Sermon Central
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Pressure Cooker
Contributed by Michael Mccartney on May 17, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: Life is filled with pressure cooker moments that could lead to an explosion. So it is imperative that we learn how to manage the pressure cooker moments in life.
Pressure Cooker
Thesis: Life is filled with pressure cooker moments that could lead to an explosion. So it is imperative that we learn how to manage the pressure cooker moments in life.
Video Illustration: From Back stage Patty- She talks about how she is under tremendous pressure.
Introduction:
Today I want to talk about the pressure cooker times we face in life. So I want to compare these times to a pressure cooker.
To understand how a pressure cooker works, you need to know just a little about physics. Simply put, water boils at 212o Fahrenheit. At this point, no matter how long you continue to boil, it always stays the same temperature. As the water evaporates and becomes steam it is also the same temperature, 212o F.
The only way to make the steam hotter (and/or to boil the water at a higher temperature) is to put the system under pressure. This is what a pressure cooker does. If we fit an absolutely tight cover to the pan so no steam can escape while we continue to add heat, both the pressure and temperature inside the vessel will rise. The steam and water will both increase in temperature and pressure, and each fluid will be at the same temperature and pressure as the other…
Pressure cookers are especially designed cookware of aluminum or stainless steel. All models have a lock-on lid and a vent or pressure relief valve. Information from http://missvickie.com/workshop/howdoesit.html
It’s important to understand that if a pressure cooker’s pressure relief valve fails to release the built up pressure within the cooker could explode causing serious damage. So it becomes important in cooking and in life that we understand how to manage the pressure that mounts with going through these pressure cooker times. We must learn what to do and how to release the pressure when it comes to pressure cooker periods in life.
Today in our society we have many people on any given day going through and extremely pressure cooker time. People are under tremendous stress, and under tremendous pressure to do so many different things. We have people today suffering from nervous breakdowns, suicide, road rage, irrational thinking processes, drug addiction, alcohol addictions that have led many to get to the point of exploding because they have not learned to release the pressures that have built up in their lives. But in the book of Proverbs we have a passage of Scripture which sheds wisdom on how we should deal with pressure and how to deal with relationships that get pressurized by the things of life.
Here are just a few things that create pressure cooker situations:
Crunched for time
Stress filled jobs
No quiet time in life
No days of rest
Conflicts in relationships
Strife in relationships
Lies
Financial debt
Sinful lifestyle
Marriage relationships
Family relationships
Church relationships
Over commitment
Legalism
Poor decision making
Scripture: Proverbs 17 has select verses that will teach us how to relieve and manage the pressures of life during the pressure cooker times.
Proverbs 17:1 (NIV)
Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.
Proverbs 17:9 (NIV)
He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:17 (NIV)
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17: 13
If a man pays back evil for good, evil will never leave his house.
Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.
He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction.
Proverbs 17:20 (NIV)
A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.
Proverbs 17:27 (NIV)
A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.
Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.
T.S. – Let’s look at some ways to manage the pressure cooker times of life.
I. Having a house filled with peace and quiet helps manage the pressure cooker moments in life (Proverbs 17:1).
a. Scripture comparison about the blessing of a house of peace and quiet:
i. Proverbs 17:1 (NASB) “Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it than a house full of feasting with strife.”
ii. Proverbs 17:1 (NIV) “Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.”
iii. Proverbs 17:1 (Message) “A meal of bread and water in contented peace is better than a banquet spiced with quarrels.”
iv. Rom. 12:18 “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
v. Rom. 14:19 “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”
