Who's Following You

oh can we thank him for his grace and mercy today have you been a recipient of it would you let his praises be heard today we praise you thank you for grace undeserved favor thank you for mercy lord i thank you for every bit of grace that's in the room today hallelujah every testimony of grace every miracle of grace we praise you jesus we praise you hallelujah his grace truly is enough for you i want to tell you today whether you've been serving the lord your entire life or this is your first service here at apostolic pentecostal church his grace and mercy are for you and his grace and mercy are enough for you they're sufficient for you oh if you're thankful for the goodness and grace and mercy of god why don't we spend another moment thanking him praising him this morning we could

do this all day lord and you'd still be worthy of more hallelujah thank you jesus for your grace thank you for your mercy and we thank god for his glory that's here today something eternal is going to happen here today not because i'm up here or because of any one person that's in the room aside from the one person that we all came to worship something powerful and eternal is going to happen because of the grace and i feel faith in the room today that something is going to happen answers are going to be found in the house today miracles are going to be found in the house today oh i thank you in advance i praise you in advance thank you jesus oh thank you lord for his presence along with it so thankful for every guest that has joined us at apostolic pentecostal

church we welcome you we are honored and privileged that you're here truly so thankful you've come to be with us and because of that mercy we just sang about that's why the rest of us are here to welcome you to this service and to this wonderful church family both of which we're so thankful to be a part god is going to help us today from his word i invite you to grab your bible or turn your direction towards the screen i want to read from three brief passages of scripture in order to highlight a theme that i want to convey today from the word of god the first found in psalm chapter 23 by the dennis cardin referenced this just last week that you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup runs there's

some cups running over today some lives running over today surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever look into mark 16 and 17 it says and these signs shall follow those who believe in my name they'll cast out demons they'll speak with new tongues they'll take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them they'll lay hands on the sick and they recover these signs will follow lastly psalm 91 says this no evil shall befall you nor shall any plague come near your dwelling for he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways in their hands they'll bear you up last you dash your foot against a stone this morning some of you may be picking up

the theme that i reference and i'll tighten the lens by telling you my title today it's phrased in the form of a question i want to preach to you i want to ask you and i want to help answer for you today this title who is following you who's following you today we're going to pray together would you pray with me for god's help that god would move in a mighty way lord we trust in you today we're following your spirit that is so powerful and evident in the room and i'm praying that you would elevate our faith i feel that faith here today continue to elevate it help us by your word lord strengthen us let something eternal and powerful happen here today and let it all be for your glory and for your honor now we give you glory as a church family

as a church body we praise your name today and exalt the name of jesus we thank you lord for what you're about to do in jesus name amen before you're seated i'll need you to look over your right shoulder and say who's following me some of you got it right some your other right but that's all right you can be seated it's very first thanksgiving that mariah my wife and i were married and i made a monumental mistake i was over at dollar tree off lee may which is where my wife has been known to frequent a time or two and i saw her by happenstance walking out of the big lots nearby and headed to her car without even thinking which was my first mistake that i made i put my hoodie over my head and i ran straight at her and just before

i got to her i did this made real loud footsteps in one motion she jumped did a 180 in the air and started swatting at me thought i was a parking lot attacker i immediately knew i had messed up big you see then she started to cry which if you know my wife is not her typical response to most situations i messed up big time in fact to this day there is still a prohibition in our home against scaring mariah i have forever been banned from scaring her on any level at all because what i didn't know at the time earlier on the store she had noticed the same man several times in her peripherals in her proximity she wasn't for sure if he was following her or not but she started to feel uneasy her antennas were up and it was in that moment

shortly after her husband of three months ran onto the scene ah scared her so badly i'm still paying penance for it today she told me yesterday she said i'm still mad at you for that truth of the matter is none of us like being followed by someone that we don't know or some thing that we're not aware of truthfully i don't think a single one of us in the room would readily admit that we'd be comfortable with someone or something following us on a regular basis without our knowledge or without our consent if we discovered one day we were being followed everywhere we went by someone that we weren't familiar with or something that we couldn't see it might make us a little uncomfortable might make us a little uneasy to say the least we may not feel comfortable or sure about that or feel

totally comfortable with that idea it might be a little unsettling it might even be a little disturbing and well my point this morning is not to make you feel uneasy today i should let you all know in this service that whether you knew it or not and whether you were aware of it or not and whether your antennas were up or not you were indeed followed this morning into this very service in this building today in fact when you walked into the sanctuary you were not alone and when you made your way to your seat you were followed every step of the way truth be told from the moment that you woke up this morning until you arrived in this place you have never once been on your own and you've never once been outside of the reach of and the view of who it

is that's following you and while that might make some uneasy this morning i'm confident you'll feel a little more at peace when you realize just who it is that's been shadowing your footsteps you see psalm 23 says surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord for surely goodness and mercy have been following me whether i knew it or not whether i was aware of or not the truth remains you have never been separated from you have never been apart from you have never been abandoned by the goodness and the mercy of jesus christ but when you're one of his you're one of his sheep and you're following this good shepherd an inherent result of that commitment is that his goodness and his mercy follow you everywhere you go like companions

on a journey they're with you every step of your day all the days of your life everywhere you find yourself god's goodness and mercy are there they are simply inescapable psalm 33 5 says the earth is full of the goodness of the lord psalm 145 and 9 says the lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works his goodness is in every place and at every turn along with his endless mercy which is renewed every morning goodness and mercy are following your child of god they go everywhere you go whether it's a spiritual or physical destination they're following you i want to demonstrate this this morning i'm going to there's my guys right here bruce and brett come up here i want to introduce you all to goodness and mercy goodness and mercy now i'll make an aside here and

say that maybe goodness and mercy don't look like this in your life maybe you can't see them with a physical eye but i can assure you they're as real and as present as these two men are here today the context of that chapter verse 6 says they follow me all the days of my life and that context says that they follow us even in the valley of the shadow of death let me just pause here and say god's goodness and mercy don't stop at the edge of a valley don't say well you go on and the goodness and mercy of god will stop right here until you make no they follow you even into the valley they follow you even into the storm these guys are following me everywhere that i go they're on my heels goodness and mercy they're with me i don't see

him all the time i may not feel him all the time but i know i know but from his word they're with me when i when i walk into church goodness and mercy follow me in the building when i go home from church goodness and mercy follow me across the threshold when i go into school goodness and mercy are with me when i go to work god's goodness and mercy are some of you are walking into a horrible work environment don't forget the goodness and mercy of god are with you every day oh here's where the rubber meets the road when i walk in the doctor's office it's not just me and the doctor no no no i can't forget goodness and mercy they went with me when i walked in the cancer treatment center goodness and mercy followed me when i went in that

operating room it wasn't just the nurses following me it was goodness and mercy they went with me in the storm they went with me into the valley they went with me when i walked into sickness and i walked into a trial they're with me all the days of my life all the days they're with me on good days thank god they're with me on rough days they're with me on days i'd rather forget you know the day when you heard that phone call or you got the diagnosis they were with you on that day they're with me on the days i'm living an overcoming life and i thank god they're with me on the days that i stumble and i fall and i don't know it but goodness and mercy picked me up and i made a couple more and i fell again but there

they were pick me up again and i wondered how did i have enough strength to get up again because i fell and there they were i didn't feel them but they were there oh they did not abandon me on the bad days goodness and mercy carry me every day of my life when i look over my shoulder brother carden he preached this last week i had it in my notes i feel like god's trying to get someone's attention today when i look over my shoulder goodness and mercy are there this is what i should see i should see when i look back over my shoulder and my past i should see a past marred with sin i said she sees shame and guilt and regret i should see darkness i should see myself in a spiritual fetal position but instead when i rightfully should see

it's no longer there because when i look back this is what i'm seeing i can't see past god's goodness and mercy unless i really try and even then they're blocking my way someone hear me today it's got a past full of regret when you're filled with the gift of the holy ghost repent of your sins you're baptized in jesus name every sin your past is nailed to a cross when you look back you ought to see goodness and mercy and the cross those are the only things you ought to see today god's goodness and mercy are following you whether you knew it or not i wonder if we could praise him right now i feel a praise welling up in us i feel a praise welling up in our spirit thank you for goodness and mercy they're following me lamentations 3 verse 22 through the

lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassions fail not they're new every morning they're meeting me every morning the days i want to get up the days i don't want to get up goodness and the days that the days of oppression and fear and anxiety meet me when i wake up i can't forget goodness and mercy have never left they've been with me all night those days when i wake up and i don't want to confront today i don't realize it but goodness and mercy are still there they follow me thank you men and they're not alone they're not alone not only is goodness and mercy follow me mark 16-17 says these signs will follow those who believe in my name they'll cast out demons speak with new tongues they'll take up serpents if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt

them they'll lay hands on the sick and they shall recover we are followed by goodness and mercy and we're followed by the miraculous power of jesus christ mark 16 17 represents some of the final words that jesus spoke to his disciples as recorded in mark's account he's trying to encourage them before he ascends and he's obviously telling the truth one because he's jesus and two because we see the aftermath verse 20 a couple verses later and the disciples the same ones he talked to went forth they preached everywhere everyone say everywhere the lord working with him and confirming the word with signs following a myth everywhere they went and preached these signs that jesus told them were going to follow they actually followed him there was no distinction of place there was no distinction of they didn't have to go to youth congress or youth

convention or family camp to see signs following they didn't even have to come to a sunday morning signs followed them home followed him on the road fought him on the job there was no distinction of place but these signs followed those who believed those who had faith those who trusted in the word of god now notice it does not say this these signs shall only follow the spiritually elite these signs will only follow the apostles and disciples only it doesn't say these signs will follow only those who have been filled with the holy ghost for 40 years and no less these signs follow only those who have the gift of faith mark 16 does not say these signs are reserved for those whose faith puts ours to shame and and whose spirituality is unmatched among us regular people but remarkably when you read it you

notice it doesn't say any of that at all it says these signs will follow those who billy these signs accompany those who have even a measure of faith these signs stand in the wake of those who have merely placed their trust in jesus christ these signs will follow those who believe why am i making that distinction today because it's often easy for us to believe that god's goodness and mercy are following us but we have greater difficulty believing that the supernatural and the miraculous are following us let me ask you all just a plain and honest question this morning how many of you believe in the power of jesus name keep it up faith came in the room some of you actually starting to believe signs are going to follow me and when i lay hands on someone they're going to be healed and when

i lay hand they can be filled with the holy ghost instantly and i could pray and god could mend the situation i don't even have to go to a spiritual leader i will go to them if i need direction and help but i can pray because i believe and god can do the miraculous i'm thankful to tell you the word says this morning the miraculous follows that name of jesus and the miraculous follows those who simply believe in the name of jesus so when you walked in the room this morning with the name of jesus on your life miracles followed you you just had a mustard seed of faith man there's something that could happen today at church miracles picked up on that and started i know i'm personifying them but miracles and signs and wonders followed you into the room they followed you out

of your car they followed you into your pew they followed you into this worship service and in this place of praise but even more encouraging than that they're following you home when you leave if god's word is true and it is these signs are following you every single place you go most assuredly jesus says he who believes in me the works that i do he this is straight from the mouth of jesus he's going to do also in greater works than these will he do because i go to my father and whenever you ask in my name that i will do that the father would be glorified that's the reason if you ask anything in my name i will do it you don't have to take my word for it this morning just take his they're following you i'll give an example to prove it

i've told this story already most of you have heard it but it's one of my favorites to tell it demonstrates this perfectly sweet [name redacted] two years old saw the miraculous follow her after just a simple prayer it doesn't matter how old you are faith is no respecter of age or persons either i thought about it this morning that's why we got to teach these babies how to pray that little boy [name redacted] he's going to learn how to pray they can learn all the other songs and they can learn the jingles from all these shows or different things they can learn how to pray they can learn the word they can pick up on it even at a young age this sweet little girl her mama michelle had injured her ankle couldn't walk on it she had it propped up she was in a lot of

pain at least at two years old could read the situation she walked over to her mom looking at that ankle put her hand on an ankle and said jesus amen jesus so be it jesus it's the final word jesus let it be done the next day michelle woke up with no pain and no soreness and she woke up with a testimony of the power of the name of jesus that just so happened to follow a two-year-old girl who knew to pray in the name ah someone hear me it doesn't matter your age or where you're at if you can get a hold of the name of jesus and use it signs miracles wonders healing will follow you it's a service like this several years ago faith was moving javen maguire was sitting over here i watched him sister sarah faith got a hold of him

he said i got to get up and move i can't sit here he walked across this room and the miraculous followed him every step of the way he went over to his cousin sarah her hand had been withered for quite some time at least several weeks i believe he said i'm going to pray and god's going to heal you these signs follow those who believe these signs fought on a sunday morning at 11 40 5 a.m these signs follow someone who gets faith and decides to move he got up and walked and he started to pull that hand and that hand just like it did in the word of god release it's been the same would you wave it these signs these signs follow those who believe i feel faith in the room and i just feel the pause here if you've got faith and

you feel it coming over you i wonder if you just stand right now and begin to pray and if you need a miracle ah if you if you need a miracle would you lift your hand right now and believe we don't have to move a moment further for the holy ghost to get a hold of someone these signs it happened right here in this room oh would you let your faith push you out of your comfort zone right now faith in the room the name of jesus is in the room anything is possible anything can happen oh i wonder if some of you start interceding in the holy ghost some of you let your faith push you beyond where you're at i want to invite you if you feel comfortable doing this i don't really feel to move any further for now would you just

go and find someone if you feel comfortable and can do it safely we can turn this room into an altar service and god i i feel like he's going to do it right here and now if you feel faith on you would you step out of where you are and go and lay hands on someone we're just going to follow his spirit this morning we're just going to follow the holy ghost these signs are following you can't see them but they walked with you in the building today ah in the name of jesus we claim every last sign greater things than these shall we do greater things than these on a sunday morning oh let your faith push you past a breaking point let it push you beyond what your flesh thinks is possible let it push you to think maybe just maybe god can

heal someone on my pew right now i've got a brother or a sister desperate for healing and what if i just stepped out and one of i just walked over and i laid my hand on him and instantly something happened this is who we are oh he's moving he's moving through the room his glory's here his power's here i believe the miraculous is here right now on the authority of your word we claim healing we claim deliverance in the name of jesus we claim prodigal support we claim salvation we claim forgiveness we claim it restoration this morning in the name of jesus we claim provision if you feel like stepping out of your seat and coming to this altar in faith in faith i invite you to do it right now but you just step i know where you are if you need a touch

from god if you want the miraculous i wonder if you just let your faith push you out of your pew and begin to come and receive a touch from god we're desperate but we've got faith today we've got faith there's power in that precious jesus i need is jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus there's power in that precious name of jesus jesus if you're praying keep praying i want to take the lord at his word today i want to take him at his word i know there's some in the room that i've been there and maybe even today i've been there you're wondering is just still wondering is it possible if i got out of my seat what would happen if i got over there and i laid hands on him and nothing happened what would happen if you got over there and laid

your hands on them and something happened and the holy ghost fell and they were healed it just takes faith to start moving those feet and start moving and specifically today the word we read in mark 16 he said you'll lay hands on the sick and they shall recover that is more than some scripture plucked out of thin hair those are the words of jesus christ today i just feel a special need for healing in the body this could be a blanket healing of your spirit healing of your body healing of your heart whatever it might be a healing in your family and i'm going to ask you let your feet or your your faith and your feet tear you today if you need healing in any way without faith in your heart i wonder if you just step out of where you are and come

down here and you're not going to be alone because i'm going to ask others that have faith to join you if you need healing in any way would you step out and come right now faith is pushing well what would happen if i went over them and i laid hands and nothing happened you know what the worst could happen is they could get a touch of the holy ghost and god's spirit strengthen them if you've got any kind of faith a shred of faith would you come right now and be safe about it but come and lay hands on someone and expect they're going to receive their healing in the name of jesus in that name