How to Carry Pressure Without Getting Crushed

Hey, we're Todd and Julie Mullins, Senior Pastors here at Christ Fellowship Church, and we're so glad that you're tuning in for service today. Yeah, Christ Fellowship is one church that meets in lots of different locations, including right here with you. Yeah, and our prayer for you today is that you would sense God's love for you. See, I don't personally know all that you're going through today and what you're up against, but God does. And He hears your prayers, and He knows your name, and He's right here for you today as you call out to Him. Yeah, thanks again for joining with us today. We love you, and we're praying for you. So that we could experience life and life to the full. God is more in store than you have in mind, and I believe so much more that it's going to blow your mind. Welcome home, church. Come on, our God is alive. If you're here with us today and watching online, welcome home. Our God is alive, amen? We thank you, Jesus. Amen. We sing together. We sing together. We sing together. We sing together. We sing together. We sing together. ♪ Comes out of the grave, every time I call you Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you, I call you Savior, worthy of glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave, every time I call your name ♪ ♪ Change, break, drive home the hate, every time I call your name ♪

♪ I call your name, the gates, the gates of hell, changed in vain ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, change, break, drive home the hate ♪ ♪ Every time I call your name, the gates of hell ♪ ♪ I call your name, the gates, the gates of hell, changed in vain ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, where, oh death, is now your stingin' ♪ ♪ Where, oh grave, your victory, hell, where, oh death, is now your stingin' ♪ ♪ Where, oh grave, your victory, hell, where, oh death, is now your stingin' ♪ ♪ Where, oh grave, your victory, your victory, hey ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Dead things come alive, dead things come alive, dead things come alive, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, yeah ♪ ♪ I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you the healer, you're risen and reign in power ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave, every time I call your name, Jesus, I call you, I call you the savior, worthy of glory forever ♪ ♪ Something comes out of the grave, every time I call your name, Jesus, I call you the savior, worthy of glory forever, something comes out of the grave, every time I call your name, Jesus, I call you, I call you the savior, worthy of glory forever ♪ ♪ You deliver, every time, on mountaintops, You stay the same, mid valleys low, You never change And I believe, that I will see, the goodness of the Lord I'm confident, as seasons change, Your faithfulness, it remains And You go, You go before me, to prepare a blessing, You make a way And it's more, than I could imagine, more than I could fathom, or comprehend On mountaintops, You stay the same, in valleys low, You never change And I believe, that I will see, the goodness of the Lord ♪ For the Lord, and I'm confident, I'm confident ♪ ♪ As seasons change, Your faithfulness remains ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness remains, Your faithfulness remains ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness remains ♪ ♪ God is my present, God is my future ♪ ♪ You write my story, You hold it all together ♪ ♪ God is my present, and of my future ♪ ♪ You write my story, You hold it all together ♪ ♪ God is my present, God is my future ♪

♪ You write my story, You hold it all together ♪ ♪ God is my present, and of my future ♪ ♪ You write my story, You hold it all together ♪ ♪ You hold it all together, and I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord ♪ ♪ I'm confident, as seasons change, Your faithfulness remains ♪ ♪ God is my present, God is my future ♪ ♪ You write my story, You hold it all together ♪ ♪ God is my present, and of my future ♪ ♪ You write my story, You hold it all together ♪ ♪ You hold it all together, yes You do, You hold it all together ♪ ♪ You hold it, You hold it, You hold it all together ♪ Oh, we can be confident in this. Though seasons change, His faithfulness, it remains. As much as it stays, His faithfulness, it never changes. Well, welcome to church, whether you're watching online, you're in the room, or maybe you're returning from our Easter services. This is a family you can belong to. My name is Bless, and we are so glad you are worshiping with us this morning. I'm reminded in Scripture, one of the names, some of the names that calls God. It says, He is the Alpha, and He is the Omega. And it simply means this, He is the beginning, and He is the end. But I love that we serve a God who not only cares about the beginning or the end of our story, but He cares about the middle. He cares about our right now. And I'm so grateful, so grateful for that.

And I'm sure in a room this big, there's so many people walking through so many battles, their needs in this room, and in this time of worship, you wanna create a space to pray for you. As our prayer teams make their way forward, I'm reminded of Philippians 4, verse 6. It says, be anxious for nothing, but with prayer, with thanksgiving, and supplication, oh, make your requests known to God today. And so in this moment, we wanna invite you to bring your needs, bring your battles to the one who is victorious. Oh, He cares. He's the God of the middle. I wanna encourage you as we continue worshiping and singing over you, we would love to pray with you. You can make your way out of your seats. Oh, He is your Alpha. He is your Omega. And He is right here in the middle. Oh, you are right here. You are right here. Can we sing, He is the Alpha? You are the Alpha and the Omega. You're in the middle, you hold it all together. You are the Alpha and the Omega. You're in the middle, you hold it all together. You are the Alpha and the Omega. The Omega. You're in the middle. You hold it all together. You are the Alpha. And the Omega. You're right in the middle. Oh, you hold it all. Oh, you are the Alpha. And the Omega. The beginning and the end. You hold it all. Oh, you are the Alpha. You're the Omega. You're in the middle.

You hold it all together. You hold it all. Oh, nothing is beyond the hand of God. You hold it all together. Nothing beneath the hand of God. You hold it all together. If he dresses the lilies with beauty and splendor, how much more will he clothe you? How much more will he clothe you if he watches over every sparrow? How much more does he love you? Oh, can we make that personal today? How much more does he love me? If he dresses the lilies with beauty and splendor, how much more will he clothe you? How much more will he clothe you if he watches over every sparrow? How much more does he love me? How much more does he love me? How much more does he love me? How much more does he love me? How much more does he love me? Oh how much more Oh God we give our love to you Maybe we've made this complicated More than it was ever meant to be Hasn't it always been about the same thing? Oh Lord bring us back to simple things Oh you be the center of it all My heart belongs to you My savior all in all You're the one I hold on to For the beauty of your name My soul will live to sing Jesus I love you Teach us to discern the moment When to serve and when to stand Here at your feet Keep us going Keep us going to what's important Just like Mary chose the better thing Oh be the center for you Be the center of it all My heart belongs to you My savior all in all

You're the one I hold on to For the beauty of your name My soul will live to sing Jesus I love you ♪ I love You, yeah, oh how I love You, Jesus I love You ♪ ♪ In my whole life for Your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ For You only, everything for the honour of Your Name ♪ ♪ And in my days, tell a story, let it be Of You only, everything for the honour of Your Name ♪ Oh, give it up to Jesus! ♪ For the honour of Your Name Oh, give it up to Jesus! ♪ In my whole life for Your glory, my whole world For You only, everything for the honour of Your Name ♪ ♪ And in my days, tell a story, let it be Of You only, everything for the honour of Your Name ♪ ♪ In my whole life for Your glory, my whole world For You only, everything for the honour of Your Name ♪ ♪ And in my days, tell a story, let it be Of You only, everything for the honour of Your Name ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love You Jesus, I love You Oh, how I love You Jesus, I love You ♪ In my whole life for Your glory, my whole world For You only, everything for the honour of Your Name ♪ ♪ And in my days, tell a story, let it be Of You only, everything for the honour of Your Name ♪ Oh, give Him praise! For the honour, for the glory of Your Name For everything we have, to the only one who is deserving of it all For the honour of His Name Oh church, what a beautiful time it is to worship with you To lift up the Name, to give everything we have To the only one who is worthy of it all So excited for our new series, Pressure Points But before you have a seat, can you turn to one or two people and say hi Pressure It's how diamonds are formed It's how gold is refined And it's also a part of being human

Kind of like this Or this Now, raise your hand if you've been here Pressure can even look like this So how do we find relief from the pressures of real life? Well, I don't know But I do know that God meets you right where you are And leads you to real peace, real clarity, and real relief That's what we need, real peace and real clarity Hey, I want to welcome everyone that's joining us At all of our Christ Fellowship locations And everyone joining us online And a special shout out to all of our men and women in the Armed Forces We are praying for you, standing with you, especially in these days Well, we're so glad that you're here today And before I jump into the message I just wanted to take a minute to celebrate all that happened last week We had one of the greatest Easter's we've ever had In the history of Christ Fellowship Probably the greatest Because there were so many of you were here But you know, we had over 85,000 people join us For Easter services And that's incredible But the number that we're most excited about Is the 3,511, because that's the number of people that made a decision to follow Jesus, and their lives have been changed forever. Hey, if you were with us and you're back this week,

welcome back, we're so glad that you're here. We are just having so many testimonies of all that God did, and that he's gonna continue to do. But we are kicking off a series this week, and it's called Pressure Points, Finding Relief for Real Life. So I just wanna have a full participation moment across all of our locations, all of our campuses. I'm gonna ask for a show of hands. How many of you have experienced any pressure this last week? Okay, let me give it, maybe your pressure started as you were trying to leave the parking lot last Sunday after our Easter services, right? That's where mine started. Hands up, hands up if that was you. Hands up if you had some pressure at work this week. Maybe it was a deadline, a budget, an unreasonable boss. What about at home, a spat with your spouse? You can just raise it a little bit like this if your spouse is sitting next to you. Or maybe with your kids, some of you students. Man, we are ending the school year right now. You got the pressure, any pressure for final exams or finding the perfect prom dress, right? There's a lot of pressure out there. What about just the pressure of just what's going on in our world right now? Anybody feel the pressure and the weight of all of that? So by now, I think that almost everybody

has raised their hands. If you haven't raised your hand, I'm gonna pray for you at the end of the service that you would repent. But here's the deal, is that from middle school to middle age, if you have a pulse, you are experiencing pressure, right? We all have pressure, it's a part of life. And so over these coming weeks, we are gonna be talking about pressure because it's something that we all have to walk through and navigate. We're gonna be talking about financial pressure. And I was doing some research this week, and did you know that research shows that 88% of you are experiencing financial pressure right now, financial worries, and 78% of people said that they are losing sleep over finances right now. We want you to get better sleep. So we're gonna be talking about that. We're gonna be talking about pressure on the job. And pressure on the job is very expensive. Did you know it costs $600 million a year because of the results of job pressure, right? Because of the stress that comes with it, the medical bills, the insurance, the people calling in sick, pressure is expensive. Stress is expensive. And research shows that 43% of people are more anxious this year than last year.

There's relationship pressure. We wanna talk about that. You know, 80% of people say that they experience physical symptoms because of the stress and the pressure that they're under. And this is what we wanna do over these next few weeks is we wanna help you navigate the pressure that you're already experienced. And what we know is that this is the deal is that we're all gonna experience it. The Bible never promised a stress-free, problem-free life. Actually, quite the opposite. John 16, 33, Jesus said that in this world that you're gonna have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world. So He didn't promise a pressure-free life, but He promised His presence, His power, His peace. And that's what Easter was all about last week, that Jesus came, He was crucified, He died, and He rose again. He sent His Spirit so that we would not be overcome by the pressures, but that we could become overcomers. And that's what we celebrated last week. And our key verse this week is found in 2 Corinthians chapter four. And it says this, it says, "'We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed. "'We're perplexed, but we're not in despair. "'We're persecuted, but we're not abandoned,

"'struck down, but not destroyed.'" And what the Apostle Paul is telling us is that this pressure, pressure will come. But the good news is, is we don't have to be crushed by it. We have not been left powerless. But if we're honest, when we are, what this verse says, we're hard-pressed on every side, and doesn't it seem like that's how it usually is? It's not just one pressure, but the bills are piling up, right? And then it's just at that time when you've got the deadline at work, right? And the kids start acting up, the washer breaks, and there's all kinds of things happening at the same time. And then if you don't address it, you get into a conflict with your spouse, you don't address it because you don't have time to address it because the pressure of time, and it ends up just, it's not pretty, right? So pressure isn't pretty and it feels like it can crush us sometimes and I was thinking about this week I don't know if you guys have ever seen this YouTube channel about the hydraulic press. It has like 600 million views people are just fascinated about seeing things just get crushed I picked ones that are personal to me like this is how I feel in the morning when my alarm clock goes off I automatically feel behind schedule. I mean the pressure to stay hydrated right to drink the ounces of water Double your weight I mean double your weight and multiply by your mom's birthday to stay hydrated then this one was my favorite Right. I was thinking about this of the song kept going through my mind Do do do do do do do do do do do do do that that this is ourselves under pressure, right? There's a pressure is what we all

Experience it can feel crushing but you know pressure doesn't have to be crushing pressure is powerful It has some power in our lives and when when pressure turns into stress It pressure has the power to push us it can push us into some painful places Unresolved conflict and and financial pressure actually then the top causes of divorce Pressure can push us into these painful places pressure can can push us to make some really dumb decisions Like how many times have we have we gone to reach for something that we thought might relieve some of the pressure that we're under and We make we make if we make the decision to do something to relieve the pressure It's that that one drink at the end of the day, right that we think is gonna make us feel better but but it actually turns into a couple of drinks at the end of every day and it robs us of our Relationships because it robs the best of us and brings out the worst of us or the times that that we we've Buy that we have that binge purchase the the the vacation that we can't afford or the car that we that we can't really pay for and we we make that dumb decision thinking that it's gonna bring us some kind of satisfaction and And we make we make these decisions Thinking that we're gonna get relief from the pressure that we're on and these these kinds of decisions are understandable, right? They're understandable, but they instead of relieving it It just keeps piling on and we find ourselves more and more behind See pressure has the power to push us pressure sometimes when when we're under it and and life starts to feel overwhelming We get overwhelmed and and pressure can paralyze us and stop us and just like we start to think it's it's always gonna be this Way nothing's ever gonna change and and I was looking up the what psychologists say about this because so many people report Being overwhelmed in this season overwhelmed by the pressures that they're carrying and Psychologists define being overwhelmed not just as feeling busy but as a state where life's pressures consistently exceed our Emotional resources that the pressures that we feel exceed our emotional resources and when this happens Research shows that it doesn't just affect our mood, but it reshapes our thinking it deepens our anxiety It dampens joy and it even fractures our closest relationships. And at the very same time this same The same research supports what scripture tells us that connection and support. They're not luxuries, but they're foundational for your flourishing

See the crazy thing about pressure is that has has the power to keep us from the places and the people That are not only gonna help us to survive the pressure But they're gonna come alongside and help us thrive under pressure Because every season that we step in comes with new pressures and and when we give into the pressure We start to think that nothing's ever gonna change that that I'm never gonna get ahead Financially, so I I guess I'll just start charging keeps charging up the credit card or my nothing's ever gonna change in this relationship So why should I even try and a lot of times? We we end up handling the pressure in unhealthy ways and we we try to escape it, right? We escape it by going on social media and and and scrolling spending hours scrolling and and that doesn't help anything Because then we actually see how everybody else's life is so much better than ours So we feel the pressure again, but can I tell you that you are not powerless? You you're not powerless Yes pressure has the power to push us has the power to overwhelm us or paralyze us But we have not been left powerless and pressure doesn't have to push us or paralyze us But what if what if what is working against you? What seems like is coming against you is actually there to work for you That that this pressure can actually do something it can it can point us It could point us to to a power That that we need it can point us to this power that we actually have access to. Because if you look at the verse right before, the theme verse that I read about being pressed but not crushed, if you look at the verse right before that, Paul writes about this. He says, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. And then he says, we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed.

See, this jars of clay, we on our own are like, we're a little bit fragile, right? We're fragile, but we've been not left on our own because what we carry within us is this treasure. And last week when we talked about Easter, like the New Testament reality is, is that God freely shares His power and His presence with us. He put His power and His presence within us, within His people so that we wouldn't have to be pushed or paralyzed, but we would have the power that the pressure could actually work something good in our lives. God's spirit inside you is greater than the pressure surrounding you. Let me say that again, that God's spirit inside you is so much greater than the pressure that is surrounding you. And I started to think about this. Have you ever wondered why some people you know can endure like incredible pressure and still come out the other end, like joyful, with a testimony of resilience, growing through it all, right, why some come out like that. I mean, I think about my friend Joy Bray, and Joy Bray goes to our Port St. Lucie campus, and she's been a dear friend for years, her and Pastor Don, and Joy was a missionary in New Guinea. And as if that wasn't hard enough, right, living in a third world country,

while she was there, she gave birth to a son who had severe special needs, and they moved back home, and then her daughter had a physically debilitating disease that confined her to a wheelchair. And then just the pressures, years and years, and then just a few months back, Joy lost her husband of 60 years. But every time I see Joy, every time I see her, she has a testimony of faith. She had this amazing resilience, and she lives up to her name, Joy. And it's amazing, because this testimony is so great, but the pressure was so great. And yet there's other people that it seems like that they feel like they're experiencing pressure if they didn't get invited to that party that they saw on social media that their friend had, or their Amazon package doesn't show up on time, right? Like, they almost crumble under the pressure. And you ever wonder, what's the difference? How come some people can endure so much, and some endure so little? And the easy answer is, well, you know, if you have Jesus, right, then you can endure this pressure. But I know a lot of Christians, right, a lot of believers that fold when pressure comes their way, right, who walk away way too soon. And what I found is that the people that I know that have this testimony of resilience,

they have something in common. They have a plan for their pressure. They have a plan for their pressure, and they work this plan. They may not always, it may not, they might have always articulated the plan, but you can see it in their lives and the way that they live their lives. And that's why we're focusing in this series, because we want to help you get a plan for your pressure. Because you can't predict what pain or pressure is coming your way, but you can prepare for it. You can't predict exactly what pain or pressure that's gonna come your way, but you can prepare for it. It's like living in South Florida in hurricane season, right, that we don't know if a storm is gonna come or when it's gonna come, but you better be ready for it. Like, you're gonna buy the toilet paper. You're gonna make sure you've got the batteries and the Pop-Tarts, right? You can be prepared. But when you think about getting a plan for the pressure that you're experiencing right now, but also getting a plan for the pressure for the future, I think the first thing that we have to do is we have to reframe our perspective on pressure. We have to reframe our perspective on pressure because for us, we think pressure is a bad thing. See, we don't get to choose our pressure, but we do get to choose our perspective.

We do get to choose how we view pressure. And we can look through our own eyes or we can look through the eyes of the one who wants to produce something in the pressure that we're in. See, we can choose whether pressure is going to crush us or press us. And there's a difference between that hydraulic press I just showed you and this. This right here, this is a juicer. Like both of them actually use pressure. But one uses pressure to destroy and one uses pressure to produce, right? There's a difference between a crushing and a pressing. And when you press something, actually something valuable comes out. Something, it produces something that's gonna have value, that is going to have purpose. And when I think about this, that crushing, crushing can feel like an end, but a pressing many times can feel like a beginning. And so what if God is using the pressure, he wants to use the pressure that you're experiencing in your life right now to be able to produce something that is going to outlive the season that you're in, that is going to set you up for the future that he has for you, and is going to help you fulfill your purpose. What if the financial pressure

that you're walking through right now, this financial pressure, it feels like it could be crushing, but what if he's trying to produce something, produce this trust, this trust in God, right? That he is Jehovah Jireh, that he's the provider, that he wants to give you wisdom from his word, right? And that he wants to use this pressure to point you to our My God, My Money class, right? That's going to help you get a plan for the pressure of your finances. And this is the deal, this pressure that you're feeling is so that he can produce something in you. What if students, that this anxiety and the fear of the future that you might be walking through right now, that this generation is more anxious than any generation before. There's so much depression, anxiety because of the uncertain future that you're facing. What if that instead of it crushing you, that God wants to produce like this deep trust, right? This intimate relationship that you can trust him with your future, that I know the plans that he has for you, that he's going to prosper and not harm you, he's going to give you hope. And in future he wants to produce

this hope in you in this season. What if even conflict in real relationships that you have, they're not meant to crush you or destroy that relationship, but what if it's producing, producing grace and forgiveness? And what if it's producing this testimony that God can work all things together for the good? What if that peer pressure that you're experiencing, the pressure to give in, what if it's not there to crush you or to derail you or to push you into painful, unhealthy decisions, but what if it's there to produce a backbone in your faith, to give you a resiliency, to grow you, to mature you? See pressure, there's a difference between a pressing and a crushing. And you may not like how it feels right now. You may not like how it feels, but God wants to form something new in you by pressing you, by putting you in situations and coming alongside you in the situations that you're walking through so that you are not pressed, you are not crushed, but you are pressed and that something purposeful comes out of the pressing season that you're in. See, pressure has the power to produce something good in your life. And I was thinking about this because in 2 Corinthians 1, verses eight and nine, it says this, it says we were under great pressure. This is the Apostle Paul talking again.

He says we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure. Have you ever been there? Like you feel like you're under pressure, like there is no way I cannot endure this on my own. But he says so much so that we despaired for our life itself but this happened so that we might rely on God and we might not rely on ourselves but on God. So many times the pressures that we're experiencing happen so that we learn that our strength is not enough to produce what needs to happen in these seasons of pressure. I was thinking about this because I was at a leadership round table and one of the greatest golfers of all time, some of you guys are watching the Masters right now, Jack Nicklaus was the speaker and somebody asked him the question, they said, you know, how do you handle the pressure? I wanted to write this down. How do you handle the pressure making the shot with all the crowds watching? The TV cameras focused on you and the tournament comes down to that one putt. How do you handle the pressure? And he said something that really surprised me, he said that. that pressure is a privilege. Pressure is actually a privilege. Like we look at it as a bad thing, but it's a privilege.

Getting to be there, getting to be in the place like to inspire people, it's what you play the game for. There's no pressure for the guys who get knocked out in the early rounds. There's no pressure. There's no TV cameras there. The pressure comes when you go to the next level. And so I guess pressure is a good thing is what he said. And it's so true. Pressure is a privilege. It means that you've been entrusted with something. And it means that you've been entrusted with something valuable. It means that you could go to a higher level and that God wants to take you to a higher level. It means that you've been entrusted with something that is worth pressing through for. And I was looking back at my own life and just several years ago thinking about a season that I felt like I was being crushed. And it was about 15 years ago. And at that time, you know, Jefferson was going through a really difficult season. He had had some regression. And he was just in such a challenging place. And I had so much fear and anxiety about his future. And at the same time, there was a crisis happening in my extended family that really upended our family. And it brought up a lot of trauma from the past. And this was at the very time that Todd and I were getting ready to step into senior leadership here at the church.

And so I felt pressed on every side. And I was thinking, God, I don't know how I can be the mom that Jefferson needs and step up to this new, into this season of responsibility that you've called us to. I don't know how I'm going to be the wife that Todd needs, the mom, the pastor that I need to be. I feel so inadequate. I don't know how. I don't know what the future holds for Jefferson. I don't know how we're going to make it through this situation in my family. And I remember in that season that there was so much, so much that God did in that season. It felt crushing. And there were days when I felt like I was failing. But when I look back, I know that he was forming something in me. There were days when I remember just that fear and anxiety that I had about Jefferson, that in that season, that he used it to press me, the pressure produced something. It produced this deep trust that I knew that even though I didn't know the plan that God had for him, he had a plan for a hope and a future. And I was not going to let what I didn't know rob me from what I did know. Because I didn't know what the future was, but I knew the one that could hold the future. And it produced in me this deep trust in what God had in store. And then I remember feeling so inadequate, like overwhelmed, going, God, I don't know if I can do this.

I don't know if I am enough for this role. And God was like, you know what? You're not enough. But my strength is perfect. So you don't have to be, right? There was this dependence. There was a growth and maturity. There was a resilience of knowing I was going to make some mistakes, but I was going to get back up. And I remember just when 2020 came, years later, I remember just when the pressure was on again, it was like, no, I've been here before. I've been here before. I know that God is faithful. I know that this church is not mine, but it's his. I know he's got all of this. So there was something that he produced in the one season that I could carry through to the next. See, this is the deal, is that my pressure, I'm not sharing that with you to talk about my pressure, but my pressure is like your pressure. Many of you have gone through greater pressures, but this was the deal, is that the pressing and the pressure had a purpose. It was producing something, and pressure not only had a purpose, but that pressure was for my purpose. And there's this pressing that comes. You cannot fulfill your purpose without a pressing. You need peace to fulfill your purpose. You need to mature and to grow.

You need resilience to fulfill your purpose. And this is the deal. The enemy of your soul is going to try to get you to believe that the pressure is going to crush you because he wants to rob you of your purpose. But your purpose, your ability to handle pressure is directly tied to your purpose. That the way that you frame your perspective on purpose is going to determine whether or not you're going to be able to fulfill the purpose that he has on you. I'm sorry, your perspective on pressure is going to determine whether or not you're going to be able to fulfill the purpose that he has on you, whether you're going to grow or stay stuck, whether you're going to be pushed into the wrong. Decision or push towards push towards the the presence of God and The pressure that that you're undergoing right now is that is to fulfill the purpose that God has for you so you can experience everything He has so first the first thing about the plan for the pressure is that we have to reframe our perspective pressure Produces produces good things right pressure also is a privilege Pressure is what God wants to use to be able to produce something in our lives that is not just for us, but for the people around us, but the second part of the plan and Realizing that if you are being crushed right now if you are being crushed you to check your location Because the second part of the plan is there's a difference between whether something is fresh or crushed Was its location whether it was on the hydraulic press or whether it was on the juicer and when it comes To when it comes to our the pressure that we're under there They're the power of pressure is that it actually points us to the places and the person It points us to the places and the person That can that wants to do good things for us that wants to produce good things in our life It points us to the places That God is it points us to his presence and and the difference is is that that whether you're gonna be crushed or whether you Press is whether you're in God's presence

or not and So if you are feeling crushed you have to reposition yourself in God's presence Reposition yourself in God's presence because a lot of times when we're being crushed the furthest the place We don't want to be right when we're pressed for time pressed in relationships That that the last thing we we think to do is to pray or the last place We want to go is to be to be in the place where where God is many times Because we're not sure exactly what he's gonna do in that place what he might what what he might Reveal to us in those places and spaces. So if you're feeling crushed you have to reposition yourself in God's presence You See a lot of times when we're feeling crushed and overwhelmed It's it's not a it's not the problem The pressure is the signal that that it's not that a signal that our trials aren't significant or that our Emotions are too strong in those times, but it might be a signal that we've been trying to carry things on our own And we get in his presence. We realize that we don't have to carry this on our own again He did not leave us powerless that that he said take heart I've overcome and I want to help you overcome and I think one of the most powerful Passages of Scripture was when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane You know last week we celebrated the the death and the resurrection the event that made it possible for imperfect people like us to have this intimate relationship with a perfect God and When Jesus died he delivered on that promise To send his Holy Spirit to to live within us to guide us to empower us But before he could deliver on the promise there was a pressure There there was a pressing that he had to endure and and we see it in Mark chapter 14 And he said this is Jesus talking. He said that my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death He he could have been crushed in this moment He said but he said to them stay here and keep watch and then going a little further He fell to the ground and he prayed and and I love this passage because I think that Jesus is modeling for us in the greatest Pressure that anyone could have ever experienced and none of us will ever endure this kind of pressure But in the greatest pressure that that that anyone could experience that he he did something for us He modeled something the first thing he did was that was that he called out to God

He repositioned himself in God's presence and he called out there wasn't this rehearsed perfect prayer It was a desperate really honest prayer And I think that that this honesty when he said if there's any other way that this can happen Would you let it happen? Like like this is Jesus the Son of God and and he was honest and I think a lot of times that that maybe when we feel like maybe we got ourselves in this position in the first place or Or we we we don't even we we've kind of just Decided to kind of ignore the pressure. It's hard to get honest about the pressure that we're feeling and Jesus was saying God do I have to do this? And I think it's okay to ask God God Do I have to what why me? He's gonna answer you he might answer it He might you might not like the answer or the end that he might ask him the question, you know, God This isn't fair. Like why do I have to walk through this trial? Why do I? This this doesn't seem this doesn't seem fair it just doesn't seem right And we can get honest, I mean, the Bible's filled with honest prayers, that being completely honest puts you in this position to receive from God what He already wants to give you. And you don't have to, a lot of times, we want to come to Him with polished prayers. And I think biblical prayers are very unpolished. I mean, have you ever heard what David wanted to do to his enemies, right, in the Psalms? Those were honest prayers. Or Moses, you know, he was so frustrated with the people that he led, these are honest prayers. And we can be honest with God about the pressures that we're facing. And being honest with Him means that you're opening up this connection with Him.

And the power of prayer is that it connects, it connects us to the power of God. And a lot of times, when you pray, you can be honest, and you may not get what you asked for, but you might get something better. You might get something more. Because Jesus not only prayed an honest prayer, but He also prayed a purpose-filled prayer, a prayer of surrender. He said, God, I trust You with my purpose. I trust You that even though I don't want this to happen, I'm gonna surrender to You. Even though it's gonna be painful, I want Your purpose to be fulfilled. And this is what the deal is, is the next verse, it goes on, He prays, Abba, Father. This is an intimate term, a relational term. And this is what, when we're under pressure, when it drives us to prayer, that we can come to our Heavenly Father, and it's not just for the answer that we want, but it's this relationship that we can have, that this honest prayer puts us in proximity of a good Father that wants to do good things for you. And He wants to use this pressure to produce something in your life that you could not get any other way. But I think it's so astounding that not only did Jesus call out to God, which is incredible, because He was God, right?

But what was astounding is that He not only called out for God, but He also called for reinforcements. He called for reinforcements. He actually said, He said, stay here and keep watch. He was talking to His friends, Peter, James, and John. He said, pray with me. I need you right now. The Son of God Himself needed community. And I think what we need to understand that we were created for community. And in our culture today, we are in this crisis of connection. I was looking at the American Psychological Association, did this research study, and it said that people are more stressed out and disconnected at the same time, as people are more stressed and disconnected at this time than any other time in history. And the very thing that could relieve pressure, which is relationship, is the very thing that this pressure is damaging. And research shows that calling in for reinforcements is sometimes the most spiritual thing that you can do. That regular, dependable support system is the strongest predictor of whether you are going to be able to be resilient in the pressure that you're walking in. And a key part of this, and this is what, they actually said that even things like attending church, that you feel like you have a sense of purpose,

that it promotes good relationships, personal growth, positive attitude, a sense of competency because you have tools that equip you to walk through it, that getting a plan for your pressure is sometimes calling in for reinforcements. And so we wanna help you do this, right? This is what this series is all about. We knew that there was no way that we could fit everything we needed to say into our Sunday services. And that's why every single week after, every week of the month after our Sunday services, we're gonna have something called Keep Talking Live on Wednesday nights. We're gonna continue the conversation about pressure. We're gonna have studies that are launching. We have a six-day devotional that we want you to have, and you can find out all about this. Just tap the app on the seat back in front of you because we wanna give you the resources that you need. Because my challenge for you this week is that first that you get honest about your pressure. How are you really doing? Is it pushing, is your pressure pushing you into some bad decisions and maybe some avoiding, pushing you to avoid the pressure that you're walking through instead of facing it head on? Is it overwhelming you, paralyzing, keeping you stuck? When God has so much more for you,

he wants you to move forward. So how are you really doing? Let's get honest about our pressure. Let's talk about it. And then we're gonna call out to God and invite the power of the Holy Spirit in. Because he not only wants to produce something in you, not only produce resilience and growth and maturity and trust and dependence, but he also wants to produce your purpose. He wants you to be able to produce in yourself. purpose so that you can be and walk in all that he has for you. So this is the most important thing, this is the challenge, is that you get honest and that you engage. How powerful would it be if everyone, like I already have a prayer practice, we're going to get honest with God, we're going to invite the Holy Spirit in, that six day devotional has a prayer guide, how powerful would it be if we were all, if we all like stepped in together to be able to walk through this season together, face the pressure together and see what God wants to produce in us. First we're going to reframe our perspective, we're going to reposition ourselves in God's presence here every week and throughout the week, and then we're going to call for some reinforcements and believe that God wants to do exceedingly abundantly above you could hope or ask in this season. Church, I want to pray for you. Let's pray together. God, I thank you for you are a good God. I thank you that you have not left us powerless in the pressures that we're walking through, but God, you are pressing us so that we can be more than we've ever thought we could be, that you are pressing us so that we can walk out our purpose, God. We know there is a purpose in the pressures that we're walking through, and God, we choose

today to walk in the purposes that you've placed on our lives, and we choose today to step into everything you have for us, God. We are committed, we are ready, and we pray, God, that you would use this season to be able to help us to live out and walk out all that you have for us. In your name we pray, and all God's people said, amen. Amen, church.