Fire Under Pressure
Fire Under Pressure
Life has a unique way of applying pressure to every person, regardless of circumstances. Even during joyful seasons like Christmas, we can feel overwhelmed by obligations, expectations, and deadlines. The prophet Jeremiah understood this reality intimately when God called him as a young man to deliver challenging messages to Israel, resulting in persecution and public humiliation.The crucial question is not whether pressure will come, but how we respond when it arrives. We have two choices: we can either explode under the weight of circumstances or be empowered by God to overcome them. The difference lies entirely in what we allow to fuel our hearts and minds. When we let the strange fire of worldly passions drive us - desires for money, popularity, comfort, or success - pressure becomes destructive, leading to broken marriages, addiction, and poor decisions.However, there is another way. Just as an engine uses controlled combustion under pressure to create power and forward motion, God's fire in our hearts can transform pressure into empowerment. To experience this transformation, we need three essential elements: a specific word from God about our calling and direction, the fire of His presence burning within us, and the courage to act on what He has spoken. When we have these elements working together, pressure becomes the very force that propels us into God's purposes rather than something that destroys us.
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Fire Under Pressure: Finding God's Power in Life's Challenges
Life has a way of putting us under pressure, whether through good circumstances or difficult ones. Christmas season brings its own unique pressures - cooking, shopping, family obligations, and finishing everything on time. Even when good things are happening, pressure can still overwhelm us. The question isn't whether pressure will come, but how we'll respond when it does.
What Does It Mean to Be Under Pressure?
The prophet Jeremiah understood pressure intimately. As a young man, probably in his late teens or early twenties, God called him to deliver challenging messages to the people of Israel. When he obeyed God's calling and spoke the words he was given, he faced persecution, arrest, and public humiliation. He was whipped, chained, and made an example of at the city gate.
This led Jeremiah to complain to God: "Oh, Lord, you misled me and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day. Everyone laughs at me when I speak."
How Do We Handle Life's Pressures?
When pressure comes, we have a choice. We can either explode under the weight of circumstances, or we can be empowered by God to overcome them. The difference lies in what we allow to fuel our hearts and minds.
The Danger of Strange Fire
If we let the "strange fire" of this world into our hearts - the passions for money, popularity, comfort, or worldly success - pressure will cause us to explode. We see this pattern repeatedly: marriages disintegrating, lives ruined by addiction, people making destructive choices when the heat is on.
The Power of God's Fire
But there's another way. Just as an engine uses controlled combustion under pressure to create power and propulsion, God's fire in our hearts can transform pressure into empowerment. When we have the right fuel and the right fire, pressure becomes the very thing that propels us forward into God's purposes.
What Do You Need to Be Empowered Under Pressure?
1. You Need a Word from God
Jeremiah said, "His word burns in my heart like a fire." This wasn't just general biblical knowledge - it was a specific, personal word from God about his calling and purpose.
There are two types of God's word we need:
Logos: The written Word of God that we read, study, and learn from
Rhema: The spoken, direct, prophetic word that God gives specifically to you about your life, future, and calling
God wants to speak to you about the big decisions in your life - who you'll marry, where you'll work, what career path to take, which church to attend, where to live. He doesn't care about what socks you wear, but He deeply cares about the major directions of your life.
How to Get a Word from God
Getting a word from God requires intentionality:
Pray and seek God specifically for direction
Seek advice from pastors and mature believers
Study God's written Word
Make a commitment: "I will not act on major decisions until I get a word from God"
When you seek God for His word with this level of commitment, He will speak to you. He loves you more than anyone else does, and He has plans for your future that are good.
2. You Need Fire in Your Heart
The Hebrew word for fire (esh) represents God's power and presence - not just an intellectual understanding or emotional experience, but a deep, spiritual burning that transforms you from the inside out.
This fire is the tangible presence of God, what older generations called "the unction of the Holy Spirit." It's that deep conviction and certainty that God has gotten hold of you, and it's life-transforming when you follow it.
The fire of God is what makes the difference between being a polite person who happens to go to church and being someone who is genuinely transformed and transforming others. It's what causes people to say, "I can't stop talking about God" or "I feel like a completely new person."
3. You Need to Let It Out
Jeremiah said, "It's like a fire in my bones. I'm worn out trying to hold it in. I can't do it."
Once you have God's word and His fire, you must act on them. You must declare what God has spoken and step into what He's called you to do. Some people get stuck in spiritual idle - they hear from God but never move forward. Eventually, an engine that stays in idle too long will stop running altogether.
Why Does This Matter for Your Daily Life?
The world wants to silence you. Satan wants to "sift you like wheat" - to put you under pressure with the goal of causing maximum damage and destruction in your life. But Jesus has a different plan. He prays for you that your faith will not fail, and when you return to Him after any failures, you'll be equipped to strengthen others.
You are called to be God's protection and light in your workplace, family, and community. People around you are heading toward spiritual and emotional car wrecks, and God wants to use you to speak life and offer His salvation before or after those crashes happen.
Life Application
This week, make a commitment to seek God for a specific word about your life and future. Don't make major decisions based solely on worldly wisdom - money, comfort, popularity, or convenience. Instead, pray and ask God to speak to you about His plans and purposes for your life.
Ask yourself these questions:
What major decisions am I facing where I need God's direction?
Do I have the fire of God burning in my heart, or have I settled for just being a "polite Christian"?
What word has God given me that I've been afraid to act on?
How can I be God's light and protection to the people in my sphere of influence?
Remember, when you have God's word and His fire burning in your heart, pressure becomes the very thing that propels you into His purposes rather than something that destroys you. Let this be the season where you move from explosion to empowerment, from being overwhelmed to being overcomers through the power of God's Spirit.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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Jeremiah, chapter 20, Jeremiah 27, Old Testament. We're going to talk about a prophet who was going through a difficult time. And it was interesting.
It's interesting when we read this part, Jeremiah, the historians say, scholars say that he was probably in his late teens or very early 20s when this happened to him. It tells me that you're never too young to be used by God and to hear from God. And you're never too old either. And so we're going to read in Jeremiah 27, my Bible says it's titled Jeremiah's Complaint. Here we go.
Oh, Lord, you misled me and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day. Everyone laughs at me when I speak. The words burst out violence and destruction.
I shout so these messages from the Lord have made me a household joke. But if I say I'll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones. I'm worn out trying to hold it in. I can't do it.
I want to talk to you today about this topic. Fire under pressure. Fire under pressure. Why don't we pray and then we'll get into it, Lord, as we come around. Your word, Lord God.
Your word is like a two edged sword to us, Lord God. It does divide and it does speak into our hearts. It is a burning fire. And I pray, Lord, that you would speak, Holy Spirit. You would speak in each of our hearts and lives.
We're not here to be comfortable. We're not here to just have a nice polite little time, Lord God. We're here to be changed, transformed and set on fire for you. So do it. I pray, Holy Spirit, we open our hearts to that in Jesus name everyone said amen.
Fire under pressure. Who knows that pressure under comes into our lives whether good things are happening or bad things. Christmas time pressure, brothers and sisters. Supposed to be a nice happy time, but it's pressure time. You got to cook, you got to look after the family, you got to buy the presents, you got to finish everything off.
Good things can be happening and pressure can still come your way. You know Jeremiah, in this passage, if we go back earlier, we'll see that Jeremiah was actually following what God had called him to do. He was obeying the word of God. God had called him to be a prophet and speak on his behalf. And God gave him a word.
In chapter 19, he gives him a word of challenge and warning to the people of Israel. They'd been serving other gods and they'd been worshipping other gods. And God speaks to Jeremiah and tells him, he gives him some illustrated messages. And one time he shatters a whole jar in front of him and says, if you keep serving other gods, you're going to be shattered like this jar into all these pieces and it'll never be brought back together. And so he does what God's called him to do.
And in response, he gets persecuted. In response, bad things happen. He actually gets arrested by the leader of the temple, a guy named Peshur. And he gets tied up between at the gate, Benjamin, in front of everyone. And he gets whipped and put in chains and made an example of to say, stop speaking this garbage that they didn't want to hear.
And that's why Jeremiah comes and complains. He's like, I did what you wanted me to do, God, and look what's happened to me. Have you ever felt like that? Been serving you God? I've done the right thing.
And pressures come, bad things have happened. It's getting overwhelming. That's what Jeremiah said, and I want to talk to you today about the other, the verse here in verse nine, about what we need to do when those times come, what we need to have in our hearts when those times come. Because pressure will come all the time in our church. Great things are happening.
Do you know, our church is. It's exploding at the seams, right? It's awesome. It's brilliant. And with that comes pressure.
And when everything starts happening, I'm going this week, I was looking at everything. We had a staff. Staff party this. This Wednesday, and we thought, we're going to go play pickleball and have a bit of fun. And I got to Wednesday morning and I woke up and I opened my emails, and my email box is full of stuff.
I was like, I've got to deal with that. I've got to deal with that. I've got to deal with that. I've got to call the builder. We've got a board meeting coming up.
We've got to make major decisions. We've got pastoral care stuff going on. I've got this. And I felt overwhelmed. I felt the pressure.
Pressure of all the things. You know what I'm talking about? I felt that. And because I'm a pastor and I'm brilliant, I handled it all so awesomely. Just can't.
No one even knew. No one even knew. I just handed it all internally. I just gave it to the Lord. No.
I was stressed, and I came into the office and I was like, I don't have time for this. And I don't know. I don't even care. I told Narelle and Alex when we're down there, I said, I don't even want to play pickleball, so we're never doing this again. I don't care about pickleball.
And they're like, let's just give Adrian a few moments by himself. They took off the pickleball by themselves, and I followed after because I was on the phone to a builder, and I'm like, I've got more important things than pickleball. And, you know, that can happen to us. Can't it just pressure and we don't always handle it well. You know, Jeremiah didn't always handle it well.
I'm proud to say that, you know, for, like, two and a half, two hours, you know, I didn't handle it well. And then last 15 minutes, I made a decision. I switched, and I became the life of the party. At least 15 minutes, I said. I was like, guys, this is.
I was in my head I was going, this is embarrassing. Come on. You're supposed to be celebrating, supposed to be happy. And so in the last bit of time, I said, right, let's have a competition. Let's have a pickleball competition.
And we did round robin. I said, it's all one point. One point competition. And whoever wins the point, they stay. The next person comes in, and let's see who the champion, the Connect staff champion of pickleball for 2025 is.
Do you want to know who it is, guys? You're very keen on knowing who it is. Well, I thought it might be Harry, because Harry's young and he's fit and he's competitive, and I thought, he's going to smash it. No, he was done. I think he lasted one point.
I thought, pastor Trevor, he loves table tennis, and he loves tennis. He might. He might. He. And he's very competitive.
If you actually follow him, you'll see he's a very competitive man, and he. And he wants to win. He won't tell you, but he really wants to win. Well, I think he lasted two points. And I thought, well, hey, I played tennis.
I'm pretty decent here. And I got out on the court, and it happened to be Narelle. Narelle was the surprise little energy packet of pickleball. She's got an injured wrist, and we're like, she's not going to last even, like, a second. Well, she got through, and I thought, okay, now I'll play out.
I'll be nice to her, but I'll win the point, and I'll take it out, right? She serves. She serves. This little lob serve. I couldn't even get to the ball, and it double bounced, and literally she aced me, so I literally left the court without touching the ball.
So I was, like, in shame, just leaving. And Narelle kept playing. Do you know who the pickleball champion of our whole staff team was for 2025? None other than Narelle Lindonine. Stand to your feet, honey.
Congratulations. Well done. Well done. So she won pickleball, and we did have fun. And it was good.
It was good, but it taught me a lesson. You know, sometimes, you know, you've got a choice when you're under pressure. You're either going to explode, right, or you're going to use it to be energized and empowered. You're going to overcome that pressure. And I want to talk about to you today about how God has called us to overcome the pressures that we're under in life.
Not just for Christmas, but into next year. How are you gonna be someone that takes the pressure of life, the good, the bad, the ugly, and says God, I can get through any of it. And I can be someone who's empowered by you. I'm not gonna explode under pressure. I'm gonna be empowered by God and the Holy Spirit.
I'm gonna go change people's lives because of who you are in me. Would you like to hear what those things are that we're gonna do? This is what you need. This is what I need. And I want you to listen to this.
Because they're simple things, but many of us forget them when we're under pressure. The first one is this. If you're going to be someone who is empowered under pressure, you need to have a word from God.
Jeremiah is sitting there upset, and then he says these words. But if I say I'll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, His Word burns in my heart like a fire. His Word. His Word burns in my heart. You know, we talk about the Word from God.
A word from God. There are two ways we can talk about this. We can talk about the Logos word, the word of God that we read and we learn from and we understand, and God speaks to us and we get discipled by it. We take these words, and that's important, that we need the Logos word that we're reading all the time, that we're understanding, we're hearing in prayer, preaching and teaching and doing that. But this word that Jeremiah was talking about was more than the Logos word.
It came from the Logos word. It comes from God's heart. But it's. What we like to say is. We call it a rhema word.
It was. The word that's used, is the spoken direct, prophetic word, direct to you, direct about you, about your future, about what God wants to do in you. It's a word from God that is for you, Justin. It's for you, Anton. It's for you, Finn.
It's what God wants to say to you in your moment, about your future and your life. And it will always line up with the Logos Word of God. It will always line up and God will direct and give you understanding. But it's a word that means something to you, that you hold onto under pressure. And Jeremiah says he's under pressure.
God's given him a word. Do you know when Jeremiah was born, he got given a word that says, when he was a young. A child, actually, he got a word saying, when I. Before I formed you in Your mother's womb. I called you to speak and to prophesy.
Why was Jeremiah doing what he was doing? Because God gave him a specific word about who he was called to be and what he was called to do. And then God gave him another word in Jeremiah 19. And he says, go and speak this word to the people. And that's the word Jeremiah's talking about.
It was the word of God, but it was a specific rhema word to Jeremiah saying, this is what you're called to do in your life now. And I want to ask you this. Do you have a word from God for you? Has God spoken into your heart, into your life, about your future? I was talking to someone last night and they came to me and they said, you know what?
I've never thought about God wanting to speak directly to me about my life. He goes, I've got big decisions to make. But he goes, I've realized God wants to direct me. He wants to show me, you know, he does. He wants to tell you about your future.
He wants to tell you about the things that he's got in store for you. He wants to give you direction on the big decisions of life. And some of us need to pull that back a little bit because some of us are praying about what socks to wear in the morning, right? And what clothes to wear. God doesn't care too much.
He's like, what's the. No, I won't even use that old saying, right? So I'm your father, not your mother kind of thing. And mums don't. Mum's never told me what socks to wear.
So it's fine. God's not interested in all those little. You can make those decisions. But on the big decisions of your life, who's your husband or wife going to be? Where are you going to work?
What career are you going to have? Which church are you going to be in? Where are you going to live? What pathway are you going to follow in life? These big decisions?
God wants to speak to you and give you a word. And here's the reality. He wants to give it to each and every one of us. He doesn't care whether you're a pastor, a prophet, whether you're some high flyer, whether you've known God for six minutes or 600 years. He doesn't care how long you've known him.
He wants to speak into your life right now. I know people right now who have just gotten saved, have just encountered God in the last couple of months, and God's speaking to them about their life already, and he's turning their life upside down in a good way. And some of us have been Christians for many, many years. And you know what? We can get used to just going through being a good Christian, doing what we do.
And you need a now word from God. You need a word. Some of us need to grab a hold of the word that we had years ago and say, I'm gonna believe it and put it into practice again and declare it over my life. And some of us need a new word. I thank God every major decision that I've made in life.
I feel God has given me a word about it. And it's always. You're always taking a risk. You're always stepping out in faith. But I've asked God for a word.
Do you want to know how you get a word from God? There's many ways. You got to pray. You seek God, you seek advice from pastors and leaders, and you get it from the word. God will put it in your heart and confirm it through different means.
But I'll tell you the key way that works. Every time, no matter how old or young you are, you've got to say, God, I want a word from you, and I'm going to seek you for a word. And do you know what I've said all my life? I will not act until I get a word from God. Talking about the major things.
The reason I'm in this church is not because someone offered me a job, and I thought it'd be nice to live near the Frankston beach and on the peninsula. You know, when I came here, someone said at my old church, oh, you're going because you got a promotion because you've gone from being a campus pastor to a senior pastor, and that's what you wanted. I was like, that was offensive to me. I actually got hurt by that because I went, if you think that's the person I am, you've missed my heart. The reason I came to this church is one reason.
I'll tell you what the reason is. Because I went and prayed, and God showed me a picture of this church and churches around it. And then he spoke this into my heart. These words. I will never forget it.
He said, everything I've called you to do will happen through this church. And it was like that. That was a very clear word from God. And I came and I met with the board, and I said to them, I told Narelle that, and she was in no intention of moving. She was happy where we were.
I said, but God spoke and the board said, why do you want to come here? The church you're running, you're happy there. You're loving it there. It's bigger than here. Why would you want to move?
I said, God's spoken to me. He's given me a word. And I said, that's the reason I want to tell you my brothers and sisters. When I found. When I met Narelle and I was asking God, you know what?
I made this decision in my heart. I'm not going to going out with Narelle. I'm not going out with a person unless, God, you speak into my heart that you've called us to be together. Some people say, well, you. You know, that's.
Come on, Adrian, you could. You know, you've taken a bit far. You know what I said, God, I want a word from you because I know this. The person you're married to will determine a lot of the outcome of your life. It'll determine your future.
It'll determine the children you have, what you do in life. And I went, God, I want your seal. I want you to speak. I want a word from you that I know that this is the right person. So guess what?
20 odd years later, when we go through difficult times, when pain comes our way, when we're not happy, when we're going through struggles, I've got a word. Narelle's got a word. You know what she got? The word I got wasn't good enough for Narelle. I've told some of you this.
I asked her out because I knew God had spoken. And she came and she said no.
She said. She went, no. She did it even worse than that. She goes, not. She just said, not with that attitude.
No, she did it like loving letdown, it's even worse. It's like, oh, I'm so sorry. No. It made me feel like I was the biggest loser on earth. No, no.
I was proud of her because you know what she said to me? She said, I need to go and seek God. And God's spoken to me that our relationship wouldn't happen until this point in time. So you need to go and wait two months while I go and seek God for myself. And do you know what our relationship was set on?
It was set on going and seeking a word from God. Is this the right person for me? And some people think that's overkill. But you know what I've discovered in life when I ask for a word from God and I'm not willing to move until I get a word From God. He gives me a word.
He gives me a word and I go and seek advice on that. I sought pastor's advice or seek others advice. When I came to this church, I went to my senior pastor and he said, don't you move unless you get a word from God. And I said, I think I've got it. And he said, adrian, this is the one.
He goes, let's go. He goes, let me help you. Let's do it. Get advice, get help. But you need a word from God, brothers and sisters.
You need a word from God about your relationships. You need a word from God about your job. You need a word from God about your future. And it's up to you whether you seek it or not. And too many Christians are making decisions and we're putting God on the thing going, well, he hasn't spoken to me.
I don't know how he speaks to me. Do you know what say, God? I'm not doing anything until you show me, until you lead me, until you guide me. And that means trust. Do you believe that God loves you enough that he'll speak to you?
Do you believe it, Anton? Because he will. He will. He will speak to you, Eva. He will speak to you because he loves you.
He's got a greater plan. That's what I said about Amaia. He loves our kids more than we do as parents and that he loves you more than anyone else does. So of course he's going to speak to you. If you ask him, have you sent who sent God?
Putting something on their heart, God stirring their heart with a word, saying, this is the direction. That's why some of you are here in this house, because he's drawn you. You heard a word from God and you came. He's got more to speak to you. He's got more stuff that he wants to do in your life.
And it's not about church. It's not about religion. It's about your future. It's about what God has planned for you and your family and your life. Listen.
Listen to his voice. What word do you need from God? A rhema word, a now word, a prophetic word. Grab a hold of it. I remember one more time.
Our pastors in Casey, now Pastor Frank and Carol Gear. And they've been with us for ten and a half years now. You know why they came to our church? They actually came to our Hastings church. Our Hastings church was about 30 people and was struggling.
It was in debt. It needed help. And we'd been asked to come and help it. And we needed a pastor to go in. And Pastor Margaret Murray, she'd been in there just serving and stepping in for a season, but they were looking for someone that can step in longer term.
And so they asked Pastor Frank and Carol, who was in a full time job in a great church. And he felt God stirring him to take on a more senior role in a church. And so they offered him a job in Queensland. There's a great church in Queensland. And it would have been like, oh, this is awesome.
He went up there and he felt God say, this isn't the one. Just didn't feel right. And then they went to Hastings, 30 people. And you know what? The job offer was right, because sometimes listening to the word of God is more important than all the things the world will give you and the word that the devil and the world wants to give you.
They offered him one, this church. That's all they could afford. One day a week on minimum wage. One day a week. He was at full time, been a pastor for 20 years.
And they said, this is what we've got. And they went to that church to visit and Carol was there and she got to that service and you know what? She went, this is the one. She'd been praying and God had shown her a picture of a church. And she got there and she goes, this looks like the church that I saw.
She said, frank, I think this is the one God's called us to. Frank was like, sure, you really. And he went and prayed. God said, this is the one. You know what they did?
They listened to the word of God over the words of the world. The words of the world said, that's the dumbest move on earth. You don't go five days a week in a great job, in a great church and take on one day. But they listened to the word of God and they took it. And he had to go get other jobs because he listened to the word of God.
Do you know what? We saw Hastings Church explode. We saw Hastings Church grow. People have been saved and transformed. They've gone to Casey.
It's quadrupled in size. Why? Because they've listened to the word of God. I want to tell you, brothers and sisters, if you get a word from God, it overcomes every other word of this world. And some of us are listening to the words of this world.
The words of the world are money, promotion, comfort, all of these things. Popularity, whatever it is. The words of the world have some weight in this world, don't they? But the word of God will stand for eternity. The word of God will change your life.
The word of God you can stand on under pressure, and it will not crumble. It'll stand strong. Some of us are building our houses and our lives on crumbling sand. And when the pressure comes and the waves come, they start to crumble. And you start questioning everything, going, this isn't right.
This isn't right. And it leads to hurt and pain.
My brothers and sisters, when you place yourself on the solid rock of God's word and the word he's given to you about your future, you stand, no matter what comes your way. And it didn't go all right for Jeremiah, but he said, you know what? Your word is in me like a fire. Don't you want that? I know that's strong.
But, brothers and sisters, I'm saying it to you because I believe you can get it. I believe you want it. I believe you want to follow the word of God and get it in your heart. And he wants to speak to you and make it solid and strong for 26 and for the years to come. That's the first thing.
The second one is this, and it flows on from the first. You need a fire in your heart. You need a word from God, and you need a fire burning in your heart. This word for fire, this word for fire, esh, it's used throughout scripture. It can mean different things, God's purification, God's judgment, but it means God's power, presence.
It's a fire. It's a fire that isn't just a intellectual fire. It's not just an experience of an encounter. And I had a nice fire moment with God. It's far deeper than that.
You know what I'm talking about. It's spiritual. It's deep. There's something burning. I was just talking to a brand new Christian in our church.
She's been coming along for a month, and every service is crying in the presence of God. And she was talking to me before, and she said, she goes, adrian, she said, I can't stop speaking about God. She goes, I don't want to speak about anything else than God. She said. She goes, I feel like I'm a new person.
I feel like. She goes, I just want him and I don't want anything else. And I went, that's the fire. She didn't have, you know what? She didn't have anyone tell her about the fire.
She just encountered the fire. You don't need to have just a moment in the presence of God. She encountered the fire before she ever came to church. Some of you have encountered the fire of God. You've encountered that stirring in your before.
The reason you've come to church is because you encountered the fire, isn't it? You encounter, that's the fire of God. It's a fire in your bones, deep within. It's in your heart. There's no proper way to express it.
It all gets poetic. Because the fire of God is his presence. It's the tangible presence. And we call it in the old school terms, these old words in 1900s books, the Unction of the Holy Spirit. The unction, the conviction, the sense that God has got a hold of you and it is certain and it is real and it is life transforming if you follow it.
Do you have the fire?
Because too many Christians and churches and the world looks at them and thinks we're just polite people. They think we're just polite people that have fallen for some kind of nice little idea that isn't really true. Or science shows us that there is no God and science, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I go, I love science, right? I mean, to be honest, God made science, right?
He created like he made all the rules of the universe. So he's like, we're not offended with science, but science is one part of the universe. The way we look, what we can see and observe with our eyes, we're talking about something deeper. We're talking about something spiritual. Something spiritual that grabs a hold of you that is just as real.
And that's where you find God. You don't find him by just looking through a telescope or looking at different things. You can see his design and you can see what he's done. But you find God in the fire that's in your bones, in your spirit, in your heart. And I want to ask you, have you got the fire of God?
Because that's what will change your life. And you get the fire and the word from God together and you're unstoppable. You're unstoppable. The fire of God. Because this is what happens when you put fire under pressure.
When you put fire under pressure, one of two things is going to happen. You're either going to have an explosion. And here's the thing. If you let the fire of this world into your heart and life, the strange fire of this world, the passions of this world, you let that in, you're going to have an explosion. Isn't that what we see in people's lives?
People destroying their lives through strange fire, coming in, strange passions that overtake their life. I just Read the other day, or read yesterday about a man who is in jail right now because he stole millions of dollars from his clients because he had a gambling addiction and he got caught. And now he's going to court to try and win back those millions from the gambling companies to pay back the people that he stole it from. He's trying to do good because he goes, this strange fire wrecked his life. The strange fire.
If you let strange and then you get put under pressure, there's an explosion. That's why marriages disintegrate. That's why lives are ruined. That's why people think, you don't need the strange fire. You've got to get away from the strange fire of this world, because when pressure comes, it'll wreck you.
But I want to tell you this. If you have the fire of God and you get the right fuel, all right? So when we have an engine, human beings discovered we take it for granted. Now, I don't understand engines whatsoever. I've got no idea.
I just turn it. Well, now you just don't even turn the engine. You just click a button and your car goes right. But we discovered about engines, we go, if we get the right fuel and you ignite it with a fire and you put it under pressure and you have the right setup and the systems in place, what happens in that environment is you get energy being created exponentially, and it starts the pistons going, and the pistons create a propulsion that moves that car and gives us power that we did not have before. And I want to tell you, that's what the fire of God will do in your life.
If you have the right fuel, the word from God, the word of God in your life. And then you get put under pressure and you got the fire of God in here. What pressure will do is actually propel you to where God's called you to be. You'll be like Jeremiah, and you'll go, oh, woe is me sometimes. But this fire, oh, this fire is in my bones.
His word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones. I'm worn out, trying to hold it in. I can't do it. And what happens is the fire creates an empowerment.
You don't explode, you become empowered. That's what the fire of God will do in your life. Have you got the fire? Have you got the fire? I remember just being 12, 13 years old, and God grabbed a hold of me and I got the fire and I got a word, and I've been pursuing it and serving it Ever since.
And sometimes I've gone off track. But he brings me back with a new word. He brings me back with a new word. You need the fire of God. You need a word from God.
They were there with Jesus. And the disciples said, on the road to Emmaus, didn't our hearts burn within us when he spoke to us? Didn't our hearts burn within us? There was a burning, there was a fire when Jesus was declaring the word of God. It's what he wants to do in your heart right now.
Listen to this in Luke 22. This is what the devil wants to try and do to you. But this is what God's plan is. Luke 22:31. Jesus said this to Simon Peter, who became the apostle Peter.
Simon. Simon. Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I've pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.
Satan wants to sift you. He wants to put strange fire in your life. He wants to put you under pressure and his aim is to help you, make you explode. And he wants to cause the most damage possible. He wants to cause the most damage possible because he hates the people of God and he's jealous of the people of God.
Satan wants to sift you, but Jesus says, I've prayed for you. I've pleaded in prayer for you that your faith should not fail. You know what Jesus was doing to Peter right there and then? He was giving him a word. He gave him a word.
He says, I've been praying that you get the fire. So this is what happened to Peter. He did fail, didn't he? He went and denied Jesus. In the moment of pressure, the strange fire came.
You know what? He wanted the popularity of man more than the presence of God. And he pursued it and he failed. And he exploded and he went and swore and carried on and said that Jesus, I don't beep and know that Jesus. So the Bible says, he didn't just go, Jesus.
I haven't heard of Jesus. He carried on like, why would I ever be with a person like that? I'm a man of the world. I wouldn't hang out with him.
And he failed. In that moment. He exploded. And Jesus said, when you've come back and when you've repented and said, hey, hang on, I don't want to be the one who explodes. He says, when you come back, your faith's going to stand and then you're going to encourage.
He was prophesying to Peter about what would happen. And Peter did come back to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, go feed my sheep. Go feed my sheep. And then the day of Pentecost came, and Peter got filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit upon fire in his bones, a fire in his heart.
And some of you know the story. He got up in front of thousands and thousands of people and he prophesied and he declared who Jesus was, and he said, you guys crucified him. But Jesus Christ is the son of God risen from the dead, and you need him as your Lord and savior. And thousands of people got saved that day. And the church took off.
And the apostle Peter became the great man of God. He took an explosion and turned it into an empowerment. So I want to say this to you. You might have failed. In fact, we all have.
We've all failed at different times. I certainly have failed many times when I've exploded rather than being empowered, where I've followed the strange fire of the world. When the pressures got to me, Jeremiah did too. But God's mercies are new every morning. He says, now, forget the past.
Forget the past explosions. Forget those things when you've been under pressure. Now is the time to grab a hold of God for today. Today my mercies are new. Today I have a word for you.
Today I have fresh fire for you. Do you believe it? And some of us need to forget the past and say, God, I'm looking forward to the future. You need a word from God. You need a fire of God.
And the third thing you need to do is you need to let it out. It's time to let it out. It's time to declare it. Jeremiah said this. It's like a fire in my bones.
I'm worn out trying to hold it in. I can't do it. Get a word, get his fire, and then express it. Get the engine going and get it powered. Some of us, you know what, some of us Christians, you've sat there and the engine's been in idle for too long.
God's speaking to you in the quiet place and you're going, oh, I've got to do something. I've got to make this. I'll wait. I'll wait. I'll wait.
Young people, some of you, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. Too late. The idle engine stops. Eventually it needs to go somewhere. It needs to be propelled forward.
Some of us are stuck by fear, stuck by our past, stuck by feeling rejected. All these strange fires that are trying to mingle with the fire of God. Listen to what God's saying to you. I'm here today because God spoke to me. If I listen to the strange fires, if I listen to the other voices from other people.
I had people telling me that I wouldn't make a good pastor. I had people telling me that, oh, everyone wants to preach, but, you know, it's not for everyone, Adrian. Maybe it's not for you. I have people far more popular than me. If I listen to those voices, I wouldn't even be sitting in a pew.
I wouldn't even be in church today. I'd be a disillusioned, going, oh, God, blah, blah, blah. They're all this, that, and the other. I had to listen to the voice of God. I had to listen to his word in my heart.
I had to listen to the fire that he put in my belly that would not go away. When pressure came and destruction came and disappointment came, the fire was still burning. And I said, yet I will preach your word. I will serve you, God. Oh, there's been over 10 years.
There's been times when I didn't want to be the pastor here. Quit.
We've all wanted to quit things. We've wanted to quit. People wanted to quit marriages, quit life, quit what you were doing. Stop pushing through.
The only reason I'm here today, because God gave me a word. He keeps giving me a word. He's given me a fresh word for tomorrow and for the next 10 years and the next 20 years. And I've got a word, brothers, and I'll go, why are we doing expansion? Because God spoke to my heart and said, adrian, if you don't do it, you are not preparing the ground for this next generation of young men and women of children that I've called to serve me.
You've got to do your part. And I said, okay, God. It's my fresh word for me. So I step in. There's times when I wanted to quit and I wanted to give up, and I wanted to say, it's all too hard, and I feel misunderstood like you have.
And then there was a fire. Little flame. His fire will not go. His fire. I love this scripture because it's been true of my own life.
Oh, God. It's not fair. It's hard, it's tough. But your word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones.
I'm worn out, trying to hold it in. I can't do it. Some of you are looking at. You look at people of passion like me, and you go, oh, yeah, that's you. Some of you are stirred by that and some of you go, oh, well, that's you.
I can't do that. I can't be that. What a load of hogwash.
God's got a plan for you. He wants to set you on fire. He's got a word for you. You step into it the way he's called you to. That's what I want.
A church full of people stepping in, just doing what God's called us to do, saying, I'm hungry for his word, I'm hungry for his fire in my heart. And then I'm going to be obedient to that.
Let it out. Let it out.
Acts 4:18. They tried to silence the disciples. They put them in prison, told them to shut up.
So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, do you think God wants us to obey you rather than Him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard. The world wants to silence you. Satan wants to sift you.
He wants to disillusion you. That's why you need a word from God and that's why you need his fire. And you get those two things and then you act on those two things and you will change your world, you will change your family, you will change your life. You'll be the mother that God's called you to be. You'll be the mother and the woman of God.
He's called you to be. At the same time, it's not either or.
Some of us are saying, well, I've got to do this and I'll wait until this. You can do both when God's called you to do it. And sometimes there is a season where you go, this is my season right now. But I'm going to step into this as soon as God says, listen to his voice and act on it.
That's why I was blessed. We've got young people rising up, stepping out in faith on Sunday, next Sunday, Saturday, Harry's going to be getting up and preaching for the first time at church.
He's been doing it at youth.
Harry is a great example of a young 20 year old man. He's gone through a whole bunch of things and many of you know, you know, Harry lost his mum a couple of years ago. How long ago was it? Two years ago. Beautiful Yvette, who's such a key member of our church for so many years.
And Harry's gone through all that. And you know what I love about him under pressure, Fire under pressure. Word I will step out, I will declare. God's got, he's just getting started with you. There's other people in our church.
Watch the Connect Together service on Thursday. There's Carmen here back from Italy, come back and she's gone through a full on time and you shared that. It's a full on time and going through just great pressure and stress mentally and going through all kinds of things. And she's come back into our church and on a couple of Thursdays ago, she testified and shared her testimony of how God has done a mighty work in her. Because there's a fire in your heart and there's the word of God stepping into it.
I watched on Thursday my dad getting up and I was in a meeting, but I watched it afterwards. My dad, I've shared some of all the stuff and the pain and the fate and sometimes the explosions that have happened. Then I watched a man on Thursday who came and gave the word and preached the word and said, God's given me a word and this is what I'm going to share. This is what God's speaking to me. And he goes, I can feel the Holy Spirit is speaking to all of us.
And I went, there's an example of someone who's gone from explosion to empowerment. And I go, if my dad can do it, if Carmen can do it, if I can do it, we can all do it. Let it out. You need the fire. You need his word.
You watch what he does. You watch what he does. We're gonna pray. We're gonna pray together today. We're gonna ask the Holy Ghost for a word.
We're gonna ask the Holy Spirit for fresh fire.
I can't do it for you and I can't make it. And it's up to you. It's up to you. I'm thankful to God for so many of us that are hungry for God. Are you hungry for him?
Are you hungry for him? I know many of us are under pressure.
That's why you need a word. Pressure should make you seek God more. Don't seek the things of this world. Don't seek the fires of this world. They will wreck your life and you know it.
Some of you guys know it. You know, you can feel the explosion that it leads to. You can feel where it goes. And God's given some of us a warning saying, don't go down there. The devil wants to sift you and destroy you.
You need my fire. You need my word because it'll heal you. It'll strengthen you. It'll direct you. Some of you have got big decisions to make for next year.
Decisions about future relationships and partners, future decisions about where you work or study or what you do.
Please, please get a word from God. Let his fire burn in your heart.
Let's pray, maybe in this place. And if that's you and you say, God, I need a word. I want your word. Maybe you've got a word and you say, God, I'm going to grab a hold of that word afresh into 26. This is the time.
This is the time. Maybe I've been distracted by the pressure. Like me this week, distracted by the pressure. But then I grabbed a hold of what God's speaking and said, that's what I lay a hold of. That's the fire burning in my heart.
That's what I'll follow. I'm not going to the left or the right. I'm going straight ahead with God.
And we're going to have a time of worship as we finish where we're going to present that to God. I'm going to invite you to stand and maybe lift out your hands before the Lord and say, God, I dedicate myself again to you. Lord, I need a fresh word. Lord, I need fresh fire. Will you come and speak to me?
Will you come and direct me? I commit myself again.
And some of us need to let it out. Some of us, it's just a simple, you got the word, you got the fire. Let it out, let it out. It's time to let it out and speak it and declare it and not listen to the words of the devil. So, Holy Spirit, I pray for God's people in this place.
Grab a hold of them. Holy Ghost, will you grab a hold and give them a word? You want to give us a fresh word of inspiration, of power that lines up with your Logos word, Lord Jesus, that will not deviate to the left or right, but will propel us forward. God, empowered by the Holy Spirit with a fresh fire for our families, our children, our church, our communities, our jobs, to change lives in our workplaces. Be men and women of God who change things in Jesus name.
There's someone here and it looks too hard in your workplace, but God's stirring you, saying, come on, grab a hold of it again. Grab a hold of it. You can see something in the spiritual of lives that you want to see changed that the world can't see. But you can see it, declare it, believe it, get his fire again for it. In Jesus.
Name, Jesus.
Jesus, the name of all other names Jesus Jesus name above all other Jesus.
We lift you high Lord Jesus, Jesus.
Last night before we got to church, there was a, at the front of on Golf Links Road there was a big car accident and everyone was okay, that no one was, don't think, seriously hurt. But we, a few of us went out there and I went out and there was a fire engine, fire truck there, and there was a team, fire wardens there. And I went and spoke to one of said, is there anything I can do? Can we bring water? Can we bring something to help?
And he looked at me and he said, and these cars were. One half of the front of the car was completely smashed in, like it looked really bad. And they were giving people help. And he said, lah, look, I think we're okay. But he said to me, he goes, he goes, we can thank the big man upstairs.
Your church being here probably provided protection and saved it from being any worse. And I sort of laughed went, oh yeah, okay, yeah. And he went, he goes, no, he goes, I'm serious. He goes, he goes, I see this all the time. And he goes, he goes, we don't know where we get protected and where God steps in.
And the big man upstairs, he goes, I mean it. He goes, what's happening here? And I thought about that afterwards and I went, praise God that they were okay. But I thought about this and I went, you know what? People are going in their lives in massive car wrecks all the time.
You know, there's people in your family, people in your lives, people in your workplace, friends, and they're heading straight towards a massive car wreck of relational wreck, emotionally, lives being destroyed. Do you know what God's called? Do you know what he's called you to do? Be the one that saves them. Be the one that speaks life and can help them find Jesus before that wreck happens or even after the wreck has happened, say there's peace and there's life.
That's why you need a word, that's why you need his fire. Because it's not up to, I can only do my bit. I'm trying to do my bit. But God's called you to do your bit in your workplace, your family, wherever you go. If you don't have the fire and if you don't have his word, those wrecks are happening and his protection isn't there because you're his protection, you're his light, you're his one, you're his agent to go in there and see lives transformed.
And so I want us to ask God. And as we sing, I want to, we're going to have an opportunity. We're going to stand to our feet and we're going to ask God and say, God, will you give me a word? Because it's not just about you. It's not just about your future and your life and what God's got for you.
Jeremiah was stepping out because God had called him to speak deliverance to a whole people. He's called you to save people's lives spiritually for eternity. And he needs you to get on fire for him so you can do it. Isn't that what we want? God wants to use you.
He wants to do it through you. But we need his word. We need his fire. We need his presence. We need his grace.
So come on, why don't we stand to our feet? We're going to to sing this song again and I'll give you a few moments. Why don't we say yes, Lord, let me be that person. Speak to me about what you want me to do. Who do you want me to speak life into?
Lord, I need your fire. I need your word. I need your presence. God in my life.
Raise up a mighty generation, God Raise up mighty men and women of God. We stand God under pressure Lord, There is none.
Come on, ask him to fill you today. I need your presence. I need your fire. I need your grace, Lord.
Heads bowed and eyes closed, we're going to say a prayer. If you're in this place and you need the Lord Jesus, maybe you feel like you've come and wreck has happened. Maybe you've been under pressure and you haven't been following the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior. We're going to say a prayer. Let's say it all together.
To give your life over to the Lord. Maybe for the first time, maybe to rededicate. Let's say it together. Dear Lord Jesus, I need you. I believe you're the Son of God and you died on the cross for my sin and you rose again from the dead.
So forgive me Jesus. Be my Lord and my Savior. I will follow you. Fill me with your fire and your Word. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen. Amen. If you said that prayer, we've got a Bible we want to give to you at the end of the service near the bookshop to help you in your work with God. Because you need the Logos word so you can get a rhema word. You need the Logos word so you can get a rhema word from God and he will speak to you and he will change your life.
Come on, let me pray for you. If you need. If you say, God, I need your fire. God, I'm under pressure. I need your direction.
I want the Holy Spirit's fire. I want his word. Why don't you lift your hands up to the Lord as I pray for you today and bless you today and ask the Holy Spirit to be with you. Lord, I pray for God's people. They are mighty men and women of God.
They are sons and daughters of the most high. Whether they're in this room or watching online. God, you've called them. You've set them apart. Not to be caught up in strange fire of the world, but to be set alight with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
So set us on fire for God. Give us a word. Let your grace run rampant in our lives, Lord Jesus. And let us be light and light and salt to this world. Lord God, empower us.
By the Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus name. All God's people said amen. Amen. God bless you church.
Related Bible Verses
Jeremiah 20:7–9 (NLT)
“O LORD, you misled me, and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day; everyone laughs at me. When I speak, the words burst out. ‘Violence and destruction!’ I shout. So these messages from the LORD have made me a household joke. But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!”
Jeremiah 1:5 (NLT)
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
Luke 24:32 (NLT)
“They said to each other, ‘Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?’”
Luke 22:31–32 (NLT)
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”
Acts 4:18–20 (NLT)
“So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.’”