you step over into sonship. You come in as a sheep. You need to be led, you need to be carried, you need to be fed. According to Psalms 23, Psalms 23 is for the sheep stage. He maketh my head to lie down. He leadeth me. He restoreth my soul. Everything is passive. The shepherd does everything. The sheep just follows. But you can't stay a sheep because. Intimacy is not possible with a sheep. Leviticus is clear that intimacy belongs in a covenant between persons, not species. The sheep stage is real and necessary, but it is not the destination. You must become the bride. The bride is the one The one Christ courts, the one he woos, the one he weds and unites himself with. Ephesians chapter 5 calls the church the bride of Christ. Ah, the bride is intimate. The bride is loved. The bride bears fruit. And here is the principle: only a pregnant woman's body can produce Milk. The reason so many churches can't feed their new converts is because the church is not pregnant. The church is performing instead of conceiving. The church is dieting instead of bearing fruit. But even the bride is not the final stage. Listen to me. Because you cannot put a man's head on a woman's body. The bride is intimate, but the bride alone cannot carry the full weight of the headship. You must step over into sonship. Sonship is not gender. Sonship is a spiritual position. It is the capacity to bear the Father's authority, to carry the son's headship, to walk in the inheritance Christ purchased for every single one of us. Romans chapter 8 calls us sons. Galatians 4 says the son is the heir. The same believer is a sheep in dependence, a bride in intimacy, and a son in authority. All 3 at once. Only God can do this. The mature body holds all 3 together. Sheep enough to be led, bride enough to be loved, son enough to carry the weight. Now hear me on this because this is the whole point of what we've been talking about. Romans chapter eight, verse twenty-nine. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. That word conform in the Greek is the word symorphos. Symorphos. You spell it S Y M M O R P H O S. Simorphos. Do you hear me? Simorphos. To share the same form. Let that sink in. Simorphos. To share the same form. Not similar to. Not inspired by. The same form. God's eternal goal for your life is not that you would admire Jesus. God's eternal goal is that you would be shaped into Jesus, into the image of the Christ, the Son of the risen God. 1 John 3:2 says, beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doeth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Now, now, now listen to me. Now we are the sons of God, not when we get to heaven. Now when we— not, not, not, not when we are glorified. Not, not, not when we're glorified. Now it says, now, now, now we are the sons of God. 1 John chapter 4, verse 17 says it like this, as he is, so are we in this world. Ah, right now, as he is, not as he was, not as he will be, as he is, we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. As he is, so shall we be in this world. Now, not as he was, not as he will be, as he is right now, seated at the right hand of the Father, glorified, reigning. As he is, so are we in this world. This is not a future promise. This is a present reality you've not yet woken up to. Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven." He gives you the priority of what to prioritize: seeking Him first. August Augustine said it like this. He he spoke Latin. I love this. He said, Augustine said this: "Cognoscor et." Imitare. Ah, what does that mean? He said to know God and to imitate him. Athanasius said it like this: God became like us so that we could become like him. Or in plainer English, the Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men could become the sons of God. When you couldn't reach him as God, he came down as man.

Why?

Why? You say, why, Pastor? So that you would have no excuse not to be like him. Ah, so I wouldn't have any excuse not to be like him. Ah, my goodness. He didn't just save you. He didn't just save me, he set an example. His life wasn't only a sacrifice, it was a prophecy of who you are called to become. So how does this happen practically? How does a believer actually grow into a body that can carry the head? Psalms 37:4 says, delight yourself also in the Lord, And he shall give you the desires of your heart. Most of us read that as a transaction. We want to have a transactional relationship with God. So we read Psalms 37:4 as a transaction, but it says delight in God and he will give you what you want. New car, right spouse, bigger paycheck, better house. Upgraded clothes, bespoke tailoring. Uh, but that's not what the verse says. Uh, look closer, look closer at this verse. He will give you the desires of your heart. He doesn't give you what you desire, he gives you what to desire. When you delight in him, he rewires your heart Wants. The same heart that used to ache for stuff begins to ache for him. The same hands that used to grab now and lift up in worship, uh, those same hands, God is anointing those hands. The same eyes that used to scan for the next thing now look only for his face. in his face alone. And here is what happens when your desires are rewired. The stuff you used to chase starts chasing you. Solomon didn't ask for riches. He asked for wisdom. And God said, because you didn't ask for what most people ask for, Solomon, I'm going to give you what you ask for. and what you didn't ask for. 1 Kings 3:11-13. The mature body— hear me— the mature body of Christ is not chasing blessings. The mature body of Christ is chasing the blesser. The mature body of Christ is seeking the kingdom first. And when you chase after the kingdom, after you— when you chase after the blesser, the blessings Catch up to you because they can't survive in his absence. This is the body that can carry the head, a body whose hunger has been retrained, a body whose desires have been crucified and resurrected, a body that wants him and only him. Body of Christ, as I hasten to a close, So here is what I want you to see as we close. We're not out of word, nor are we done. But Jesus said, the foxes have holes and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. And the church has spent 2,000 years feeling sorry for him about a pillow. He didn't want a pillow. He wanted you. He wanted me. He wanted your uncle. He wants your brother. He wants your sibling. He wants you. Jesus wanted a body fully formed in his image and his image alone. A body that had eaten the whole lamb. A body that had lost its and gained its own faith. A body that had refused Saul's armor and walked as itself. A body that had stopped chasing him and started recognizing him. A body that had grown from sheep to bride into sonship. A body whose desires had been rewired to want him above all things.

Hallelujah.

Amen. The God that is more than enough. That body, that body can carry his head. And this morning I'm asking you a question. I'm asking you a very profound question. Jesus has been asking the church since the first century, can I lay my head down in you? Not in your reputation, church. Not in your names. Not in your performance. Not in your borrowed convictions. Not in your limitation of someone else's anointing. Not in your weekly church attendance. In you, can I lay my head?

In you.

In the body that has been formed by consuming him. Shaped by his image, retrained in his desires? If your answer is yes, then everything changes for you. The head you've been carrying alone in your prayer closet finds a resting place in a body that can hold him. And the kingdom that has been limping through history because the head and body were separated finally walks upright Through you. The foxes have holes, the birds have nests, and the Son of Man, the Son of Man is finally laying his head down in a body that's ready to carry the weight of his glory. Let that body be yours. Manifest the kingdom here on earth. Father, I thank you. Father, conform us to the image of your Son. Strip us of every borrowed faith and give us our own. Take off the armor that doesn't fit us and let us walk as ourselves. Eat through us, drink through us, love through us, walk through us. Make us a body that is fit for your glory. Make us a body that can hold the weight of your head. In the name of Jesus, the head who is still looking for a place to lay it down. In Jesus' name, amen. Give God a hand clap of praise. And I wanna say this, if you're watching me right now, you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you need to hear me. Jesus is looking for a body that can carry the full weight of his glory. Jesus had a home. He was looking for a body that would love him without strings, no strings attached, that would love him unconditionally, that would accept him for who he is. Are you that body? If you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I want you to pray this prayer with me. Bow your head. Say, Father, in the name of Jesus, I repent. I ask you to forgive me for all the wrong things I've done. Jesus, come into my heart. Come into my life. I wanna consume the whole lamb. Jesus, forgive me. I've done things that have not been pleasing in your sight. I ask you to save me today, and I denounce Satan, and I denounce all wicked things. And I said, Jesus, save me. I believe that you died, you rose, and you're now seated on the right-hand side of the Father. And because You are seated there. I am seated there with you. Jesus, thank you for saving me. In Jesus' name. If you prayed that prayer with me, give God a hand clap of praise. And if you're watching and celebrating with us online, thank God for you. Now, I don't wanna leave you like that. I don't wanna leave you hanging out like that. Go look us up. Go to our webpage, www.

www.

.514gracechurch.org. We don't want to leave you out there because you are a sheep and you need covering. Look us up. Tracy and I, my wife Tracy and I, we would love to pastor you. We would love to be there for both you and your family. And if you're single, we'd love to pastor you. We'd love to encourage you, to be there to teach you, to help you mature in the things of God as God uses you.

Amen.

as a member in his body. Do me another favor. Follow us on social media. We're on all social media platforms. We're on Facebook, we're on Twitter, Twitter, which is X. We're on TikTok, we're on Instagram, we're on YouTube. Look us up, follow us, like, subscribe, and comment. And thank you again. Do me another favor. We're reaching out across the world globally. We're looking to spread this gospel. We're looking for to extend the reach of 514 Grace Church, and we need your help. We need your financial help. Whatever you want to give, go to our website, www.514gracechurch.com, and click give. If you want to give $5, $10, $20, $100, $1,000, if you want to give 6 figures, we'll take that too. We want to publish this gospel of Christ all around the world, the gospel of the kingdom of God and the grace of God. Please partner with us. Become a 2020 partner with 514 Grace Church. We'd love to have you to join with us. Keep us in prayer because God is doing upgrades. We're moving. There are going to be some things that you notice if you're watching us that's going to change. And thank you for following us. Thank you for supporting Thank you for being here for us. And if you're in this area, look us up. Come visit with us. Come fellowship with us. And we want to say be blessed in Jesus' name. We're not out of word and we're not done. But thank you for watching. Thank you for partnering. And thank you for being a 2020 partner, giving your time, your resources. And we love you. Tracy and I want to say we love you and be blessed. In Jesus' name, and we'll see you next time.

Don't fall. Good God. Faith. Richard Dingo. Light step.

Dark run.

Victory speak. Battle won. Speak peace. Dry bones bloom. God. Let heaven fill this room. I don't fear, I believe. Speak his word, watch walls leave. Praise. Strong, roosty. Kingdom rhythm in my feet. Authority on me.