Well, hey, before we dive into what we're gonna talk about today, we're gonna study together. I want to show you a picture real quick from the trip that our people took to Guatemala. Um these are all people from his hands. By the way, our whole team were volunteers, and we'll be taking two trips every single year. And so if at another point in time you want to be part of a trip to Guatemala, uh to our ministry partner there, there, you'll have an opportunity. Just be on the lookout for that. This is a really special picture because here's what's happening in this picture. It's such a God thing. Um, this is this is our our mission team and some people from the ministry that we work with in Guatemala praying over, laying hands on and praying for the mayor of the community in Guatemala where we're working. And the thing is, yeah, that's super cool. But here's what's so awesome. In Guatemala, the the political system is known for being entirely corrupt. Uh, like at a level that we wouldn't even understand here. And so politicians line their own pockets. They do not, they do not really have a desire, the reputation is not having a desire to help the communities, especially to help the poor. But this man's very different. And he's very, very connected and very for this ministry that we work with. And if you're unfamiliar with it, there's a ministry in Guatemala called Centro del Canse Publito, and they're an outreach center that works with hundreds of very at-risk children that live in a very dangerous part of Guatemala City. Um, we were connected to them through a a United States missions organization called Children's Hope Chest. So we work with Children's Hope Chest and we work directly with Centro, and that's the relationship, right? So our people went on this trip. They left last Monday, and part of the trip was they just wound up in the mayor's office and they met with the mayor and they they had a chance to pray over the mayor. And when it was done, the people from Hope Chest, the organization here in the United States, that were on the trip, they said to our ministry partners in Guatemala, thank you guys for setting this meeting up. What a cool experience that we got to pray with the mayor and that our our team from Atlanta got to pray as well. And the people from Hope Chest looked at the people at the center and said, I thought you guys set this up. And so they're like, No, no, no, we didn't set up this meeting with the mayor. We thought you guys set it up. And then the local partner was like, No, we thought you guys organized this. We have no, we have no idea how this meeting with the mayor happened. No one knows who set it up, who scheduled it. But that's the cool thing about following God. You don't actually have to know what you're doing. That's that's like that's how I live my life, right? Um, because God does. And so our people got to be there, they got to spend time with these kids. We'll have a lot of pictures and stories to share in the in the weeks to come from that. But I just thought that moment was really spectacular. That moment was amazing. So I wanted to share that with you guys. And I'm so excited for all the work we get to do in that country as well as our community to come. I know we've already prayed a bunch of times. Um, hopefully you're not like prayed out, but I'd like to pray one more time and just pray that God would speak to us as we start to study his words. Would you pray with me real quick? God, as we dive into what you have saved for us, what you have prepared for us, what you have have spoken to us in your word, we pray that you would you would speak to us, that it would make sense to us, that it would be something we can take and grab a hold of and apply to our lives, that we'd be able to leave this place more ready for the life you have for us than when we woke up this morning. And we pray all this in your name, Jesus. Amen. Well, if you're just joining us, or maybe you're new, um we we love to study scripture. We love to go through the Bible together. The Bible is not a boring book. Some people characterize the Bible as boring. There are boring people who try to teach the Bible, but like there's a lot of those, but the Bible itself is not boring. It is a scandalous book. If you were to make it into a movie, there would be whole chunks that you'd have to cut. I know this because for about 10 years, I was a children's pastor. And I remember being like, ooh, we're gonna tell this story with the kids, and then I would read it, and I'd be like, ah, ooh, okay. Um, we're gonna tell a small portion of this story to the children because, you know, it's it's it's not boring. Not only is it interesting, it's powerful. And when we just open up God's word and we say, hey, God, teach us something. He's always faithful. His word is jam-packed with what is practical, with what is profound, with what's powerful. Like we need this. And so so we just study the Bible together. We were in a series covering the first half of one chapter in the Bible, Ephesians chapter 1. We wrap that up two weeks ago. Today we begin looking at the second half of Ephesians chapter 1, and we're gonna call this series, this study over Ephesians 1, the second half. We're gonna call this the essentials. Because let's be honest, we all know what it's like to lose sight of something essential. Like everyone here has probably forgotten something important, something crucial, something essential. Three years ago, maybe four, I forgot my wife's birthday. Yeah. That is essential. Like, better to forget Christmas than to forget your own wife's birthday. You know, and and and and it was like 6 p.m. And she came up to me, she said, Do you have anything you want to say to me? And that's like honestly a feeling I get pretty often as a married man. Like, I've probably done something wrong. So I just kind of go, I'm sorry, I'm sure there's a reason for me to be sorry. And then all of a sudden it hit me, oh my, it's your birthday. And it wasn't like I had some gift, like, aha, here you go. Gotcha. It was like, want to go to Chili's? You know? Like, what do you do? What do you do? And I'm so grateful, by the way, ever since I shared that story, I think for the first time years ago, um, the day before my wife's birthday, which is September 17th, I frequently get many emails that say, hey, don't forget, and I'll be honest, keep those coming. Like, please. No, no reason not to have the safety net, right? Because it can happen once, it cannot happen twice. That can't happen. Like, don't lose sight of what's essential in your life. We're calling this series, which is gonna last five weeks, the essentials, because in the second half of Ephesians chapter one, Paul, who is the leader of the church, the leader of the early church, one of the leaders, the foremost, he prays for Jesus followers. This is so cool because Paul's probably the most influential follower of Jesus ever. He's one of the most influential people that have ever lived, period. He's without doubt the most read author that has ever walked the earth. And we get to read what this man, what this Jesus follower, prayed over us. What he prayed that we as Jesus followers would experience. This is so cool. And as he prays for us, as he prays for God's people and prays for what we should experience and understand and comprehend, there's five essentials that he makes mention of. Five things that he would say, hey, God, please make sure that they get this. Please make sure that they understand this, that they experience this. And we're gonna cover those five essentials this summer. Now, just to get started, I want to go ahead and read the entire prayer. Here's what he wrote. Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God's people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called, his holy people, who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else, not only in this world, but also in the world to come. Anyone here excited to be reminded that Jesus is actually in charge? Isn't that good to know? Okay, good. He says, God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church, that's us, is his body. It is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. So this is a prayer. He says, I've been praying for you guys constantly, and here's what I've been asking for. And then he mentions these five essentials. He says, I've been praying that you receive spiritual insight, confident hope, a glorious inheritance, mighty power, and complete fullness. And so this week and for the next four weeks, we're gonna look at every single one of those essentials, and we're gonna ask God to make sure that we've got it. That we're living with these essential things at the core of our lives. And he begins by saying that we need something he calls spiritual wisdom and insight. So let's just go back and look at that one part so that we're really familiar. Verse 15. He says, Ever since I heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God's people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. Paul says, I pray you have spiritual insight. It's interesting, the very next verse begins, verse 18, I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand, and then he goes on to describe some more things. But if you actually want a more literal translation, like almost word for word, what he said in the Greek, sometimes it doesn't really translate to the way we talk today very well. But if you look at a different translation, he actually says this I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. The eyes of your heart. That's not a phrase that we really use in our world today, but what Paul's actually praying for is that we would have spiritual eyesight, that we would have spiritual eyeballs. You can think of it that way, it's kind of creepy, but just go with me. Like, that we would be able to see what God is up to. Like, I'm sure all of us have had a time in our lives where we've said, hey God, what are you doing? And maybe you're here and you're not even sure if you believe in God, and you're like, God, if you're if you're real, you need to show me something because I don't understand what you're up to if you're even doing anything at all. What would it be like to be able to see what God is doing? To discern what he's up to, how he's moving, how he's working. Paul says that we can have that, that we can have spiritual eyesight, that we can have the eyes of our of our heart, of our spirit enlightened, opened. We can have spiritual eyeballs. You ever know someone who just sees the world differently than you? Like someone you have a relationship with, and it's like you're looking through a different set of eyes. Like I'm I'm married, and so my wife and I often see things that the other doesn't see. It's not uncommon if I'm hanging out with my wife, where like maybe we'll meet someone for the first time, and we'll walk away, and Megan will say this pretty often, like, did you notice their shoes? I love those shoes. And I'm like, No. Why why are you looking at people's feet? Like, why are you doing that? That doesn't make any sense. I've never had an interaction with someone, and I'm like, I want to check out their shoes, and like I look down. I don't even know how I would do that without it being really awkward, you know. But Megan has this weird ability. She sees the world and shoes everywhere. And I like, look, I like shoes. I'm a shoe guy. I the most expensive thing that I wear is my shoes. And by the way, a little life hat for you, just in case you need one. Um, if you're gonna spend any money on some part of your clothing, spend it on your shoes. Because you can gain 20 pounds and lose 20 pounds, but your feet stay the same. And so, like, spend it on the shoes, okay? They're constant, they're reliable. All right. Like, Megan, she just sees things that I don't see. If you have children, you understand that children see the world through a very different lens than you see the world. Children see with different eyes. Children see the world through through adventurous eyes. You know what I mean? Like kids look at something and they go, hey, can I climb that? If you have a child who's become a teenager and they get a car, they're like, How fast can this go? They have adventurous eyes. Adults, we have less adventurous eyes. We have we have cautious eyes. We're not asking, can I climb that? We're going, can I fall from that? You know? We don't buy cars saying, How fast can this go? We're like, how many airbags does it have? You know, that's very no 16-year-old is like, I want to see the safety rating on this car. Um, no. We see the world through different eyes. Well, you study scripture, you find that Jesus saw the world through very different eyes. He saw the world through spiritual eyes. He saw the world the way God sees the world. He saw people, the way that God sees people. That's why the religious people of his day were so shocked by the people Jesus spent his time with. Because they didn't see the same people. They saw the people through the eyes of religion, which is about looking down on people and telling people they're not good enough. Jesus saw people through the eyes of God. He saw every person for who they are, for who they could be. In fact, one of the greatest criticisms Jesus had of the religious leaders of his day, the Pharisees, we find in Matthew chapter 15. And in verse 14, Jesus says this, he says, ignore them. Talking about these leaders. Ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind. And if one person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch. Jesus called the Pharisees spiritually blind. And they were. So much so that they missed God right in front of them. Like Jesus would do things that would blow any of us away. And the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day, they would look at it and they wouldn't even see it. Like one time on a day called the Sabbath, which was the day that they set aside for worship, Jesus healed a man with a deformed hand. This man, his hand was deformed, and that really meant that his life was pretty much useless in that society. He wouldn't have been able to work. It was a society where people really worked with their hands, and so this man has suffered greatly. And he comes to church, to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and Jesus sees him and he calls him up, and he miraculously heals this man's hand, and his hand is restored and it's healthy. Like, can you imagine if something like that happened right now, how excited we would be. And the Pharisees were eyewitnesses to a miracle, to something that is unexplainable even to this day, and they didn't see that. They weren't like, wow, God did that. God is real. How amazing. They were like, shouldn't have done it on the Sabbath. Because in their in their law, you don't work on the Sabbath. You couldn't even go pick an apple from a tree on the Sabbath. That was considered work. It was harvesting. So they they see a miracle right in front of them, and they can't even see it. They see some legality. They missed it because they didn't see the world through spiritual eyes. When Paul prays for us, when he prays for the church, the first thing he asks God to do is to give us spiritual wisdom, spiritual eyesight. That we can actually grow to recognize what God is doing. And you might be going, okay, well, how in the world do we do that? Right? Like, how how do I get spiritual eyeballs? Because maybe you've been a Jesus follower for a long time and you're like, I have no idea what God is doing. Sometimes I see people react to things and worship and get all excited, and I'm like, I don't know what they're so excited about. I must not see what they see. How do we develop spiritual eyesight? And I have three really simple words. We'll go we'll go through this really quickly. All right. Ask, read, and do. Ask, read, and do. In the first gathering, I said, let's just shorten that to ask, redo, and then we'll remember that. But it sounded like a cuss word, so I said, let's not do that anymore. Um, so don't do that. Just remember these three words: ask, read, and do. So the ask part, look, sometimes we have these moments with God where we're like, man, how can I receive from God? How can I grow? Like, is it as simple as just asking? And sometimes, yeah. Like a lot of the times, yes, ask. If you want spiritual insight, if you want the ability to see what God's up to in your life and in the world around you, ask God to do that for you. Because God is a God who reveals. He's a God of what the Bible calls revelation. He's a revealing God. He likes to share with us the secret things that only he knows. Paul wrote about this actually in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Verse 10, he says, It was to us that God revealed these things by his spirit. For his spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except through God's own spirit. And we've received God's spirit, not the world's spirit, so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. So he says, ask. Because God will reveal to you. He will reveal to you what he's up to. Ask, ask him, say, hey God, show me things. Let me see, let me see things that I can't see right now. You know, sometimes God's ways are so opposite of the world's ways. Right? We see that in Jesus. Like, like, I mean, honestly, he says really crazy things. Giving would be a great example of that. If you want to, if you want to get, give. That does not make sense at all. You know? That'd be like telling someone, hey, if you want to fill up your gas tank, empty your gas tank. Trust me, it'll work. And you would go, no. Because that's not logical, but God's ways often are not logical. That's why the Bible says that God's foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom. And his wisdom confounds the wise. Jesus said that his kingdom works opposite of the way that this world works. So so often what God is doing is very different than the logic that we have in this world. We see that countless times in scripture. For example, a man in the Old Testament who had very, very keen spiritual insight was a man named David. He was the king of Israel. A lot of the songs that we still sing are songs that David wrote, or at least wrote portions of in a book called the Psalms in the Bible. See, David had a unique ability to see what God was up to. There's this one story that's really interesting where we see this at play. David was a man who God had promised would be king, but there was already another king, a man named Saul, and David was a faithful servant to Saul. And the weird thing about people who are in power is they don't like letting go of their power. And so when Saul found out that God was raising David up to be the next king, Saul was not happy with that, so Saul decided, I'll just kill him. You know? Very simple solution. I'll just murder him. And a couple times Saul himself tried to kill him, it didn't work, and David got away. And so for years, David lived as an outlaw. And he's on the run and he's hiding for his very life, and he spent years like living in caves. And this is the Middle East, and there's a lot of caves. Trying to find someone hiding in a cave would be like finding a needle in a haystack, because there's caves everywhere. And David spent years hiding out in those caves. Well, in 1 Samuel chapter 24, this really interesting thing happens. Verse 1 says, After Saul returned from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David had gone into the wilderness of Engedi. So Saul chose 3,000 elite troops from all Israel, and he went to search for David and his men near the rocks of the wild goats. And at the place where the two road, where the road passes some sheepfolds, this is like giving directions, you know? You're gonna go to the goat rocks, and you're gonna go to where the sheepfolds are, you're gonna take a left. Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. Glad that detail is in there. But as it happened, as it happened, it just so happened, that David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave. Now, what are the odds of that? Right? That Saul just says, Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom, and he walks into the exact cave that David and all of his men are hiding, and he's not guarded and he's by himself, and he's the one that's coming after them. So check out the perspective of David's men. Now's your opportunity. Today, the Lord is telling you, I will certainly put your enemy into your power to do it as you wish. So David's men are saying, Hey, David, clearly God has done this. Saul's just over there. He's going to the bathroom. Like he's as vulnerable as can be, and he's been chasing us, and we've been on the run, and clearly God has delivered him into your hands. So go get rid of him, and this will be over, and you'll be king. And that made all the sense in the world. Because come on, what are the odds? But David saw differently. Because David saw with spiritual eyes. And he said, No, no, it is not for me to take the life of the king. See, David had respect for the authority of the king, and he knew that one day he would be the king, but he knew that it wouldn't be because he took it for himself, it would be because God gave it to him. And so David resisted. He said no, and he was blessed because of it. He was blessed by being the king, and he didn't have to justify bloodshed on his part to become the king. See, where David's men saw an obvious solution, David saw temptation. And man, there's a lot we can learn right there. Because so often we'll be in seasons of life and situations, and it seems like you know the perfect solution comes along. And that perfect solution may not be right, you know. I mean, you might have to like kill a guy for it, but whatever. It's just so good. And we might not find ourselves in those situations, but like, come on, how many times are you you struggling with something at work and an opportunity comes along, and maybe all you have to do to take the opportunity is lie a little bit, you know, or throw someone under the bus, but it's good for your career. I one of the things I deal with a lot as a pastor or meeting with people in crisis situations, and and I'll meet with men, and and they're having problems in their marriage. And I cannot tell you how many times there's been a man who's like, you know, my wife and I, we haven't been connecting, we haven't been getting along, and there's this woman that I work with, and just you know, we started working together more, and it's like just right now, she just gets me, you know? And I'm like, run away. Because that is not from God. It's like, oh, it's just it's just at this moment when my wife and I are fighting, this other woman comes along. Yeah, that's called the devil. And that's how he works. So stop it. That's all I have a lot of those conversations. See, David saw it with spiritual eyes, and it saved him from. Save him from making a grave mistake. If you want spiritual eyesight, if you want that wisdom, ask God for it. Because he will give it to you, he will reveal it to you by the power of his Holy Spirit. Number two, read. I know I just talk about read books. There's lots of great books out there, but like specifically, spend time reading the word. I know it's like the most obvious thing for a pastor to say on a Sunday at church, like, hey, I recommend reading the Bible from time to time. But I'll tell you this, even Paul said it this way 1 Corinthians 13, 12. Now we see things imperfectly. Like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. Talking about when we're united with God, like in the life to come. He said, All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely. So even Paul, like Paul, if you studied your faith, and if you're hearing you're not even a Christian, you're figuring this out. Paul's a big deal. Okay, it's like Jesus, and then Paul's he's up there. He's not Jesus, but he's better than all the other people. So like Paul says, I don't see things perfectly. I see imperfectly. Sometimes my spiritual eyesight is fuzzy. That's what Paul's saying. Well, here's the reality: if we start asking God to speak to us, and we start asking God to give us spiritual eyesight, and by the way, guys, if you've been here for the last few weeks, God is doing something in this church. And I know that there's a hunger that's developing within us to actually experience God in ways that we haven't before. That's a good thing. And as that begins to happen, it will happen. Yeah, praise God for that. But as you begin to desire that, you'll start to like, I don't know, you'll get a sense for things and you'll see things. But look, sometimes you'll be a little off. Even Paul was. So if if if in the real world, like the world that we, I mean, the spirit world is the real world, but like whatever, in the world that we know is the real world, if you don't see clearly, what do you do? Like you get glasses, you get something that helps take what is fuzzy and make it clear. God's word is like that when it comes to spiritual eyesight. And so if you want focused, keen eyesight, you need to know the word. You've got to know the Bible so that whenever you feel like God is saying something to you, whenever you feel like God is leading you in a certain direction, you can know whether or not it lines up with what he's already said. Because God's not going to contradict himself. That's why it's so important for us to be familiar with the Bible, to know the Bible. That's why we study it together as a church. And if you want to start diving into it personally, you know, our mobile app has tons of resources to help you engage with the Bible. Even if you're someone that's just starting out, take advantage of those. So ask, read, and then this is an interesting one. Do it's amazing how many times in the story of the Bible God showed up and spoke to someone, even drastically changing their destiny while they were just doing what they were supposed to be doing. Like Jesus was like that. Jesus spent 30 years working a normal job, working as a carpenter. The Bible said he was growing in stature and in wisdom and in favor with God and man. So Jesus was just doing what he was supposed to do. And when he got baptized, he was just doing what he was supposed to do. In fact, Jesus goes to get baptized, and this man named John the Baptist looks at him and says, Why are you getting baptized? John knew who he was. Like you don't need to get baptized. God, you know how this whole thing works, right? You should baptize me. And Jesus said, No, it is right for me to do this. And Jesus just got baptized because it's the right thing for him to do. And when he gets baptized, the Spirit of God comes upon him, speaks in such a way that all these other people hear it, like it's a powerful moment, and Jesus was just doing what he was supposed to do. In the Old Testament, there's all these prophets, these amazing people who live so closely with God, and oftentimes the moment that they were called into the presence of God, where they they first heard God, like for the first time in their lives, where they first experienced the power of God, just happened to be a moment where they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. It wasn't fancy, it wasn't like they were out there looking for it. David, who I mentioned earlier, he becomes king one day. He's anointed as king while he's working his job. He was a shepherd. He's hanging out with a bunch of sheep. And then all of a sudden, he's anointed as king. He goes from leading sheep to leading people, and sometimes there's not much of a difference, but like it was an upgrade at least. You know? There's a prophet named Elisha in the Old Testament. Elisha's awesome. We studied him a little bit last year, and and another prophet named Elisha, very similar name, came and he called Elisha to be a prophet. And the moment that that happened, you know what Elisha was doing? He was plowing a field. He's just plowing a field, and a guy walks up to him and says, Now you're a prophet. He's like, Oh, okay. So should I? I guess and he finished plowing the field, I'm sure. Let me finish this. Just like do what you're supposed to do. Sometimes I think we're so hungry for God to speak to us. And we want to know what our future is, and we want to know our destiny. We want to know what we're called to. And sometimes we neglect the things that we should do because we're trying so hard to figure out what maybe we ought to do. But I'm telling you, if you will just do what you should do, that's where God will speak to you so often. And so if you're a husband, just be an awesome husband. And if you're a wife, be an amazing wife. Be a great dad and a great mom and be a great student and be a great worker where you work, like work hard. The Bible says, do everything you do as if you're doing it for the Lord. So work hard like you're working directly for Jesus, even if your boss is nothing like Jesus. Which is likely. But don't be shocked in a moment when you're just doing what you're supposed to do. When God shows up and speaks to you. So if you want to develop spiritual eyes, then ask God for it and spend time in the Word, and then just do your thing. And God will show up and He will speak to you. We need spiritual eyesight. Like we really do. And worship team, you guys can make your way out, we'll wrap up. We need spiritual eyesight. And the reason we we need it is because there are spiritual things happening around us. Now some people hear that and they say, that's crazy. That's just crazy. Like we're talking about spiritual things happening around me. Have you ever had a day where it feels like something's out for you? Or if it could go wrong, it does go wrong, and it almost feels like some invisible force is out to get you. You're not crazy. The Bible says it really clearly in Ephesians chapter 6. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. There is a spiritual world. It is real. So often what happens circumstantially is actually the result of something happening spiritually. That's why Jesus said, What good is it if a man gains the world but loses his soul? If all your circumstances are great, but your spirit, if your spirit is bankrupt, it won't matter. We need spiritual eyesight. And I love this. I want to wrap up with this. Paul talks in in Ephesians, the chapter that we're in, the verses that we just read, about what we get by having spiritual insight. Like what's the benefit? Ultimately, what what's it gonna do in my life? What's it gonna give me if I actually have spiritual eyesight, if I'm seeking to see and understand what God is doing? And here's what he says: Verse 17. He said, asking God, the glorious Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. So that you can know God. It's actually really interesting that the word that Paul used. He was writing in Greek, and the word he used for know is a word that doesn't mean like knowing about something. It's not knowing a subject. It's knowing something intimately, it's knowing a person, it's a relationship. Okay, so he's not saying, hey, study God, because God is not a subject to be studied, he's a person to be known. But it's even more interesting than that because the typical word in the Greek language for intimate knowledge is the word gnosis, and you see it up here on the screens. The G is silent. Gnosis. But Paul didn't say gnosis. He didn't say, hey, I want you to grow in your in your gnosis, that intimate knowledge of God. He used this word, very interesting word, epinosis. Literally translates epic knowledge. I can't help but picture Paul talking like Bill or Ted from Bill or Ted's Bill and Ted's. You guys know that movie, like Keanu Reeves, Surfer Style? Like Paul's writing. Wouldn't it be so weird if you could hear Paul? And he's like, and I pray that you guys like, I don't know, you get like epic knowledge of God, right? Like it'd be amazing, you know? You'd be like, what? That'd be so weird. But that's what it says. He says, Hey, I want you to have epic knowledge of God. I don't want you to just have a little bit of knowledge. I don't want you just to know God a little bit. I want you to have epic knowledge of God. See, see, Paul wanted to know Jesus. He wrote in Philippians chapter 3, verse 10. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection of the dead. I mean, we read that, and it sounds like the rantings of a lunatic if you really look at it. Like, I want to die. I want to suffer. But here's the thing about Paul: he wanted to have such intimacy with Jesus that if there was something he could experience that just gave him more in common with Jesus, he was game. So Paul was like, hey, if I suffer and die, Jesus suffered and died. That'll make us like besties, you know. I'll go to heaven, I'll be, hey, Jesus, I suffered and died. He's like me too. Wow, cool, we're like brothers. If something would make Paul more familiar with Jesus, Paul wanted it. Because the goal for Paul was to know Jesus, to know him. And knowing Jesus, by the way, guys, it's everything. Jesus Himself said in John 17, this is the way to have eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. This is how you have eternal life, which is more than just life forever in heaven, that's everlasting life. Eternal life means having like God life in your life right now. And the way you get that is you just know Jesus. See, Paul had met Jesus. If you read Acts chapter 9, you'll read the story of Paul meeting Jesus, and he meets Jesus in an epic way. But he was not content to have met Jesus, he wanted to know Jesus, he wanted to know God. Like, how many of us know that there's a difference between meeting someone and knowing someone? There's people you have met that you don't know. I don't know if you've ever had the experience of meeting someone that's like semi-famous. It's kind of cool when you meet someone like that. I I used to do sports journalism years ago. Before I had children, I had this thing called free time. It's amazing. Um, haven't had it in eight years. And so I was doing some sports journalism stuff. I was considering that as a career, and I got some cool experiences, and I got to interview a lot of players and coaches, mainly in basketball. And there's probably 10 current NBA players that I've met and talked to and interviewed face to face. One time I got to have a sit-down one-on-one interview with Dominique Wilkins for about 15 minutes. And Dominic Wilkins is like a basketball legend in Atlanta. He's a big dude. Like all the people I met were big dudes. Like, show of hands if you've ever shaken hands with a seven-footer. Anyone in the room ever done that? Wow, more than I thought. It's weird to shake someone's hand and feel their fingers on your elbow, isn't it? It's a strange feeling. It's like, I feel like a tiny child. That's what you you think in your mind when you do that. It was cool for me to meet those guys. It was cool for me to meet Dominic Wilkins. I grew up, I had a poster of Dominique Wilkins on my wall as a kid. But I don't know him. I wonder sometimes, as Jesus followers, if we're content to have met Jesus at some point in our lives. Or are we hungry to know Jesus intimately every day of our lives? I don't want to settle for having met my God. I want to know him. And look, if you've met Jesus, if you've had one moment in your life where you have given yourself to him and you felt his presence and you said, I believe and I've given you my faith, you're good. Like you don't need to worry about where you stand with God. He loves you, he loves you, but you can know him. You can know him. Even Paul wasn't content with how much he knew him. He was like, What else do I have to do to know you better? Do I have to go to jail and suffer and die? Because if so, God, I'll do it. I want to know Jesus. I want to know my God. And Paul says that that is possible for us, but only if we have spiritual insight, spiritual eyes, if we have a dedication to seeing the world as God sees it. We're about to step into worship and we'll finish with one song. And as we sing this song together, I'm gonna be asking God to help me see what I can't see right now. Because I want to look at my children, I want to see more than who they are now. Because I'll be honest with you, my two-year-old now is a jerk, and I need to see him for the man that he's meant to be. I need to see him with spiritual eyes. I want to see my wife with spiritual eyes. I'll just be honest, I want to look in the mirror, I want to see myself with spiritual eyes. Like, God, who am I? What like why who did you create me to be? God, I want to see what you're doing in my life, I want to know you. We need that, and we can have that. We can have that, we just have to want it and ask him for it and study his word so we recognize it and then do what we're meant to do so that we we can be faithful and obedient and trust that he's gonna show up. So if you wouldn't mind praying with me and asking God to begin this right now, today in our lives. Lord, we love you. This church is amazing, God. I'm so grateful for this family. I know that this is a group of people right now that is filled with desire. We are not content with what we've experienced of you. We want to experience more, we want to know you more. We want that epic knowledge that our brother Paul talked about thousands of years ago. We want epic knowledge, we want intimacy. Help us be people who who are not content to have met you, but but who know you, who know what it feels like to be known by you and loved by you. God, sometimes your ways do not make sense to us. You say it so clearly in your word, your ways are above our ways, your thoughts are above our thoughts. Sometimes, Lord, you don't make sense to us, and sometimes what you're doing in this world doesn't make sense to us at all. It's because we're not looking at the world the way you do, we're not seeing the world through your eyes, but change that for us, Lord. Give us a desire right now to see the world and everyone in it through your eyes. Give us spiritual insight, Lord, and we pray all this in your name, Jesus. Amen.