"I Am With You" | The Apostolic Connection with Pastor Kenneth Carpenter by Kenneth Carpenter Kind: sermon Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-3, Matthew 28:20 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--i-am-with-you-the-apostolic-connection-with Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ you know in the world of advertisement there's a lot of different marketing techniques that are used but one of the most popular throughout the years is nothing better than a before and after photo you see somebody whether it's uh weight loss whatever it might be you see somebody if it's an exercise program this was what i was before and now this is what i am after if it's getting your teeth white and whatever it is this is before and this is after but i need i want to tell you of the original marketing plan of the before and after is the life-changing power of jesus christ he was demon possessed he was living in the tombs he was tearing his clothes off he was cutting himself with stones he was crazy out of his mind always in the tombs day and night was he crying but one day a man called jesus came by and when the man called jesus came by he was clothed in his right mind and at the feet of jesus you can't have a better before or after i'm glad that my life has been changed by the liberating power of the gospel if it wasn't for the lord for the rhymes is he gives me joy he walks with me and talks with me telling me i'm his own from the first woman he walks with me and talks with me telling me i am is up oh to the all of my fears hmm if it wasn't for the lord where would i be for the right hey oh isaiah 43 and verse number 1 but now thus saith the lord that created thee oh jacob and he that form thee o israel fear not for i have redeemed thee i have called thee by name thou art mine when thou passeth through the waters i will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee for i am the lord thy god matthew 28 and 20. jesus said teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you and lo i am with you alway even unto the end of the world amen you may be seated today i've come to tell somebody from the word of the lord that god is with you i have come with a spirit tug on my heart quickened by the lord to tell one of his sons or daughters fear not i am with you seems like to me that we don't have one problem believing god is with us when things are going well seems like that we don't have one problem when the health is good when the job is secure when the family is intact does it seem that we have much of a problem when the preacher says i am with thee saith the lord i've given a real hearty amen preacher that's right but it's when things begin to fall apart that we begin to wonder just really god are you with me i can imagine you be with me in idea circumstances but when things are less than idea i have a hard time grasping a god that is there with me i would call your attention to the very creation of this earth when god showed up to begin his creation god did not show up in a paradise he did not show up in one of the seven wonders of the world he didn't show up in a beautiful garden to begin to create but the bible said that the earth was without form and the earth was void and the earth was empty and darkness was upon the face of the deep that doesn't look like an idea place to create paradise that doesn't look like the ideal place to create all this beautiful earth that we live on live in today but it was in the midst of that chaos and confusion that god would choose to work in you see we have no problem believing god could be with a man who could walk on both legs but let a man become crippled and we have an issue but in other words i gotta tell you something today it's in those less likely places that god is able to show himself strong let me tell you if you want to have a miracle you've got to have you want to have a testimony of a miracle you've got to have a circumstance that demands a miracle but god is with us the service started friday night with this course i began to listen to it and the holy ghost began to touch my heart and the presence of the lord began to move there in bloomington indiana after the course was done i found the minister of music and i asked him for the words of the song that they just did because it spoke to my heart and it spoke to me about people that i pastor it spoke to me about people that were going through trials and tests in their life it spoke to me about brother calloway it spoke to me about brother jason hilliard it spoke to me about people in this church that are facing dark dismal times and this is what the song says says as i kneel in the darkness in the middle of the night i'm praying for assurance that everything's going to be all right lord i see another battle out in front of me and i'm afraid i won't be able and i'll go down in defeat and he said i walked on the water and come the raging sea i spoke to the wind and it hushed and gave you peace didn't i run to your rescue didn't i hear when you called i walked right beside you just so you wouldn't fall didn't i leave all of heaven just to die for your sin i searched until i found you and i do it all over again come on church today i've come here to tell somebody ignore the darkness around you ignore the trouble around you ignore the circumstances around you he said when you're in the waters i'm in the waters when you're in the river i'm in the river when you're in the fire i'm in the fire i said when i walk through the water sister sisterhood you're new here you've got your children in our school but you and your husband i see you all back there this morning but your life has faced its tragedies and its darkness but maybe it's you that the holy spirit quickened to my heart to tell you that when you go through the waterhood family i'm with you and when you go through the river it will not overflow you and when you step into the fire and if anybody's got a testimony of a fire somebody get me shadrach meshach and abednego and bring them out here today because god now hey you can sit there this morning and you can suck on a lemon all you want to but it doesn't get any better word wise than this if you're going to come out of your dilemma you've got to be willing to be able to say i believe what the word says when i'm in the water you're with me when i'm in the fire you're with me i'll never leave you nor will i ever forsake you he said do you remember where i brought you from just take a look behind you at how far you have come and every time you asked me didn't i deliver you so why would you be thinking that i wouldn't see you through ladies and gentlemen would you please notice with me the simple facts of life your windshield in proportion to your rear view mirror some people's got their spiritual life all turned around they've got the rear view the size of their windshield and their windshield the size of their rear view do you know the only reason you ever use your rear view mirror is to see who's coming up on you or how to make a turn but you use that front windshield to see all of life all around you now you can choose to have a rear view mirror for a windshield if you want to but i choose to see god ahead of me and my trial behind me i choose to see a great big god and a little bitty trial i choose to see a mighty god in christ i choose to see a god that said i'll never leave you i still got a plan for you your divorce is not gonna mess up your life your bankruptcy's not gonna mess up your life that tumor inside your body is not gonna mess up your life that accident that your son had it's not gonna mess up your life i am the lord and i've come to tell you i am with you