Being a pastor over the last 15 years, I've often wondered how many people experience a disconnect with what they read in the Bible versus what they experience in life. You know, I I read the bible and I see such incredible stories involving such incredible characters and there's this momentum, this this movement, this excitement that gets behind reading what happened in the early start of the church. But then you go through life and you're, you're woken up by a screaming baby or you have to go to that meeting that you don't want to be a part of for an appliance breaks or something on the car breaks down that you hadn't budgeted for. And, and you have a tense conversation with maybe a neighbor or a friend or a family member and pretty easily right, You go home from a time maybe on a sunday morning gathering and you're like, okay, this is the week I'm gonna be motivated. I'm ready to go and, and sometimes life to hit you square in the eyes, doesn't it just comes in hard or or you have a quiet time and you read the words, you're like, wow, God is so amazing. And then how quickly you go and you get stuck in traffic and that feeling changes or evaporates, doesn't it? And so what I want to try to do this morning is that I want to try to over the next few minutes demonstrate for you a way to close the gap between what you read and what you experience this morning's message is entitled revelation verse reality revelation verse reality and my my fear is that for many people, whether you're watching online or maybe here in the room that you treat church or, or even reading scripture, how many view virtual reality? It's, it's amazing how technology has progressed over the last couple of decades. I love games in general. I mean sports, video games, board games, you put something in front of me, I'm gonna try to win. You know, it doesn't matter if it's tic tac toe with my kids. Like I wanna dominate, right? Like I want to and teach life lessons that's going and uh no, So I love being competitive and I love video games and playing and it's crazy how much it's changed to where now you have these goggles that you can put on. Have you seen the Oculus goggles and you can put on and it looks so real. But while virtual reality is fun, What do you do with those goggles? Like you put them on? You have an adventure. You look around, wow, that looks amazing and then you take the goggles off and you go on with your day. I wonder how many people have experienced church in that way. They have some form of maybe not virtual reality, but like a virtual spiritual reality where you come to church, you put on the goggles and you look around like, oh that looks pretty cool. I like that. It almost seems real. But then you take the goggles off and you're back into your everyday rhythm on monday, right? Well, there was a guy 2000 years ago named paul who seemingly didn't have that issue. He lived in a way where the supernatural to paul was actually natural. Now don't get me wrong, he had a lot of difficulties, things that he was working through. He had to work through a very shameful past that he was regretful of and and then he was facing persecution and loss in his present. And so at the point of writing the letter to the church in Ephesus, he found himself imprisoned and they're in prison in Rome awaiting trial before caesar, one of the most powerful men in the world, there's a good chance he could lose his life. And so he's lost his possessions, his ministry, a lot of the relationships that he had, and he's getting ready to face trial. He's facing uncertainty and he decides to write a letter to a church that he helped start about a decade prior who is facing some issues. And so he's writing this letter and in this letter, specifically Ephesians chapter one, we're gonna look at verses 15 to 23 today. If you want to begin opening up your bible or smart devices to turn their, but he he has this prayer and not just for himself, but for the christians the Church in Ephesus, that he's saying, I don't want you to miss this, and in fact, he praised this. And this is really our big idea for today. So if you're taking notes, write this down, that paul prays that God's reality are God's revelation becomes reality. And what paul prayed, we can pray. And the prayer that we're gonna read together is just as applicable to you and I today as it was to the Ephesians 2000 years ago. And so the challenge for us then is to pray that God's revelation becomes our reality. The word revelation is going to be seen in our in our verse today. And this this idea of a revealed truth, it's kind of like a lightbulb moment, something was in existence and then you gain awareness. So something exists. But then it also involves awareness. It makes me think of the great game shows, whether it's let's make a deal or the price is right and no offense to drew Carey, but come on bob barker. Okay, the goat of game show host. And so so here you, you know, if you have the game show and the contestant comes up and what's the what's the moment that everybody loves on the price is right, You could win a new car, right? And the curtain goes back and the contestant goes ah and it goes crazy and and they're so excited, well it's not like that car appeared out of nowhere, the car existed, the car was available, the car was there, but it was veiled. And so the contestant was unaware of the prize, that they're about to win. And once the curtains are pulled back, the prize is revealed and the person gets a kid in the same way the idea of revelation is when you have a truth that exists, that's potentially life altering is revealed to you in a way that now it transforms your life and so you don't need in the christian life, more information, what you really need in your life is a revelation for God to reveal truth in your life, that changes it for the better. In fact in scripture, the last book of the bible is called Revelation because the Apostle Paul receives a vision or an image of the end times that he writes and tries to describe. And and we have a picture of the second coming of jesus and the end times of what's going to happen. And so that book is called revelation. So paul is gonna pray this incredible prayer, but he's gonna set up his prayer was just a few verses that I really just honestly just fell in love with this week. I love it because I I so connect to it as a pastor and let let me just share with you what these are. So verse 15 of Chapter one paul writes for this reason. Okay, I'm already going to pause anytime you see in the bible words like for this reason because or therefore you want to pause and ask yourself why is the therefore therefore because the early church would read this as an entire letter. It would read it from start to finish. And so it's not broken up in chapter verse that was added later so that we had reference points to the to the letters. And so he's writing for this reason. Well, what is this reason? Well, I encourage you if you missed last week or missed the last two weeks to go back on either apple podcast, Spotify podcast, Youtube channel or website, website, wherever you can find it. Go back and watch these first two messages in our study of Ephesians because last week we talked about all the blessings we have as believers in christ and that paul couldn't contain himself almost like a firework display of blessing on blessing, on blessing on blessing on blessing. And he talked about how we've been chosen and adopted and blessed and redeemed and forgiven and sealed all to the praise and glory of the God who loves us, that God selected us, that jesus saves us, that the Holy Spirit seals us and we have access to these eternal blessings now as believers. And so he is building this case for the glory of the Gospel and the glory of jesus and then he goes on and says for this reason because God is so good, he says, and because I have heard of your faith in jesus and the Lord jesus and your love towards all the saints. Now, this is interesting because he calls jesus, the Lord jesus, you know what's that? The idea of jesus being savior, he doesn't say the nice person, jesus, he doesn't say the nice teacher, jesus, but Lord jesus, he doesn't try to make a build a bear jesus along the way, you know what I'm talking about, which is kind of creepy. If you think about it, right, you go in, hey, pick your cute stuffed animal when you stuff this stuff and too much. Okay, I'll just take it out like it's kind of gruesome. I don't know if I want my kids to see that, just give me the animals. Don't tell me how it's made anyway. And so like that's what we do in society though, don't we? We take like this, build a bear jesus approach where I like his teaching on love, but I don't like his teaching on holiness because I kind of want to do what I want. And so I'm gonna go with this jesus when paul doesn't try to do that, he just calls him Lord, and then he says That I've heard of your faith in Jesus and in love for notice that word that we talked in week one Saints, not a group of sinners, but to Saints because your identity shapes your activity. And so this is a great reputation, isn't it? And I resonate with this passage, because I think about you, I think about us as a church. I think about so many people here at mission growth who have a life of faith in jesus and love for each other. I think about the dozens of people who come in the morning and set all this out and serve and and make coffee and greet and help with our kids and run the technology and playing music and just their heart behind it is just so incredible. And so then the response notice paul's response there, it says that in verse 16 and I do not cease to give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers. So the response of paul is appreciation followed by prayer. And so I resonated with these verses as a pastor to to think about the faith that you have in jesus, that the love that you've shown to each other and that I'm just so humbled and grateful to what everybody gives. And then I was, I think about just praying for you each and every day. But then I noticed something that this and this is here, what you call a good kid, right? Like he's starting off, they said you have faith and you have love. Then I stopped for a second. Okay, then why write the letter? They're doing good? Why not just go, hey, keep it up. I think he writes because he understands the battles go so much deeper, right? We know this to be true. Have you ever done the right thing or said the right thing and still struggled, still see unanswered prayer, still see doubt in your life or battle with sin or difficult circumstances and you're just like man, this is hard, right. Like I felt so good on sunday walking out of the service. But but monday came hard and fast. I wasn't expecting that right? I think Paul sees this and so he says, out of my appreciation, I can't give you my wealth. I can't give you even my presence because I'm in prison. But I can give you my prayers and he continues on here. And he says that the God of our Lord jesus christ the Father of Glory may give you the spirit notice. Another trinity verse, Ephesians 1 17, he acknowledges God the Father jesus son and the Holy Spirit. In one verse, it's pretty awesome. He says, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of what revelation and not just revelation of self, but revelation in the knowledge of him having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know see the town of Ephesus was a growing city. It was a big city, but it was also a very pagan city for those here in week one, we talked about how the city of Ephesus is known for the Temple of Artemis or the Temple of Diana, which is seen as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and so there was a lot of pagan practices and idol worship. So people loved spiritual dominions and and thought and ideas and just believe. And paul saying, I know you've got some battles. I know you have faith and I know you have love, but I also know you're hurting. And so let me give you something because what you need right now is not more information but revelation and what I want to tell you what paul is telling you hear that it's possible to pray for God's revelation to become your reality. You see you have access to more than you know, Pastor Warren where's Bee tells a story about a guy named William Randolph Hearts who he was a famous art collector collector. He had a very vast collection of expensive art and architecture from all around the world. And these pieces were incredible. And so he's always looking for the next piece. So we came across a description of several pieces. And so as what you do when you're rich, you don't search for yourself, you hire somebody else to do it for you. And so he hired an agent and he gave them the description says, I want you to find these pieces because I need them for my collection. And so he sends this agent out, pays him a ton of money. And so this agent spends a couple of months hunting searching for this incredible pieces of art. And it comes back a few months later and he tells the man William, I have found what you're looking for. He said, great in the location of the art that you're seeking is your warehouse. Like what as it turns out, he happened to be going through a list of inventory of art that he already owned, not realizing that he already owned the art. And so he sent somebody to go find something that he already had. I wonder how many of us as christians are a little bit like that that we are searching for stuff. We're searching for something, maybe it's through uh in money or wealth or popularity. If I only get that promotion. If I only get that job, if I get that house, that car. If I if I get better, I get And you just fill in the blank and it's like if I only had this, then I would have what I'm looking for. And paul say no, you don't get it. You already have what you need in the warehouse you have in your collection. You're the most prized possession, which is faith in jesus. What you need is not information. It is not worth what you need is revelation to become aware of the God. You already have access to. And then he goes on to pray and says, let me pray specifically that you can know him not just know about him, but to know him. You might know facts about your favorite celebrity or athlete, but you know them personally. At the same time when you have the ones that you love and you truly know, you also know facts about them, hopefully right. What's your favorite movie? Favorite food? How they like their coffee? What do you like to do right? Like as you grow in relationship, you you start to know them and you don't reach a point in your relationship where you check the box and go done because the christian faith is not a box to be checked, but a relationship to be pursued. And paul says, I know you have some faith and I know you have some love, but I know you are also struggling. So let me speak into that tension. Let me speak into that disconnect and help you make God's revelation your reality because you can pray for this right now. And let me encourage you these exact words, you can pray right now for the ones you love. So what does he pray for? He prays specifically for three things. Let's read these verses together, verse 18, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may number one, know what is the hope to which he has called you. Number two, What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? And in verse 19? And number three, what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might. So paul prays for the church in Ephesus and also for you to know the following. And I encourage you to write this down if you can't do you begin praying this right now, right today, right now on monday you can pray these exact verses And you see revelation become reality. And so number one you need to know the hope of your calling. You need to know the hope of your calling. Hope is much more than what we make it out to in the english language. I love the english language, It's my favorite one and I can almost speak it at times and but we sometimes throw heavy words around like they're nothing right? Like take the word love, it's such a deep word. And then we're like, oh I love chick Fil a fries, although maybe some of you really do deeply love fries. I don't know, maybe that is you, but but we, we throw words out, don't we will hope it's one of those words right? Like like I I hope I had hoped that Ohio state would be organ the weekend and they didn't and now I owe my friend lunch. So um, and I really, I didn't really hope I was, I was wishing for them was like, oh maybe we don't know the outcome. A biblical definition of hope is described as a confident expectation that God has the power to do what he promised, there is a confidence that comes in an assuredness that comes from knowing that God is God and that he's going to come through. If you go onto our website or a channel, you can go back to about a year. We walked through this series called Living Hope, which is a study of First Peter because in first Peter chapter one verse three, it says that we have been giving, we have been given a living Hope in jesus. And so we have a confidence and an expectation that God would do what? Well, that word calling greek is it comes from the word crisis, which means an invitation or in place with God means a divine invitation. If you've gone to a wedding in the last couple of years, well maybe you haven't been because of Covid. So we don't like crowds. But but if you've been to one right, like they sent out this invitation and and you are invited, you are cordially invited to join in the celebration. Now imagine receiving a divine invitation from God himself in the mail. What's the invitation to? It is an invitation to bear his name to be adopted as a son or a daughter. And so when you pray for hope, you are praying for confident expectation to receive God's divine invitation to bear his name. You see a little hope can go a long way at the end of World War Two, there was a concentration camp where some of the prisoners had somehow got ahold of a little radio and on the radio they actually got word that the war was over, but the soldiers who were guarding them did not have that same message. And so they they thought everything was going on. Well all the prisoners in this concentration camp and everything so horrible that they were going through, they were able to walk a little bit taller Why? Because they, they knew that they only had to hang on for a little bit and the war is over. Mhm It was the fact that they had a hope. They knew that it was soon going to be done and it changed how they responded, They became more persistent, more resilient, more mentally tough, physically tough United and they were able to withstand because then one day they woke up and all the guards had fled. See the hope that we have as christians is that while life is tough, while life is difficult, we know that in the end God wins and if God wins, we win. And so whatever struggle, doubt issue, you have, you can pray and hang on to hope because you can have a confident expectation to receive God's divine invitation because God will deliver you and you will overcome and so you can pray for that right now, commentator CDF mul described hope this way, he said, hope is faith on tippy toe, I love that hope is faith on tippy toe, like you ever seen kids excited for something? They can't quite see over the edge, right? Like they're up here and then they're like they're like looking like, oh I see him and see him over there there. Yes, there is like looking for maybe their favorite character in a parade or just something they're excited for, right? Like that is hope as christians, as christians. We can live on tippy toe excited for what God's gonna give and what God's gonna bring because we have a hope of our calling. But the second thing paul was praised for, I almost missed it the first time I read it, it's kind of weird because the second thing he prays for is riches in each other. Specifically, he says that you may know the riches of his inheritance of the saints. No one has the phrase, his inheritance, whose inheritance is he talking about ours are gods Guards. Actually in the previous verse he talked about our inheritance with the holy spirit, but now he says his inheritance. And it got me thinking, what do you give a guy who owns everything? Like what do you bring to the party? What do, what do you what do you give as a birthday present to the guy that owns everything? What is the one thing that God is longing for and hoping for in the end, you and me, he loves you so much That you are his 401K you are the richest that God longs for. And while I want God to return. The fact is that every God, every day that God delays his return, more people are brought into the inheritance and so more people are getting saved And that God is waiting and excitingly and expecting that ultimately, one day we will stand together, every tribe, Every nation face to face. There will be no more death, no more mourning, no more cancer, no more betrayal. That we will stand face to face in relationship with him. And that God not only created you not only saves you, but considers you his prized possession. And that if God values you, That means two things. Number one, you should value you. If you've ever battled the thought that I'm not good enough, you were God's inheritance. You are rich to God. But the number two, that means that the person sitting next to you has value that means that the person on the other side of the political aisle has value. That means that people who think or act differently than you still has value church, we have to remove ourselves from an US versus them mentality on whatever the issue is. And today in 2021, there seems to be a growing number of issues, right? And we go through and there is this growing number of division and God knew there was gonna be so much division that when he prayed his high priestly prayer in John 17, what is it that Jesus specifically prayed for? I prayed for unity and how do we establish unity? It starts when we recognize the value in each one of each other that you have something to bring. You need church, you do. But the church also needs you, your personality, your gifting, your skill set, they need you and paul saying, if you only knew the hope of your calling and the richness of your neighbor, how many people are searching for treasure when they have it in their family Right now, They have it in their friendships right now that there is value sitting next to you, there is value within you, the gods placed in you. So we need that to be revealed to us because it changes how we treat one another, isn't it? It changes what we post and what we say and what we email, how quickly to forgive, how quickly to change Paul Prays for three things. He prays for hope of calling. He prays for the riches and each other. And then number three, he prays for the greatness of his power. He's saying in here, if you only knew what you had access to. If you only knew when you're during the Rose Bowl parade, there was a float that ran out of gas and so I just stopped the parade. It's kind of funny now, but it wasn't great in the moment. But the ironic thing of the float that ran out of gas was that the float was bought and owned by the oil company. So here you have one of the richest companies in the world, the producer of oil, yep, The float runs out of gas. Is that you are you a christian that has access to all the power of God. But you go into monday on an empty tank, see, it's not just what's around you, it's what's in you. And paul gets so amped up and so excited about this. They say, you don't get it. Like you have to understand that immeasurable greatness of his power. You're not getting it. Let me say that the measurable greatness of his power according to the work of his great might, other words for power. And then he goes on, he says, let me just give you a glimpse of his power. And he reads this here in the next couple of verses in verse 20 he says, this is the power that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead. You have access to the same power that defeated death. He goes on and he says, and seated him at the right hand of the heavenly places, jesus is now at the right hand of the father, mediating advocating on your behalf right there. And so we have access to that. You can't put a price tag on that. You can't you can't name that it's a miserable greatness according to his might. He says far above all. And notice these words far above all the rule and authority and power and Dominion. These are four more words for power. Again, they are in a city that is defined by a temple to a pagan god. He says God is so much bigger than any other god, any other religion. Any other attempt to get to him, he is above caesar, he is above the king's, he is above armies. He is above political parties. He's above economic classes. It doesn't matter. Pick your category. I don't care like what? Like did you ever play rock paper scissors as a kid? And then you start making stuff up and you're like superman, can't be superman who wins. Like come on, let's break the rules like okay, paul is saying God, I don't care what you throw out there. It doesn't matter what you throw, I'm gonna play God and that's gonna win. And in case he missed anything by saying all rule, all authority, all power, all Dominion he says. And above every name that is named Hey, if I missed something, throw it in the list, I don't care what the thing is, Invent a thing, give it a name. Guess what that goes under two. If I missed the list of things, competing for your affection right now, if it has a name it's under God, it hasn't stopped there. He says every name that has ever been named. Not only in this age, but also in the one to come in case something comes out in the future, guess what? That goes in there too, is that God over is over all of that, he says, and he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all and is in all that means when God reigns, we reign, when God wins, we win that greater than a pandemic, greater than a boss, greater than a financial circumstance or debt or health crisis or anything that you're going through God's power is accessible to you and that God loves you and that you are his riches and that we have hope. And so I want to encourage you to take off the spiritual virtual reality goggles and start walking in his power and you will see him at work. God is bigger than anything this world has to offer. And his love is deeper than any sin that you've ever committed or been committed against. He is the answer. And the way that is deeper than any question or doubt you might have. So that paul in Rome in prison awaiting trial, He says, I'm not scared of CAesar. He's on the list, CAesar, what are you gonna throw at me roman rule God next. Right? It doesn't matter what comes this way. And that's why even if you have faith in jesus, even if you show love to one another, the reality is life is hard and we're gonna struggle and we're gonna battle but that struggle is temporary and so in the middle of our battle we can pray what to know that God's revelation can become a reality when we understand and get just a glimpse of the hope of our calling, of the riches that are in each other and then the immeasurable greatness of God's power that now becomes our power. As the band comes up on stage here, I'm just gonna close with this, does anyone's day get turned around by just like little things like oh man, I'm so tired and then something random happens, you're like oh this is a great day or vice versa, like something small happens right? Like you get stuck at the red light, oh this is awful, right? Like it switches but it can happen. Right? So this morning just being transparent with you, I love super grateful for all the team that comes in early, I'm not a morning person, so it's always a little bit of coffee and the holy spirit to get me going in the morning. So I'm driving in the cloud cover, it's a little gray um but we have this weird thing going on right now in our car and our Honda pilot where the radio just like pops on and this pulls a song off my phone and starts playing it like out of nowhere. I'm not even playing it on my phone, it just pops it on. And so um, this morning, there's no difference and I'm, I'm driving in this morning here to come set up a church and uh, and all of a sudden the theme from Star Wars pop, it kind of scared me at first, but then randomly motivated me, They're like um, and then all of a sudden like I am in a galactic war right now and I'm like driving, I'm like, yeah, all right. Like I got to go through and like it's like, man, I'm motivated by just a little bit of a soundtrack. Okay, Some of you right now need a soundtrack in your life that you need something, something or someone to come alongside you and say, hey God's with you, God is for you, God is in you. God loves beyond you that God's a measurable greatness of his power is available to you. And so pray for God's revelation to become your reality because God's hope Israel God's people are real and God's power and purpose and forgiveness is real and we can walk in that power today. Amen. Mm hmm That was like a hesitant clap, that's okay, we can try that again. God's power is real. Amen. So whatever circumstance you're walking in, I want you to walk out of here, not just as okay, Time to take off the goggles, but to go into monday, go into that meeting go into the relationship and that responsibility in that classroom, whatever that is, knowing that you have hope, knowing that you have riches, knowing that you have power. And if we walk in power we walk in purpose and that changes everything. Mm hmm. Will you pray with me? Dear heavenly father. Just thank you for your son. Just as paul prayed in that moment that we would have access to you that even when we love you, even when we love each other that we still battle And so whatever people are battling this week, I pray that we would grab hold of your hope that we would look for the riches in ourselves and in each other that you value us that we should value one another that we should value your spouse and kids and our friends and our coworkers that we should see them as you see them. And that at the end of the day that when we're tired when we're exhausted when we are struggling God that you give us your power, the same power that conquered death. The same power that is seated at the right hand of your throne, God the same power that is over everything that is named. It is in your church. It is in this room where we experience that presence right now when we walk in confident expectation of your promise God that we can love you more each day and love others the way that you have loved us. Because when you reign, we reign. Because when you walked out of that tomb, darkness went running. Let us walk in that power. And we pray that today, in your son's name, we pray. Amen.